University of Pacific Tigers

[LIONS90045]

University of Pacific Tigers

Record: W 8 - L 6

Home: W 4 – L 3

WCC: W 0 – L 2

Roster/PPG

02 T.j. Wallace So G 6’3” 205 14.3
03 Alec Kobre Jr G 6’2” 185 7.5
04 Aaron Hendricks So G 6’0” 185 1.0
05 Dulani Robinson Jr G 5’9” 172 11.0
10 Cole Currie So G 6’2” 180 -
11 Gabriel Aguirre Sr F 6’10” 250 7.6
12 Eric Thompson Jr F 6’8” 240 8.4
15 D.j. Ursery Fr G 6’4” 185 1.9
21 Jacob Lampkin Fr F 6’9” 230 4.4
22 Ray Bowles Fr G 6’5” 190 6.2
24 David Taylor So F 6’3” 180 5.7
25 Kaleb Warner Fr F 6’6” 190 2.0
30 Thomas Peters So F 6’6” 200 3.0
33 Ilias Theodorou Fr F 6’7” 200 1.5
35 Sami Eleraky So C 7’0” 245 3.8

The Tigers have a balanced scoring attack led by their guards. They average 66.7 ppg compared to the Lions 63.1.

Expect a competitive game depending on which Lions squad shows up on New Years Day.

Gametime: Thursday, January 1, 2015 1 pm at Gersten Pavilion

Television: TheW.tv (on-line)

[thx4leavinjimlynam]

I don't know if we are favored or not, but this very well could be the last game we are favored all season (sans maybe when we host Santa Clara).

I have been a fan since the 1970s, so that is difficult for me to admit, but I fear it may be true.

Heading into the Pep game, I thought we had a chance to go 3-0 this week. I think we can beat anyone (other than Gonzaga and BYU) on a given night, but we need to beat Pacific to regain our swagger!

Let's win Thursday! Go Lions!

[ironlion]

This will be a close one but I think Lions will get it done. Pacific very young team.

[LIONS90045]

Lions are 3.5 point favorites
Let's hope we shook off our jet lag from Hawaii!
Go Lions,

[husky]

After vacillating for 2 weeks I decided to forego a couple of hours of todays college football feast and make it to todays game. Actually, my wife, who is not a football fan, got tired of my whining about the dumb scheduling and convinced me. It's OK though, in fact I am getting even by stealing some of her make up to cover my bruises. So after all I've been through I want the Lions to prevail even more than usual.

I noticed the depressed tone in some of the comments following the Pepperdine game. I offer the following perspective. I was not one who thought Max Good was such a godawful coach, just a normal coach with ups and downs. I also didn't see where the euforia expressed by Dunlap boosters was justified; I certainly didn't expect any magic turn around in LMU basketball fortunes. But this is where we are, again. I thought Dunlap did as good as could be expected finding players so late in the game; in fact we can hardly fault him for the exodus of veterans and signees. I have taken note of the respect with which he treats his veterans, especially his seniors. Now Coach Dunlap and his staff surely wants to win as much as us. The assertions that he doesn't mind losing games because he is building for the future seems wildly off base. Similarly I got on the ESPN announcers in Hawaii who in constantly singing Mike's praises credited his "brilliant strategy" of holding the ball until the last 5 seconds before even trying to force up a shot as a stroke of genius. I am certain Dunlap is as frustrated as we are with a stagnant offense.

I am not advocating "drinking the cool aid " or not griping and complaining. Hell, that is what makes the board worth reading. Plus there are some pretty sharp basketball aficionados in this group and I wouldn't be surprised if one or more of the coaching staff tune in every now and than. So let's keep pouring on the observations and recommendations. Any Lion fan of long standing has been through times like this and worse, often. As someone said, "our scars run deep". Maybe I can't see it but I have not noticed any "loss of spirit" and the coach seems to have his team well in hand. We have a real chance today, Pacific only scored 40 points in their loss to Santa Clara(?), now that's a ripe target.

BTW last years home game against Pacific was a nightmare, not only did Chase break his arm, Dickinson decided to melt down. Plus we lost the game. Better times ahead. GO LIONS

[ALioninWinter]

Husky - well stated. Everyone is frustrated by a long string of crummy seasons. I suspect if the AD had somehow managed to reincarnate Johnny Wooden, there would be complaints and statements of frustration.

It takes time to build relations with recruits. That's why I said 2-3 years before we might see results. You are right when you say he needs to hit on 2 of next year's probable recruits. He needs to find some solid performers. I wasn't expecting magic with this year's recruits but I am disappointed in their performance; and frankly I don't see a lot of potential with them either.

I suspect CMD feels he is already behind schedule. He said early on that we wouldn't be ready to challenge Gonzaga but we would be better. So far, we aren't better. There's still a bunch of league games. Here's to hoping he can extract that "better" play.

[golions1444]

I can't watch anymore

[ironlion]

Better transition D today. Turn overs still killing Lions. CMD needs to step up recruiting- this class is not so good. 0 points in the half.

[ironlion]

Happy New Years everybody!

[ALioninWinter]

Ironlion - make that 0 points for the second half as well.

Evan had another very efficient and productive game.
Patson continues to show potential.
Godwin had a nice number of rebounds.

I have no idea why Deji disappears. We really need production from him.
Very little from our bench
Money only had 13 minutes. Surprising since he's been the one productive guy coming off our bench.
Lots of TOs and few assists

[thx4leavinjimlynam]

Yes, Happy New Year.

Evan was fantastic. Patson had his moments. Thought Chase beginning the second half with strong defensive intensity was a good move. Liked the fact he was switching Chase and Simon for quick bursts of defense.

Our defense was brutal: Taylor averaged 5.7 points per game and tossed in 20...that is the difference...we don't have anyone deep on the roster who has stepped up and had a big game...Humphries/Hayes/anyone! Pacific shot 66.7 percent in second half. I just checked the play-by-play...Pacific only scored on 1 of its first 6 second-half possessions...after that, they scored on their next 11 possessions!! In their last 20 second-half possessions (not counting when they dribbled out the clock), they scored at least one point on 18 of them. That is unbelievably awful! Truly, it is remarkable we only lost by 14.

Cut back on turnovers, improve defense.

Go Lions!

[chelan17]

Dunlaps recruits performance today: 46 combined minutes, 0 for 4 shooting, 4 total rebounds, 2 assists, 4 turnovers and 0 total points. If that is the best players that Dunlap and staff can get, LMU basketball is in much worse shape than anybody anticipated. If anyone thinks that Dunlap has not been recruiting and looking for players prior to the end of last years basketball season you are sorely mistaken. Dunlap had the LMU job WAY BEFORE the basketball season was over last year. So dont tell me he had no time to get players.

[LIONS90045]

I was collecting these thoughts while other were posting, so pardon the duplication at times. It’s nice that “great” minds think alike.

Clearly this season calls for patience. I now conclude it will be an exercise in player development for the future and will try to look at our play from that perspective.

Dunlap’s post-game comments on the LMU site show recognition of our problems right now, which is encouraging.

I find it hard to understand why we keep throwing “lazy” passes resulting in turnovers. I expect the coaches work on passing in practice but clearly more work is needed.

Also our guys seem to get stuck holding the ball at the top of the key, or nearby, with no one to pass to. Surely, this can’t be how the coaches are laying out our offense – can’t we work the “weave” like I see with most teams?

Per Ironlions’ comment regarding scoring, we got zero scoring from our new recruits over the course of the entire game – this is a mystery as I saw so much promise earlier in the season from these guys, who obviously have more to contribute on offense.

Highlights:
Evan continues to exhibit extraordinary scoring ability, despite all the attention he gets.
Siame and Godwin each contributed 10 points from inside scoring, which is refreshing.
Siame is beginning to realize his potential more and more each game; once he understands he can be a dominant player under the boards, he will be a real force to recon with.
Chase found some offense – good for Chase, a welcome change!

Lows:
We were 12 minutes into the game and trailing badly before Mornar entered the game. He is one of our top scoring threats and his lack of minutes is a mystery to me. The only explanation is that Dunlap was concerned about Mornar’s lack of bulk to defend the heavier Pacific players inside. He logged only 13 minutes.
Tonight, I thought Dunlap was a bit quick on the trigger with subs. Players came into the game sometimes for a single play and then were yanked, only to reenter shortly thereafter. It’s hard to get any rhythm going in 30 seconds on the court.
We seem to start every game very slow on offense – its like a diesel engine on a wintry morning, it takes a while to warm up. Hopefully we can overcome this trend, which leaves us in a hole every game. Dunlap get an engine block heater, please!
Lastly, Deji seemed to disappear again today. He has such a good game, why isn’t it working at times?

Happy New Year to all fans!

[husky]

Hard to find much that wasn't covered in the above posts. The only explanation for stalling around about 40 feet from the basket I can imagine is the intent is to be deliberate but it's turning out to be stagnant. This is especially true when Simon and Matt are at point. Again whatever the intent is it sure hasn't been productive and I wish we would try something else. Then there are the ever present turnovers, 12 in the first half alone.

On defense in the second half we tried to pressure in the back court and although our guys hustled and tried hard, they looked like they don't know how to do it. When we do "press" we employ man on man with little effort to trap. Also, notice how we have recently been out rebounding our opponents. That can be attributed to the 2-3 zone (good news); then notice how easily our foes get open for 3 point baskets. That too is attributable to the way we execute the 2-3. That zone, like everything else will work if everything else works. Unfortunately we are not Syracuse and we are not coached by Jim Boeheim. For us it's not working well. I could see trying a 1-3-1; it's more sophisticated but we have the personnel to employ it as a change up look. I can see Deji effectively running the baseline.

We all wish Dunlap's guys did better, certainly better than zero points. When I saw their resumes I admit to being impressed. I was so eager to be optimistic that I forgot that I know all about resumes and how to fluff them up (reference my own). Still though I doubt if any blue chip recruits would have turned down a bona-fide offer from another program based on LMU possibly maybe hiring a coach they liked; in any case we are stuck (and they seem to be fine hard working young men). After losing so handily at home to two teams expected to finish solidly in the lower half of the WCC, maybe we can sneak up on poor unsuspecting St. Mary.

[LIONS90045]

Stagnation on the perimeter, I link to the lack of offensive threat from our PG. If this key player can drive to hoop and dish off or score or otherwise create some offense, he is a threat. Right now, perhaps due to conservatism on the coaching part, they tend to "avoid errors," kind of corporate survival skills but we aren't a corporation. Let these guys play their games to their best and see if they work out. Then bench them or give them more minutes.
I'm OK with building a future but we seem to be inhibiting the potential of the present guys in the process.