PLT Final – HC

Forum Forum Lehigh Sports Lehigh Men’s Basketball PLT Final – HC

This topic contains 76 replies, has 18 voices, and was last updated by ngineer ngineer 8 years ago.

Viewing 15 posts - 61 through 75 (of 77 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #26020

    lehigh90
    Participant

    The hour and a half drive home didn’t take the sting out of that loss. Just a huge opportunity wasted. I wanted to see TK take us on 2 trips to NCAA in his 4 years, and now he may get 1 appearance. Once in a generation big man and little to show for it.
    This was a monumental choke tonight. You have the 9 seed, and a bad team, on your home floor and you are a 10.5 point favorite (offshore) and you come out and just lay a huge egg in the first half. 14 points and just dismal execution. I’ve literally seen middle school teams attack 1-3-1 better than that.
    A lot of blame to go around. You have to lay a lot at the feet of the coach and some on the players. Reed didn’t have them prepared to attack the zone. And, I thought he was late in making adjustments to it. We pretty much threw a shutout with zone in the second half of the second HC game. I would have opened the game in it. Instead, we opened in man and were late shifting to zone (late first, when HC already up 10+). Then I thought BR got out of zone too early, and HC picked man apart in late 6 minutes. He was also late adjusting our offense to the 1-3-1. Took him over 20 minutes of game action to start screening the top of their zone. When we screened their top with JC and middle with TK, we put up 40+ in the second half. Carmody got the better of BR and HC kept tempo to a snail’s pace.
    Also need to put a lot of blame on the players. Don’t think they overlooked HC, but they came out super tight. And, you can’t let a bad team hang around and get confident. Our 4 out players, everybody other than TK, did a really poor job on the offensive end. I don’t care what zone it is, you will never beat it by holding the ball and not moving it. You need to attack and probe with dribble penetration and we did none of that in first half. HC wanted us to throw those loopy passes over the top, and we did. Gave them a ton of time to adjust. We played very slow and deliberate and just not aggressive. TK was great in the lane and HC had no answer for him, but not enough penetration to draw and dish until late. On defensive end, we were pretty solid. But, TK did a poor job of contesting the 3 and we really paid for that. Carmody was smart to bring TK away from the basket, and he struggles with his quickness guarding on the perimeter. TK had a good offensive game, but he lost his matchup on the night. Was out scored by his man and gave over double his man’s average. That is not a matchup we can ever lose.
    Other thought on player blame, we just missed a ton of open looks. Uncontested jumpers that needed to be knocked down. AP shot it poorly, KL was up and down, and JC was gun shy on a lot of looks. KR shot when had look, but missed a couple biggies. Shooters have to make shots and we couldn’t knock the critical ones down. I was also befuddled why JRG got so many minutes. He was on the court too much for me, and he wasn’t going to knock down any key shots.
    The crowd and students were great and looking to blow the top off the building, but could just never get to a frenzy. Every time we made a run and crowd got up looking for a key stop, we gave up a FG. We almost blew it up when we pulled to 1 at 55-54, but again couldn’t get a stop. We never led, which is telling. But, it was fun to be in a crowd like that in Stabler.
    Thanks for letting me get some things out there. Enjoyed the Board this season and the interplay all season. This one will sting until they get at it next year.

    #26021
    sundayamqb
    sundayamqb
    Participant

    I was not in a location to watch — thankfully, I guess — but it seems like LU hung in there.

    Saw interesting things in the box. Often LU loses on rebounding issues. But it seems to have dominated on the boards today.

    Also, AP was 2-12 from the field and scored only 6 points. As AP goes, Lehigh often goes — as someone else cited earlier this year. But — all of us play above our average only half the time, so I’m not ragging on him. He’s a quality player. Stuff happens.

    Team had a great 11-0 run this year, shorthanded. Hard to beat a team 3x. Lots to be proud of. This one hurts, but … wish I had experienced that crowd in person.

    #26022
    RichH
    RichH
    Participant

    Doc postgame. We didn’t adjust to Cross D fast enough. Unable to actually practice against it, no bodies. Did not mention failure to zone Cross early enuf. As usual an honest appraisal as fare as it went. Abysmal 3 % from all the Gs. We could not build a run without them. TK looked absolutely distraught. Doc did a remarkable job getting this squad to coalesce. He also coached from the sidelines more than ever this year. This is now a team which did not play well last night.
    Hopefully the experience of this season will give us a solid foundation for next year with 7 players coming in.

    #26023

    gohawks63
    Participant

    Outcoached. Period.

    There is no excuse for 14 points in the 1st half. Sure we missed some chippies and made some careless passes into the teeth of the D. But 14 points in one half of a championship game against an inferior roster is a schematic problem. Coach should have had some set plays or strategies to create a few extra buckets (i.e. get the damn ball to TK).

    In particular, we were not prepared for the the extreme ball hawking at the top of the lane. HC was throwing waves of players towards the ball – and our players seemed utterly unprepared to exploit this. BR was banking on placing 4 players on the perimeter and moving the ball around the lane. I’m sure that worked well in pre-game walkthrough. But under the intensity of the HC defense we struggled to make one pass from point to wing. Plus, how many times did we attempt to sneak a pass into the high post between not two but three players? Not a winning strategy …

    Perhaps our short rosters inhibits us from emulating game conditions in practice. I was waiting for the light bulb to flash that a defense that runs to the ball at every progression can be exploited with crisp, quick passing or a misdirection and head-fake or two.

    Regarding the use of JRG in the post. The dude is very athletic and a much better ball handler than our other bigs. He was actually pretty effective at feeding Timmy at the post. Dude has got some serious hops as well ..

    By the time we fought back and got to the final sequence of four three point attempts – I suppose our starters were fairly gassed and didn’t have the legs to finish the job.

    Still – monumental job to go perfect in January and even get to a final home game. Great season – something to build upon!

    • This reply was modified 8 years ago by  gohawks63.
    #26025
    travism
    travism
    Participant

    Was interesting reed didnt do post game. Said he was still in locker room. Can only imagine what is was like in there. I feel for these kids. I woke up today so down and frustatrted. Really wanted this team to win.

    #26026

    buck
    Participant

    First round money gets split evenly between all Patriot League teams, at first I thought the winner got it all but that’s not the case. Lehigh though should donate their share to a homeless shelter, after last night’s horrid performance they all should be sleeping in the streets.

    #26027

    lfnadmin
    Keymaster

    [quote quote=26026]First round money gets split evenly between all Patriot League teams, at first I thought the winner got it all but that’s not the case. Lehigh though should donate their share to a homeless shelter, after last night’s horrid performance they all should be sleeping in the streets.

    [/quote]

    Always a shining light on a hill, Buck. Hope you finally beat the rap and get the restraining order lifted so you can say things like that to the faces of Reed, Kempton, and any other Lehigh athletes you’re undoubtedly currently barred from doing.

    • This reply was modified 8 years ago by  lfnadmin.
    #26029

    lehigh90
    Participant

    Getting a little hot on here. I think criticism is deserved some places but guys played hard and gave their all, just came up short.

    You worry that sometimes when the game gets big guys just can’t elevate their play under pressure. The old “game got a little too big for him” adage. Obviously, we don’t have that problem with TK. He can elevate his performance and lift teammates. He’s a gamer. I don’t really think the game got too big for KR, AP and KL. They wanted to take big shots, didn’t hesitate and made some critical ones and missed others. As a group, it wasn’t what you wanted, but I think they were bothered by HC’s length on the wings. We need them to knock down a few more jumpers, but they weren’t shy. I thought the game got a little big for JC and JRG at times. Hesitant on the perimeter to let it fly. JC bigger guy, needs a little more time to get that jumper off, and he was bothered by the rotation to him on the perimeter. Just a little slow on the trigger. JRG came in at one point and got a wide open 3 look from baseline corner. Missed it long, then on the next trip he got same look and passed it up. Again, a little indecisive and gun shy. JC shot it great this season for us from deep and made 1 in game, but we could have used couple more. I guess BR went to JRG for his length and for his feeding of post as mentioned earlier.

    I think we missed BA a lot in a game like that. He’s aggressive, not shy and seems to like a big spot. We have a lot to look forward to with what is coming back. The comment that Lehigh didn’t have enough bodies to practice is concerning. If you are short, find 3-4 6’5″ football players and use them to practice. You have to have 10 practice bodies.

    #26030
    StablerBum
    StablerBum
    Participant

    Some good points ’90, but the idea that you are just going to grab a few football guys who haven’t played competitive hoop in years and replicate a complicated zone D? I don’t think it’s that easy.

    Give HC credit. Since Green has gotten into rhythm and they have embraced the zone – they have been giving teams fits. Army and bucknell are good offensive teams too and were stymied. Carmody is a good coach and HC is on the rise.

    #26031

    TMH
    Participant

    Listen…sure there is disappointment. For the third time in only a few month we just missed out on a major championship. I attended the game however and the kids laid it all out on the line. For 11 games in a row, that was enough. Last night Holy Cross played a very inspired defense. It wasn’t just the 1-3-1. It was the match up zone that was the great equalizer (it usually is). There were very few uncontested shots.
    As I’ve gotten older, there is one thing I’ve learned. If your favorite team losing a basketball game is the worst thing happening in your life, then you are blessed.
    My hat is off to both the Holy Cross Crusaders and the Lehigh Mountainhawks providing me with a very entertaining, hard fought game.
    BTW, the crowd was electric. The student section was incredible. I just hope at least some of that carries over to next year when this Lehigh squad has the potential of being very special.

    #26032

    lehigh90
    Participant

    Student section was incredible. All the way from the floor to the roof, with excess in the aisles. If we could get that turnout, we really would have a great home court advantage. We really have a real opportunity in basketball to make this program special. BR has built a pretty consistent winner and getting good recruits consistently.

    Tell you what, it takes some guts (or maybe a lot of liquor) for those 5-6 kids in Row 1 to spend 3 hours in a Speedo bathing suit (and nothing else) in front of a crowd of 5,000, and then to go on the court during a break in the action to do the contest. Nuts.

    Stabler really needs a jumbotron. Not sure what those cost, but some donor who is into athletics needs to get that done, and the speaker system updated. With last night’s crowd, you can barely hear the announcer.

    #26033
    RichH
    RichH
    Participant

    One for Stabler dhould price between 200,000 and 350000 depending on options. Not a huge cost plus it can bring in ad revenue to defray costs.

    #26034

    LU65
    Participant

    Official postgame comment from Reed: “Holy Cross’ 1-3-1 defense] certainly caused a lot of problems for us,” said Reed. “We tried to replicate it and took different strategies in practice to replicate it, but unfortunately, I don’t think we were as assertive and aggressive against it as we needed to. Because of that, we were in a more passive stance with some of our turnovers and balls were getting deflected. It wasn’t until our guards really started to probe and penetrate that we were able to get more of the looks that we wanted. That’s something we wanted to have as part of our attack. Unfortunately, we didn’t do it quickly enough.”

    Like others who hit the Board, I’m dismayed we couldn’t execute against the 1-3-1. Little to add other than to say, knowing the pedigree of our coaching staff, the knowhow had to have been imparted but it was the execution that came up sorely lacking for all the reasons given above by 90 and others.

    Like 90, I drove the 90 miles to home without even remembering a single signpost along the way. Scary but true. Completely bummed-out and replayed the last 25+ seconds over and over in my mind wondering “what if” Malachi didn’t make both his free throws (his 9th point in a row) with 25.6 seconds remaining and we needed only 1 (if he misses them both) or 2 (if he makes one of two) to tie or even win. We would have for sure somehow found a way to get the ball into TK’s hands. But, the 60+% free throw shooter canned them both and it was now all about making a three to tie. So we found KL (40% long range shooter) for an open three. He misses it not once but twice in the final sequence. KR came up empty twice, as well. Ball game. HC advances and deserving so. You win four on the road over Seeds 8, 1, 4, and 2 in a 9 day period of time, you’re special. Good luck in Dayton, Crusaders.

    Other than the play of TK, our 3’s had been our bread and butter all season (#1 in the League @ .404). Last night, call it being tight or perhaps inexperienced in the case of KL, the long range shots didn’t fall. We hit just 8 (1 in the first half) all night for .308%. Jesse had but one try all night and he connected on it. When it became apparent it wasn’t to be Kyle’s night, or for that matter AP’s, I was hoping to see Jesse step up. But, for what seemed like extended minutes at a time, he rode the bench, and when inserted into the lineup appeared to shy away from the opportunities. Or perhaps better yet, lacked the quickness and determination to pull the trigger – not once but a few times during the game. On the other end of the court, you had Malachi hitting 6 of 7 bombs and the Crusaders as a whole canning 11 of 29 (.379). Their PL season-long # had been .299. You live and die with the “3,” they say. So true.

    All-time record b’ball crowd of 4,587. Student section stretched to the ceiling. Noise level off the charts. You had to be there. Truly awesome. Here’s hoping the students and area fans remember the experience and return in force next year. Tim is a one of a kind type player and, togehter with a great accomnpanying case, the team deserves and will welcome, I know, our support.

    To our departing seniors (JC, JG, JRG, and DC): sorry we couldn’t have extended your stay another day. Best wishes to all in your chosen careers and thanks for the memories. Much deserved success to you all.

    #26035
    travism
    travism
    Participant

    Great post lu 65. And it was a pleasure to get to know you and talk to you at a few games. I still feel like this a bad dream. I was totally speechless when i got home.

    I know doc didnt go on radio post game but did he then meet with reporters?

    #26036
    StablerBum
    StablerBum
    Participant

    Great work by the department promoting these games. Hope they learned some lessons about engaging the students and getting them to Stabler.

    Also hope every non-HC supporter and non-student that purchased tickets during the tournament is getting hit up for season ticket deposits (2016-2017) by the end of the week. Unfortunately I don’t see that happening.

Viewing 15 posts - 61 through 75 (of 77 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic.