To Pull the Upset

[lehigh90Participant]

Thinking about potential First Round NCAA game, and could we pull the upset? You go into a game like this pretty much thinking you are not as talented at every position as your competition. However, with CJ, we win one matchup or maybe break even. But, what I like is the fact that this team has athletes. And you need athletes to beat athletic teams like any 2 seed. With CJ, MM and BB on the floor, we have athleticism. You throw in GK, who will probably be matched with a bigger more athletic guy, but you can live with him. HG is critical in a game like this, as he is also an athlete who can play on a big stage. JA, I can live with his energy. You worry about players like CS, JM and JH who lack size and athleticism to be competitive in a game like this. I think you need very heavy minutes from CJ, MM, GK, HG, BB and JA, with a tiny bit of JH and JM. 7 or 8 deep is about all you can go in this one. You need to play tough on defense, crash crash crash the boards and shoot the 3 well. Also, the guys playing the heavy minutes need to stay out of foul trouble. Reed needs to use timeouts effectively. Hopefully, you don’t need them to stop runs, but keep the game close and use timeouts to rest guys. 35 from CJ would go a long way as well.

[norcalfanParticipant]

I agree on all points, especially HG. I expected more shots from him. While JA has been good at the three, when the game is heated like BU, he does better on defense than offense. Is HG ready to go? Needs to stroke it, he has the touch. He looked great against AU. So proud of the team.

[LUHoops00Participant]

First thing we need, a good matchup boys. We need a perimeter, guard oriented team that likes to shoot 3’s and jumpers. We hope our guards have a better night and their shots aren’t falling. We just got to pray that we don’t get a MSU or OSU or big body front court or it is probably one and done. Give me a race car fast tempo running team and I’ll take my shots in a one game situation with CJ, MM, BJB et all….

[Hawk07Participant]

A nice picture of CJ vs Mich State headlines this “Giant Killers Blog” on ESPN.com. Below is a summary and his writeup for those without Insider access..

http://insider.espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/blog/_/name/giant_killers/id/7669230/ncaa-tournament-giant-killers-players-cause-upsets

We’ll offer a few of our favorites heading into the tournament, focusing on teams that have already qualified or seem like at-large locks, while ignoring those who are likely to be seeded too high to qualify as a Giant Killer (such as Wichita State). But we want to hear your suggestions as well. So post in the comments section or tweet at us, and we’ll investigate for a future blog.

Just remember that being a terrific player isn’t good enough — we’re looking for those along the lines of floor-stretching power forwards, guards who swipe the ball and dish it, undersized offensive rebounders and pure marksmen. Like some of these guys:

C.J. McCollum, Lehigh Mountain Hawks
The 6-3 guard does a little bit of everything for Lehigh, but he’s a particularly skilled thief, swiping the ball on 4.7 percent of possessions (13th in the country) — good for 2.6 times per game. Oh, he’s made 58 3-pointers this season, too, on his way to 21.9 ppg.

[TMHParticipant]

IMHO, if Greiner is healthy for this next game, I would keep Adams in the starting lineup and bring Hamilton off the bench. Whover we play will likely not only be athletic but physical underneath. Hamilton brings a great outside shot and decent defense to the table which lends itself well to coming off the bench. However he is a terrible rebounder. Adams brings an attitude which will be needed. I see Hamilton coming in for Greiner and Maneri for Adams/Knudsen.

[gohawks63Participant]

Holden is the X factor for this game. He played huge against Mich St. and we really gave them a scare. If CJ, Gabe, Mackey and Holden can play to their full potential – we can hang with them for a while. If one or two of them is flat – as we’ve seen too many times this year, things could get ugly quick. JH looked lost in the Bucknell game, but perhaps he can get it together enough to contribute.

As has been pointed out, Duke has many flaws. Of late, they have been very cold from the 3 point line. Let’s hope that continues ..

If Lehigh shines, then I think we are in danger, not only of losing our star player but our star coach as well. He is getting a lot of national face time this year, and it seems he is a candidate to get sucked up by a larger program.

[TMHParticipant]

Personally, I’m not concerned about CJ coming out early. To the best of my knowledge only 1st round picks get salary slotted. There are no guarantees at all for 2nd rounders. I’m fairly sure that at his point he is not close to being projected as a 1st rounder anywhere.He would be much better off finishing his career at Lehigh, play a more aggressive schedule with possibly the best team in Lehigh history and yes get his diploma and get a much better shot next year.
As for Reed, there is always that escalator going up and for Lehigh fans it is usually the price of success.

[ngineerParticipant]

Concerns as to both. I would hope Reed would want to stay at least one more year considering what is coming back…especially with CJ. It could very well be the best basketball team Lehigh ever saw. Price of success at small schools is losing your coach, unless you have a real unusual situation. I would be surprised if CJ left early.

[norcalfanParticipant]

Yes, coach likes the camera. Looking around, he has received a lot of attention lately. In some of the latest interviews, he seems less stressed, more relaxed. Hey, the guy has a family to support. He has decided to let go of the image and play the guys that can win it for him. Fist pumping Dr. Reed has emerged. Personally, I like the new energy, yet control of his team. The best to CJ and Reed.

[ngineerParticipant]

I see Reed going far. Taylor and McCaffrey have parlayed their Lehigh starts into successful gigs, and lets not forget Brian Hill who sprung from Lehigh up to the NBA!

[RichHParticipant]

Think Reed will stay unless gets offer from a school near Michigan. Looking at even better team for next year. Of course some of that is wishful thinking.

[lfnadminKeymaster]

I’m officially starting the #ReedFistPumpFanClub on Twitter. Just to let everyone know.

[lehigh90Participant]

This is reminiscent of McCaffrey’s time at Lehigh. He hitched his wagon to Queenan and Polaha, then got quickly out of town when they graduated. And, he only got an assistant’s job at Notre Dame under Digger Phelps and John McLeod, not even a head job. He had to sit and wait another 11 years to get a head job, and it was at UNC-G, not exactly a powerhouse. And, he was only a .500 coach there. Actually, McCaffrey’s career seemed dead in the water until he had success at Siena, which he parlayed into the big time at Iowa. He has not been that impressive at Iowa, and may be on some shaky ground if he doesn’t start winning.

Billy Taylor got lucky to get out of Lehigh at the time as he was about a .500 coach as well. If you take away the games the team had to forfeit in 04-05, he is well below .500. Fortunately, for him, nobody wanted the Ball St. job as the program was such a disaster. He has resurrected them from the dead, but a lot of people are calling for his dismissal at Ball St. right now. So, he is on shaky ground.

Reed is going to do the same. Hook himself to CJ’s coattails, then try to parlay it into a bigger job. But, it’s not an easy haul. Sometimes, you may be better staying put, as you have earned respect where you are, and a longer leash. If you take a new job, and don’t win in 3-4 years, you are probably done.

But, that being said, he is not exactly cashing in at Lehigh money wise. I think he is making about $150K give or take? McCaffrey got a 6 year guaranteed $1.1M per year job at Iowa. For Reed to make $6.6M at Lehigh he would need to coach 44 years.

Question is … could you build a mid-major powerhouse, which would entice a good coach to stay? With the lack of fan support at Stabler, the answer appears to be no.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 1 month ago by  lehigh90.

[LU65Participant]

The Blecher Report gives us and others who go up agasint Duke some hope.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1099604-duke-basketball-plumlee-brothers-are-key-to-blue-devils-tournament-success#

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