HoleinOne
Masters Student
Posts: 596
Loc: Bluffton, SC
Reg: 02-15-09
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03-16-17 09:47 PM - Post#227417
In response to HuskyColonial
Not sure why so much negative press for Zack. Brought the ball up, rebounded ok, etc. He gave away 4 inches and 40 pounds. Nana may have been a better defensive match up. My only issue was more coaching-he could have been more aggressive shooting. Would love this same opportunity next year=Thomas would get 20+ points based on 15 ft. shots.
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BreakinBison
Sophomore
Posts: 146
Reg: 01-23-06
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03-16-17 09:51 PM - Post#227419
In response to HoleinOne
I think Zach was gassed..he was battling Adrian on the defensive side of the ball for pretty much the entire game.
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MrPhillie
Postdoc
Posts: 2757
Loc: NE PA
Reg: 07-14-08
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West Virginia Game
03-16-17 10:16 PM - Post#227420
In response to HoleinOne
Which WVU player is 6'11" 270?
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bison63
Postdoc
Posts: 3857
Reg: 01-23-06
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03-16-17 10:24 PM - Post#227421
In response to BreakinBison
From 10-10 to down 15 in about 2.3 seconds, that was a character demonstrating comeback. WVU was just too much off the offensive boards. But our guys did themselves proud.
This was a far better team than the Butler team we lost to in 2013, and while we led that game momentarily, I thought we competed better today. I'd say this was our best losing performance in the dance to date. Now let's find the winning formula again. Sweet 16 sounds nice.
Congrats to the guys and the staff!
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crd012
Junior
Posts: 262
Age: 35
Reg: 12-02-12
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03-17-17 12:43 AM - Post#227425
In response to HoleinOne
C'mon to say that Zach had a good game is ridiculous. First of all Adrian is 2 inches taller than him and about equally as athletic. There is no doubt that if you watched the game he had a bigger impact on the game than Zach did.
Zach was a black hole on offense, constantly picking up his dribble (in the half court offense and in the press) and creating nothing offensively. He is also playing our four. We were so badly outrebounded and him being our 4 he has to take a large part of the blame. Especially when you consider how we got dominated when Nana was out.
You want to say I'm being harsh, maybe it's true. All I know was after the game West Va players and huggins were gushing about Nana and Kimball. No one even mentioned Zach. Going into this season I think we all thought that Zach would be our best player. It hasn't worked out that way...Nana is, but that has more to do with Nana than Zach, because Zach has been great. But Zach wasn't great today, not at all. Hopefully this game motivates him for next year. We need to dominate the PL next year
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Bison54
PhD Student
Posts: 1800
Reg: 11-18-09
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03-17-17 08:00 AM - Post#227435
In response to crd012
Its not fair to put this on Zach. The matchup was difficult, and this is not a PL team we were playing. Just maybe, the fact that we used our other bigs much less contributed (Nate S, Bruce); and maybe some more help on defense would have made a difference. Maybe not. Zach seemed to be handling the ball more in the press than the 3 was, and that spot could have been used more.
Offensive rebounds were the real killer here, some of which is luck and some of which was the simple size advantage.
And some was fatigue. More minutes played by the starters than usual, and I thought that showed late in the game. (Someone said Zach wasn't 100% with a cold). In many of our games lately we had second half surges against teams that used less bench (think Lehigh). That was reversed last night.
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crd012
Junior
Posts: 262
Age: 35
Reg: 12-02-12
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03-17-17 08:36 AM - Post#227440
In response to Bison54
Its not fair to put this on Zach. The matchup was difficult, and this is not a PL team we were playing. Just maybe, the fact that we used our other bigs much less contributed (Nate S, Bruce); and maybe some more help on defense would have made a difference. Maybe not. Zach seemed to be handling the ball more in the press than the 3 was, and that spot could have been used more.
Offensive rebounds were the real killer here, some of which is luck and some of which was the simple size advantage.
And some was fatigue. More minutes played by the starters than usual, and I thought that showed late in the game. (Someone said Zach wasn't 100% with a cold). In many of our games lately we had second half surges against teams that used less bench (think Lehigh). That was reversed last night.
I'm not trying to put it all on Zach...the difference in the game for me was in two places. One was the 6-0 run in the last minute of the first half that made the lead 9 instead of 3 and us getting killed on the boards. But I was disappointed in Zach because out of all the starters he didn't play up to his potential or what he was capable of. He had a bad game, he wasn't the reason we lost but it left something to be desired. I hope it motivates him for next year and burns a fire within him.
In regards to the bench I thought that we should have played Moore more. His size and athleticism would have helped on the defensive side and rebounding alone...something we really needed. Inwas surprised how much Nate Jones played, considering how little of an impact he seemed to have.
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jkrun80
Postdoc
Posts: 3305
Age: 65
Reg: 05-07-12
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03-17-17 08:56 AM - Post#227442
In response to crd012
Moore played poorly for the few minutes he was in. If he'd been playing better, I agree he could have helped with rebounding. Cut Zach a break. He's had a great year, but clearly wasn't himself yesterday.
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vic42
Freshman
Posts: 68
Reg: 10-20-08
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03-17-17 09:00 AM - Post#227443
In response to crd012
Overall, this was a great effort. Foulland, Brown & Mackenzie had great games. If he was calling the game, Raftery would have complimented them as having "onions"!
Thomas didn't cost us the game. He did have a subpar outing, but, I can't accept a head cold as the reason. I think the main reason is he cannot play an effective 4 against the power conference teams. I also think he is not interested in mixing it up too much with these big boys.
Again, great effort & certainly a great sign for next year. Here, also, I must caution about over exuberance. Let's win one game before we start thinking about the sweet 16...........
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Shot Clock
Masters Student
Posts: 883
Loc: Arlington VA
Reg: 01-27-06
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03-17-17 09:14 AM - Post#227444
In response to Paulie777
Proud of the team. Showed that they can compete with a top team. Just could not quite over the hump.
Looking forward to next year.
| B.A. Bucknell University, 1993 |
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HuskyColonial
PhD Student
Posts: 1976
Age: 50
Reg: 02-17-12
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03-17-17 09:17 AM - Post#227445
In response to Shot Clock
Moore and Toomer looked like freshmen today but I thought the Nate Jones minutes were head scratching.
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Bison137
Professor
Posts: 16147
Reg: 01-23-06
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03-17-17 09:41 AM - Post#227446
In response to vic42
G Overall, this was a great effort. Foulland, Brown & Mackenzie had great games. If he was calling the game, Raftery would have complimented them as having "onions"!
Thomas didn't cost us the game. He did have a subpar outing, but, I can't accept a head cold as the reason. I think the main reason is he cannot play an effective 4 against the power conference teams. I also think he is not interested in mixing it up too much with these big boys.
Again, great effort & certainly a great sign for next year. Here, also, I must caution about over exuberance. Let's win one game before we start thinking about the sweet 16...........
I don't think Zach had a particularly bad game. Yes, his shooting was off a bit but he did produce 13 points on 9 shots. Also six rebounds against a host of much bigger, much stronger, and more rested big men. More importantly, he was charged with an almost impossible job: being the facilitator against what may have been the fiercest press a Bison team has ever faced. In general, he did that job really well.
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raymondbucknell
Junior
Posts: 295
Reg: 02-05-07
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03-17-17 11:03 AM - Post#227455
In response to Bison137
Proud of the whole team, Zach included. Every time it looked like the game might get away from them they came roaring back. There was no quit in these guys. They were well prepared and played with grit. Watch out for us next year.
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bison63
Postdoc
Posts: 3857
Reg: 01-23-06
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03-17-17 11:06 AM - Post#227456
In response to Bison137
As I see it, we competed in a game we figured to lose badly. We did not lose because we shot poorly, we shot ok despite missing some bunnies. We did not lose because we mishandled the ball against the WVU press, for the most part we handled it well. We did not lose because Zach picked up his dribble.
We lost, just barely, because they owned the offensive boards and killed us with second chance points. To say that that shortcoming was in someway Zach's fault does not compute here. Size matters! Bigger is better!
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Bison137
Professor
Posts: 16147
Reg: 01-23-06
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03-17-17 12:32 PM - Post#227467
In response to crd012
P C'mon to say that Zach had a good game is ridiculous. First of all Adrian is 2 inches taller than him and about equally as athletic. There is no doubt that if you watched the game he had a bigger impact on the game than Zach did.
Zach was a black hole on offense, constantly picking up his dribble (in the half court offense and in the press) and creating nothing offensively. He is also playing our four. We were so badly outrebounded and him being our 4 he has to take a large part of the blame. Especially when you consider how we got dominated when Nana was out.
You want to say I'm being harsh, maybe it's true. All I know was after the game West Va players and huggins were gushing about Nana and Kimball. No one even mentioned Zach. Going into this season I think we all thought that Zach would be our best player. It hasn't worked out that way...Nana is, but that has more to do with Nana than Zach, because Zach has been great. But Zach wasn't great today, not at all. Hopefully this game motivates him for next year. We need to dominate the PL next year
I disagree 100% about Zach. It wasn't his best game, but he did a great job facilitating the press break. Also was giving up a huge amount of size to Adrian and got virtually no rest during the game.
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Biggest fan of 5
Freshman
Posts: 17
Reg: 11-26-08
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West Virginia Game
03-17-17 05:04 PM - Post#227509
In response to HuskyColonial
I too wonder why Nate Jones played so much after seldom playing during the season and playoffs.
Also, why not work the bench more? They got us points all season and it would have been fresh legs too.
I personally think Zach is selfish in passing the ball the majority of the time. If you can't get in to get a bucket kick the damn ball out.
Edited by Biggest fan of 5 on 03-17-17 05:06 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.
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bisonmania
Masters Student
Posts: 920
Reg: 10-26-07
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03-17-17 08:44 PM - Post#227512
In response to Biggest fan of 5
#5 I am not sure that you look at stats. Zach had a great year dishing the ball off to teammates. 137 can help me a bit here but I think he lead the team in assists. I think most posters on this board are glad he is a bison! Let's also not forget he gave up shots the last 2 years to Hass. In finishing my little rant. I would like to say. I have personally talked to not only Zach but to every player on this team and he and his teammates are all very humble kids. We should be glad we have him as a bison. I feel it's time people to put this trash talking to rest and be proud of these fine young men. Looking forward to November!
Go Bison!
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bison63
Postdoc
Posts: 3857
Reg: 01-23-06
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03-18-17 07:10 AM - Post#227527
In response to bisonmania
That works for me.!
Meanwhile, so long to John, DJ and Ben. Thanks for the memories you gave us, and I know you got plenty of them in return.
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Bison89
Professor
Posts: 5370
Loc: Philadelphia
Reg: 11-14-07
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03-18-17 07:44 AM - Post#227528
In response to bison63
Wow, I have enjoyed watching hoops the last few days. My wife is telling her friend that she is a hoops widow.
Going into the game, we knew that WV has the best press in the country. We knew that the Bison would turn the ball over. The only question was how many turn overs will the Bison have?
In general, the Bison could have done much worse against the press. Other than 2 or 3 short stretches, the Bison handled the press fairly well. Some members of this board might think that I am wrong, but to a certain extent, I feel that Zach played like Zach has all season when facing a pressing defense. If you look back at the first Navy game when he committed turn overs on 3-4 straight plays against the press, he really has not progressed when it comes to handling the ball and being smart with passes. I do not think that the coaches should have had him handle the ball so much when it is not his strength. (I am not criticizing Zack. I think that he is a great player. I am just commenting on what I have seen.)
As for the Team, I could not be more proud. They played very hard against a much bigger team. They showed that a good PL team can play with anybody.
Next season will be interesting. With Nova losing 3 starters and probably having a down season next year, I would be shocked if they want the Bison anywhere near Nova Nation. As for the rest of D-1, I think that the Bison should be willing to play anybody anywhere anytime. It will be lots of fun.
Thank you, Seniors!!!
| New season, new team, new dream . . . |
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MrPhillie
Postdoc
Posts: 2757
Loc: NE PA
Reg: 07-14-08
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West Virginia Game
03-18-17 11:07 AM - Post#227538
In response to Bison89
Again, it was a fantastic season with many great memories. My favorite winter activity is Bison basketball and the coaches and players did a fabulous job all year. I hope it was fun for them. Yes, I am critical at times but I never do not have respect for their abilities on the court and in the classroom. I wish the seniors all the best and thank them for their contribution to Bucknell basketball.
As for the game, I think we handled the press fairly well. Seems we had more trouble with the pressure trapping once they got past half court and into their offense. And I do think that picking up the dribble and not having a clear plan as to what to do with the ball in those situations hurt the offense and caused turnovers. But it seems allowing a ton of offensive rebounds and second chance points was the biggest killer. Stephen, Nana and Kimbal obviously had fantastic games. I'd say Zach had an okay game overall. Avi struggled a little but was fine overall. Our bench was not what it typically is but also, they were not in there very often. At the end of the day the guys should be proud of the effort and the result...maybe not happy with the result because just a few things here and there could have the Bison playing ND today. Cannot wait for next season!
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