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Post by lmu2015 on Mar 6, 2016 11:39:23 GMT -5
I don't like everyone picking on brown, I don't remember seeing these comments or hearing about people feeling like this about him prior to last week. We had a few games where he carried us to wins, and obviously last night wasn't one of them. He definitely tried to do too much but a lot of that was good defense on saint Mary's. It's not like he was forcing up shots while Haney was sitting on the perimeter wide open. Let's not forget that a lot of browns shots were with under 10 seconds left in the shot clock as well. Let's also not ignore how effective he has been on defense as well. Lastly, the izzos and caliparis don't recruit Juco point guards... Or shooting guards, small forwards, PFs, or centers. They are elite programs who get all Americans out of high school, recruiting Juco players is a waste of their time. The bottom line is we are a better team with brown on it, and we play better with him in the floor, and the fact that people are acting like we would be an NCAA tourney team if he wasn't "out of control" is honestly ridiculous.
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Post by pumpfake on Mar 6, 2016 11:46:40 GMT -5
For the record, I am right with you defending Brown. Just want to make sure nothing lost in translation of my previous comments on a Sunday AM before coffee. Also, regarding the strategy of Brown and Tuto penetrate to score or get fouled was, in my opinion, rooted in the fact that if we get to the line, we set up our press and keep them out of sync. If we tried to get in 3 point shooting contest with the Gaels, we might have gotten beat by 30. I saw lots of positives the last few weeks.
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Post by golions1444 on Mar 6, 2016 12:09:46 GMT -5
All I know is it seems like every team we play gets lots of wide open threes and layups and we get one every 200th possession. Why is this? I hope this is remedied next season.
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Post by longtimelionfan on Mar 6, 2016 12:27:47 GMT -5
I agree with these latter comments. Retaining perspective is necessary. Watching the team over the last month you can see the progress. It's undeniable. But, more to do.
Another barometer: early in the year SMC was on fire, leading the conference and beat LMU by a enormous margin that matched the differences in the teams play. A month later, the Lions lost by 6 in a comeback at Moraga. Last night on the biggest stage in a winner take all game the Lions slugged it out with SMC and ran out of gas in the last few minutes. I'm proud of the team, it's improvement and effort. Kudos to all the players and coaches. Now, let's build on the progress for next year. Go Lions!
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Post by rswan on Mar 6, 2016 13:23:20 GMT -5
Brown also tried to do too much against USD and the poor decision making almost cost the game. Go back and see my post, I called this one.
I get opinions on this board are subjective and just because I offer an opinion does not make it right, or someone else wrong, but objectively speaking, you cannot allow your point guard to go 3-16 in a tournament game and take the kinds of shots he takes and has taken all year long. If you take away his leak out layups this season, which were numerous, he was a 28% 3 pt shooter and probably less than 30% FG shooter ALL SEASON, not just this game. He took 250 more shots this season than the starting power forward, which is a ridiculous stat. Ill say it again the PG took 250 SHOTS MORE THIS SEASON THAN SHERMAR JOHNSON and took nearly 400 shots on the season, most on the team by a far margin. I am not talking about one game. And repeated 15 foot contested floaters are bad shots, that is not my opinion.
So what to do? Easy. Tutu is the PG of the future. He is bigger, better defender and a Freshman. There is your answer. You cannot play them at the same time. When you do, you have two midget guards, who cannot hit perimeter shots. Both are 25% three point shooters. After 30 games, I would expect my point guard to know what a good shot looks like. The kid has ability, but all season long he has been out of control, which again is common for JC guards. Look around the country, most programs, including mid majors are not turning the keys to car over to a JC kid. It's a fact. Plugging gaps in the front court with 21 year old men is marginally understandable and also a bad long term plan, but this I do not get. Plus, by the time you reign the JC point guard in, if you ever can, they are leaving the program. I would like to see Brown/Tutu at the PG spot, with Tutu being a constant reminder to Brown either play the right way, or sit down. Keep McClendon on the floor more and let he and Tutu build some chemistry as the 1/2 with Haney/Spiers at the 3. I am not saying bail on Brown, I am saying reign him in and teach him how to play the position the right way, which in my opinion after 30 games he hasn't.
On to next year and yes it is exciting. Again, these are just one man's observations and I think we have lots of good kids and a bright 2016/2017. 14 wins is a great improvement from last and if we make the same improvement next year, as I have predicted, we will be a 20 win team. Go Lions.
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Post by husky on Mar 6, 2016 18:35:00 GMT -5
Oh no, Brown is a good player and certainly exerts the effort; but we all have our days. I think the part of the discontent is what transpired the 2ne half. Brown and other of our small (albeit speedy) players repeatedly drove under the basket where either their shots were blocked or being surrounded and outnumbered, lost the ball. The coach had them repeating those efforts despite the evidence that Saint Mary's bigs were staying home with their arms completely vertical, denying. We would hustle and play good defense only to go back to the same dry hole. At the same time we had shooters wide open - even the announcers remarked that we had shooters "spotted up". Of coarse we might have missed all those 3's, we have done that before. But since the hole was very dry it made sense to us to try the threes at least.
So even if the coach shanked that decision, he did at least an average job of coaching average talent with average results -- which has been pointed out, was a step up, The Lions finished the season with strong play considering Jacko's absence. The 2 final OT wins at home against over "500 teams" made my season. I'll be looking forward to being back next year for hopefully the next step up.
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Post by lmu2015 on Mar 6, 2016 22:43:41 GMT -5
Going under .500 in conference next year will be disappointing, other than the big 3, no team should really be better than us. If we have the same non conference schedule next year as we did this year in terms of difficulty, than 20 wins will be a good goal. But I'd rather have a more difficult non conference schedule, be under .500, and be more battle tested going into conference than be 7-4 or 8-3 with only three or four quality opponents.
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Post by longtimelionfan on Mar 7, 2016 0:13:30 GMT -5
I think the dynamic that guides next year's non-conference scheduling is a willingness to play on and after the night of December 16. My guess is that is the last day of Fall semester finals and as soon as the last final of the semester is completed Trevor becomes eligible. Thus, it wouldn't surprise me to see two and perhaps 3 games between Friday night, December 16, and Christmas, assuming that the WCC schedule begins the week between Christmas and NewYear's day. Something, like Friday, December 16, Monday, December 19 and Thursday, December 22. And, I'd look for them to be against local teams so neither team has to take more than a bus ride. My guess is a Big West double or trifecta with a home game on Friday and two local road games (e.g. my guess is two or three of: Fullerton, UCI, UCR, UCSB, Long Beach or Cal State Bakersfield; maybe Mountain West's SDSU.)
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Post by longtimelionfan on Mar 7, 2016 0:29:05 GMT -5
And, I suspect that there will be two and, perhaps, three new coaches in the WCC. Pacific's release this week confirmed the obvious - that Verlin and one assistant are gone - but it only thanked the interim coach and remaining assistant. From that timing and wording, I suspect the interim will not be made permanent. When SCU hired a new AD last year following a consultant's recommendation I thought that signaled that absent a miracle this was Keating's last year. No miracle happened and SCU. And, USF announced at the Tournament that Bill Cartright has accepted a fund raising position. Rex doesn't play well with others and I'm guessing that Cartright's return (even as a fundraiser) is just step one of a basketball makeover. If my predictions are correct there will three new coaches in NorCal. With that turnover, I'd expect all three of those programs to take a step back or at least run in place next year.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Mar 7, 2016 21:35:19 GMT -5
I wanted some time to pass so I could “digest” the season and, in particular, the game in Vegas.
First, I want to agree with lmu2015 that I too was wishful of an upset, a semi-final game vs the Waves and a (admittedly long-shot) chance for an NCAA bid. So much for that after our offense came up short in the second half but it was nice to take the lead into the locker room at half time.
Second, regarding the Gaels game, our entire offense had a difficult time delivering not just Brown. Brown has been our offensive engine all season and he, among others, had an off-night.
Third, we simply lost to the better team Saturday, much like SCU gave BYU a real scare but then couldn’t finish earlier in the day. I’m proud of the showing the Lions made, especially given the absence of our leading man Jacko.
Regarding the future, I’m optimistic for many reasons.
Herman showed real promise in our closing games. He is just a sophomore and will mature and be a real force during the next two seasons.
Johnson showed he can score under the boards. He’ll continue to improve his “hook” shot and, given his showings absent Jacko, will be a decent offensive force in his Senior season, even with a full Lion front court.
Tutu is a real athlete - very quick, smart, always looking to pass to a teammate and only a Freshman.
McClendon also came into his own late in the season - great defender, determined ball hawk, has some offense and can drive the basket with power, shows an occasional 3-ball, and as another Freshman will only improve in the coming years.
Haney is showing himself as the real deal. He had some terrible games shooting during the season but he is a big guard, plays defense, can drive the hoop and hit the NBA three when needed. I expect him to lead the team in scoring along with Jacko next season. He also had an amazing shooting night vs Fullerton.
Jacko – need I say more than note he seems to have learned to control his enthusiasm and avoid dumb fouls. If he plays the whole game, he is indeed a top WCC player. He often wins opening tips against bigger opponents – a small indication of his athleticism. And he is a crowd pleaser as well. What a find for this group of coaches! rswan – note that he is a JC transfer (not a PG I admit).
Spiers had one great game and several so-so games. He is another tall guard (I have a bias for tall guards on defense) who can shoot when his game is on. His playing time tapered off late in the year – I’m not sure what’s with that. He is only a sophomore and will improve.
Tauch is another big swing-man who can play forward or guard, he developed an outside shot as the season went along, an athletic and tall defender. He can play on my team anytime – a good force from the bench. Entering his Senior and final season.
Brown will be our starting PG next season in his Senior year. Will remain our engine on offense along with Tutu. Kudos to him for adapting to D1 ball as well as he has done. He was not all-WCC honorable mention for no reason – coaches voted on this and the opponents know who they don’t want to play against.
Hayes – among the scholarship players, I’m not certain about his future. He really didn’t get minutes in the second half of the season and did not show much when on the court.
The remaining roster is “walk-ons”, i.e. non-scholarship players who did not play. While I’m sure they are dedicated to the sport and might see a minute of two of action in some game late, they are basically practice players. Hats off to them for their dedication and support.
This assessment is absent any formed opinion on how the new recruits will contribute. I hope our new 4-* guy from Michigan proves as good as expected and that Gipson adapts well to D1 ball. The jury is out on Sykes. If we have another recruit, I’m split on another PG vs big. I’ll take either if they are the best available.
Sorry for the length. In conclusion, the future looks bright, especially if the WCC has 3 coaching changes next year. Maybe Devon Watson will want a new home if longtime’s speculation is right about USF. After all his High-school coach is now an assistant here at LMU and do-overs are trending. And he might be tired of all that rain in San Francisco? How’s that for a PG?
Go Lions!
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