Lehigh PL Tournament 2015

[StablerBumParticipant]

I’m torn here – on one hand I told myself going into the season I thought the bar for this team should be over .500 (check) and top 4 in the league (check). On the other hand, to lose a home QF game as the 3 seed is very disappointing.

After the first 4 minutes or so it was really ugly. Tim and Justin go a combined 13 for 13 which is INSANE, yet we lose. I understand why were so desperate to get them the ball (since they couldn’t miss) but the number of VERY poor entry passes was excruciating to watch. Lazy passes, bad angles, telegraphed. They threw every type of youth league bad pass there was to throw tonight. Real tough. It seemed AU was able to negate the Lehigh size advantage in the second half, and even capitalize on it – would have liked to see Reed go small for a bit since nothing was working.

Vasic from AU had a stretch in the second half where he scored on O and then forced a turnover on D for something like 3 possessions going back and forth. And he was getting Kempton at the time. Vasic can’t be more than 6’5 or so.

The next two years are REALLY big for the program with the second half of Tim’s career all the other underclass talent. Could be an opportunity for some very very good teams.

Bad loss tonight but decent season.

[pafan11Participant]

TK only money player on the floor. KR horrible shot selection the last 6 minutes. AP missed at least 3 wide open 3s last 6 minutes and BA for some reason on the floor last 5 minutes. His only bucket was probably a walk and one bad TO and senseless foul. This team had second best FT% in the league so I don’t know that you can blame anything but pressure for the misses. Hope we are not talking about youth next year!

[StablerBumParticipant]

Under no circumstances do you let them get loose from 3-point land. What do we do? We let them find a spark, which becomes a fire, which becomes a blaze. At least force them to need to go inside to get tough points! When it was clear Lehigh wasn’t going to play perimiter D, of course they were going to start raining.

I don’t think that is where we lost the game. AU shot 36% from 3 tonight (8-22), which is dead on their season average of 36%. Also, when Lehigh beat them last month AU shot 8-20.

Defensively, I think we were OK not great. It’s that we couldn’t get ANYTHING going on offense outside of Tim and Justin, and we became so desperate to get them the ball that we turned it over half the time we tried.

[RichHParticipant]

Agree Bum record was decent. Season however was not. We got beat in some games we lost many more all by our own inconsistency. Yeah youth most of the reason. Not all by a long shot. Doc made some progress molding these guys into a team not hardly enough. We have such a limited offensive scheme that IMO does not totally fit these kids. Predictable. Apt description of our O.

[toddcuddParticipant]

My first reaction was anger about the ugly, telegraphed passes to the post. One would think, by this time of year, we would have offensive sets and motion that could get the ball into the post.
Thinking about it a bit more now. Was that, maybe, a product of AU defensive scheme? Do absolutely everything to prevent post entry, and challenge us to hit 3s? If so, that worked perfectly. Still pretty stunning to see that TK and JG were PERFECT from the floor, but got significantly less shots than the guards on the floor. Honestly, I think that’s an offensive design problem. At the end of last year I think we all agreed that we needed to learn to play inside-out – and I don’t think we accomplished that. Certainly not tonight.
I completely agree with pafan re: BA minutes. I do not understand. MS has provided spark off the bench, plays good D, and doesn’t seem to make bad decisions often. I really don’t like going negative here, but BA has been a turnover machine, and should be called “Toast” on D. Why are those minutes not more MS minutes??

[hawkineerParticipant]

Even worse, while we’re done, the Leopards win by 25.

[RichHParticipant]

Thinking about BU and us. Why are they better at this point than we are? Guess BU coach better at molding a team. Doc is a great guy and recruiter. Not the best game coach. Expecting we will be a better team next year but I fear not as good as most of us are hoping it will be.

[toddcuddParticipant]

I think it’s possible that DP’s coaching makes a difference at bucky. But also – they just plain shoot better than we do. I think you can win without great outside shooters, but you need an offense tailored to your strengths in that case. Don’t think we had that.

[RichHParticipant]

Seems so. If Kroogs tweets any clue ,we are indeed an O geared to perimeter O to be successful. Seems Doc did try to modify it somewhat to account for TK and JG. Not very successfully or at least not consistently.
Thinking about this season,I am struck not only by our inconsistency but by the fact that it stuck not in one area but in all at various times . The epitome of inconsistency at its finest.

[lfnadminKeymaster]

I don’t think that is where we lost the game. AU shot 36% from 3 tonight (8-22), which is dead on their season average of 36%. Also, when Lehigh beat them last month AU shot 8-20.

Point taken, but AU started the game 1 for 6, going 7 for 16 the rest of the way, still a pretty good clip. In the second half they had some incredible open looks from outside the area. There was a 10 minute stretch where they really made some daggers, especially that NBA 3 with under 4 to play.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 1 month ago by  lfnadmin.

[jimk72Participant]

After the game last night I promised myself not to post, I was that upset. But here I am. Maybe its therapy. We did everything wrong in this one. Stupid forced passes inside. Defend for 20 seconds and then completely lose their 3 point shooters for “alone in the gym” shooting practice followed by easy buckets on back door cuts on their next possession. And finally, the maddening return of the athletic brick layers union at the worst possible moments. 7 for 16 on free throws? When all these appear in winnable games sporadically through out the year, then blossom together on the most important night of the year, I’m now completely in your camp Rich. A lot of this has to be laid at Doc’s door.

Last comments of the year from me: Todd I completely agree on the BA vs. MS issue. Miles is a great spark plug, and was again last night. Our row all agreed early in the first half, we need to see a lot more of him and he needs to get the ball a lot more. For BA, after a few promising games early he’s completely lost his game for some reason. Taped right knee? And a final disappointment, AP didn’t drive to the basket once, going 2-9 from the field with 6 points. TK and Justin need consistent offensive help from others. In summary: promising season did not reach potential. Truly a missed opportunity for these kids.

See ya next year.

[gohawks63Participant]

Here is a simple thing: if the defense is jumping the entry pass, try a backdoor pass. We used to call ’em “alley oop”. Or, how about a high entry pass – like they teach in youth leagues? SMH.

I was really intrigued when Doc went to the full court press with 3 minutes left and 10 points down. Why didn’t he go to that sooner? American has such a short bench. A full court press would have run them ragged. Maybe they would have missed a few shots at the end of the game if their legs were tired. Maybe it would have disrupted their incredible shooting and flow. SMH.

Can we talk “backdoor” pass – like, did we not scout these guys? How many easy buckets can we give them? We’re working for every good opportunity, and they are shooting layups ..

Missed foul shots – first three straight by KR – I feel bad for the kids, they were tight. But – if you are tight/can’t shoot – then play some friggin’ defense. Create some havoc, run-out opportunities, transition …

If we had to lose, I’m glad we did so trying to get the ball to TK and Justin. They deserved the ball every time. But honestly, did our coaches – like seven of ’em?? – not notice they were jumping the passing lane?!

Our kids deserved better than this uninspired coaching performance …

• This reply was modified 9 years, 1 month ago by  gohawks63.

[RichHParticipant]

Doc not a good or partcularly flexible game coach. BA over MS puzzling. Regardless,we lost because key playets clutched. So many mental mistakes,AP not one FT. Forgot how to drive. We had our chances. Agree with TK ,team played with no heart in the 2nd half. Doc did little to re invigorate team.

[lfnadminKeymaster]

Anyone change their mind about American after seeing them dominate Colgate this weekend? In a 1-game tournament their style is tough to crack, and if they get a lead a 6 point deficit feels like a 16 point deficit. Not saying that Lehigh shouldn’t have played better and won, I still think they should have, but their win over Colgate at least made me pause a little.

Before the tournament it did seem like a toss-up year, and when the No. 8 team brought Bucknell to OT and the No. 2 seed was pounded in a horrible matchup vs. American, it certainly seems 100% correct.

Wednesday will be interesting. I don’t see a favorite in that game. If Lafayette sees themselves as prohibitive favorites they will almost certainly lose.

[toddcuddParticipant]

Well, the psychological bleeding has stopped, and perspective is starting to come back. I foolishly allowed myself to look past the American game. I was prepared to swallow a loss to bucky or gate, but wasn’t prepared to drop out in the quarters. Crazy, in retrospect, looking at how the season went – and not just for us. We all knew that this tourney could go any number of ways, and nothing should have been surprising. The semis bear that out, too; this will be the first ever PL tourney won by a team other than the 1 or 2 seed. Totally fitting for this season.
I think the pards should win – much to my chagrin – but I wouldn’t be placing any bets either way. AU is very well coached, and as others have noted, they play a system that works very well for them.
I remain hopeful that the upward trend continues next year. Hopefully, we’ll see some continued development of the offense, and we’ll learn better how to feed the big dogs.
To get better, we’ll need to see more consistent shooting. That’s probably my biggest take-away from this season. Whether that just means individuals need to get better, or if scheme changes to get better shots are required remains to be seen.

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