DEFENSE OR LACK THERE OF

[apaladin]

Once again tonight a team sets a season high in FG%. Seems like this hapoens every game. I know CBR wants to be good defemsively but the truth is we are really bad. Give up layup after layup and wide open 3’s. I know we are too proud to do it but why not go to a 2-1-2 or 2-3 zone. We really can’t matchup man to man with anyone on the schedule except North Greenville.

Update: I counted 20 layups for WU.

[FU3]

Can’t match up with anyone other than North Greenville huh? You need to make a quick call out to Louisville to let them know. You make it sound like we are getting blown out every night, as far as what we run for D I will go with what the guy with over a 70% winning % as a HC thinks gives him the best chance to win.

[apaladin]

Can’t match up with anyone other than North Greenville huh? You need to make a quick call out to Louisville to let them know. You make it sound like we are getting blown out every night, as far as what we run for D I will go with what the guy with over a 70% winning % as a HC thinks gives him the best chance to win.

He said the same thing on the postgame. He said they have got to figure it out on defense, too many layups, too many mistakes, too many open 3’s.

[tim]

Can’t match up with anyone other than North Greenville huh? You need to make a quick call out to Louisville to let them know. You make it sound like we are getting blown out every night, as far as what we run for D I will go with what the guy with over a 70% winning % as a HC thinks gives him the best chance to win.

He said the same thing on the postgame. He said they have got to figure it out on defense, too many layups, too many mistakes, too many open 3’s.

He also said "Playing this way will get you blown out". This is the first Richey team I've seen that seems to have trouble getting loose balls.

[apaladin]

Winthrop besides a season high FG% they had a season high 53% from 3 or 14% over their average.

[Paul C]

And after coming into the game shooting 64% from the FT line they were 12-14 (86%)

Just one of those nights.

[apaladin]

Looks like we are headed for a 7-6 ooc record IF we can beat either ASU or PC at home. Tough schedule so hopefully it will get us ready for SoCon but I think you can no longer expect FU to be one of the favorites. Not because of tonight but the ‘dins have not played well since Belmont. Very, very lucky to be 4-2 in that stretch.

[FU3]

Lucky when we win.. suck when we lose, got it.

[Fuonetime]

Opponents are keying on our weaknesses. We are not very big, one of the problems of being a 3 guard offense, and they can exploit our size and drive to the basket or if we collapse they will pass to an open jump shooter. Perhaps we should use more zone defenses. We are a relatively good outside shooting team but that puts a lot of pressure on our offense. There is an old sports saying that “defense wins championships.” CBR and staff need to figure it out soon. Jason is a good defender. Congrats to him on his Triple Double. AH shot extremely well. Beat APSU. Thanks. I mean beat the P out of ASU.

[apaladin]

We might as well try a zone because the man to man is exploited every game for the reasons you stated. BTW we are not playing Austin Peay(APSU) but Appalachian State(ASU).

[Furmanoid]

It seems like we almost have to try a zone against the good teams. It just doesn’t look like our guys can stop really good players without help. I’m sure they are trying, but they are who they are. Maybe do a 2-1-2 with Repass in the middle to go all Laimbeer on anybody who penetrates.

[RaleighDin]

It's not surprising to see this happening early in the year if you think about it. We have 4 seniors in the starting lineup who are pretty competent on defense (Bothwell has lapses occasionally, but it's not due to ability). After that, we are working other players into the lineup and experiencing the growing pains that go with it. Look at it by class:

Freshmen - Pegues, Williams, Repass
Sophomores - Anderson, Hien, Foster

This list doesn't even include Lawrence, who you have to hope will be back at some point. Anyways, where I'm going is that our top 6 off the bench to this point are sophomores or younger, and haven't played a lot of basketball. Add in the fact that we scheduled up this year, and it's not surprising we're getting exposed this early in the year. HOWEVER, I think that's something that can pay big dividends for us later on, especially if we're consistent with continuing to get the younger guys quality PT. If we don't, next year could be a rough one with everything we lose.

Side note: I still think that Pugh brings something elite that can help us, would love to see him get a shot at some point.

[Furmanoid]

I like the sound of that, but I’m not sure I buy it. Looks to me like everybody gets beat. Not super surprising. There’s a reason they are at Furman instead of top 50 schools. Maybe the reason is defense. They aren’t bad, but they really struggle against good teams. I still think that, barring bad luck, we will win the SoCon, but figuring out a way to make chicken salad out of our defense would make it more of a sure thing.

[Roundball]

Everyone has pointed out issues that led to our loss last night. One of the things that bothered me was how many times we just stood there as they missed a first shot, not even trying to go after the ball. That led to them getting way too many second and third chance shots, especially in the last 5 minutes. I am sure Coach Richey will address this obvious issue with the team as they watch the game film. Basketball is still a game of focusing on the fundamentals. Shooting, passing, blocking out and rebounding. It's a beautiful game when it is played the right way.

[purplehorse]

Against Navy layup, layup , layup. Ditto last night. Both losses. We need to get it fixed before Dec 29 when we play Samford.