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Post by lmu2008 on Nov 16, 2022 0:25:48 GMT -5
I'm curious what we think our realistic conference expectations should be for the season now that we've gone 1-2 in real games (not including Life Pacific).
I think our most optimistic possible outcome would be 5th in conference. Pessimistic would be 8th. Anything worse than 8th would be unacceptable.
Any postseason tourney bid would be a stretch, unless we saw major in-season improvements from everyone. Cam seems to be the only player who has made major strides this offseason (3PT shooting and strength), but I hold the (naive?) hope that we can collectively start to look better heading into 2023.
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Post by dedicatedlionfan on Nov 16, 2022 1:38:23 GMT -5
It’s hard to say for me because there are some games that we lol great and some games we just look so poor. I wish that we had some idea about the injury designation for some of our players. are they not required to say what they injuries are and when they anticipate their return?
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Post by nbdlion22 on Nov 16, 2022 8:21:28 GMT -5
This whole Instagram marketing is stupid. You got our guys acting a fool during warmups then get their asses handed to them by UCI. Complete joke and typical millennial and gen z bullsh*t
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Post by lmu2015 on Nov 16, 2022 11:39:43 GMT -5
Not going to make judgements on our team yet, they inconsistency is still giving us a wide variance (I'd say the range is 4-9 right now), but I think Taitz could be a top 2 player on our team, and obviously Douglas and Marble are still on the bench - but safe to way that the Big 3 are still out of our reach.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Nov 16, 2022 16:57:47 GMT -5
What do I think of this year’s team. It’s hard to say but I can say that the Lions played so poorly in the first half of the Irvine game that I could not watch the second half – I had a Perry Mason rerun to watch instead.
The team shot 3 for 21 from 3 point range. Merkviladze played 19 minutes and did not score. Alex is 3–15 from 3 on the season.
Issanza made two nice early baskets including an “Ally Oop” but didn’t score afterwards. He only played 18 minutes despite giving the Lions a measure of rim defense. I think he needs to play more. Our lead guards were 6-14 and 4-13, not winning percentages. Ahens didn’t score in 23 minutes, he was 0-3. Sniper was 0-5. Keli played OK but was 0-3 from 3 and fouled out. Graham played decently, shot 4-4 in 20 minutes with 9 rebounds but racked up 4 fouls. Lewis also played decently, shot 3-3 in 13 minutes. Lamaj deserves more court time also and right now is outplaying Ahrens.
We haven’t seen Junior transfer 6’3” guard Noah Taitz. Last season Taitz was Stanfords 7th leading scorer averaging 4.5 ppg in 14 minutes. Getting him on the floor for the Lions should help. Douglas’s return will really help so long as he can stay healthy. I’m a little disapppinted that we might not see him until the WCC season starts at the end of December – that’s a long time out of the lineup. Marble wasn’t my favorite guard but he played decent defense and showed a lot of energy. His return adds depth but doesn’t excite. Stephens needs more experience which only comes with court time but outside of the Life Pacific game, his scoring hasn’t relly contributed. Nobles also need seasoning but may help next season.
All in all, I see a pretty dismal season ahead unless some things change. As others have noted, the team needs some schemes on offense that open up scoring. I guess in sum, the future of the team is in Coach Johnson’s hands. He needs to get effective rotations going and bring some structure to the team’s play.
I hope I’m wrong but the WCC is very competitive and so far we haven’t shown that we are up to the challenge.
On a separate thought line, with all our Big West games on the non-conference schedule, I wondered if we might be trying out to move to the Big West conference? Just a silly random thought on my part.
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Post by ALioninWinter on Nov 17, 2022 0:56:02 GMT -5
Some Thoughts on 90045’s post -
1. Alex has been really inconsistent. He was a non-factor last night but played really well against UC Riverside (18 pts and was the best player that night in an otherwise dismal game).
2. Sniper really came into his own against UC Davis. He was 4/7 from the arc and played with real confidence. Against Irvine he looked like he has in the other games - a very out-classed and undersized freshman.
3. Moving to the Big West would be a terrible move. The Big West typically has one decent team and a bunch of also-rans. It has no respect as a BB conference. Now, I’ll agree that the way the Lions have played BB for the last (seemingly forever), they fit in well as a Big West also-ran. But going to the Big West would be a significant step down for the athletic programs across the board and the academic standing of the WCC vs the Big West.
4. Ahrens is really disappointing. He has the skill. He has very solid Big Ten experience. But he doesn’t inject himself into the offense. Against UC Davis he popped 2 early 3s and I thought, “Finally, he’s getting in the zone.” Alas, he didn’t score another bucket all night. Then, he got zero’s again last night. He’s got talent, size, experience. I don’t know what’s going on.
5. Graham played well. He was thoroughly out-sized by Irvine’s center. There wasn’t much he could do about that.
6. I agree Issanza needs more court time. And so does Lewis.
7. The Lions’ defense didn’t improve in the second half. Irvine simply dropped their more methodical offensive scheme. The game kinda devolved into a street all matchup. If Irvine had stayed with what they did in the first half, it would’ve been a 30 point game.
8. This is speculation on my part but I doubt we will see Taitz at all this season. I’m also starting to wonder if someone isn’t telling the whole truth about Douglas. I understand bringing him along slowly, but if he’s as healthy as I’ve been led to believe, I’d expect to see him for at least a few minutes. He wasn’t even on the bench I. Last night’s game.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Nov 17, 2022 20:35:25 GMT -5
I was probably a bit severe in my statements above. They were mostly based in the Irvine game and Irvine is a very good team, probably NCAA material this season. But we need Douglas and hopefully Taitz to help turn things around. Why is the administrtion so silent about the condition of these two and Marble also for that matter? Some word would be helpful to fans.
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Post by cs17 on Nov 17, 2022 21:19:31 GMT -5
Considering nearly every player in college basketball is Gen Z currently, if anyone is "over their bullsh*t" then I highly suggest maybe watching the current old-man Lakers squad, or simply walking down to your local YMCA to watch some pick-up ball.
It is also not hard to unfollow any instagram account.
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Post by golions1444 on Nov 18, 2022 0:05:52 GMT -5
Anyone else watching usd utah state right now? Eric Williams has 40 for USD! Going to OT.
Jawara has looked good too.
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Post by fryer4three on Nov 19, 2022 19:54:49 GMT -5
Who right now is clearly better than the Lions:
-Zags -SMC -BYU -USD -USF
Who probably is better than LMU: -Santa Clara -Portland
Who We May Finish Ahead Of: -Pepperdine -Pacific
I think 8th or 9th is most realistic. I have watched Santa Clara a few times already-- they look better than us. Portland as well. The top 5 I think are undoubtedly better. USD really has impressed me when I have seen them. Wish we got Lavin. Jiawara is a stud. Williams as well.
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Post by ADG'99 on Nov 20, 2022 16:58:25 GMT -5
Who right now is clearly better than the Lions: -Zags -SMC -BYU -USD -USF Who probably is better than LMU: -Santa Clara -Portland Who We May Finish Ahead Of: -Pepperdine -Pacific I think 8th or 9th is most realistic. I have watched Santa Clara a few times already-- they look better than us. Portland as well. The top 5 I think are undoubtedly better. USD really has impressed me when I have seen them. Wish we got Lavin. Jiawara is a stud. Williams as well. So Wake Forest would finish 10th in the WCC and Georgetown 11th. 🙂
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Post by fryer4three on Nov 20, 2022 17:04:03 GMT -5
Georgetown yes probably...
Today was a very good win. This team has a shot to finish above Santa Clara and Portland if they play like this consistently
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Post by metrostatedunlapfan1 on Nov 20, 2022 17:36:06 GMT -5
All these comments hating on our Lions the past few weeks are hilarious …it’s November people! Every team in college basketball other than a select few are going to have ups and downs. Good wins. Bad losses.
I like our roster. looking forward to this team growing more and more before conference play.
Go Lions!
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Post by slblions08 on Nov 20, 2022 18:58:01 GMT -5
I only see one weak team at its Pacific. Gonzaga, St. Mary’s and BYU just have that built in advantage. But the next tier is it’s own challenge. USF is riding Shabazz and last year’s performance. Lavin is quickly looking to build up San Diego with talent. Don’t sleep on Pepperdine. I know Romar always leaves everybody disappointed. Pepperdine has NBA length, some good recruits. They just beat UCI. Santa Clara is well coached.
Our lions may wind up with a decent squad but the record may not match. However if we can continue to shoot around the floor then they’ll have a puncher’s chance in the tourney.
Everybody liked how Portland played last year, but to me they’ll have to prove it again.
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Post by lmu2015 on Nov 21, 2022 13:50:35 GMT -5
Agree with the sentiment above - as of now we can't way we are better than Gonzaga, St Mary's, and BYU. USF, Santa Clara, and USD (who just lost in OT to a very good Utah State team) have all played better than us so far as well. Pepperdine and Portland have looked good, just like we have.
WCC is a two bid team this year with Gonzaga and St Marys, but the conference is getting a whole lot better and it is exciting to see. In previous years, being in KenPoms top 125 would be good for the best team in the WCC behind the big 3, this year we could very well have 8 teams in the top 125. Said different, our 2011-12 team who finished with 20+ wins including a win over UCLA and 4th in conference would probably be the 7th or 8th best team in the WCC this year (we finished 140 in Kenpom ranking that year - 7 WCC teams are currently better than that, and USD will be ranked higher than that shortly).
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