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Post by boothlion on Dec 3, 2023 0:03:55 GMT -5
That was just ugly. On a side note the Nevada broadcast mentioned how they have renewed our home and home series so we got 2 more years of this…
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Post by golions1444 on Dec 3, 2023 0:13:15 GMT -5
Easiest and quickest way to describe us is we are less than the sum of our parts. That’s on the coaching staff. We are a 500 team at best unless some big changes are made.
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Post by pumpfake on Dec 3, 2023 0:18:46 GMT -5
One glaring issue with our team is that, with the exception of Dom, Michael, Lars and Rick, we lack length. Most of our opponents have taller, longer guys and we don't have any answers.
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Post by lionlife on Dec 3, 2023 0:32:41 GMT -5
Turns out having wings and rim protection helps win games.
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Post by ALioninWinter on Dec 3, 2023 0:35:51 GMT -5
Let me start by pulling nbd off the window ledge. Yes, we got beaten badly tonight. But Nevada is very good. If they keep playing at the level they’ve played so far this year, they’ll be a tournament team.
We clearly are not a tournament team. Our only hope is to get drastically better over the next couple months and make a big splash in WCC regular season and conference tournament play. But we have a ways to go.
Not only is Nevada better, they have the exact roster that creates the worst opposition for the Lions. We have NO quality wing play. Meanwhile Nevada has a roster full of wings. Coach Alford knew what he was doing. He told his wings to constantly take the ball to the hoop. We can’t defend that. We might stop one wing but not a whole team of them and that’s basically what Nevada has.
Then, on the other end of the court, those same wings had little problem preventing our guards from penetrating. Hill and Wright were non-contributors tonight because they had no where to go … and Coach Stan doesn’t have the Xs and Os to help them out.
I do want to give a shout out to Michael Graham. He played hard and had numerous quality defensive stops. He’s the only Lion who truly played above his capabilities tonight.
Regarding how we’ll fare in the WCC — probably middle of the road. Near as I can tell, the conference is taking a significant step backward this season. St Mary’s is under .500. Santa Clara just lost to Cal. Pacific lost to Nevada by 50. Other than the Zags I don’t see any team lighting any fires this year. And back to my original point, Nevada probably has more quality wings than the entire WCC absent Gonzaga. In league play we won’t be dealing too much with our biggest weakness.
Given the state of what I’ve seen so far this season with the WCC, we have the potential to be highly competitive, BUT we’ve got to improve on what we’re doing and get to the point where our guys are playing at a level that matches their capabilities.
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Post by thx4leavinjimlynam on Dec 3, 2023 8:10:43 GMT -5
Great analysis from everyone. What I don’t understand is, as someone who only listened to the game, Jesse was talking before the game that they were not a three-point shooting team. It appears abundantly clear to everyone that they were driving and we couldn’t stop them. Why not switch to the old fashion 2–3 zone, clog the paint, force them to take outside shots, and focus on getting the rebound. That seems like common sense.
Oh, and by doing so it would have limited our foul trouble as well and kept our best players on the court longer.
The fact that we lost to an undefeated team doesn’t bother me, but it worries me when common sense in-game adjustments aren’t made.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Dec 3, 2023 11:22:52 GMT -5
I agree with comments on our play in Reno.
The Wolfpack are an excellent team and frankly out of our league with this Lions team.
In short, I don’t see much “team” play from the Lions just lots of individuals as others noted. Not a good formula for success.
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Post by golions1444 on Dec 3, 2023 12:31:18 GMT -5
Great analysis from everyone. What I don’t understand is, as someone who only listened to the game, Jesse was talking before the game that they were not a three-point shooting team. It appears abundantly clear to everyone that they were driving and we couldn’t stop them. Why not switch to the old fashion 2–3 zone, clog the paint, force them to take outside shots, and focus on getting the rebound. That seems like common sense. Oh, and by doing so it would have limited our foul trouble as well and kept our best players on the court longer. The fact that we lost to an undefeated team doesn’t bother me, but it worries me when common sense in-game adjustments aren’t made. Every game we get killed inside I wonder why we don’t play zone. |
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Post by lmu2015 on Dec 3, 2023 17:57:43 GMT -5
Didn't watch the game, could only follow the box score so I was just wondering we were fouling so much and couldn't make a shot. In summary, given the foul trouble and Nevada's lack of shooting you would have thought we would have played a lot of zone - but based on comments it seems like we didn't. Zone could cause problems rebounding, so unless we went zone a few times and then switched out of it due to giving up too many offensive boards, im not sure why we weren't in it more. But Nevada might be in the top 25 at one point this year, they are a legit tournament team.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Dec 3, 2023 19:53:11 GMT -5
LMU - the Wolfpack guards played a tight man-to-man and had a size advantage at that position so we had troubles getting shots off. The results were air balls from desperation shots or shot clock violations. Playing as a team seems a problem when we encounter quality opponents.
Our small guards - Hill and Wright - had tough nites. Wright was shut out!
In the positive, nice to see McBride starting to score. He had a 3! Before he was deferring and passing up shots. I hope this opens the window to his offense in future games. He has the size and strength to be a difference maker.
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Post by ALioninWinter on Dec 3, 2023 22:37:29 GMT -5
Coach Stan’s offensive philosophy seems to be based on the concept that the Lions will have superior athletes and players. It’s a philosophy that can work well when you’re Duke, Kansas or UCLA. It even works for LMU when we’re playing Central Arkansas. But we’ve got a long way to go before we’re attracting the top players in the country.
However there are many ways of countering better teams. Coach Stan has done a great job of energizing our moribund program, but it’s obvious to me that he’s not capable or willing to adopt the Xs and Os concepts that can elevate a team’s capabilities to exceed the sum of its individual players’ capabilities. Last night our guards were each left to their own devices to find openings in Nevada’s defense. Very little done with pick and rolls. No screens for our shooters. Just a whole bunch of one-on-one play that led to hurried long shots and shot clock violations. Harris is a phenomenal shooter. Johnston is a very good shooter. Yet I don’t recall a SINGLE SCREEN for either shooter. It’s frustrating to watch.
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