Game 7: Quinnipiac

[LU65Participant]

Game Notes (Bobcat sytle)
http://www.quinnipiacbobcats.com/Lehigh_11-27.pdf

KenPom Rankings and Chance of Winning
LU 73
Q 142
LU wins 75-73 (56% chance)

Certainly VCU and, to a lesser degree, North Texas scare me. But, perhaps none more than Quinnipiac. My reasoning is simple. First, it’s an early-season encounter against a talented and senior-laden team who has already proven itself in its win over 102nd-ranked Iona and it’s 2OT loss to 49th ranked UConn. Second, they do things well that we don’t, i.e., rebound the ball. Q owns an 11.5 rebounding edge on their opponents and average a hefty 11.6 offensive boards/game. Third, it’s a team we have not owned down through the years and, in fact, lost to by six during our last visit to the TD Bank Sports Center. In that game we were out-rebounded 60-34. Fourth, the Bobcats and their fans should be energized and ready to take down the team that beat Duke and make their mark as the team to beat in the NEC. They should be fresh, having not played in 8 days. We, on the other hand and to the delight of no one but Easton Coach, will board the bus again and head north to CT for our second game in 51hours. Rest could be a factor. Fifth, it’s bench-strength or lack thereof. Quinnipiac prides itself on 8 players getting 20+ minutes/game. We, ………. well you know the story. Put it all together and a win here would be sweet.

Watch it live.
As a backstop (1″ to 3″ of snow possible in northern NJ tomorrow afternoon), I see that the game will be carried live on NEC Front Row (see link below). If the weather is good, I’ll be there. 90 – how about you?
http://www.necfrontrow.com/schedule.php?sport=&home%2Caway=QU

Stat of the DayLU ranks 6th in the nation in 3FG% @ 44.0%. We trail: Cal State Fullerton, Ohio St, Kentucky, Jackson State and Montana. Don’t get too comfortable! Colgate and AU are also in the Top 10. PL should be fun this year!

[lehigh90Participant]

Would love to go, but CT on a Tuesday night is a trek for me.  Add another 1.5 hours to your trip and that is my travel time.  Probably 7 round trip.  I heard that Quinnipiac have a very nice facility.  I will be stuck on NEC Frontrow.  Planning on catching Fordham at Stabler, and now planning on Bryant as well (after their upset over BC).

[LUHoops00Participant]

65 – I am going, bought tickets today. If you decide to go, and really an inch or two of snow won’t cut it as an excuse!!!! But if you decide to go I’m sitting in section 113 BB, row 3, seats 8/9. Seats 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 right next to me are still available. This goes to anyone else by the way, anyone making the trip who wants to watch the game together, buy the ones next to me. See you there.

[lehigh90Participant]

For some reason, I am a little worried about this one.  I had this as a comfortable 8-10 point Lehigh win, but that KenPom 2 point win 50% accuracy has me worried.  That, and the UConn game and the repeated travel to CT make this a very tough spot for Lehigh.  Big game tonight.

 

[StablerBumParticipant]

Quinnipiac has been one of the toughest and best rebounding teams in the nation over the last few years.  Any Lehigh fan would be crazy not to be very concerned about tonight.  It will be a real test.

 

[lehigh90Participant]

Tight at the half.  Big hoop by CB before the half.  Hopefully a momentum hoop.

[StablerBumParticipant]

Our interior D has to step up.  I understand JG being lost on offense at this level, but be physical and stay between your man and the basket.  When the shot goes up, put a body on someone and go get the ball.

 

[lehigh90Participant]

Man, our defense is terrible.  We can’t control any penetration from the perimeter.  They get to the paint at will then dish to their bigs.

[lehigh90Participant]

HG giving up a ton of size trying to match their big guy on D.  Huge size mismatch.

[TMHParticipant]

I hope that there were plenty of scouts at this game. CJ just literally put this team on his back and carried them across the finish line. I think he may have scored 14 of the last 16 points for Lehigh or perhaps it just seemed that way. Nice win!!

[StablerBumParticipant]

Nice win over a solid team on the road.  However, I find it very hard to get too optimistic about this team.  Again outrebounded by a wide margin, and again giving up 13 offensive boards.  Without a serious adjustment regarding the interior D and rebounding, the ceiling for this team just isn’t very high.  And unfortunately, unless JG has a revelation – there isn’t any help on the way.  And I don’t think zone is the answer as on the few possessions LU played zone they continued to give up offensive rebounds and putbacks.  CB and JG need to understand that when they are in the game they have to protect the rim and then box out and rebound as though the season depends on every one of those rebounds – because it does.

[lehigh90Participant]

That was a great win.  Quinnipiac is a pretty talented team.  I saw them play at Stabler last year and they were pretty tough without Azotam, who is clearly their best player.  The good things were 1) the 2nd half by CJ, just unbelievable.  He was a no-show in first half, but just dominant in the second with big shot after big shot.  2) Gabe played very well, and showed good inside moves, good midrange game, and even range out to the 3 point line.  He is a great player in his own right.  3) I did like the energy that AD brought tonight.  He made a couple of shots and looked comfortable with the ball in his hands, and had a nice couple of assists.  4) CS productive in short minutes.  5) I liked the fact that Reed did play much more zone than usual, and I thought it was more effective than the man.

Negatives were the irratic play of MM.  Another 5 turnovers, shot the ball poorly, spotty decision making.  SC was not great from 3, and he really brings nothing else to the table.  And, then the biggies, the defense was pretty bad.  Inside and out.  Any time a Q player put it on the floor on the perimeter, he was unchallenged to the lane.  Not good.  And, the rebounding and post defense (outside of Gabe) was bad.  I agree 100% with StablerBum, the bigs need to put a body on somebody.  CB can’t seem to defend without fouling.  You can’t do that especially when the other team is in the bonus.  HG never found his mojo in the game either.

I am thrilled with the win, but in reality, we shouldn’t fear the NEC.  The worst thing of the night was having to listen to the ridiculous homer announcers on NEC Frontrow.  The guy doing the color commentary was the worst I have ever heard.  But, happy with the win.  Box said 1600+ but looked pretty darned empty on video.

 

 

[RichHParticipant]

Watching Ind. Destroy UNC, LU and CJ headlined on crawl, noted.CJ leadimg nation in 30+ games w 3.

[LU65Participant]

Well, LUHoops00 and I are ready for new careers…as postmen. For, as they say, “Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor hail shall keep the postmen from their appointed rounds.” One for the north and one from the south, we converged on the TD Bank Sports Center last night to witness one hell of a game.

Most thrilling game of the year. Sure Baylor and Pitt were that for awhile but for 40 minutes this one took the prize. It exceeded all expectations. Going in it was to be their “bigs” vs our “CJ.” Neither disappointed. The script was perfectly followed. Jackson, Azotam and Drame (combined weight of 696 lbs and averaging close to 6’9″a man) pulled down 25 boards and played a combined 79 minutes. CJ, calm, cool and collected, rode to the rescue in the final minutes. You’d swear, just as he and Coach Reed had it planned. CJ can do it all. In the first half, he was perfectly happy to dish out a few assists (all four I believe) and lead by quiet example – confidence the team feeds off. You can sense it sitting, as we did, in Row 1 eight feet behind the bench. It translated into outstanding ball control and pin-point passing. Witness: 18 assists (most in the first 30 minutes) on 25 made baskets! Not too shabby. And, when it came time for CJ to perform his magic with less than 10 minutes to go, there was no stopping him. Can’t say I ever saw a quicker 11 points being scored than I did at game’s end. Their “bigs” were of no concern. There were no rebounds to be had. It was all net all the time for CJ. To sum it up, the game featured 10 ties and 9 lead changes. But, you swear watching it, on the edge of your seat, it was a one possession game that we somehow won by eleven.

Throughout much of the game, however, we were over-match under the boards. Our pesky and disruptive play – only recourse we had lacking size and underclassmen experience and technique – resulted in 13 Q turnovers and numerous “held” ball calls. When it didn’t we were whistled time and time again. Thankfully, Q missed 11 of their 30 free throw attempts. That’s something we can’t count on it going forward. Our interior D must get better. We can’t have CB foul-out after 21 minutes of play and we can’t have JG sit on the bench for all but two minutes of play. Both things must change. If not, we had better hope CJ, Gabe and Holden stay healthy and BJ returns to late 2011-12 season form. Even then, repeating as PL champs is no lock. It is, however, possible. That’s how good CJ is.

Other quick observations:

AD – night and day difference in D capabilities over last year. Can see why in BJ’s absence, he’s on the starting 5. First one back on D. Even quicker with hands to the ball. Passing has improved as well. Two picture-perfect passes last night. Played his finest 4 minutes of ball this season in the first 4 last night. Good to see Reed and team members recognize him.

CS – Can see him taking over the PG role sooner than later, especially should MM continue to struggle with TO’s (5 last night). You lose nothing him CS at the point. Season A/TO totals: 11/2. New this year: a gliding move to the basket with a soft touch high off the glass, ala CJ.
Effective leading the pack last night with MM in the game in a heavy small lineup.

Reed – Never misses an opportunity to teach. On numerous occasions last night, we would pull aside a player yanked from the game and “educate” while play was underway. When it’s not Reed, himself, you see Antoni doing the same.

TD Bank Center – $52millon well spent. You gotta see it. 3600 high-banked seats. Great sight lines. Colorful. Schedulers: Get us back here every two years. Good team and great hosts.

Stat of the Day – CB, with 8 for 9 (.889), is our finest free-throw shooter this year. Holden’s 2 for 2 last night raised his season-long average to .867. Those that follow are: MM (.780), GK (.756),and CJ (.756).

[LU65Participant]

Forgot to include the following in my summary above.

Mike Anthony, The Hartford Courant, writes in today’s paper:

C.J. McCollum never panicked, never rushed, never showed any sign that he was even slightly concerned or uncomfortable. Held in check by Quinnipiac for much of Tuesday’s game at TD Bank Sports Center, the decorated Lehigh guard was simply biding his time.
“I try to keep everybody involved, and then once it’s crunch time, that’s when I try to take over,” McCollum said. “That’s what I’m here for. I’ve been here four years now. You’ve got to know when it’s time to switch on. Luckily, I turned it on in time for us to get the win.”

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