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Post by thx4leavinjimlynam on Feb 17, 2023 0:57:13 GMT -5
Marble has looked aggressive on offense tonight. It would be nice if he can carry that over to the remaining games.
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Post by golions1444 on Feb 17, 2023 0:57:15 GMT -5
Lol slblions last post does sound like the coach’s wife and nbdlion you are quite the bipolar fan. Really happy when we win and a totally absurd pessimist when we lose. Whatever guys no regular season game really matters at this point. We’re not getting an at large and who really cares about the NIT. All the matters this season at this point is going on a magical run in Vegas or not. Amazing if we do. Expected if we don’t. Program still moving in the right direction overall. If you told me we’d beat Gonzaga in Spokane and get embarrassed by them in gersten at the start of the season I’ll take that deal any day of the week. I know it hurts tonight but let’s all be reasonable here
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Post by thx4leavinjimlynam on Feb 17, 2023 1:13:19 GMT -5
Because Marble was ejected, I hope that doesn’t mean he is suspended for Saturday
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Post by lionpride19 on Feb 17, 2023 1:17:57 GMT -5
USF win over pacific is huge we can essentially lock up 4th with a win over pacific Saturday
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Post by golions1444 on Feb 17, 2023 1:23:04 GMT -5
Santa Clara beating byu also helps us lock up 4 seed
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Post by lionlife on Feb 17, 2023 1:57:46 GMT -5
That was embarrassing, but you must not be paying attention to the timeline if you think there hasn't been tangible progress this season. NIT is not out of reach.
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Post by lmu2008 on Feb 17, 2023 2:07:34 GMT -5
Lol slblions last post does sound like the coach’s wife and nbdlion you are quite the bipolar fan. Really happy when we win and a totally absurd pessimist when we lose. Whatever guys no regular season game really matters at this point. We’re not getting an at large and who really cares about the NIT. All the matters this season at this point is going on a magical run in Vegas or not. Amazing if we do. Expected if we don’t. Program still moving in the right direction overall. If you told me we’d beat Gonzaga in Spokane and get embarrassed by them in gersten at the start of the season I’ll take that deal any day of the week. I know it hurts tonight but let’s all be reasonable here Uh, a lot of us would like to see us play in the NIT. That could be possible if we finish with 20 wins on the season. In November, only the biggest optimists here would have thought we'd be 4th in conference at the end of the season. I sure didn't. So despite how embarrassing tonight was, we're still on track to overachieve and get a double bye in the tournament. |
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Post by cs17 on Feb 17, 2023 3:11:35 GMT -5
Nbd is always the Uber negative pessimist so I was expecting his reply.
I’m still proud of the team that is the first ever WCC squad to take down the big three in the same season. Of course I would’ve loved to see better fight tonight. We all would.
Best part about all this negative bs is that for the first time in what, two decades? We have a chance to finish top-4 in conference and get 2 byes when we were picked ninth in the preseason? An NIT bid would be insane, and I’d be on the first flight to whatever city we play in.
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Post by iggysdiner on Feb 17, 2023 3:39:54 GMT -5
Nbd is always the Uber negative pessimist so I was expecting his reply. I’m still proud of the team that is the first ever WCC squad to take down the big three in the same season. Of course I would’ve loved to see better fight tonight. We all would. Best part about all this negative bs is that for the first time in what, two decades? We have a chance to finish top-4 in conference and get 2 byes when we were picked ninth in the preseason? An NIT bid would be insane, and I’d be on the first flight to whatever city we play in. Open invitation for nbd to come to any game. Keyboard warrior. Not a good performance tonight but have to give the zags a lot of credit. Out schemed and out played us. However this has been the best season in 30 years. Let’s get this win Saturday and then a W in Malibu the following week to set ourselves up for a run in the WCC tourney. Go lions. |
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Post by ALioninWinter on Feb 17, 2023 4:57:45 GMT -5
There was absolutely no morale victories in tonight’s drubbing, but the team, each player and coach, and the fan base need to look past tonight and focus on the advancement made by the program this year. Not only do we have 2 league wins against Top 15 programs, we also have a good shot at a 20 win season, aconvincing win over Nevada (20-6 and third in the MWC), wins over ACC foe Wake Forest and Big East foe Georgetown, and a nice victory on Grand Canyon’s home court. This is not a resume that’ll stir the hearts of the NCAA tournament selection committee, but it’s waaay better than anything we’ve seen in a long, long time. Sure, we’d all like to see a tournament team NOW, but these things take time. At this point we still have the inside lane for a 4th place finish. The WCC has grown into a tough BB conference. Fourth place would be a good achievement.
I take exception to slb’s criticism of AD Pintens. He’s doing a good job. He’s brought new life into what was a moribund program - not just in basketball, but across the university’s athletic programs. There’s a whole lot going on behind the scenes that you don’t see. They’re slowly getting staff into place, working the sponsorships and alumni donations, and building solid programs. We’ve already seen some notable improvements (locker room, conference rooms, visitor reception areas, etc.) and there are more on the way. Pintens Athletic Program is extending its tentacles across the LMU community in ways that far exceed anything seen in Husak’s tenure. Give them some time!
I also disagree with slb’s criticism of Coach Stan walking around campus selling the program. At any university the head coach is the face of the program. Players come and go, but the program takes on the face and demeanor of the head coach. Sure, various minions in the Athletic Department can spend all day running around campus hawking baubles and pizzas, but it won’t have any where near the impact of the head coach spending an hour or two marketing the team. The whole PR thing is Coach Stan’s strength and he deserves an A+ for his efforts in this area.
I think Coach Stan has done an excellent job of getting buy in from his players and getting them to play significantly above their weight class. They play hard, real hard; but the individual talent levels are well below Gonzaga, St Mary’s, Santa Clara, San Francisco and perhaps another team or two. Yet he has them in the pole position for 4th place. He and the team deserve a lot of credit for this achievement.
As to the future? Well, as Coach Stan says, he’s building a program to a new standard. Next year will be a whole new experience. We lose Cam Shelton. That’s a massive loss and Coach needs to pull a rabbit or two out of his hat. To date, his recruiting efforts have had middling results. Cam is his only real win so far. This year Issanza and Graham have played commendably. Beyond those individuals it’s been pretty close to a wasteland of mediocrity.
With the new transfer rules in effect today, coaches have a harder time developing a team over time. One can no longer predict what a team will have in the future based on what they have now. Only time will tell if Coach Stan can crack the recruiting code.
While at this point in time, I give Coach a C- for his recruiting to date, I give him a flat out Fail for his Xs and Os and his in-game strategy adjustments. If he can’t figure out how to do it, he needs to hire an assistant who can. It’s going to be a long time before he can recruit the five best players in the country and simply tell them, “Go have fun.” He needs to recruit the right skills and then develop some schemes using those skills that can win games against tough opponents. So far, he’s shown me nothing in this department … and that concerns me.
At this point all we can do is root for the team, hope they can have a good tournament, and then wait to see what develops for next year.
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Post by fryer4three on Feb 17, 2023 9:49:48 GMT -5
Okay a few observations from someone who attended last nights massacre:
1) credit Gonzaga. That was the best they looked all year. Looked like a legit title contender. Strawther if he could play like that consistently is a lottery pick.
2) nice crowd but holy heck, the administration needs to be embarrassed for how they handle the crowd management getting into the gym. They were not prepared at all for a large crowd which is a bit laughable considering it was Gonzaga. Took fans 20 minutes to get into the arena from about 15 feet away. Had 1-2 lines getting in, with dudes now using a wand to check for safety, and half of the guys were chatting it up with patrons, slowing the lines down even more. I know we never get fans, but should have been way better planned than to have a huge moshpit of fans storming to get in. Could have been a safety issue for sure.
3) isn’t this just the lion way? One step forward, two steps back? As a fan for 30 years, I just cannot get over excited about this program, EVER. You win a big game and then get flat out embarrassed on national tv. As good as the win at Spokane was, this was almost as deflating. We were the bud of Gonzaga’s joke to the nation last night. Down 40 at halftime? I have seen a ton of lmu basketball and even in the worst years, I cannot remember that. The team was not prepared. Few ran circles around Stan. Put length and more men on Cam and Stan looked lost. It’s been said here before that Stan is a great salesman and he truly is. As far as X’s and O’s Though, much to be desired and learned.
4) I wish Lion's fans especially young Lion's fans knew our history better. Anthony Ireland, literally one of the best players in program history, and maybe tops outside of the golden era, was honored and about 15 people gave a standing ovation to him.. all on the season ticket holder side. Imo that whole place, or at least all LMU fans, should have been giving a standing ovation to Ireland. If not for him, then who? It was a bit eye opening that so many fans could care less that one of the best players ever here was being honored and the students didnt know him from the janitor.
5) Our administration needs to take a trip down to Grand Canyon University and spend a gameday there. You want to create a home court advantage? Watch how their leadership and student groups create that atmosphere. They have student leaders, organized cheers, coreographed dances. Its the best in the nation in terms of student crowds. If you cant make it down to Grand Canyon, go to CBU for a mini version of it. Or go to Gonzaga which I am sure they have, and have learned little. Hyped music before the game, but the students really didnt know what to do other than bob their heads. Hire student group leaders, practice some dances/chants, dress up in wild outfits... create a HOME COURT ADVANTAGE. Pointless to have thousands of students there if they are just "watching" the game. They need to be LOUD but I dont blame them. They are given zero direcetion.
Truly a bad night for the lions. Anytime there is a good crowd, it’s very often a big let down. You think the first time attendees last night are excited about the next game? Nope. You can’t lose by 50 and expect the fringe fans to attend consistently. It’s been an issue for years upon years. Consistent teams make for consistent large crowds. We have neither right now.
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Post by thx4leavinjimlynam on Feb 17, 2023 11:19:25 GMT -5
The Anthony Ireland observation really makes me sad. That is shameful. Did they show any of his highlights or anything to get people excited?
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Post by fryer4three on Feb 17, 2023 11:25:29 GMT -5
The Anthony Ireland observation really makes me sad. That is shameful. Did they show any of his highlights or anything to get people excited? It was during a timeout and they honored him at half court. I believe they put his stats up and gave him a lengthy introduction. Made me sad too. He got a bigger ovation in Spokane by zags fans when he played the zags at their place |
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Post by majormerch on Feb 17, 2023 11:30:03 GMT -5
hi everybody
class of 2010 grad here. long time follower of the forum, but felt yesterday was sort of a catalyst for me to jump in and join the discussion.
I have been watching and attending lmu games over the past 12-13 years and wanted to
share my two cents on yesterday's game.
the good
1 - i dont remember ever seeing a crowd or gameday environment like that for a televised LMU game (especially in the first half as people started to leave the game later in the 2nd half). That was really good to see
2- it seems like coach stan and the new ad pintens seem to have a good idea of how to politic and navigate the college basketball "business" . IMHO alot of the media narrative regarding the LMU turnaround, the program thats being "built" by coach stan etc that was reported on by the CBS sports network were all scripts and stories that were pitched, packaged, and sold by our athletic department to the network. Thinking back on the max good and dunlap days, this was a big missing piece for our basketball program. It looks like our new leaders in the athletic department understand the importance of program image and perception by the media, general public, and fans
3- Coach stan is young, energetic, and extremely passionate and I respect and appreciate that effort hes put in fundraising, marketing and trying to build up this program
the bad
1 - that was a flat out poor performance by our guys. extremely careless with the ball, very little movement on offense outside of the basic pick & roll weve seen all year, and way too much reliance on cam to make something happen at the end of the shotclock
2 - this is in no way an attack on our players who I have no doubt have been giving it their all for our program but the talent disparity yesterday was REALLY obvious. We looked liked a non D1 team out there.
3 - we need some leadership in our student/player partnerships, campus life, etc. LMU has no culture behind our athletics program and we really need someone to come in and create some hype and tradition around our program. Our student section was loud yesterday but really nothing compared to some of the programs mentioned above me. Home court advantage is real and I dont think we really have much of that in our favor yet.
the ugly
1 - we lost by 43 points. a terrible loss without a doubt. From a program reputation perspective I think the damage was twice as bad. A D1 program that is in the top half of their conference can NOT lose by this big of a margin to a league rival. Even if the rival is a perennial tourney team
2- the inconssitency in our level of play this year i think has a direct correlation to our young coach's fiery and at times incredibly emotional leadership style. Players follow their coach whether they like it or not. And our players have been incredibly inconsistent. A top program does not go hot and cold and cold back to hot like the lions do.
3- we had 19 turnovers yesterday, our turnover issues have not improved at all in the past 3 years under coach stan. top programs don't turn the ball over like we do.
Yesterday was an incredibly frustrating game but I continue to support the lions and hopefully this was just a hiccup on the path back to success.
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Post by lmu2008 on Feb 17, 2023 12:45:36 GMT -5
The Anthony Ireland observation really makes me sad. That is shameful. Did they show any of his highlights or anything to get people excited? It was during a timeout and they honored him at half court. I believe they put his stats up and gave him a lengthy introduction. Made me sad too. He got a bigger ovation in Spokane by zags fans when he played the zags at their place It was unfortunate that AI was honored in the second half when we were down 50ish. Really took the excitement of the Gersten. Statistically, he is the 3rd highest career scorer (after Hank + Bo), 3rd all time in assists, and 2nd all time in steals. Probably a top 4 all time Lion after Hank, Bo and Lowery (who leads in steals and assists). But to the original post, it would have been nice if LMU put together an AI highlight reel and played that during the timeout as he was being honored. |
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