Game 18: Bucknell

[gohawks63Participant]

Great team defense and just enough ugly O to pull it out – mostly 3 pointers.  BJB, MM, CS and HG.  That 16-2 Bucknell run at the end of the 1st half was tough to watch.

Can I say (again) the AD experiment must end?  Sure he’s a beast against the Mules but tonight he looked like a boy among men.  He nearly single-handedly cost us the game – giving up a four point play to Johnson, 0 for 6 from field, poor shots early in the clock ..

Gabe was totally out of sync again – trying to best Muscala from the outside – nothing was falling.  He did manage a few buckets by attacking the rim.

BJB was terrific on both ends.  When in rhythm, he has a beautiful stroke from the outside.  CJ-esque in his ability to blow by a single defender ..

[toddcuddParticipant]

HA!  This is some teary stuff.  The

end of the interview is potent, IMO.  Muscy sounds genuinely annoyed with questions; game at Stabler should be all-time great.

http://news.hooptimeonline.com/page/2

 

 

[RichHParticipant]

BU soft? Geez from those interviews sounds like it. They had game but let us fight back. Last 3 minutes were ours.

[lfnadminKeymaster]

I know you guys have probably been saying this for games now but what struck me is how TOUGH this team is overall.

So many visiting teams at Sojka just crater after the 19-2 run or the late 5 point lead but this team didn’t. It’s amazing how this team still reflects CJ’s mental toughness even when he’s on crutches.

Did you think this team would win this game on the road with 35% shooting and 61% (13-21) from the foul line? I sure as hell didn’t.

[toddcuddParticipant]

@lfn – if you’d told me ahead of time that we’d shoot 35%, i would have thought we’d have been blown out.  Huge, huge game.   This is gonna sound obvious, but I can’t imagine what the season could hold for us IF cj can make it back for PL tourney…

[gohawks63Participant]

By my estimates, credit for this team’s mental toughness has to accrue to Coach Reed.  Who really believed this 4 game stretch of success was possible without CJ? I think this Doctor is making a strong case for coach of the year honors so far ..

[sundayamqbParticipant]

There’s a picture of these you men in the dictionary. After all, they define the word, “TEAM.”

Imagine when Holden and Gabe get hot together.

I’ve always been impressed with Schaeffer, but Goldsborough showed incredible up-side tonight. Almost can’t wait until next year — but there’s still so much to look forward to this year.

Then again, there’s a lot of games left.

 

[LUHoops00Participant]

GoHawks – Good and fair thoughts, good post bud. Certainly not a great game for AD, but he has been playing very very well of late, not sure they mess with this lineup right now when they are rolling, but you saw his minutes(15) go down tonight as Reed knew he was struggling, whcih was good coaching.  Perhaps, tonight struggle was in part to his salivating at the matchup that Paulsen gave him in Willman. Paulsen said we’re going to make AD hit some shots, and tonight it worked. AD drove by WIllman a few times but didn’t get any buckets, but I think he’ll have more success next time if that matchup returns….I was shocked that it was how paulsen played it, but he wanted to put a “quicker” defender on Greiner so Ayers drew that matchup, leaving Willman with AD.

Bad overall field goal shooting can be made up, by great 3 point shooting, and that is what happened tonight. Mackey, BJ, Schaef stroked the 3 ball well, and that was huge difference. Both teams who are great FT shooting both struggled at the line.

ONe thing I mentioned to 65 and TMH after the game on their drive home was if I told you before the game, without CJ, that we’d get to the line 8 more times than BU, you’d be kidding yourselves…that was a sign of aggressiveness and attack mode that this team has. 8 more times and GK only had one FT attempt, a miss. Pretty amazing, and in part cause their guards didn’t have an answer for Mackey and BJ attacking the rim, good sign.

 

 

 

 

[LU65Participant]

With all the Xs and 0s of this game covered most admirably – and accurately I might add from my Row 2 perch at the game – by LUHoops00 and the others who posted above, allow me to share with you three stories/audios that many of you may have missed. Take the time to read/listen to Chris’s, i.e., Hooptime’s post game interview of the combatants and then give a read to his “Difference in Big Game” article where he pulls no punches. To top it off, I have added select comments from one Bison fan and active contributor (1735 posts) to their Board. His name: bison63.

http://news.hooptimeonline.com/post/41323816798/postgame-audio-bucknell-coach-dave-paulsen

http://news.hooptimeonline.com/post/41323970261/postgame-audio-lehigh-coach-dr-brett-reed

http://news.hooptimeonline.com/post/41341213449/difference-in-big-game-was-all-the-little-things

or as bison63 said: “Lehigh is better than Bucknell. How do I know? Three straight closely contested matches, all in Sojka, and in all three BU was the team that blinked. They are better than us, until we prove otherwise. I don’t care that their schedule was a bunch of patsies, and ours was better. They are better than us with CJ and without him, and that is true until we prove it is not. Forget “at large,” forget mid major rankings, find a f$#@ing way to beat Lehigh.”

[StablerBumParticipant]

How huge has BJ been to this program?  Who knows where we would be without his contributions last postseason, and who knows where we would be without him being able to step his game up in CJ’s absence.

Incredible kudos to BJ to persevere through so much adversity, and to the coaching staff as well to support his journey back to the court and putting him in a position to succeed.  Awesome job all around.

 

[lehigh90Participant]

Just catching up on this string, after the long drive back from Bucknell last night.  What a game.  3 amazing games in Sojka in a row.  Unreal.  Here are some of my thoughts:

1) Got to arena pretty early, about 5:15, and what struck me was the dedication to practice of CS.  He stood on the court, alone, with just a Bucknell ball boy for 10 minutes when all of the other players went to the locker room.  He shot the 3 ball from multiple spots for 10 solid minutes.  And, he hit at a clip of close to 90%.  His shot is not nearly as fluid as others, but it gets there and generally goes in.  When he hit those 2 3’s early in his minutes on two possessions almost back to back, I realized why.  Dedication to the practice end of things.  I love him with MM on the floor together.

2) BJB.  What can you say about his performance.  I was critical of him just days ago, and he comes out and shuts me up, big time.  He was a stone cold killer last night, on both ends.  With his athleticism, he can get to the glass at will, and when his is stroking it from 3 is an almost impossible cover.  His offensive game last night was every bit as impressive as a CJ performance. Yet, he also was magnificent on the defensive end, chasing Johnson.  What a game.  And, the guy wasn’t even breathing heavy.  Just a walk in the park.  And that block into the seats was amazing.

3) AD was brutal last night.  Killed us on the offensive end.  But, I liked the fact that he was not shy after struggling early.  He showed some game off the dribble, but you can’t come inside with weak finger rolls on a player like Muscala.  He eats that weak stuff for lunch.  Thankfully, Reed realized he was struggling and sat him down for long stretches in the second half and at crunch time.

4) MM played a great floor game last night.  Drove well to the paint in the second half and was instrumental in every second half offensive possession.  He did a nice job controlling tempo, knowing when to push and when to slow it up.  He has a nice array of little duck under moves to finish with the short jumper in the paint.  Great game for him.  And, he really dominates Bucknell, who has virtually nothing at the PG spot.  3 guys, none of whom can play.

5) GK struggled but played very hard.  He rebounded well early, but got frustrated with MM’s length.  Hard to post him, and had nothing dropping from outside.  Got a little frustrated when committing a stupid late foul on a Muscala dunk, but Reed took him aside and talked to him at length.  He was the one out of the last huddle telling Lehigh not to foul, although Greiner did.  Good leadership last night.  And, the reverse layup late in the game was fantastic.

6) HG was off and on last night.  Early he went to a pure post up game on the smaller Ayers.  I assume somebody saw the success Princeton had running that scheme, and we went to it a lot early on.  He struggle to finish and took a lot of tough shots.  But, again, played hard and tough all night.

7) CB buried at this point, by JG, no minutes if memory serves.  JG did a great job on the defensive end on MM late.  Actually, all of our bigs did, GK, HG and JG.  They were active fronting him all night, and also showed well on the pick and roll. which controlled Bucknell’s shooters.  Great defensive plan by the coaches, I thought.  We gave up 62, but good D all night.  Both teams defended really hard.  JG also adding a little on the offensive end, to counteract Bucknell’s freshman, Hoffman, who played a nice game.

8) CJ looking quite ginger on crutches.  Moving very slowly and taking a lot from the Bucknell students.  But when he pointed his crutch at the scoreboard late, he didn’t need to say anything.  And, Mr. McCollum giving it to the Bucknell students as well.  Lehigh had a vocal contingent last night of maybe 100, but into it all night.  Especially in the first half early and second half late.  No sign of DC on the bench, or maybe I missed him, but I don’t think he travelled.

9) SC struggling for minutes currently.  Looking for a role on this team.

10) Well coached game by the staff.  Had them ready to go from the opening tip, and regrouped them well, after the big Bucknell run, and then when Bucknell took a second half lead.  This is a veteran Lehigh club, who plays with a lot of confidence and swagger.  Really a joy to watch.  This team can do big things with or without CJ.  Reed also did a nice job with his substitutions, I thought.  He was able to get Gabe some minutes with Muscala off the floor, although Gabe struggled to get it done.

11)  Last thought on game.  Guards win big games in college, and Lehigh is dominant in the backcourt over Bucknell.  Bucknell stronger in the frontcourt, but if MM and BJB play like that, it is going to be tough for Bucknell.

12) Last thought on night.  Crowd highlight was the chant of “This Is Our House” in final seconds.  And, to Bucknell faithful and those who lurk and post on here … WHO’S YOUR DADDY?

 

[lehigh90Participant]

Sagarin ratings this morning:

Bucknell 45

Lehigh 49

We are 0-3 against top 25, Bucknell is 0-0.  We are 1-3 against top 50, Bucknell 0-2.  Our losses to VCU (#12), Pittsburgh (#15), Baylor (#25) and Bryant (#137).  By the way, Bryant is 13-4, no pushover.

Bucknell losses to Lehigh (#49), Missouri (#33), Princeton (#98) and Penn St (#203)

This is why I hate the computer rankings.  We win head-to-head on their floor, we lose to 4 higher ranked opponents, yet somehow we are 4 spots behind.  3 of our losses to Top 25 in Sagarin, and the Bryant team is ranked 66 spots ahead of PSU.  Strength of schedule, where we get killed, is Bucknell (#137) and Lehigh (#221).  But, nobody can convince me, at this point, that we are not a better team than Bucknell.  And, have showed it in last 3 games, at their barn.

 

 

[LU65Participant]

90, wait a few minutes. Bison137 will come along to explain.

[lehigh90Participant]

I doubt it.  It is crickets when Bucknell loses.  You won’t here a word from him for a week.  Even on the Bucknell board, earlier today, nothing.

[lehigh90Participant]

Oops, I spoke to early.  He appeared to spin the loss.  Now the excuse is the anomaly of Lehigh shooting the 3.  Big players hit big shots in big games. 

 

 

[Author]

Posts