Player of the Game: Damion Lee
Key to the game: Free points for SJU
Next Game: Thursday Nov 20 vs Miami (Charleston Classic)
Key to the game: Free points for SJU
Next Game: Thursday Nov 20 vs Miami (Charleston Classic)
Around the under four timeout last night, I posted this:
I can give you the post game presser "Gotta hit your layups" and repeat. The thing is...
— Dragons Speak (@DragonsSpeak) November 18, 2014
In the postgame presser, we got this (thanks The Triangle):
“We have to finish plays. We can’t keep going into games and missing every lay-up. We’re getting them, that’s the crazy thing. We’re getting great looks and guys have to be stronger.”
In the preseason, we heard this from Bru:
Last season, we shot a lot of 'threes' because our big guys didn't score much. We think our bigs will score more."
Last night, Rashann London and Tavon Allen combined to take more shots than the entire frontcourt. And while we're here, lets talk for a minute about Tavon. He was, at worst, the Hawks 3rd best player last night. Here's a quick breakdown:
--1/8 shooting - 3 points
-- 6 turnovers on the stat sheet lead to 7 SJU points, SJU also missed 3 free throws off of Allen's turnovers
--The Hawks scored 5 points off of what Bru calls "shot turnovers" when Tavon missed from deep
-- 2 fouls, one of which SJU got an "and 1" on, the other of which put them on the line in a 1 and 1 situation (SJU thankfully missed the front end)
All in, Tavon scored 3 points for Drexel, directly gave SJU 7, indirectly gave them 12 (23% of SJU scoring), and had they hit their free throws could have been responsible for upto 18 SJU points.
Bru played Tavon for 33 minutes while Freddy Wilson and Sammy Mojica played a combined 16. Now if those two guys can't play better than Tavon did, they should take up blogging, because basketball isn't for them. Yet the same coach who playued Gerald Colds and Derrick Thomas over Chris Fouch stuck with Tavon Allen. And that's just not fair to a player who is known to be hurt. Tavon didn't start at Colorado because of that and had noticable limps both in the Rockies and at the DAC. Allen is putting his heart and soul out there and trying to give his all for the Dragons, but clearly he isn't healthy. Instead of letting him heal, or even pulling him when he is a clear detriment to the team, he's being left out there to take a beating. And in the postgame, as predictable as ever, Bru blames the players.
We knew this game was going to be sloppy with short rest after the Colorado trip. And Coach Flint isn't wrong, had the Dragons hit bunny layups this game was easily theirs. But Truman never said "The Buck stops with my IRS commissioner". Accountability has weight that comes with it, yes, and no doubt some of this attitude of "can do no wrong" comes from above, but accountability also means that you can identify and fix mistakes. It's early enough in the season that items can be fixed, and wounds can heal. There is plenty of time here. You expect some missed shots and bad turnovers in a short rest game. What isn't expected is playing the injured guy who is helping the other team win for 33 minutes.
Bru, give him a break. Give us all a break. Give the other guys a chance to develop. The Bru of 5 years ago would have had this Bru running sprints for leaving Tavon in. The players didn't execute at the DAC, and that was mentioned in the presser. They'll correct that and hit their layups. Will what went unmentioned also get corrected?
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