gokinsmen
Postdoc
Posts: 3683
Reg: 02-06-10
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St. Joseph’s
12-10-23 04:12 PM - Post#360438
In response to gokinsmen
Ironically, losing to St. Joe's on the road probably makes them good enough to make this a Quad 1 loss.
And I know this is serious "copium" as the kids say, but part of me is glad that we're not spending the rest of the season looking over our shoulder with an UNDEFEATED bullseye on our backs. The track record for such teams is surprisingly tepid.
Barely lost to a very good team on the road. Now let's show out at Delaware (a good team too) and keep up the great work.
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SRP
Postdoc
Posts: 4919
Reg: 02-04-06
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12-10-23 04:14 PM - Post#360439
In response to Vonsid
Peters is doing a good job defensively, where Davis is still prone to the odd blown assignment (although I didn’t notice that today). Scott’s improving gradually as well. Interesting that MH didn’t trust Hudgins, whose size might have been helpful with Pierce saddled with fouls.
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gokinsmen
Postdoc
Posts: 3683
Reg: 02-06-10
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St. Joseph’s
12-10-23 04:23 PM - Post#360440
In response to SRP
For sure. And just knowing we can trust Scott and Davis going into Ivy play is huge. Not to mention I feel great about next year too now.
I'm surprised to find myself so optimistic after a tough loss, but let's face it, we weren't going 29-0. And the fact that this game came down to the wire after early foul trouble to our two best players was very impressive.
St. Joe's also showed us some things to work on over the break - that 3-2 zone in particular. This team has serious guts, though.
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Eric Von Zipper
Senior
Posts: 343
Age: 71
Reg: 11-11-17
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12-10-23 04:31 PM - Post#360441
In response to SRP
They call them free throws for a reason
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SRP
Postdoc
Posts: 4919
Reg: 02-04-06
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12-10-23 04:35 PM - Post#360442
In response to Eric Von Zipper
This was the first game in a long time where PU really bombed an opponent from three. Without all those treys this one wouldn’t have been very close.
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gokinsmen
Postdoc
Posts: 3683
Reg: 02-06-10
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St. Joseph’s
12-10-23 04:52 PM - Post#360443
In response to SRP
As good as we were from 3, we're still an interior team first and foremost. Lee driving to the rim. Allocco posting up. Pierce getting a step on his man for cuts/layups.
I'd rather see us go 12-29 from deep than 16-38. The latter suggests we were forced to shoot 3s due to lack of interior scoring instead of by choice.
But hey, we probably steal this if not for Pierce playing only 26min. It's hard to dissect little things like too many 3s and a few missed FTs when there's a big, obvious reason we lost.
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1LotteryPick1969
Postdoc
Posts: 2280
Age: 73
Loc: Sandy, Utah
Reg: 11-21-04
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12-10-23 05:42 PM - Post#360445
In response to gokinsmen
Honestly, they have more talent and they are bigger and stronger. We played them tough by way of coaching and experience.
The missed free throws: aaargh.
Watching Davis emerge was the highlight. He has no fear. Midrange jumper moving to his left: no problem. Sidestep three ball jumper: no problem.
Made me recall my first time watching Douglas Davis against Central Michigan in 2008. Dalen is a major talent.
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TigerFan
PhD Student
Posts: 1892
Reg: 11-21-04
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12-10-23 06:13 PM - Post#360449
In response to 1LotteryPick1969
“Honestly, they have more talent and they are bigger and stronger.”
I think that was true once Cade got into foul trouble and we were mostly playing 4 guards plus Martini but the match up was pretty darn close with Cade on the floor.
I was really pleased with how tough our guys played today. The emergence of DD is huge.
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gokinsmen
Postdoc
Posts: 3683
Reg: 02-06-10
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St. Joseph’s
12-10-23 07:21 PM - Post#360454
In response to TigerFan
This game also reminds me why I keep harping on Deven Austin's absence/return. Despite our hot start (and last year's Sweet 16), Austin would have helped big time in our last two losses: Creighton and St. Joe's. We got roasted on 1-on-1 drives to the rim.
Outside of Tosan, Austin was our best 1-on-1 defender, and at a lanky 6-6, he's also a great dunker/finisher at the rim. I suspect he won't be 100% till next season but even at 70% he'll help us defensively.
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Tiger81
Masters Student
Posts: 412
Loc: Montclair, NJ
Reg: 11-21-04
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12-10-23 08:29 PM - Post#360457
In response to gokinsmen
I thought Princeton played a really good team possession for possession on their home court. It was a winnable game and the 0-4 from the line from a team shooting ~80% for its FTs was a tough way to close out the game.
I was also surprised that Huggins was not part of the answer when Pierce had to take a seat on the bench. When Scott and Davis are your first options off the bench there is not a big drop-off on the offensive end but that puts a lot of defensive and rebounding pressure on the 4 guards and our undersized center. I also thought St.Joe’s did a really good job on Allocco, who they kept out of the paint and contested most of his 3-balls.
But not a lot to complain about today, this is a fun team to watch and they have come to play every game so far.
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