bradley
PhD Student
Posts: 1842
Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
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12-09-16 11:07 AM - Post#215282
Another road game for the Tigers. Hopefully, they are not significantly jet lagged coming back from Hawaii.
Liberty seems to be on the small side both offensively and defensively. They played VCU tough at home earlier in the season losing by 5 points.
If Tigers play ok, they should be fine but you never know on the road. If they continue to play tough defense, there is a safety margin. Should be 8 to 10 point favorite.
If you pull out the Rowan game, shooting stats are down appreciably from last year with the same players. Part of it is due to defenses that they have faced, i.e. VCU and Cal, but if the Tigers start hitting open shots like last year, the safety margin increases for sure. There have been shots to make in all games other than Cal.
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SRP
Postdoc
Posts: 4910
Reg: 02-04-06
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12-10-16 05:18 PM - Post#215404
In response to bradley
This game was Weisz's Sistine Chapel painting. 13 assists, including the key over-the-shoulder drop to a trailing Stephens for the clincher, plus leading the team with 7 rebounds, only 2 turnovers and 1 steal. Aaron Young's homecoming explosion and Stephens's offensive efficiency compensated for down offensive games from Caruso and Bell, while Cook and Cannady were their usual selves. Solid road win.
There was some strange stuff going on in the interaction of PU's offense with Liberty's pack-line defense. Obviously, they were conceding a lot of open threes while collapsing hard on drives and post-ups, but I also saw the Tigers miss four or five wide open cutters (a couple of times hitting a three on that possession, but still). And the foul shooting was putrid by everyone but Cannady, almost costing the team the game down the stretch. 4-12 with three front-end misses on one-and-ones is hideous.
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1LotteryPick1969
Postdoc
Posts: 2272
Age: 73
Loc: Sandy, Utah
Reg: 11-21-04
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12-10-16 08:01 PM - Post#215417
In response to SRP
Back door layups: Liberty 2 Princeton 0
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bradley
PhD Student
Posts: 1842
Age: 74
Reg: 01-15-16
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12-10-16 10:18 PM - Post#215424
In response to SRP
Strange game -- Liberty was better than I thought but Tigers still had a 15 pt lead with 7 minutes to go. They continue to struggle finishing games.
Strengths of the team include flexibility as they can play competitively against bigs and other types of styles. BYU, VCU, Cal etc all have different skill sets and they have had chances to win every game with less than 5 minutes to go. Another strength is depth as witnessed today -- Stephens and Young. Additionally, they can play on the road. Defense is much improved from last year. Weaknesses are lack of closing out games, lack of backdoor and no interior offense with poor offensive rebounding.
Cook, Weisz and Cannady are the consistent core with Cook a possible POY candidate. Bell and even Caruso have taken a step back. They need Brase to come back and others to step up, i.e. Caruso, Miller etc. Apparently, Brase is getting close to return.
St. Joe's will be a good test.
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SRP
Postdoc
Posts: 4910
Reg: 02-04-06
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12-11-16 02:28 AM - Post#215431
In response to bradley
My only complaint about the defense is that they didn't put much ball pressure on a team that has shown a tendency to turn the ball over. No 1-3-1 at all when I was watching, few double-teams on the ball in man defense, etc. They were strong anyway until the Flames started penetrating off some missed switches.
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1LotteryPick1969
Postdoc
Posts: 2272
Age: 73
Loc: Sandy, Utah
Reg: 11-21-04
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12-11-16 07:58 AM - Post#215432
In response to SRP
Liberty surprised me with their D--a little loose on the perimeter, but very quick to pack it in and double down on the dribbler.
I saw the 1-3-1 deployed twice, as I recall. The first time Liberty quickly moved the ball for an open corner 3. Don't recall second time outcome other than it did not seem to bother them.
I think we play better with Miller than Brase, and he should continue to start. When Miller took a breather, Liberty went right at Gladson in the post and scored every time. This surprised me, as I thought Gladson was a better defender than that.
Late in the game it is the three ball that hurts us (on both ends); for us it stops dropping, the shots get hurried as the lead slips.
It was odd not to be in the bonus until the very end.
We need a team leader in tight situations who can reliably go to the hoop, draw the foul, and make the free throws. Bell had a nice drive but drew no contact and missed the layup.
Cannady and Stephens do not have a good enough handle to go to the hoop, and no one on the team is able to use his body to create contact yet get the shot off cleanly.
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