Saint Peter's College – Game 14

[LU65Participant]

Game Notes

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Rankings

Ken Pomeroy Rankings and Chances of Winning
LU 77
SPC 263
LU wins 70-62 (80% chance)

Sagarin’s Predictor Rankings and Spread
LU 78
SPC 270
LU – 9 1/2 points

cbssports.com overview of……….

SPC
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketb … s-peacocks

LU
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketb … tain-hawks

The reigning MAAC champs are off to a horrible 2-10 start this year, having dropped their last six in a row – the final three to Kent State, Utah State and UT-Arlington out in Logan, Utah at The Athletes in Action Classic. The Peacocks will no doubt be anxious to defend their home court where they are 2-1 this year with wins over Binghamton, Siena and a 3 point loss to Robert Morris. In terms of common opponents, SPC loss by 11 to FDU while Lehigh took the measure of The Knights by that same margin. Each game was played on the Knights home court in Teaneck (NJ).

LU and SPC are dissimilar in many ways – most notably in:

a. Tempo or Pace of Play: LU will possess the ball, on average, 71 times a game, compared to SPC’s 65.2 times. LU ranks 27th in the nation in that regard, SPC 263rd.
b. Offensive Efficiency: LU will averages 107.6 pts per 100 possessions to SPU’s 89.2pts. per 100 possessions. LU ranks 59th in the nation in that regard, SPC 314th.
c. Free Throw Percentage: LU 78%; SPC 61.9%. LU ranks 5th in the nation in that regard; SPC 310th.

Look for our starting five to yield time early on and often to the reserves. In typical Reed fashion, 10 players have already averaged double-figure minutes thru 13 games. As OOC play comes to a close, I hoping to see Reed award even higher minutes – say 15-20 per game to SC, AD, and CS while giving 12-15 to JM, JA, and CB.

Last week we proved we could play up to the level of competition; let’s hope we don’t play down to it tomorrow night.

[LU65Participant]

Game Notes

http://www.lehighsports.com/assets/1/wo … /47161.PDF

[lehigh90Participant]

I expect a double digit win tonight in Jersey City. I will be up there, and will give a full game report late tonight or tomorrow AM.

[norcalfanParticipant]

"lehigh90" wrote: I expect a double digit win tonight in Jersey City. I will be up there, and will give a full game report late tonight or tomorrow AM.

Lehigh 90,

I look forward to your recap. Can you elaborate on the T for the opposing coach? It was difficult to see what happened from my seat. Thanks!

[LUHoops00Participant]

Likewise, I look forward to recap from 90 and 65. CJ obviously in starring role, but Greiner again, boy has he come on strong. Also, if those remember talking about Mackey shooting heading into this year, check his season totals, pretty impressive jump for the soph lead guard, guess that work over the summer paid off.

[gohawks63Participant]

Another point about Mackey – one of the ESPN guys said MSU’s Appling (#11) was considered the fastest player in the Big 10 and called him "Iverson-esque" in his ability to get to the rim. I thought Mackey was just as fast as Appling and nearly as good at attacking the rim and getting to the line ..

Everyone see that MSU followed up Lehigh by beating the Indiana Hoosiers?!

[StablerBumParticipant]

I was able to make the game in Jersey City last night which was pretty exciting for me as it was my first opportunity to watch this team live. The game was kind of sloppy, which I think is to be expected coming off a break over x-mas where all the players went home and then came back for 2 practices before playing a road game. The intensity was there in spurts when the team really needed it, but it was definitely not there for 40 minutes. All in all, an ugly win over an inferior opponent – but any road victory in college hoops is hard earned.

Greneir’s development is really fun to witness. He was 4-7 from 3 last night and 2 of those misses just rimmed out. He did get himself stuck going to the basket a couple of times, and could have finished a few more plays, but he has a tremendous mix of size, skill, and athleticism.

CJ didn’t play great, but still ended up with a terrific line of 22-11-5 which is a testament to how good he really is. He forced up a couple of 3’s and jumpers, some of which were way off the mark. But his smoothness and ability to create for himself and others continues to impress.

Mackey was solid and knocked down some shots. During the 8-10 minutes of the 2nd half when the team really played well – Mackey was in the middle of it by getting to the basket and free throw line. He did have some pretty questionsable turnovers including one incredibly lazy pass and he also got his pocket picked (and didn’t really get back on defense the way you should after making a turnover).

John Adams brough terrific energuy in the 2nd half. He was in the game for about 4 or 5 minutes and got the the free throw line, got some steals, and rebounds. When he came out of the game Reed gave him a huge high 5 and good job and said, "You had THREE deflections!!" and John responded with a huge smile. You have to love a guy that relishes his role like that.

Corey Schaefer is a great defender btw. He isn’t the biggest or the quickest guy, but he works on every possession and knows where to be and when to be there.

The rebounding last night was bad. SPC was often playing 4 guards and a 6’6 "big man" and still managed to outrebound LU. Part of the reason they were able to stay in the game in the last 6 minutes was offensive rebounds and second chance points. Maneri, Adams, CJ and Holden did the best job on the boards.

[LUHoops00Participant]

nice recap sbum, thanks. You, 65, and 90 in the same arena I hope you guys got to meet up?

Just called bryant about saturday’s game, plenty of tixx on sale…should be able to sit behind LU bench as I did for St Johns game, which I enjoyed a lot.

Fired up for saturday, only decision that is left is if I take the 2.5 year old or go solo for max focus!

[lehigh90Participant]

Here is what I saw last night. Let me just state up front that a win on the road is a good win. However, I was a little disappointed last night. If I had to write this at halftime, I would have blasted the team, but in all fairness SPC shot the lights out in the first half, and Lehigh played better in the second half and gritted out a tough road victory.

Crowd of 349 last night in Jersey City, and I would say 1/3 of them were wearing Lehigh gear, so it was a nice showing for the road team. Before I forget, there was some question as to whether BJ Bailey left the team in an earlier post. He was dressed and on the bench last night but was a DNP. Generally, I liked what Lehigh did at the offensive end of the floor. They ran some sets for GK on the low block and he scored effectively or got fouled. When the ball kicked back out, our shooters knocked down some 3’s. HG has really turned it on. He was great last night. Played with a ton of energy on both ends, hit big, big shots, including 3’s, and make an unbelievable block late in the second half when SPC was making a final run. CJ did not have a great game. I was shocked to see his stat line at the end of the game. But he did score 22 with 11 boards. He is a great player, but I am not sure how much he has progressed from his freshman season. He has great shake and bake moves on the perimeter to free himself, but he had trouble knocking anything down from distance. He was able to draw some fouls, but he was a bit careless with the ball. Don’t get me wrong, he played well but I was expecting more.

MM played well, but found himself on the bench for a long stretch in the second half. I don’t get the feeling he is Reed’s favorite player. He takes time off at the defensive end, and you can tell it bothers Reed. When he is in the game, he is a difference maker, as it adds an additional scorer, he can shoot the 3 or drive. So, I would like to see his minutes up in the 32-34 range. Last night, CS got a lot of his minutes and he played well. He is not flashy, but a very basic pass first PG. What I like about him is he plays hard on both ends, and has good court awareness. He also can hit foul shots, which is critical for the PG when the team gets in the bonus. He was 6-6 last night. He is a willing defender, and Reed complimented him several times last night out loud and in the huddle about his defense. You can tell he likes that.

Now, on defense, Lehigh was flat out awful in the first half. Nobody on the perimeter can move their feet and stay in front of a penetrating player. SPC ate Lehigh alive in the first half off the dribble. Lehigh also has great difficulty defending the high pick and roll out front, and SPC ran several plays all night off that with success. Perimter defense is a real problem. I think that is why MM found himself on the bench. AD, JH, and CJ also had their problems on the defensive end. SC came in for a brief 30 seconds, lost his man on 2 possessions in row, and gave up a 3 and a 2 before Reed pulled him. So, quickness on the perimter on the defensive end is a glaring problem. SPC got into the lane at will off the dribble.

Whoever defends is going play on this team, I get the feeling. Last night CS defended and played, the other wings (AD, SC) had trouble and sat. JA added a real spark on the defensive end, and showed effort and good hands and caused some havoc, when Lehigh pushed the lead in the second half. SPC was better than I thought and had some quickness on the perimeter, which hurt Lehigh. Their big guy also hurt Lehigh inside with his toughness . Lehigh struggled at time to rebound the basketball and SPC was small.

While I am critical of Lehigh’s defensive effort in the first half, they did improve in the second, and SPC cooled off greatly. I think part of the first half defensive blame goes to Reed, however. If you cannot guard, and control penetration, you have to abandon the man to man, and go to some type of zone defense. I know he doesn’t like to play zone, but the game called for that last night in the first half. Lehigh should have packed in a zone last night and let SPC beat them from the outside. That is a way to control the paint. With about 2:30 left in the first half there was a timeout. Lehigh came out of the timeout in a 2-3 matchup type zone, sort of like John Chaney’s Temple zone. They only ran it for 2-3 defensive possessions and SPC looked lost against it. Unfortunately, Lehigh looked a little unsure on how to run it, but even with a lot of yelling from the assistants on the sideline, it was effective. It was also during this period that Lehigh made their late first half run to get the tied up at the half. I would have liked to see Reed go to it earlier, and stay with it longer. If SPC starts hitting 3’s then go back to man to man, but there is a time and place for everything. But, if I see a team that can’t control penetration, and can’t defend the perimeter, and can’t control an active big man inside (#42 last night), then zone is the way to go. Hopefully, Lehigh runs that more often in PL play, and learns to run it effectively. SPC had no clue how to attack it.

Other things I saw last night. AD and JH knocked down important 3’s in the first half to keep it close, when SPC stretched their lead out. HG was huge in that stretch too, as CJ had a slow start. JM played some minutes and did fine. What I don’t like about his minutes is Lehigh runs the same sets down low for him as they do for GK. He can find himself with the ball in the post, and he does have great offensive moves on the low block. So, that can lead to turnovers. He needs to kick that out to shooters. Last night, his first touch on the low block was a bad turnover, but he did make a shot a minute or two later. He plays hard, and you need him body. Like I said earlier, JA gave some good minutes on the defensive end. CB got a quick 30 second blow, but not enough time to do anything. He is just not long enough to play big men inside.

It is pretty clear how the team is shaping up for PL play. You have the 3 headed monster of CM, GK and HG, then MM, who can be very good. He just needs more consistent defensive effort. Guards blew past him last night at times. Then you have JH who plays tough, does a little of everything and can hit a 3 here and there. Bench wise, you are going to get JM as the first big, with JA sprinkled in. Then you are going to see minutes broken up between AD, CS, and SC depending on who can defend and hit shots. AD was the first wing off the bench, and his offensive game looks good, but he needs to improve defensively. He looks confident rising up from 3. That is pretty much your 8-10 player rotation. I don’t see Bailey as a factor, or Baltimore.

You would like to see a bit more from a recruiting class as far as the freshmen go. You would hope to recruit one starter and 2 contributors, but on this team, I think CS will contribute, and the others will be hard pressed to find minutes. I wish SC could find himself on the defensive end, as he can stroke it from distance, but he is a liability right now.

On the technical on the SPC coach, I have no clue. It was out of a timeout, so there didn’t appear to be a call he was contesting, unless he was yelling during the entire timeout. He was really going at the official and yelling about "having to keep a player on the bench", I assume because of foul trouble. When the arena is that empty, you can hear it all, and I thought he might get T’d up a second time. The official crew was pretty inconsistent. One guy swallowed his whistle, and the other 2 called every touch. Lehigh got the bad end of the whistle a few times. There was also confusion on the double technical call. It was a scrap between SPC’s back up point (#52) and JM, and out of the scrum the official said the technicals were for profanity after the play. I assumed they were on #52 and JM, but the box said #52 and MM. Maybe that is why MM found the bench as much as he did, I don’t know.

Sorry for all of the rambling in this post.

[gohawks63Participant]

The team was at the student fitness center today and BJ Bailey was definitely among them. Perhaps he’s having academic issues ..

[LUHoops00Participant]

Good recap 90, I hope to give same quality as you and sbum did from RI for Bryant game.

Frosh class, interesting comment 90, will be interesting to see how they pan out. Having KM slide into this class due to redshirt year will be a help to overall productivity of this group immediately beginning next year. We’ll see how other 3 develop over next couple of years.

I will say this though, my early work/review of Devon Carter suggests to me that he could leap over CS, SC, AD from day 1 next year and be first guard off the bench. I’m high on Carter and I know others are high on Chuku(one video I posted looked good)…I’m lining up a live Chuku prep game here in Boston in february, so if I go I’ll post a complete review/recap of his performance.

[LU65Participant]

There’s little left to say after reading the fine reports of Stabler Bum and lehigh90. I will, however, toss out a few random thoughts and observations.

> SPC came to play; we didn’t – at least for the first half. It seemed like our game was left on the Easton Coach bus idling outside. We looked disinterested for much of the opening 20 minutes and you got the feeling – like CJ expressed in the post game interview – that the team wasn’t worried…a comeback would happen. Well, it did – before halftime – but it wasn’t pretty or the style we’re accustomed to seeing. We got bogged-down in a half-court game for most of the night (46 FGAs – season low) and walked to victory on the strength of 6 "made" three-pointers and the inept 4 for 17 three-point shooting of SPC.

> Rebounding. How bad was it? 2nd worse night of the year. Only 28 vs. Iowa State was worse than the 30 we managed to pull down last night. Heck we had 31 against Michigan State. Makes you wonder where we’d be without CJ who had 11. Gabe had 1 in 30 minutes. As expressed earlier, both JA and JM were forces last night with 8 boards between them in their combined 22 minutes.

> CJ. Yeah, an off night. But really? I think most of us are spoiled. We go to the games – eyes trained on his every move – thinking the guy will hit for 30 and dazzle us with moves you only see in the NBA. Yes, you get a bit of that – even last night – but let’s all appreciate what may be the "new CJ" – a guy who appears more willing to feed his teammates the ball when open (assists up 64% from last year to 3.5/game and a team-high 49) and take fewer (13.6 FGA/game – down from 17.3 a year ago) and better shots. His FG% (.421 up from .399) and 3FG% (.333 up from .315) numbers would seem to indicate it’s working. And, how can anyone complain about his 6.1 rebounds/game? Only Gabe with 6.2 stands higher. CJ, however, is not a choir boy. Coach Reed was none too happy with him last night when, up by 7 with just seconds remaining, CJ decides to swipe the ball away from a SPC player only to be whistled for a foul. The clock stops and the guy goes to the line. Reed with hands by his side – palms up – looking none too happy at CJ (head down) standing 60 feet away along the free throw lane.

> Corey Schaefer last missed a free throw – his only two of the year – in Game 4 vs. William and Mary. That was on November 18th. The kid is 23 for 25 (.920). He shows a nice shooting touch and, more importantly, the ability to effectively run the half court offense. Comforting to know he’ll be around for another 3 1/2 years. Wonder what other talent lies out there in Des Moines, Iowa. Wonder, too, when the opposing coach is slapped with a technical with both CJ and CS on the floor, who takes the shots?

> Justin Mineri. Pumped to play is all I can say. Loved his attitude and not surprised to see the work done in the game. As a senior, he knows it’s his last go’round and he just seems happier (if that’s possible) and ready to make the most of it. His 8 pt./17 minute outing against SFU earlier this month may have turned the tide. Since then he’s been getting over 14 mpg (twice the earlier norm) – all based on hustle and D – in line with earlier comments made in this thread that playing time will go to those who show a commitment to defense.

> Holden’s rise. The story of this game (19 pts. and 6 boards) and perhaps the season. Take way his two 0-fer’s at Cornell and at Wagner, Mr. G is stroking his 3’s at .517 accuracy. He’s already taken more 3’s (66 attempts) this year than all of last (50 attempts). The 6’7" former high school guard has emerged as a star and is sure to draw the attention of all once PL play begins. Soon they’ll have to double-team him and CJ! What fun.

> Posters meet. Except for a brief run-in with LUHoops00 at the St. John’s game, I haven’t had the chance to other regular posters. What’s the likelihood of us getting together soon? Hoops00 will be at the Bryant game and the opener up at Holy Cross. Can anyone else make either? How about our first home game on Jan. 11th against AU?

[lehigh90Participant]

I don’t see a real answer for the rebounding problem. Let’s face it, GK, although 6’9" is a finesse player, and not a banger. He doesn’t have a lot of weight on his frame to bang down low. His post moves are good, the baby running hook, and the drop step baseline, but he is not a rebounder in traffic. JM is a banger, but not a great rebounder, as you need quickness to the ball as well. He is by no means an explosive leaper. That means your best rebounders on this team are going to be CJ and HG, as they have that quickness and leaping ability. But, they are both rail thin and have trouble getting firm position and boxing out. JA can be an effective rebounder, as he is pretty big and athletic, and JH is decent for his size. But, it is going to have to be a team effort for sure. Guards can certainly help out. MM is good for a guard, and he is going to have to get the longer rebounds. AD, SC and CS are not going to clear many rebounds. What is worrisome is Lehigh struggles to box out shooters who, if they follow their rebound, are getting their own misses. That shouldn’t happen. If a perimeter guy puts up a miss, the shooter needs to be kept away from the ball. The perimeter players need to put a body on the shooter first, then go get the ball. SPC killed Lehigh with that last night.
Maybe Baltimore is a good rebounder, but I haven’t seen enough of him to know. He rebounded in high school against good competition, and seems to have the body, but he needs a couple of inches. A lot of rebounding is effort, and at times, Lehigh doesn’t show great effort on the glass. The only reason SPC was in the game last night in the last 8-10 minutes was Lehigh’s inability to rebound.

[LUHoops00Participant]

Yeah I mean we’ve talked about it all year, in preseason and in season, rebounding the basketball is the achilles heal of this team. I agree, there is no answer this year, it won’t all of a sudden dramatically improve. When looking at what we lose from this team and add to next year’s team regarding rebounding, it breaks down as follows:

Out
Maneri
Adams
Hamilton

Returning/In
McCarthy
Goldsborough
Chuku

I didn’t include Carter because he is a guard. McCarthy hopefully comes back stronger and quicker, and he should be able to contribute down low, I was liking what he was doing towards the end of last year, as he showed a nice touch down low and is a true 6’10/big body big…not the traditional LU light in pants big.

Goldsborough – I’ve seen listed as 6’7 and 6’8, below is what Reed has to say about the kid, but appears he is a athletic/rebouding/defensive guy, tipping scales at 220 is what I’ve seen.

Originally from Fort Washington, Maryland, Goldsborough is a 6-8 forward/center coming off a solid summer playing AAU Basketball for the DC Assault program. He was named First Team All-IAC last year while making the All-Tournament Team at the Hawk Kreul Classic.

“Justin’s athletic ability is remarkable,” said Reed. “He has excellent length and size. He is a defensive presence immediately upon entering our program with his shot blocking and rebounding ability. Justin has very quick feet and his best basketball is ahead of him. His passion for the game, combined with his athletic potential, could lead to an extremely productive career at Lehigh. Just having his combination of size and athleticism could make him a unique force.”

Chuku – From what I’ve seen on video, at 6’7, I was unable to get a read on his potential contributions from a rebouding perspective, but he is athletic and has good length so we’ll see what he can do from rebounding the basketball standpoint. It would appear, that goldsborough has better chance to make bigger impact from rebounding standpoint, while Chuku could be more of a Hamilton replacement.

[LUHoops00Participant]

Maybe stat of the night for everyone looking for one last nugget of LU Hoops pre-bed time(norcal we know you’re up for hours still haha), but how about Knutson who is not exactly killing it on the boards with 4.5 a game, actually has 3 more Off rebounds then Def rebounds on the season.

Here is another one, CB, who has 96 minutes of action thus far this year, has 32 rebounds, thirty-two! I’m tired enough to not average that out correctly to do a rebound per 40 minutes of action, but it is high, that I know…

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