Lions vs. Dons

[Deleted]

Did you guys see Diedrichs go to the basket with authority? First time I saw that sort of muscle in him and it was great!! I admit I was wrong, not a blowout or an ugly loss. Good effort by the guys.

[lmu]

I think I like winning more than losing.

[fanblade]

[Moose]

Like when you lose, in a win you can point to many factors. An inside presence was the key tonight and not just on offense. LMU had 24 points in the paint while USF had 20. Interior defense is the key for this team. Diederichs actually jumped for a rebound tonight. He blocks out fine, but doesn't go after the ball. Tonight he did a couple of times. He also played big on offense - I mean shooting the ball like he is 6'9 rather than 5'9' - he challenged the person playing him. It was also good to see that we kept going to him. Saturday he started off with 9 points and then we stopped looking for him. That wasn't the case tonight. Sweezy is tough and smart and knows where everyone is when he is playing defense. Doesn't cover air or space and has awareness. Sutton isn't there yet - he covers air and doesn't have a clue when someone is behind him and is slow to react because there is no anticipation. He has the most potential and when he decides to run hard and play with awareness, he could become a decent big man. From the bigs you got 25 points and 12 rebounds - more than double a typical games output. You can talk about free throws and turnovers and shots made, but defense and rebounding inside were the keys tonight. Kudos to the perimeter players who had a good game. This is now about consistency. Can everyone perform at this level and better for the next game? If we can, that will make two in a row for the first time this year. Let's do it.

[phurther]

Did that win just seriously bump us up to a tie for fifth place in WCC play?
Take a deep breath while you can -- we're out of the cellar!

[Guest]

What I liked the most was the effort level.

Deadwiler was a beast, 18 points and 7 rebounds 2 steals while having severe cramps and a possible fracture somewhere on his non shooting forearm.

Counts is just that when it counts its Counts time. Tim really stepped up and maybe he is starting to take it personal. OJ got called for some cheap offensive fouls but still had a good game. This was a good team effort with energy. Not to worry about losing it, the Lions had this in there hands, Freethrows at the end are part of the game USF wasn't getting this one Counts and Deadwiler at the line at the end sealed this deal although Counts where it Counts got it done. What a team effort and now lets get behind these players/recruits and support them. They can play it takes time but with time they will win.

I would like to see our bigs start leading the team in rebounds each and every night. Last game JZ this game Deadwiler (Guards). Again in time this will come.
Go Lions!

[Deleted]

Moose you are 100% on all your points but I wouldn't minimize the importance of that TO number. We finally had a chance to dish out to Diederichs inside. Usually we are throwing the ball between legs, over heads, getting it snatched, etc etc and do not make the passes in order to get good shots. Worse yet we stop passing and just throw up wild bombs. That has been the story during these blowouts. A lot more than that yes but I think TOs were killing us when it forced us into brain numbing plays. Finally, this is the first game I saw that actually had the looks of a "system." What we need now desperately is consistency. Step by step if we can keep this up and improve we'll give everyone a reason to keep their heads high. First standing O of the season? Going to enjoy this time out of the cellar and get some fresh air.

[lmu]

This is like the win against portland. Great energy, good defensive effort and low turnovers. I wonder what RT said in the locker room after the loss to USD....must be some pep talks.

[ironlions]

Great effort by the Lions on both ends of the floor. The energy on the bench was great. Even saw RT crack some jokes during the game. We kept our composure and mental toughness even when we started to let the lead get cut down.

Go Lions

[lionspride]

MUCH MUCH better effort by our Lions. Give the players credit for the energy and believing they could beat USF. That was a must win and they got it done. I wish they had that confidence against the rest of the WCC pack. Portland, USF, and Pepperdine are teams that we should beat. However, I am worried for our Lions as they face Portland and USF on their home turfs in the 2nd half of conference play.

Defense was key. Also, I actually saw Tim D. play both side of the ball. He had a few rebounds. It took 20+ games for him to start in the line up and figure out. Hopefully, he retains that he needs to do the same in the next game. And maybe he can improve on the 4 turnovers last night. The guards feed the post well and he dropped some passes. OJ had some cheap fouls. We need to get OJ more touches.

Deadwiler was all over the floor last night. Kudos to Deadwiler as he provided much of the energy when running the ball up the court. Also, Deadwiler knows how to create for himself. He goes to the rack and gets fouled (good free throw shooter) or dishes off. The aforementioned is not in Corey or QT's skill set. Deadwiler probably has the ability to take over the game but is not getting the "call." If OJ showed the same aggressiveness that Deadwiler exhibits, OJ would be a top 3 players in conference.

Great effort by our Lions! Let's shoot for a 2 game winning streak (it will be our first of the year). It will be tough, but the team has the skills to do so....they simply need to execute.

[lmutex]

G/B/U/ from the USF game-

Good-
-Free throws. One bright spot in this season is, when we get the chance, we can close out teams. Shot 77%, and 81% in the second half to ice the game. That's mental toughness.
-Sweezy. I think it took him up until now to understand RT's system and how to play D1 b-ball, but man that kid is energy.
-Deadwiler/ Counts is becoming a pretty sweet backcourt combo. For all the crap we give RT for recruiting bigs, he took a chance on a * walk-on and developed into a potential all-conference performer. And while OJ fouled out on that stupid drive, he hit some shots that were NBA-esque.

Bad-
-I didn't think our D was that great. USF made it pretty easy for us. They gave no effort on offensive boards, save for Lowhorn. I did like the hybrid 3/4 court trap, which goes back into a 3-2 zone. I thought that was our most effective way to slow down USF's bigs.

-Refs just got in the way of the game. Just let them play.

Ugly-
If I were a USF fan, I would be @$!#ing furious. Sutton looked like he was waiting in line at the DMV. IMHO, to even put someone like Sutton in an interim basis, with a purely selfish intent (i.e. 800 w's) is a fireable offense for the AD. And it reflected in USF's players. Manny and Lowhorn were the only two people (save for the USF fans) that actually gave a sh*t about the outcome. What a joke.

All in all, it's telling that JZ's/Deric's minutes are dwindling. And we to remind ourselves that two true freshmen and a soph combined for 2/3 of our points tonight.

[lmu]

D was good last night. Not great but good.

What's the point of USF keeping Sutton from this point on? He got his 800 and USF got the ride. USF should get rid of him now because we all know swift decision pays, right?

Btw, Cory is a baller. Excellent shooting touch behind the arc and at charity stripe. Not speaking solely based on this game alone. In my view, he gets the most improved player of the year award.

[scoop]

I think the biggest thing we saw last night was this team play with confidence. If the team plays with that confidence and energy the rest of the season i think we will be in a good spot. This team is obviously more talented than they have shown regularly. We just need them to play with the desire and confidence knowing that if they play hard they will find themselves in a lot of games. There was no cave in last night. Strong start, USF fought back and unlike a lot of games, we withstood the run and bounced right back.


Our problems are not all solved, but I really think if this team believes in itself and we believe and support them, they can compete night in and night out and give them a chance in the last 7 league games.

[lmu]

probably just all part of learning process. Now the players will have to learn how to consistently playing at this level.