Santa Clara Broncos

[lmu2008]

I thought you turned this "hot garbage" off NBD?!

[lmu2008]

It's crazy that we were favored in this game. 5+ minutes left and there is no chance we come back.

[thx4leavinjimlynam]

In fairness no team in the country would win a game if they’re making less than 30% of their field goals. Santa Clara is better than we are no doubt about it, but our shooting woes tonight are difficult to watch. And yes I agree that the offensive scheme is definitely part of the issue.

[lionlife]

Well then.

I actually think we have a lot of talent, but we lack both a leading light and balance. Keli hasn't ever been the #1 guy on offense. He's been an incredibly effective spot up shooter, offensive rebounder, occasional post player, screener, cutter, and even a decent passer for years. He's never been a one on one scorer, shot creator, or assist generator, and asking him to be is asking him to spend less energy on the things that make him an all-time great Lion.

Also, why did we bring in so many guards and an extra big? It's almost like we brought in all these guards thinking one could take the initiator role, and none of them were quite ready. Their skills overlap too much in a way that doesn't add to the ability to win. Additionally, we already had two centers plus a power forward who plays like a center on defense, plus a big forward who plays the 4 well for the modern game, plus an athletic freshman 4 coming in... So why did we add another big? There's essentially no way to have a good defense without good wings, and we don't have them. Talent alone cannot produce if the pieces don't fit. We have good players, but the roster wasn't constructed with a coherent vision in mind. Either that, or the vision was to replicate last year with Cam Shelton being replaced by one of the new guys, and no one (predictably) got to that level.

[waterboy]

Did you see how helpless our coaches were tonight! They had no answers. No plays. They created this offense (better said, lack of offense). They are getting killed by the simple pick and roll, but they can't learn to use it in our scheme, so it seems. So our boys, all reasonably talented, are just lost out there. Clearly shooting very poorly, but that's when you need standard (no pun deserved) plays like the pick and roll, to start the correction on the floor. But our guys don't know the pick and roll. I thought that was a fundamental in Bball. I'm getting tired of this.

[nbdlion22]

We should stop posting our keys to the game on Twitter and actually figure out how to win a damn basketball game. What an embarassing night.

[golions1444]

I’m honestly not sure I’ve ever seen a good solid screen set in the Stan Johnson era. It’s either slip screens or terribly effortless screens

[lmu2008]

we were down all 2nd half and hit exactly one 3 pointer in the entire half... and that was as time expired when the game was settled. Not good enough.

It's looking increasingly likely that this is will be a lost season. Super disappointing given the caliber of recruits we got in and pre-season hype.

[lmu2015]

This was supposed to be our big season before a likely rebuild. I want to see McBride playing 10+ minutes per night, don't care if he is "ready" or not. It is tough to watch any game where your team shoots 30%, was actually surprised we stayed in it as long as we did given how awful our shooting was. Maybe we will get hot tomorrow against Saint Marys and again vs Gonzaga - will take an amazing effort to avoid an 0-3 start to conference play now.

[ALioninWinter]

What hasn’t been said about last night’s game is that many of the Lions’ 3-point attempts were reasonably open looks. We’ve been clamoring for screens to spring open our shooters. Yet last night, Santa Clara’s defense wasn’t very good. I saw more open looks for the lions in one game than I have all season I think. Those open looks didn’t result from good screens. The Broncos simply gave the Lions a lot of open looks. Yet our guys couldn’t take advantage.

Some pretty solid D in the first half kept the game close. Then in the second half the Lions made some dumb errors early. Santa Clara capitalized and built a lead. Our guys then began to panic and lost any semblance of discipline. It was a BAD second half.

There was a sequence early in the game that burned me. Don (normally a strong shooter) started the game 0/5 on his outside shots. Those things happen. Shooters live and die by their accuracy or lack thereof. Don was struggling. You could see it. Then on that fifth shot, a Bronco did Dom a HUGE favor. He fouled him! Dom got just what he needed — three easy looks at the basket. Just the tonic needed to get his shot back on track. Nothing better could’ve happened! Now maybe he’s ready to roll! …. Alas, what happens? Coach Stan pulls him from the game!! You’ve gotta be kidding me!

Oh, it’s going to be a long season!

[LIONS90045]

Santa Clara up by 6 over the Zags at the half. Lead had been much larger but the Broncos kept turning the ball over. Zags shot 1-13 from 3 - that won’t continue. Still the Broncos can steal a win at home with Steve Nash attending.

[golions1444]

Great game. Great finish. Santa Clara pulled off the upset on Steve Nash night!

[ALioninWinter]

Great to see Broncos win but it was a very poorly played game. Miserable shooting, too many TOs, porous defenses. But good to see Zags lose.