MBB vs Troy, Thu 2/17 6:30pm

[hapapp]

A loss Saturday to USA drops us to fourth and the way GA State is playing, if we don't turn it around, we could be fifth. Regardless. GA State is a likely early round foe in the tournament.

This is an experienced squad, so hopefully they can right the ship over the next three games and hit the tournament on an upswing.

[DenverOfTheEast]

The problem with our shooting is this:

1) we play 6 guys 35 mins for 4 months and now Delph legs are about gone last 3 games...

if you remember last year we had a Covid break so the players had a chance to get fresh at the end.

2) our offense is outside in, not inside out. That always puts more stress or pressure on shooters...

3) Huntley, Eads, Mantias are spot up shooters along with Delph. Basically it’s all those 3 can do but they don’t get enough attempts.

4) Forrest worst season stat wise in 5 years. Almonacy besides 10 mins vs Duke has been below average.

[Stonewall]

Troy is better than us at this point. Athletically and technically.Skilled and polished.We play with great effort , grit and toughness but we only have three guys that consistently play well and one of them, James Lewis isn't going to score a lot of points.Delph and Gregory are as good as anyone in the league.We have young guys with the potential to be very good .CJ can be a dominant force if he can straighten out a couple of things.RJ can be solid going forward.Mantis and Harcum have the fundamentals , now just need the mental part that comes from playing time.X is wildly athletic and if he can get healthy will make a difference,maybe not every night on the score sheet but he can explode at any time.Eades is a 2 playing down in the post .If he can get quicker (better shape) and play 2/3 I think he can be a pleasant surprise.So there's a lot of potential but player development is going to be huge going forward.The immediate good news that in the tournament it's absolutely up for grabs.We did it last year and we can do it again.

[agentpaul001]

Saturdays game is just so important with a bye game possibly on the line not to mention a few extra days of rest. A win alone might be enough but with a victory over UALR they grab it in most scenarios.

[WASU 93]

The problem with our shooting is this:

1) we play 6 guys 35 mins for 4 months and now Delph legs are about gone last 3 games...

if you remember last year we had a Covid break so the players had a chance to get fresh at the end.

2) our offense is outside in, not inside out. That always puts more stress or pressure on shooters...

3) Huntley, Eads, Mantias are spot up shooters along with Delph. Basically it’s all those 3 can do but they don’t get enough attempts.

4) Forrest worst season stat wise in 5 years. Almonacy besides 10 mins vs Duke has been below average.

All good points. Also, beyond Almonacy, who is an average ballhandler, we struggle to dribble the ball in traffic. Troy bogged down our offense with the press and was brilliant on defense the last three possessions of pressing and making it difficult to attempt to score quickly.

[hapapp]

Saturdays game is just so important with a bye game possibly on the line not to mention a few extra days of rest. A win alone might be enough but with a victory over UALR they grab it in most scenarios.

Winning two of our last three would cement third place for us because we would likely have the higher winning % than our competition for that third spot. Not missing any games is a great advantage for us. If we beat USA and we win two of our last 3, they can't catch us. Ga State can get to 9-5 but again if we win two out of three, we finish ahead of them in terms of winning %.

Of course, we can still get a better seed. Troy and Texas State play one another in the last game of the season. If Troy drops that game and stumbles in another we can grab 2nd. Texas State would have to implode for us to catch them. If they lose two out of three, we would be tied but I assume they own the tiebreaker. Of course, if one of those losses is to Troy, that likely means Troy finishes ahead of us. Tomorrow night is huge if we want to keep a bye.

[AppOrange]

Ref's made a lot of tough calls that I thought were not good, but then replay showed they were good calls. This game was lost at the FT line . . . we are allergic to making two in a row, I really don't understand how we have such good shooters but can't make one of the easiest shot in the game. Very unfortunate and frustrating. Can't be elite shooting 60% as a team.

I don't think we have good shooters. We consistently shoot in the 30% range overall and from behind the arc. (we shot 45% overall tonight and 33% from three. That's the first time in 5 games that we shot more than 38% from the field) We also go cold for a long period every game. Tonight, we were stuck on 41 points for about 5 minutes. Plenty of good looks, but the shots would not fall.

Still, it's such a fun team to watch. They play defense, they compete, and they have a chance in every game. They clawed back from 11 points down in the second half tonight, and cut the lead to one without a made three pointer. In fact, Delph's three with under a minute left, was their only made three of the second half. Yet, if they hit their free throws, they could have pulled it out.

Huntley and Duhart gave some great minutes tonight. If we get a solid point guard to replace Almonacy and a little more outside shooting, this could be a really good team in the next couple of years.

My point was about FT's. Delph, Almonacy, Forrest, Gregory, are all capable of shooting well and when they shoot a GOOD shot, I feel they are skilled enough to take it and hopefully it goes in. Our problem (FG percentage wise) seems to be too many rushed or poor shoots, often late in the clock. None of these variables exist at the FT line, which was my ultimate gripe. Yes, last night we had several wide open looks in that dreadful opening of the 2nd half, but that happens sometimes to most teams. At the end of the day we have guys, based on their skill and ability, much more capable of hitting FT's at a better percentage then we are. Last year, same players, better %.

[WVAPPeer]

This team is who they are - no identity changes at this point - success the rest of this season will come about just like last season - Make 3s !!!

[WASU 93]

Ref's made a lot of tough calls that I thought were not good, but then replay showed they were good calls. This game was lost at the FT line . . . we are allergic to making two in a row, I really don't understand how we have such good shooters but can't make one of the easiest shot in the game. Very unfortunate and frustrating. Can't be elite shooting 60% as a team.

I don't think we have good shooters. We consistently shoot in the 30% range overall and from behind the arc. (we shot 45% overall tonight and 33% from three. That's the first time in 5 games that we shot more than 38% from the field) We also go cold for a long period every game. Tonight, we were stuck on 41 points for about 5 minutes. Plenty of good looks, but the shots would not fall.

Still, it's such a fun team to watch. They play defense, they compete, and they have a chance in every game. They clawed back from 11 points down in the second half tonight, and cut the lead to one without a made three pointer. In fact, Delph's three with under a minute left, was their only made three of the second half. Yet, if they hit their free throws, they could have pulled it out.

Huntley and Duhart gave some great minutes tonight. If we get a solid point guard to replace Almonacy and a little more outside shooting, this could be a really good team in the next couple of years.

My point was about FT's. Delph, Almonacy, Forrest, Gregory, are all capable of shooting well and when they shoot a GOOD shot, I feel they are skilled enough to take it and hopefully it goes in. Our problem (FG percentage wise) seems to be too many rushed or poor shoots, often late in the clock. None of these variables exist at the FT line, which was my ultimate gripe. Yes, last night we had several wide open looks in that dreadful opening of the 2nd half, but that happens sometimes to most teams. At the end of the day we have guys, based on their skill and ability, much more capable of hitting FT's at a better percentage then we are. Last year, same players, better %.

Understood. We certainly made a lot of Free Throws (especially to close out games) in the Sun Belt Tournament last year.