Forum › Forum › Lehigh Sports › Lehigh Men’s Basketball › Comparing 2011-12 to 2012-13
This topic contains 7 replies, has 5 voices, and was last updated by RichH 12 years, 3 months ago.
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November 14, 2012 at 6:41 pm #7987
I know it is very early, but looking at a brief comparison of last year and this year. I like what I have seen from CJ (looks stronger and even more confident), MM (looks like end of last season, but needs better decision making) and GK (loved his post moves vs. Pitt against bigger players). SC looks better, AD looks better, CB looks better, CS looks much better. HG looks about the same, maybe slightly worse from his junior season. Addition of JG, and BB yet to play. DC non-factor.
But, even though the players look improved, the team looks worse. Last year, early on, we played 2 big opponents on the road in OOC play, St. John’s and Iowa State. We played both of those teams tight, losing to Johnnie’s very late, and in it to the end, and played ISU to about 10 points at their place. This year, 2 blowout losses by 20+ to Baylor and Pitt. Now, I do think Baylor and Pitt are stronger than last year’s St. John’s and ISU. But, remember, we also played Michigan State very tight at their place in OOC when HG went for a huge night. So, in early returns, I think this team is slightly down from last year. We are really missing Adams and Manieri. And, to make matters worse, Adams started really slow last year, before coming on steadily with the 3 ball as a weapon. No big player is going to replace that this year. First half last night looked like our NCAA team vs. Duke and Xavier, but second half was bad.
Two NIT consolation games are big for this team. Two solid PL level opponents. Two wins will go along way to building their confidence.
November 15, 2012 at 8:47 am #7996First of all, I have not given up on this team, they will get it together if the following happens:
Team leadership, mentoring the younger players, team work and unselfish play. Body language goes a long way. They do not appear to gel as a unit from what I saw on television. No back slapping, high fives, even the chest bumps were suspect. The seniors from last year were not the stars, they wanted to win and as the good Dr. said, they led. Time for CJ, Gabe and Greiner and BJ (hope he is ok) to lead as they were led. Pay it forward.
On a funny note, I was a little confused when I heard the name Adams against Pitt, then I realized it was Adams for the Pitt team. Maneri sure could make a difference as far as banging. For a moment, I too was hopeful McCarthy had emerged once again.
On a positive note, I loved Gabe’s poise against Pitt. Let’s go LU. It is not over yet, just need to get hot.
November 15, 2012 at 11:35 am #7998I haven’t looked this up, so tell me if I’m wrong if someone has time to look up today, but Iowa State game we got SMOKED….smoked big time, only late in garbage time when we were donw like 25 did we chip away to narrow it down. BUT – I agree with your premise, we’re going to be okay, we just wanted to see more/earlier on in the season against big tests, and we just haven’t gotten that yet…but March is so far away, and with CJ and some growth from JG and CB, we could be very dangerous come march.
Agree – NIT did us a favor with a good fairfield team kenpom 130’s and Penn is always a good opponent to get experience playing. ALso, Rob Mor will end up being a “good” win by end of year, they’ll win 23-24 games wehen all is said and done. Take care of biz at home next week and all is well….
Yes we’re missing adams and maneri, prolly because we didn’t replace them haaha – remember, we’re two schollies short handed! I might try to work that into every post for rest of hte year…we’re two schollies short….
November 15, 2012 at 11:37 am #7999Tell you what, SC is much better this year, even looks better on D(granted only upside from last year)….if he ever figures out how to put the ball on the floor and get to the tin after utilizing ball fake…..could be dangerous…he’s going to chip in 7-10 points per game in league play….be that guy off the bench.
November 15, 2012 at 11:42 am #8000JG in particular, has to get minutes, has to give opportunity to get better..need major growth from him cause he is going to need to be factor against BU and AU in particular in league play.
November 15, 2012 at 3:08 pm #8001Research on the Iowa State Game from last year
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Lehigh…………………… 39 38 – 77
Iowa State……………….. 42 44 – 86
LU Sports Commentary
“Despite playing neck-and-neck with Iowa State for the entire first half, the Cyclones used hot shooting in the second to pull away from the Lehigh men’s basketball team, 86-77, on Saturday afternoon at the Hilton Coliseum. The Mountain Hawks used balanced scoring as 10 different Lehigh players scored on the afternoon, led by 17 from junior Holden Greiner which was two shy of a career high.”
“Iowa State opened up as much as a 26-point second-half lead before the Mountain Hawks continued to fight. Lehigh scored 11 points in the game’s final 2:25 capped off by a McCollum steal and dunk for the 86-77 final.”
Like nearly everyone else, I’m disheartened by the play of CB and JG so far this year and wondering about the hype/fuss made over DC earlier on this Board. Maybe each will come around but in two cases (CB and JG) they must. That is if we are to have success against some of the bigs we’ll face down the line. Before calling in the coroner, check out the early games of Holden Greiner as a freshman.
Game # Opponent Minutes Points Rebounds
1 Richmond 1 0 0
2 Rider DNP
3 Quinnipiac DNP
4 5 2 1
Ended the Year 11.1 3.1 5.2
Seems to me that both (certainly CB) must reach or exceed that level of play by year end – desirably by the start of PL play. I do believe (as a Mets fan would say, “you gotta believe) they’ll never see the likes of what Baylor and Pitt threw at them again this year. So, let’s give them time and hope they round into the players we hoped they would be by January 12th (PL Game #1).
November 15, 2012 at 4:37 pm #800565-
I like your comments about HG, but you failed to mention in Game 5 of his freshman season, HG went for 18 points on 8/10 from the field and 2/4 from 3 and 6 rebounds in 22 minutes. Can we pencil Carter in for a similar line in the Penn game? We can only hope.
I am still looking out the window over the ledge and here is why. I think you pretty much know what you have pretty quickly at Lehigh’s level of college basketball. When those players step on the floor for the first couple of practices, I think Reed has a pretty good idea of what he has. We are looking for DC to be an all league player down the road. If you look at the others that are in that discussion, Gabe and Mackey were starters from Day 1. CJ was a starter game 3 of his freshman year, and a heavy contributor in games 1 and 2. HG, as said above, went for 18 in his 5th college game. I can only think of one player in this current cycle that does not fit the profile and that is AD. He went for 17 in 18 minutes in his first college game vs. Penn St, and hasn’t come close to that figure again in the next 2+ seasons. I have a pretty strong feeling that 17 points will be the high of his college career, which would be a pretty amazing statistic if it happens.
So, I think the fact that DC is a garbage minute guy in his first 3 college games signals real problems. If the games were closer, he would have 3 DNPs to his credit. If he was that talented I would think Reed would have gotten him minutes. Hell, I thought he was going to be a 20 minute guy from Day 1, ahead of CS, SC and AD.
Side note on DC vs. AD (who I probably saw play 20 games in high school). If DC was the #3 shooting guard in Ohio, I would estimate AD was not in the top #10 shooting guards in NJ. If DC was the #1 shooting guard in Cleveland, again I would not estimate AD was one of the top #10 shooting guards in Philly area. I realize NJ as a state probably stronger than Ohio, and Philly better than Cleveland. AD was Player of the Year in South Jersey, but that does not mean much when you compare to the powerhouse programs in the northern part of the state. BJ Bailey, also won the same honor as AD (SJ Player of the Year), a year or two earlier. So, for those reasons, I was very high on DC and from the Youtube video, which was plentiful.
The only thing I can say in DC’s defense is that he is sitting behind probably the best player at his position in the country. He and CJ are natural 2’s at the college level. MM started because Lehigh needed a PG, and GK started because Lehigh needed a big man. We don’t need a 2 right now (obviously) and DC is not a specialist like SC, and does not fill another role (back up PG like CS). I have to think AD’s experience is getting him the minutes and the starts.
All that said, you need to get DC some heavier minutes in the OOC schedule coming up, when the games get softer. Maybe that is the plan.
November 15, 2012 at 4:57 pm #8007Watched Pitt again. I know , I’m a bit maschistic at times. We played a frenetic.high energy 1st half. Impressed still. 2nd half , we ran out of gas. 2nd game in 2. A pace we needed to keep but could not.
I may have been to harsh in my criticism.
Looked again at DC HS video, he is a smooth shooter. Behind CJ and AD as wellas SC, how many minutes can he ever get this early. IMO, it may take some time but he will get up to college game speed. -
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