Penndemonium
PhD Student
Posts: 1900
Reg: 11-29-04
|
11-24-23 02:39 AM - Post#359630
Starting a game thread.
Happy Thanksgiving, all!
|
OldBig5
Masters Student
Posts: 639
Age: 66
Reg: 02-18-18
|
11-24-23 07:55 AM - Post#359634
In response to Penndemonium
Thanks, good reminder,
Villanova beat #14 UNC so our win over the Cats looks even better. I will just ignore the UMES loss. 
|
Streamers
Professor
Posts: 8267
Loc: NW Philadelphia
Reg: 11-21-04
|
Lafayette
11-24-23 10:14 AM - Post#359635
In response to OldBig5
Penn is a 12.5 point favorite for what it is worth.
|
Penndemonium
PhD Student
Posts: 1900
Reg: 11-29-04
|
11-24-23 03:43 PM - Post#359639
In response to Streamers
ESPN has them as 89% likelihood to win.
It's too bad MJ is not getting a good run at Head Coach, although it's hard to say what's right without knowing the circumstances of his dismissal.
I think the probabilities are overstated, given that we just lost to #351 (out of 362 possible teams) Maryland Eastern Shore. Lafayette is #328, and we are #181. I didn't watch the game, but clearly we can play both up and down to our competition.
|
SomeGuy
Professor
Posts: 6413
Reg: 11-22-04
|
11-24-23 05:34 PM - Post#359641
In response to Penndemonium
So far, home and away makes a big difference for us.
|
Chip Bayers
Professor
Posts: 7001
Loc: New York
Reg: 11-21-04
|
11-24-23 06:19 PM - Post#359644
In response to SomeGuy
Spinoso continues to frustrate with poor play at both ends, and that includes the coaches—TV had a close up shot of a red-faced Nat Graham up in Nick’s grill screaming as they came into huddle at the last TV timeout of half.
|
Penndemonium
PhD Student
Posts: 1900
Reg: 11-29-04
|
11-24-23 06:20 PM - Post#359645
In response to SomeGuy
I'm watching with a bit of delay, but I LOVED watching Gerhart's rebound with about 15:10 left in the first half. The team should watch his rebounding work again and again.
This is my first time seeing Sam Brown in action. It's very early so far, but I like how he seems very purposeful with his possessions. He tests whether he has an approach, and moves the ball quickly to the right player if not. There is no pause or hesitation in his decision-making, which many of our other players seem to have. He has an idea of his options before he gets the ball, so he's ready to move it to the next player if his space isn't there.
|
Penndemonium
PhD Student
Posts: 1900
Reg: 11-29-04
|
Lafayette
11-24-23 06:28 PM - Post#359646
In response to Penndemonium
BTW, Spinoso really needs to examine his finishing. The announcers said he is shooting 39% FTs this season. That is just terrible. As the announcers said, his stroke doesn't look 39% bad. This implies to me that there is something very small in his stroke that needs to be fixed -- how he visualizes his shot, how it leaves his fingers, or something else. He tends to miss at the back of the rim. Perhaps if he visualizes just one more backspin rotation of the basketball in his shot, it will give him the extra touch with the ball and enough arc trajectory to make the difference. Or perhaps he needs to reach a bit deeper into the cookie jar in his follow through. There should be a very simple fix, as he doesn't look like Shaq in his shot form and feel. But this season his FTs are worse than Shaq.
|
Mike Porter
Postdoc
Posts: 3619
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Reg: 11-21-04
|
Re: Lafayette
11-24-23 06:34 PM - Post#359647
In response to Streamers
Penn is a 12.5 point favorite for what it is worth.
It doesn’t look worth much right now. This is a lot more UMES version of the team than it is Nova version unfortunately.
|
Mike Porter
Postdoc
Posts: 3619
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Reg: 11-21-04
|
11-24-23 06:47 PM - Post#359648
In response to Mike Porter
Spinoso has been (how can I say this nicely), not good. Villanova win looking like fools gold. This lanky 7 footer is averaging 7 ppg and has 23 and we’ve made him look like Shaq. Pretty soon might as well give Gerhart or others more time in middle since Spinoso has been bad on both ends except for rebounding.
|
Penndemonium
PhD Student
Posts: 1900
Reg: 11-29-04
|
11-24-23 06:58 PM - Post#359649
In response to Mike Porter
Spinoso has been leaving him on double-teams, and we've been eaten up on that again and again. There is no need to defend him at the three point line, and we need to let the ball-handlers prove they can do something off-the pick. Spinoso is way too slow recovering back to cover his man.
One other suggestion for Spinoso is for him NEVER to shoot without using the backboard. That would help improve the odds of his very flat shot.
|
Penndemonium
PhD Student
Posts: 1900
Reg: 11-29-04
|
Lafayette
11-24-23 07:01 PM - Post#359650
In response to Penndemonium
I like Brown being on the court. Having him on the court creates many more options and much better flow than Thrower.
|
Chip Bayers
Professor
Posts: 7001
Loc: New York
Reg: 11-21-04
|
11-24-23 07:20 PM - Post#359653
In response to Penndemonium
Phew.
|
weinhauers_ghost
Postdoc
Posts: 2140
Age: 64
Loc: New York City
Reg: 12-14-09
|
11-24-23 07:33 PM - Post#359654
In response to Chip Bayers
Seriously. That was way too much of a nail biter. I only saw the last half of the second half, but had been checking the score earlier and wondering what was going on for the game to be that close.
The offense didn't look so good for much of the part of the game I did see. Penn made just enough plays at both ends of the floor to escape with the win.
|
OldBig5
Masters Student
Posts: 639
Age: 66
Reg: 02-18-18
|
11-24-23 07:53 PM - Post#359655
In response to Chip Bayers
Phew.
You can say that again: Phew.
|
OldBig5
Masters Student
Posts: 639
Age: 66
Reg: 02-18-18
|
11-24-23 07:56 PM - Post#359656
In response to OldBig5
Take these odds with a grain of slat. We beat Villanova and now lost to UMES and barely beat these guys today. Will be a roller coaster I think even in the conference. Hope Sipnoso can find is focus.
|
SomeGuy
Professor
Posts: 6413
Reg: 11-22-04
|
11-24-23 09:01 PM - Post#359657
In response to Penndemonium
Yes, to me it was more the strategy than Spinoso’s execution. The doubling and leaving their big only works if Laz/Holland or at least Perkins/Smith jumps in the middle to help for a moment on the roll. We left the guy way too open way too often. He was either totally unattended for a couple seconds, or Clark was there trying to do something totally futile. At some point, we needed to adjust.
I do think Thrower makes a difference on defense. We haven’t played nearly as well without him for 3 of the last four halves. I have no idea how to figure out how to play our 5 guards enough. But I thought Thrower sat too much in the second half, assuming it wasn’t because of his injury (he appeared to make a couple of mistakes on both sides of the ball early in the second, and he didn’t appear again until the last 12 seconds. Love Brown so far, but we need to keep Cam out there somehow.
Anyway, a win is a win. Offense was good overall (though inconsistent), and we won the boards yet again against a team with some size. Hopefully we play better tomorrow on D.
|
Chip Bayers
Professor
Posts: 7001
Loc: New York
Reg: 11-21-04
|
11-24-23 09:36 PM - Post#359658
In response to SomeGuy
A big part of these pre-season games with so many new rotation faces is the staff figuring out which lineups work best together for particular situations.
|
UPIA1968
PhD Student
Posts: 1121
Loc: Cornwall, PA
Reg: 11-20-06
|
11-24-23 09:57 PM - Post#359659
In response to Chip Bayers
Two freshman on the floor in crunch time. We already know about Tyler. Looks like Brown is the real thing. Is this the beginning of a four-year run of superior backcourt play?
Holland is back to his role from last year, falling behind Laz in minutes, again like last year.
Only 9 turnovers and good FT shooting. Big progress there.
|
Penndemonium
PhD Student
Posts: 1900
Reg: 11-29-04
|
11-25-23 12:10 AM - Post#359661
In response to UPIA1968
Spinoso redeemed himself at the end of the game with better D (avoiding the switch), getting a big putback, drawing a foul on a loose ball, and more. I agree this was more of a coaching issue, although Spinoso could have had a bit more restraint on offense. I stand by my comments on his finishing - hope he has a chance to work on it. If he could hit his over the shoulder shots and learn the lean-in (like AJ), he would be a terror in the league. He would also draw a ton of fouls b/c people wouldn't be able to just let him have the shot. Maybe that bit of touch would help him hit is FTs too. 
|
