• Season Summary

 #8575  by FU03times
 Sun Dec 30, 2018 4:40 pm
I think the problem with Lyons is that he takes every shot without necessarily finding the best shot for him or the team, even when there is no need for him to take a shot. That's why he tends to have low assist numbers and low shooting percentages at times. He needs to figure out what the best shot is and play with more team spirit and consistency. Having said that, when he gets started he can get fired up really fast. Last night I saw him at warm ups and he got almost every shot. He was meant to have a good night but ETSU defenders knew that and guarded him well the whole night, and when he started getting hot from outside, BR took him out. I still don't understand why.

It is not always us. Sometimes our opponents are better and sometimes purely their size is not forgiving of mistakes in our coaching, our gameplans, or our performance. Last night I felt like I was re-watching the game @LSU. We were not taking the best shots, and that led to a lot of inaccurate shooting. That, paired with the opponent's great ability to go over us, because of their size, for the rebound, was the thing that led to our demise last night. I was just rewatching the game and no matter how well you guard someone like N'Guessan, or Armus, as soon as they get under the basket they can walk through guys like us. What I gathered from last night's game and from last week is that we need to really switch up our game against bigger teams. I don't know how, but we can't have them breeze through our defense to the basket. Both LSU and ETSU were incredibly good at shooting 3s, and I am not an expert to say how to fix that. I think we are playing as good as we can, but we need a better plan, because whatever we've been doing the past two games does not seem to be working against the big guys. Still, very proud of our guys and how they got where the are today. Hope we can leave these Ls in 2018, go Dins!
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 #8580  by purplehorse
 Sun Dec 30, 2018 9:18 pm
My bet is that when we play ETSU in Greenville they will not shoot the 3 as well.

Need to get more height in game-either play Gurley more or Jaylen more.
 #8581  by tya1
 Mon Dec 31, 2018 12:54 am
CharlieFU wrote:
Sat Dec 29, 2018 8:52 pm
The inconsistentcy is largely by younger players. Mounce and Gurley in particular. That’s not too surprising really.

By the way, we don’t win Etsu game even if we shoot well.
Agree about the inconsistency. A tough last few games for Mounce. He only scored 3 against Charleston Southern, was scoreless against LSU, and had 4 points on 1-10 shooting against ETSU. Of course he went for 26 against UNCW in that stretch, which is the one redeeming game in that stretch. Most of the new starters have been up and down. Rafferty has been so solid, and most of the time some of the younger guys had good games, so that obscures the inconsistency when you are winning.

I don't buy the "we don't win even if we shoot well" statement. ETSU had a rebounding advantage because of our poor shooting. We missed 14 more shots than they did but they only had 10 more rebounds. We had the edge on offensive rebounds. ETSU only had 5 offensive rebounds. Defending teams are supposed to get most of the rebounds. ETSU is averaging getting 40% of the offensive rebounds - by far the best number in the SoCon. Saturday they got 25%. That would be at the bottom of the league if it was a % for the season.

This game came down to shooting. They hit 60% of all shots and 44% of their threes. We hit 37% and 23%. Steals and blocked shots were even and we had fewer turnovers. We missed some layups and open threes, they got confident and energized in front of a big home crowd, and we really faded after getting behind. The last thing is the most concerning but maybe the youthful nature of the team was part of the reason.

Hoping we learn something about reacting to adversity and raise our level as a result.
 #8582  by apaladin
 Mon Dec 31, 2018 2:20 am
I know it is early but the Thursday and Saturday games this week are must wins.
 #8583  by Fessor
 Mon Dec 31, 2018 5:04 am
Mounce had a tough assignment against LSU on the defensive end, which not only took him out of his offensive game, but also put him in foul trouble. He's incredibly valuable. He's one of the few guys who can score both inside and outside. He is also generally a very good defender and rebounder. Maybe the most versatile ,well-rounded and talented player on the team. He's critical to the team's success.

He would benefit immensely from putting on about 15 pounds of muscle in his upper body. Hopefully the redshirt year allows that to happen while he's still at FU.

From the limited interaction I've had with him, he seems like a good kid; the kind of person you want wearing your alma mater's jersey.
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 #8585  by soconjohn
 Mon Dec 31, 2018 9:34 am
Mounce is a great player...I suspect he'll find his game again this weekend...He's not the reason Furman lost to LSU and ETSU, they were team losses...Having said that, foul trouble for Mounce was the issue at LSU and the other night at ETSU, he just couldn't get the ball to drop on several attempts...Ball literally rolled off the rim...Some tough breaks...He brings effort to every game, as does the whole team...One of the few bright spots Saturday night was the play of Noah Gurley...He was aggressive on both ends, and I like to see that.
 #8592  by Paul C
 Mon Dec 31, 2018 2:29 pm
Just a reminder....Almost exactly 2 years ago, Furman destroyed ETSU in Greenville. At the 10 min mark of the 2nd half we led 61-36. The final was 75-62 as we took our foot off the gas, but ETSU was not competitive, to use some words early in this thread.

ETSU went on to finish the regular season 24-7 (14-4), win the SoCon tourney and play Florida tough in the NCAA's....

So take this one with a grain of salt. We will know more after Thurs and Sat...
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 #8596  by CharlieFU
 Mon Dec 31, 2018 4:23 pm
Please see the other things Lyons contributes to this team. Defense! Leadership.

And I really don’t have a problem with his shot selection in general. A few Times I will think it’s not the best shot....but Coach has given him a green light. In fact, several games ago he said Lyons actually gave up a shot he should have taken.

Anyway, other than Rafferty, they can all play better and likely will.
 #8597  by CharlieFU
 Mon Dec 31, 2018 4:33 pm
Lyons is shooting 35% from 3. Team avg is about the same.

Mounce leads the team at 43%.

Brown, remember, has only played in 7 games so far (half). Shooting 38%.
 #8599  by FU03times
 Mon Dec 31, 2018 4:51 pm
CharlieFU wrote:
Mon Dec 31, 2018 4:23 pm
Please see the other things Lyons contributes to this team. Defense! Leadership.

And I really don’t have a problem with his shot selection in general. A few Times I will think it’s not the best shot....but Coach has given him a green light. In fact, several games ago he said Lyons actually gave up a shot he should have taken.

Anyway, other than Rafferty, they can all play better and likely will.
I 100% agree. The things I pointed out are some shortcomings in the way Lyons currently plays. I think he’s an outstanding player and has taken major leaps during his two summers between seasons, and his leadership is absolutely vital to the team and the program. I think if he works on those couple of notes he could benefit the team in a major way! I also remember that game when he gave up the shot and he passed it to Hunter and another one to Schuck, and I respect him a lot for that!
 #8650  by apaladin
 Thu Jan 03, 2019 10:52 pm
apaladin wrote:
Sat Dec 29, 2018 10:36 pm
IMHO Gurley should be starting. He was really starting to play well when he went to the bench. Brown is a senior and is more capable of coming off the bench and being productive than Gurley. With Gurley we start 6'8, 6'8 and 6'7 across the front.
I guess CBR reads this board, LOL. Guess who started tonight. Good move IMHO.