Fairfield Recap

[LUHoops00Participant]

Since many were at the game, I figured I’d start a postgame thread for you all to post your summaries of the game. Looks like the stars were stars and that is about it. CJ just did his thing, per twitter had as sick dunk. Gabe with 17, mackey with 8 but impressively 7 dimes…and HG with 11 boards. Big win, control home court, get back in the W column, all good things.

All that is good, but I still think we have same questions and are we seeing any improvements in front court? We have 4 guys for the season, and how does he get goldy 1 minute folks? We’re going to need goldy in big games, he’s going to have to play against the americans and bucknells nad legit sized teams, so how you not get him experience when your in control of a game like this…1 minute is brutal, almost as bad as playing 2 schollies shorthanded!!!!(kidding). Have to get him experience to let him grow/improve? Baltimore atleast got 19 minutes, I saw he fouled out, but how did he look? Chipped in with some points but not as many boards as we’d have liked it seems.

Looking forward to the recaps. Big win.

ALso – twitter said crowd was decent, true or false?

[LUHoops00Participant]

BY the way, looked like another good outing by CS, pretty stat stuffed night for the backup pg. Saw he got more minutes then SC and AD, did he get some time on the court with MM?

[TMHParticipant]

I believe the announced crowd per ESPN was 904

[LU2007Participant]

The crowd was weak but I will say that the student turnout surprisingly solid.  They had the entire section behind the hoop filled with some spillover to the upper level.    For the most part they seemed to be into the game too.  The pep band seemed to be bigger than it has been in previous years.

I hope there is a highlight of CJ’s dunk – it was AWESOME!!!  He is worth making the trip alone.

Just getting back – more thoughts tomorrow…

 

[StablerBumParticipant]

Dissappointing to hear about the crowd numbers.  Even trying to be conservative I would not have guessed under 1,000 for the 2nd game of a doubleheader against a solid opponent (and the home opener. And the first home game since the Duke win).  I’m sure there were some spillover Fairfield/Penn fans as well.  I’d be very interested to hear about any and all initiatives that the athletic department is running to try to increase attendance.  In any case, good to see the team get a solid W.  Still concerned about the rebounding, and CB’s quick foulout and JG’s virtual no-show.

I think there was some talk of a Devon Carter ankle injury before the Baylor game that I thought may be holding him back a bit.  I continue to be surprised at the lack of minutes he is getting.  Really enjoying CS’s contributions however.  Let’s get this dub over Penn and get back over .500.

[LU65Participant]

Like LU2007, arrived home late and ready now with some thoughts on last night’s game together with some KenPom numbers of interest.

In no particular order…………

Last night’s announced attendance of 924Awesome turnout by the students. A rough count revealed 300-325. Solid and based on the fun they had there’s no reason not to expect more of the same tonight. Brought back memories of 2006-07. As for the rest, you must be kidding! Census figures tell us that the Lehigh Valley is the fastest growing and third most populous region in the state of Pennsylvania with a population of 821,623 residents as of the 2010 U.S. Census. Hell, it’s the 64th most populated metropolitan area in the entire United States. It even features an ESPN affiliate radio outlet to promote and carry stories of local sports. And, a grand total of 600 found the time to visit Stabler last night to greet this team on its homecoming – a team that beat Duke 8 shorts months ago and features one of the nation’s premier basketball players. A team that gives hours of their time in support of local community interest and schools. It’s sad, truly sad.

8 Players get 98.5% of the Minutes
I share 00’s concern here, as I’m sure most do. One can only hope that Reed knows what he is doing. On the plus side, it gave Conroy Baltimore a time to shine and he did with two sweet moves under the basket (2 for 2) and the time to bang up with their talented bigs, Matthew and Barrow. And, he did plenty of that fighting for position under the basket and beating his opponents back on defense. He not only ran the court well, he sprinted into position time and time again. Of course, he picked up 5 PFs but could be seen smiling and having fun. For the first time this year, he looked like he belonged and wanted more time on the court. Maybe Brett will surprise us tonight and give JG the time he gave CB last night. It is, after all, a weaker opponent and one JG might better cut his teeth on.

GQ anyone
Can’t say I’ve ever seen three more well dressed men than BJ, TS, and JC were last night both on the bench and into each huddle.

Reed Explodes
Red-faced, he lost it at one point when the team failed for the second time to get back on D. Great to see that no one was immune to his comments given at close (face to face) range – CJ included. After the blow-up (a good 15 second tirade), Brett calmly goes back to outlining what he wants done on the next possession. Both messages received. The team went on to play error free (at least in defense retreat) the rest of the way.

This team can shoot the 310 for 20 last night and that with “dead-eye” SC going 0-3. On the year, the team is hitting 44.3% of their attempts – good for 14th best in the nation.

They seldom miss from the line
No fluke. 22 for 27. Everyone – without exception – looks at ease tossing them up. Like this year-in, year-out. Someday, it’ll mean a victory. Tonight it didn’t matter.

Strong perimeter defense – becoming a trademark
Held guards to .286 shooting

Corey Schaefer – more than ready to run the teamSaw time at the point with CJ and MM on his sides. Effective. Even paired with SC and GK. CS, always sure-handed, seems quicker this year and not at all fearful of mixing it up as shown on his one offensive rebound. He also pulled down 3 boards on D and dished out 3 assists.

Holden!
11 boards and it seemed like he had even more. This is what we’ll need from him going forward- maybe not 11 each night but his presence and determination under the board. Points, when they come, will merely be a bonus. The guy never tired. Thought he played 40 but only 32. Even picked up a steal and two assists. One year, stay healthy. Gabe, CB and JG can’t do it alone. Front line health may well determine how far we go this year. I’ll pit our backcourt with anyone’s.

Staggers only one without a point
With JG’s bucket in the closing minute of play, everyone on the team – with the exception of walk-on TS – has scored this year.

AD
Our 5th starter – but for how long? Like his hustle and improved defense this year, but beginning to get whistled too much due, for the most part, to poor positioning. Four PFs last night coming off a 4 PF night against Pitt. With the scorers and ball handlers we have, the 3rd small goes to whomever can play the best D. And, the jury is out in my mind. As mentioned earlier, liked the CS, MM, and CJ combo.

Gabe
His best game by far and could have had more with the ball in his hands. Too few touches especially when nearly automatic from the line (19 for 25 on the season). Holden picked up a couple of beautiful assists with Gabe converting with ease. That play seemed available a number of times. Ditto the health mark made above.

CJ
Nothing more can be said then what’s been said before. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity we fans have been given to witness this magic. Take it before it’s gone.

Final Score 82-67.
I was off a bit with my 82-60 guess. Ha. Just lucky, I’m sure.

Tonight it’s Penn
KenPom Rankings
LU 69
Penn 227

He sees Lehigh winning 77-63 (89% chance). I’ll go: 80-58.

Last night, the Quakers fell to Fordham 70-68. It was their 4th straight loss. Both Miles Cartwright (6’3″ G) and Fran Dougherty (6’8″ F) put in 20. This was Dougherty’s fourth game with at least 20 points shooting 36 of 57 (63.2 percent) over the stretch. He also picked up eight rebounds last night. He is Penn’s leading rebounder.

[LU2007Participant]

Very nice recap.

It would be nice if the students got a little more into the game, but you have to be very happy with the early season turnout last night.  I don’t know why those in the area wouldn’t want to come out and see this team play – CJ is worth the trip alone.

Although HG was solid last night, I still think the team overall needs to improve their rebounding.

From articles/tweets it looks like BJB will be out again. I don’t see a reason to push him back, especially against Penn tonight. Possibly (hopefully) he gets some minutes this weekend or early next week up in CT.

For those there, did anyone else feel the overall atmsophere was lamer than normal? There was nothing in between time-outs, there were periods of silence during stopages (I heard the phone ring on the press table ring multiple times), and there was just no buzz at all in the building. Is there any effort to get people to come to basketball games by this athletic department? Is there any effort to make basketball games more enjoyable? Bad job by our athletic department…very disappointing but not surprising.

Not going to make the back-to-back trip out I-78 tonight, but I expect us to roll Penn pretty good. Hope to see some of you out at Stabler on Dec 1 for the FDU game. In the meantime, let’s compile some Ws.

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