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Post by golions1444 on Oct 26, 2015 19:22:09 GMT -5
Not much action on here the past couple months. Season is right around the corner. Have not seen any clips from midnight madness on youtube. Anyone have any footage. Some of the pictures of the dunk contest looked impressive. WCC media day was today. Looks like we are picked dead last in the pre-season poll. I will be very surprised if this turns out to be the case. www.wccsports.com/news/2015-16-wcc-men-s-basketball-preseason-poll-all-wcc-team-10-24-2015Looking forward to getting this season started. GO LIONS!
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Post by slblions08 on Oct 27, 2015 0:06:36 GMT -5
Pretty dead around here. Well thats what happens when you get another retread coach that swears they will be better and yet ends up in the same place. Not a whole lot to be excited about.
Okay did that rile everybody?
You know, I'm actually a little higher on the team than I was last year, because I am interested in the new talent and how it looks on paper. This team will be drastically different style wise than the previous coach, and not much anything we've seen in quite awhile. I think they should be better on the defensive end.
That being said, it's going to take hardcore execution for this team to be good. Nobody on this team looks capable of taking a game over if they need them to. It's a huge risk by Dunlap counting on his coaching ability for them to be nearing a .500 team.
One thing that was kinda sad was when the kids walked around at the Alumni bbq and I was like go team, and one of my friends asked "are you guys going to be good this year" and they wre like "uhhh maybe". and then they apologized for sucking last year. true story
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Post by pumpfake on Oct 27, 2015 9:27:57 GMT -5
I agree that, on paper, the team has some interesting pieces (dynamic point guard (maybe 2), athletic wings (perimeter D should be better), a legitimate scorer (Haney), and active big guys who can run the floor. What we lack is size. I think teams will have a field day dumping it down low on us and will likely kill us on the boards. Okonji's D and rebounding will be missed. His replacements will definitely offer more on the offensive side. Hopefully, the Lions can compensate for lack of beef down low by playing smart and fast. As always, it's going to be interesting to watch. If the team plays hard and surprises some people and finishes in 6th or 7th place in the WCC, I will be pleased. I just want to see us building something.
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Post by longtimelionfan on Oct 27, 2015 17:28:07 GMT -5
Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook 2015-2016 (which is a 400+ page review of all of the DI teams and is referred to as the best preview and a reference source by Jay Bilas, Seth Davis, Clark Kellogg and other media heads) likes LMU's recruiting class. In fact, in the "Blue Ribbon Analysis" section of the LMU preview it states with reference to the Hank & Bo era as the good old times that: "If this recruiting class is a sign of things to come, it might seem like the old times before long." It quotes Dunlap as saying, among other things: "I like our quickness, ... We've got a little of this, a little of that. And that gives you a chance. Size is great, but it goes back to coach Wooden--quickness, quickness and quickness. Defensively,, we just want to flat-out get after people and play up the floor. That's gonna cause us some problems early because of our rotations and stuff. But once we get some games under out belt, I hope that in the second round of the league we'll start to ascend." Blue Ribbon grades LMU's Backcourt A; Frontcourt B+; Bench/Depth B; Intangibles B+. Frankly, much better grades than I expected. Blue Ribbon also predicts a 7th place finish.
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Post by slblions08 on Nov 2, 2015 1:09:24 GMT -5
didn't realize that the season is less than two weeks away with a game against Cal State Fullerton. Is that game home?
Any word on a starting line-up? Did they play any games over the summer? I can't remember a lead up to the season that has been more dead than this. This is actually pretty sad. As much as I'd like to see Dunlap and Husak leave, I am still wishing that they do well this season and play their hearts out and maybe surprise some people. But even the big Dunlap supports are silent.
This seems like not a good sign. Has out program hit a new low that its this dead on the even of the season? There are only 4 months on the calendar for basketball.
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Post by golions1444 on Nov 2, 2015 12:01:01 GMT -5
I think there is just not much we can say or talk about right now. We have a lot of unknowns going into this season.
Win lots of games and the board posters will come!
I know our team is better than our team last year...so we are def not at a low point. We are trending upward in my opinion.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Nov 2, 2015 20:29:55 GMT -5
golions is right - there hasn't been much to talk about so far. I must say I'm impressed with the credentials of our new recruits but I've said that before. And there remains my concerns about stepping up to D1 ball from either JC or High School. It is a leap in competition. I'm hoping our guys surprise me as my expectations are modest. Regarding the team, I too am encouraged by Longtime's report from the "Blue Ribbon" as to their rankings of the teams talent. Very encouraged I might say.
Slb - the Fullerton game is at home and is on W-TV Friday the 13th at 7 pm - an auspicious date indeed.
This coming Sunday the Lions open with an exhibition game vs Dominguez Hills at 5 pm in Gersten - our first look at the new crew in action.
Was there or will there be a Crimson/Navy scrimmage this year? I have a feeling I missed it if there was one. Why keep such an event secret if you are encouraging neighborhood ticket buyers?
In any case, Go Lions!
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Post by thx4leavinjimlynam on Nov 5, 2015 19:38:24 GMT -5
Excited for the season to begin.
Is everyone healthy?
There will be a learning curve for the new players, but we absolutely seem more athletic and hopefully can generate more steals and fast-break opportunities.
If Haney can come through as our go-to guy, hopefully that would allow Brown, Mornar, and Humphries to contribute without having to be the focus of opposing defenses.
Go Lions!
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Post by husky on Nov 7, 2015 17:46:11 GMT -5
After what seems like a very long break filled with apathy and inactivity on the old board here, we are finally back in business Sunday with more new faces than I can recall.
Every year I come back hopeful that Marin will have picked up 30-40 pounds of muscle. Either way looking for a great year from him.
Like all fans I am anxious to see the new players, especially the ones with the hefty JUCO resumes; we have to count on them if we are to make significant gains.
There are high expectations for Haney; hopefully he will at least come close. I just remain cautious about over hyping players. Too often a great shooter in HS cools down when faced with Div 1 defense. I note that Haney's stats for one year of Div 1 at Cen. Florida are eerily similar to those of our own Josh Spiers last year- not that that's real bad. They were freshman afterall. Josh could well improve and I'll be interested to see how valid my comparison is.
Speaking of development, there is Herman, a shooting guard in a big mans body. How good will it be if he were to greatly improve and play like the big man we need him to be. He also was only a Freshman and as such our perception of his performance was colored by him being grossly over hyped by the coach (as in "NBA Ready")
Overall we have some size, although we lack a dominator. I checked the Dominguez Hills roster and we are much bigger than they, which is great since the last time Dominguez played us here in an "exhibition", the last year of Rodney's reign, they beat us like red headed step children. There shouldn't be a repeat of that nightmare. I also expect we will do considerably better than in last years exhibition when we needed a heroic performance by Humphries to eek out a one point win. Wouldn't it be nice if that David Humphries reappeared more often.
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Post by kdub00 on Nov 13, 2015 14:43:44 GMT -5
Insider information on ESPN, but out of 351 Div 1 Mens Basketball Teams, we are rated at #298
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Post by LIONS90045 on Nov 13, 2015 14:51:00 GMT -5
They haven't seen these guys in action!
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Post by LIONS90045 on Nov 16, 2015 21:43:21 GMT -5
Long Beach State with our beloved Gabe Levin takes on BYU tonite on ESPN2 but at 10:45 pm! What an adjustment to accommodate TV thirsts!
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Post by LIONS90045 on Nov 17, 2015 12:45:38 GMT -5
I happened to catch the end of the Long Beach State - BYU game and Gabe Levin was in the closing lineup. He was all over the floor with defense and rebounding plus literally on the floor diving for loose balls. He made a great contribution to State's 1 point win. BYU got the ball inbound down 1 with 3 seconds left and could not get the ball in play. Levin stole the first inbound pass but it rolled out of bounds and State deflected the final in-bound try by the Cougars to seal the victory.
State has a good team this year and have 3 Pac-12 teams plus Duke on their pre-conference schedule. Look for them to appear in the top 25 before long if they steal a few of these games.
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Post by longtimelionfan on Dec 17, 2015 19:30:04 GMT -5
Well, the WCC conference season begins on Monday. Although the Lions have one more pre-conference game to go tomorrow night at Gersten it seems like an appropriate time to have some fun and project how we think the conference season will turn out. We now know more about our Lions since they've played 10 games. Thus, I'll jump in the pool first.
The Lions are definitely not the last place team all the purported knowledgeable media prognosticators said in October. My projection says the Lions will finish in the top 5, perhaps as high as 4th, though more likely 5th. I think the top five are, not necessarily in this order, Gonzaga, Saint Mary's, Pepperdine, BYU and LMU.
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Post by golions1444 on Dec 18, 2015 19:05:00 GMT -5
I'll go with 10-8 for 5th place
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