Apologies, travel day for me mixed with real life job makes this an abbreviated preview.
The Miami Heat are currently shooting 37.4% from three point range this year.
Dragon opponents in the last three games have hit 43.6% from three.
The University of North Carolina Wilmington is 351's in three point percentage in NCAA Division I Men's College Basketball.
This game is just what the doctor ordered.
Recently documented struggles with the Dragon zone have been part of the problem for the Dragons suddenly porous defense. If Bruiser is serious about playing zone and wants to fix it prior to March, that needs to start with this game. Go out and play it for forty minutes. There is not a single team in Division I that should be worse against a zone. What better place to learn then?
The good news is that while the defense is off, the offense is clicking along just fine. Noted in my last post is the Dragon's three game average of 1.11 points per possession. Until this 1-2 stretch, the Dragons had been 50-3 in the last 6 years when they put up those kind of points. Keith Rendleman ain't walking thru that door for the Dub. Brett Blizzard and his mom (whose biggest fan is a member of the Athletics Dept staff) isn't walking through that door. Nope, Freddie Jackson is walking through that door, and the Dragons should lay out the red carpet for him. Senior Tanner Milson has taken a step back as well, and Chris Dixon has completely lost his deep ball that made him such a threat last year.
This is a game for the Dragons to fly south, get warm, and keep up the offensive efforts that they have been showing of late. Coming off of the rough home loss to Towson the focus should be on their next game, which will keep the eyes off of the upcoming quick turnaround home contest vs now CAA favorite Delaware. Look for Chris Fouch to spend less then 40 minutes out there and keepup the groove he's been in (39% from deep the last three games) and for Major Canady and Rodney Williams to continue to get long minutes to get their feet wet. This is a chance to get right, and the Dragons need to use it.
The blog didn't forget: Happy Birthday to Philadelphia's Frantz Massenat and Benjamin Franklin. They're electric!
Prediction: Drexel 70, UNCW 56
Vegas Line: Drexel -4
Friday, January 17, 2014
Thursday, January 16, 2014
25 shots and a Basket Ain't One
There has been an awful lot to talk about with Drexel hoops in the past few weeks, and while bookending everything with injuries, some items have been lost in the shuffle. A few quick thoughts on what has been under reported by yours truly then:
- Not really under reported, but criticizing Bru was pretty much shooting fish in a barrel after the Towson game. Without question he's been a little softer in persona the last couple of years and while no one is complaining about that, the defense has also taken steps backward in that time. One has to get curious on how much one is related with the other. As far as the zone goes, and the four guard scenarios, both of which have been heavily criticized in this space, it needs to be noted that while those have been bad, bad looks for this squad, they've also been a delight to see. After 13 years of fans begging for Bruiser and staff to evolve, seeing some changes has been a lot of fun regardless of the outcome. That Bru is fixing something that hasn't historically been broken (the defense, rather than the offense) is curious and indicative of a bit of panic on his part, but from the camp of "anything is better than nothing", there needs to be some applause for it as well. Ideally he'd be taking a look at how to get the ball inside more often on offense rather then fixing the defense that he has made his trademark though, so hope for continued evolution. Personally, I continue to long for the day where statistics are taken into consideration half as much as video is by this staff, but that won't happen until the house here at DU gets cleaned some day, regardless of how many Stevens and Shaka's use statistics to leave DU in their dust. Watching this is like watching an air traffic controller who is avoiding using radar in this day and age. Why man? Why?
- Rumors of their demise have been greatly exaggerated. In the last three games, almost all of which were without Ruffin and Abif, and over a third of which were without Allen, Drexel put up an average of 1.11 points per possession. That's 10% higher scoring than any DU team has ever had in a season under Bru. There's only one other game this season where they have scored like that (Tenn St). Going back to the 2006-2007 season, Drexel is 50-3, that's 50 wins and 3 losses, when scoring 1.11 points per possession in a game. This 1-2 streak is an aberration, although certainly paints an ugly light on the current defense. I continue to believe that DU is running a good effort out there right now and coming up a bit unlucky as well. When bodies start to come back off the bench, this team can still have a run in them.
- The rest of the media is starting to pickup what we already know. Drexel is 4th in the country in turnover rate and according to Kenpom Drexel is the only member of the top 4 in that category to have played against a top 100 strength of schedule this year. Those extra possessions usually are the difference between winning and losing a game, and have won a number of games for what has been a poor shooting Dragons team this year.
- Related to last, Drexel has 25 shots and a basket ain't one! It's not easy to find a team who wins the turnover battle, dominates on the boards (DU rebounded 45% of their missed shots against Towson to TU's 27%) only shoots 7 less free throws, and loses the game. Drexel took 25 more shots from the field then TU did, so to lose that game is just staggering. Another sign of the aberration that that game was.
-Did I mention the monster rebounding advantage against a much bigger team? Rodney Williams played 30 minutes for the first time in his career, and changed his career high in offensive boards from 3 into an 8. Once again, this kid is gonna be good when he gets his timing. Lookout CAA, @YeahRod is coming.
- Give some love to Major Canady. In the last 4 games, all of which he has seen 19+ minutes in, he has had a grand total of 6 assists and 1 turnover. His foul shooting has been a problem, but he's been 5 of 9 from inside the arc and is picking his spots and succeeding. He's been willing to pass the ball inside, and has been a really nice compliment in Drexel's no turnover offense.
- I believe the defense comes back. When it does, Drexel will still have the 2nd best offense that they've had since Phil Goss was a student. If done right (and with the injuries it will have to be done just right) this team will be a contender in March. Give Bru some room to keep messing around, hopefully he'll find something better then what he's found so far, and just hang on tight for the next month.
- Not really under reported, but criticizing Bru was pretty much shooting fish in a barrel after the Towson game. Without question he's been a little softer in persona the last couple of years and while no one is complaining about that, the defense has also taken steps backward in that time. One has to get curious on how much one is related with the other. As far as the zone goes, and the four guard scenarios, both of which have been heavily criticized in this space, it needs to be noted that while those have been bad, bad looks for this squad, they've also been a delight to see. After 13 years of fans begging for Bruiser and staff to evolve, seeing some changes has been a lot of fun regardless of the outcome. That Bru is fixing something that hasn't historically been broken (the defense, rather than the offense) is curious and indicative of a bit of panic on his part, but from the camp of "anything is better than nothing", there needs to be some applause for it as well. Ideally he'd be taking a look at how to get the ball inside more often on offense rather then fixing the defense that he has made his trademark though, so hope for continued evolution. Personally, I continue to long for the day where statistics are taken into consideration half as much as video is by this staff, but that won't happen until the house here at DU gets cleaned some day, regardless of how many Stevens and Shaka's use statistics to leave DU in their dust. Watching this is like watching an air traffic controller who is avoiding using radar in this day and age. Why man? Why?
- Rumors of their demise have been greatly exaggerated. In the last three games, almost all of which were without Ruffin and Abif, and over a third of which were without Allen, Drexel put up an average of 1.11 points per possession. That's 10% higher scoring than any DU team has ever had in a season under Bru. There's only one other game this season where they have scored like that (Tenn St). Going back to the 2006-2007 season, Drexel is 50-3, that's 50 wins and 3 losses, when scoring 1.11 points per possession in a game. This 1-2 streak is an aberration, although certainly paints an ugly light on the current defense. I continue to believe that DU is running a good effort out there right now and coming up a bit unlucky as well. When bodies start to come back off the bench, this team can still have a run in them.
- The rest of the media is starting to pickup what we already know. Drexel is 4th in the country in turnover rate and according to Kenpom Drexel is the only member of the top 4 in that category to have played against a top 100 strength of schedule this year. Those extra possessions usually are the difference between winning and losing a game, and have won a number of games for what has been a poor shooting Dragons team this year.
- Related to last, Drexel has 25 shots and a basket ain't one! It's not easy to find a team who wins the turnover battle, dominates on the boards (DU rebounded 45% of their missed shots against Towson to TU's 27%) only shoots 7 less free throws, and loses the game. Drexel took 25 more shots from the field then TU did, so to lose that game is just staggering. Another sign of the aberration that that game was.
-Did I mention the monster rebounding advantage against a much bigger team? Rodney Williams played 30 minutes for the first time in his career, and changed his career high in offensive boards from 3 into an 8. Once again, this kid is gonna be good when he gets his timing. Lookout CAA, @YeahRod is coming.
- Give some love to Major Canady. In the last 4 games, all of which he has seen 19+ minutes in, he has had a grand total of 6 assists and 1 turnover. His foul shooting has been a problem, but he's been 5 of 9 from inside the arc and is picking his spots and succeeding. He's been willing to pass the ball inside, and has been a really nice compliment in Drexel's no turnover offense.
- I believe the defense comes back. When it does, Drexel will still have the 2nd best offense that they've had since Phil Goss was a student. If done right (and with the injuries it will have to be done just right) this team will be a contender in March. Give Bru some room to keep messing around, hopefully he'll find something better then what he's found so far, and just hang on tight for the next month.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Towson Postgame - Learning From Our Mistakes
Final: Towson 80, Drexel 68 at The DAC
Player of the Game: Chris Fouch
Key to the game: Perimeter D (or lack thereof)
Next Game: Sat Jan 18 vs UNCW @ Trask Coliseum
Known as a defense first coach, it's no surprise that it was four years since Bruiser Flint's Drexel Dragons have allowed over one point per possession in four straight games. It's time to reset that clock, as Drexel opponents have crushed that number in the last four games (divide by 100 for PPP):
It's easy to blame injuries for this. Towson was one of the worst matchups in the conference with the current injuries, as Jerrelle Benimon and Marcus Damas can play around the perimeter and at 6'8" and 6'7" they would normally have been the problem of Kazembe Abif and the combination of Damion Lee and Tavon Allen. Instead, guys like Massenat and Canady were asked to pick them up, and on their best day that would be a struggle. Benimon and Damas ought to be able to muscle the ball inside and get good close to the basket looks over those guys. And they did, shooting 12/17 (71%) from inside the arc. The problem is, they also shot 6/7 (86%) from outside the arc.
In the first half, with the score Towson 19, Drexel 11 (Benimon 11, on two 2's, two 3's, and a free throw) and about 12 minutes left on the clock until halftime, Bruiser Flint threw a zone. To that point Towson was 7/8 from the floor with 4 turnovers. In twelve possessions, the Tigers had missed one single shot. Bru answered that by going zone, and I answered that answer by being angry.
By the numbers, the zone worked. In the 11 minutes and change that the Dragons were in the 2-3 setup they allowed 1.61 points per minute. In the 28 minutes and change they were in man the number was 2.15 points per minute (points per possession was in line with those numbers). The thought behind the zone, going off of Bruiser's own statements during his career and basic coaching is that it would cause less foul trouble for Drexel (it did) and would stop giving up easy buckets in the paint to Towson. That's where this comes off the rails. Towson was 4/6 from inside the arc against the zone and got to the line 7 times, making only 2 shots. They shot 18/23 from the line the rest of the game and no, the zone doesn't get credit for the free throw defense. Luck does. The same is true of the three point shooting. Against the zone, where DU was ostensibly conceding the perimeter, Towson shot 3/9 (33%) from three point range. Against the man that number was 5/7 (71%).
Essentially, the zone didn't stop what it was supposed to stop (Towson's interior play) or anything else. It gave up open looks outside, it gave up drives to the basket and it put Towson on the line (at a slightly lower rate then man to man did). The best thing Bruiser did in this game was to go back to man out of halftime. The worst thing he did was to stay in the zone for longer then two minutes it took to see that the Towson walkons could have lit it up.
From inside the arc, Towson went 4/6 against the zone and when DU was in man to man Towson went 14/25 (56%). Given the small sample against the zone lets chalk it up to what our eyes saw, and say that inside the arc the zone was no more or less effective then the man, giving the zone the benefit of the doubt in this case. Since man to man should be more effective against the three point shot, clearly that was the favorable defense to be in. The problem is that life did not imitate the theory. Towson was red hot from deep when Drexel was in the zone. This is where DU's biggest defensive problem lied. Time after time, Towson his deep 3's or corner 3's, almost all very good open looks. In man to man the Drexel defenders did a terrible job of stepping out and getting in front of their assigned player on the perimeter. And herein I believe we have found the root of the Drexel defensive issues. If they were going to let their men get around them and to the basket, they damned well ought to be shutting them down from the perimeter, and that was a complete bust. In past years Bruiser would start yanking players left and right, regardless of depth when someone slacked off on their perimeter D. If it meant putting Adrian Hynes-Whatever out there, he'd do it.
But the panic button pushing, zone playing, 4 guard displaying, holding on for dear life Bruiser Flint isn't showing that fire anymore. Yes the technicals are down, as are the quotes, as are is the player under bus tossing, all good things, but in finding that restraint, he's also... found restraint. And this was a game in where he could have used some fire, desperately needing guys to say how high when he told them to jump. Instead he let an exhausted Chris Fouch keep chucking up 2nd half shots (Chris had four made baskets in the first ten minutes of the second half and went 0/5 in the back 10 minutes. The first time he was subbed out in the half was with 52 seconds left in the contest. Again, Bruiser can fall back on injuries as an excuse for that, but he simply has to do better by his player there. And if injuries are the excuse, then there was no reason for Fouch to be in the game with Towson up 14 and just three minutes to play as preventing a Fouch injury should be a top priority. He can't have it both ways.
A cap tip to Towson for shooting very well in this contest. At the same time, the Drexel players destroyed them on the boards, won the turnover battle, played hard, did what their coach asked and went down by double digits. Part of the reason was injuries. Part of the reason was shooting. Where to put the rest? That's upto you. But if the Dragons want to turn this ship around, they need to reward their offense with good defense.
Player of the Game: Chris Fouch
Key to the game: Perimeter D (or lack thereof)
Next Game: Sat Jan 18 vs UNCW @ Trask Coliseum
Known as a defense first coach, it's no surprise that it was four years since Bruiser Flint's Drexel Dragons have allowed over one point per possession in four straight games. It's time to reset that clock, as Drexel opponents have crushed that number in the last four games (divide by 100 for PPP):
It's easy to blame injuries for this. Towson was one of the worst matchups in the conference with the current injuries, as Jerrelle Benimon and Marcus Damas can play around the perimeter and at 6'8" and 6'7" they would normally have been the problem of Kazembe Abif and the combination of Damion Lee and Tavon Allen. Instead, guys like Massenat and Canady were asked to pick them up, and on their best day that would be a struggle. Benimon and Damas ought to be able to muscle the ball inside and get good close to the basket looks over those guys. And they did, shooting 12/17 (71%) from inside the arc. The problem is, they also shot 6/7 (86%) from outside the arc.
In the first half, with the score Towson 19, Drexel 11 (Benimon 11, on two 2's, two 3's, and a free throw) and about 12 minutes left on the clock until halftime, Bruiser Flint threw a zone. To that point Towson was 7/8 from the floor with 4 turnovers. In twelve possessions, the Tigers had missed one single shot. Bru answered that by going zone, and I answered that answer by being angry.
By the numbers, the zone worked. In the 11 minutes and change that the Dragons were in the 2-3 setup they allowed 1.61 points per minute. In the 28 minutes and change they were in man the number was 2.15 points per minute (points per possession was in line with those numbers). The thought behind the zone, going off of Bruiser's own statements during his career and basic coaching is that it would cause less foul trouble for Drexel (it did) and would stop giving up easy buckets in the paint to Towson. That's where this comes off the rails. Towson was 4/6 from inside the arc against the zone and got to the line 7 times, making only 2 shots. They shot 18/23 from the line the rest of the game and no, the zone doesn't get credit for the free throw defense. Luck does. The same is true of the three point shooting. Against the zone, where DU was ostensibly conceding the perimeter, Towson shot 3/9 (33%) from three point range. Against the man that number was 5/7 (71%).
Essentially, the zone didn't stop what it was supposed to stop (Towson's interior play) or anything else. It gave up open looks outside, it gave up drives to the basket and it put Towson on the line (at a slightly lower rate then man to man did). The best thing Bruiser did in this game was to go back to man out of halftime. The worst thing he did was to stay in the zone for longer then two minutes it took to see that the Towson walkons could have lit it up.
From inside the arc, Towson went 4/6 against the zone and when DU was in man to man Towson went 14/25 (56%). Given the small sample against the zone lets chalk it up to what our eyes saw, and say that inside the arc the zone was no more or less effective then the man, giving the zone the benefit of the doubt in this case. Since man to man should be more effective against the three point shot, clearly that was the favorable defense to be in. The problem is that life did not imitate the theory. Towson was red hot from deep when Drexel was in the zone. This is where DU's biggest defensive problem lied. Time after time, Towson his deep 3's or corner 3's, almost all very good open looks. In man to man the Drexel defenders did a terrible job of stepping out and getting in front of their assigned player on the perimeter. And herein I believe we have found the root of the Drexel defensive issues. If they were going to let their men get around them and to the basket, they damned well ought to be shutting them down from the perimeter, and that was a complete bust. In past years Bruiser would start yanking players left and right, regardless of depth when someone slacked off on their perimeter D. If it meant putting Adrian Hynes-Whatever out there, he'd do it.
But the panic button pushing, zone playing, 4 guard displaying, holding on for dear life Bruiser Flint isn't showing that fire anymore. Yes the technicals are down, as are the quotes, as are is the player under bus tossing, all good things, but in finding that restraint, he's also... found restraint. And this was a game in where he could have used some fire, desperately needing guys to say how high when he told them to jump. Instead he let an exhausted Chris Fouch keep chucking up 2nd half shots (Chris had four made baskets in the first ten minutes of the second half and went 0/5 in the back 10 minutes. The first time he was subbed out in the half was with 52 seconds left in the contest. Again, Bruiser can fall back on injuries as an excuse for that, but he simply has to do better by his player there. And if injuries are the excuse, then there was no reason for Fouch to be in the game with Towson up 14 and just three minutes to play as preventing a Fouch injury should be a top priority. He can't have it both ways.
A cap tip to Towson for shooting very well in this contest. At the same time, the Drexel players destroyed them on the boards, won the turnover battle, played hard, did what their coach asked and went down by double digits. Part of the reason was injuries. Part of the reason was shooting. Where to put the rest? That's upto you. But if the Dragons want to turn this ship around, they need to reward their offense with good defense.
Towson @ Drexel - In Game
Due to a conflict of friends birthdays and gamedays (tisk tisk, CAA schedulemakers) I was unable to attend the Towson game at the DAC. I returned home a handful of margarita's in, fired up the ole DVR, and found a problem. Instead of the raving and rantings of a crazy person being spilled out on those who have sat around me for years and years and years, there was no one here. Thus the decision was made to rant and rave to you, the poor souls who allow me to write for you. This, is my thoughts as I watch the game:
Pregame: Broadcast opens with "Towson was the preseason CAA favorite"... listen clowns, I picked em 6th. 6th! No point guard? Many problems.
The DAC was described as downtown Philadelphia! Penn's plan to merge University City and Center City is working! Go Pe... wait a minute. Boooo! Booooo! Puck Fenn!
Stat on screen shows Ruffin at 39.1 minutes a game. That's insane. Good on you MVD!
Annnnd looked it up. CSN typo'd. 29.1 minutes per game for the MVD. Well, for a second that was awesome.
The CSN clowns have done zero prep. Screwed up names on both teams during lineups.
And the tip off is here! Les Jones doing the honors. If most of the CAA refs are garbage, he's at least single stream recycling. Bernard Clinton is there as well, a Bru favorite, and at the bottom of the screen is apparently some fresh blood. CSN tells us its Bill McCarthy but given their prep work, they might as well just call him Barack Obama since I doubt they know any more than I do.
19:45: Sill easy bucket for Towson to start the game, easily driving in. Drexe; responds by not getting the ball inside the 3 point line until the shot clock is down to 13, finally Fouch gives up and takes it in, a tough bucket. Towson answers with a quick turnover, which DU absolutely needs to crush them with this game. All about turnover differential for the Dragons right now.
Second DU possession is an NBA range F-Bomb. Ball never crossed the 3 point line, shot with 12 left on the shot clock. The team just isn't running any offense out of the gate in this one, and Fouch has made it work. Not sure how long that will last. Meanwhile another turnover on Towson. It's a second offensive foul for Mike Burwell and Towson's emergency point guard has to head to the bench. Now TU knows how DU feels right now. Drexel should exploit the lack of pg on the Towson side for the rest of the half.
17:41: The last 3 DU shots have been taken without the ball ever crossing the 3 point arc. There isn't even a pretend offense being run here. A bit embarrassing.
15:00: First media TO. Drexel doing what they want, TU with 3 turnovers, and the game is tied. Uh oh. Best pass of the game so far was Goran to Williams. Williams missed the shot, but already had a monster dunk when he drew his man into the air with the head fake and then while standing still went up and dunked it. Yeah this kid has springs. Out of the timeout the Dragons shoot a 3 without the ball ever crossing over the arc again. I should be keeping count of that. Next game.
14:17: Fouch is down. Looks like he just rolled his ankle. Agree with the CSN guys, thankful its not the knee. Gives CSN their 13 opportunity thus far to show the injured guys on the bench. Freddie Wilson is the sub. Because he's the only sub. He is immediately beat off the dribble by Towson's sixth man.
13:00: Currently Drexel 11, Benimon 11. And Williams goes down hard. Feel like these shots from Benimon haven't even been contested by DU. Someone's gotta step out on the presumed 1st teamer. Duh?
10:19: 2nd media TO. Drexel can't seem to slow the Tigers down inside, so they go zone. Works great the first possession when Towson misses a quick three, but on the second possession Benimon just penetrates the zone like it's not there, makes contact with Williams and scores it. Drexel: struggling in the paint. At the other end, Canady just hit a nice jumper and has been feeding the inside guys who are so shocked its a miracle they're catching the pass. Gotta like it. Towson dunks against the zone out of the TO. Uh oh. On the response Frantz feeds Bah! Bah isn't used to not being passed to yet, and alertly grabs it and dunks!
5:45: Bah has looked really good out there. Not the lost kid he was a bit early in the season. He's been solid on the boards and he just ran the court with Benimon and got himself into position to take a charge from him. Huge play. Kid deserves more credit then he's gotten this year, and hopefully this extra PT from him is helping Bru realize he was wrong to put him in the doghouse early on.
4:55: Rodney Williams picks up his second foul. He got good minutes in the first half before his second, but a little too quiet for my liking. Tough to yell "Bru sucks! Give it to Williams!" given Rodney's foul history though. How involved do you want him at this point?
3:59: They ran the inbounds play again! Way to remember it coaches! It's like the Alamo, and if you forget it again you can go to your own damned doghouses. Bah catches the inbound and gets fouled on his way up. Timeout.... Timeout. Coming out of the media TO the commentators are talking about the tourney moving to Baltimore. They say "everyone enjoyed the tourney in Richmond". To disagree, please send correspondence to:
2:59: Frantz takes his second 3 and hits. Both tough contested 3's. Assist by Gordo! Frantz to the line for a 4 point play! Drexel right back in this thing, down 3! Annnnd Massenat answers by committing his third foul. That... yeah... uh oh.
1:22: Damas hits an NBA 3. Just tip your hat. Wilson tries to answer for DU and gets a clean look, off the far rim. TU sends a nice pass to Bru going back the other way, Bru is unable to save it.
42.9: Bru takes the use it or lose it TO. In Bru's case, it should be called the use it or win it. Do we really lose when he doesn't have a chance to draw a play? I like Bru with a clipboard like I like Celine Dion on the radio. Less is more.
Halftime: Towson gets 38 points in a not particularly fast first half. The DU zone sucks. Lets just call it like it is boys, it's turrible. Meanwhile CSN guy says "zone was effective". He's wrong by 38 points. Towson didn't shoot great from the outside in the first half, McGlynn was silent, Burwell was barely on the floor and they're still winning by 9. For the second half, I predict pain.
Mas tequila por favor?
Z Dawg on the halftime show! Lil camera time for the big boss! He says he believes in taking risks. Of course he does, look at the risk he took with thenew arena chairbacks!
Halftime stats come up. Turns out TU shot 61% from the field. 9/12 (75%) from inside the arc. And the guy on the commentary thought the DU zone was effective. Can we just save some money and let homeless folks commentate in return for a dining hall dining plan? Great PR move, does right by the community, and can't really be worse right?
Definitely mas tequila.
Second half:
17:30: Canady just took an open three which is fine, but Fouch was wide open in the corner and Canady probably should have made the extra pass. Then Damas hits another NBA range shot at the other end. Massenat at fault on this one, didn't step out even though Damas has already shown plenty willingness to shoot from that range tonight. Timeout, timeout. More Baltimore commercials on the way! I don't care! I'll eat all the Baltimore commercials I have to in order to never see Richmond again.
16:20: Benimon to the line, shooting twoooooooooooooooooooOOOOooooo. CSN "professional" thinks Drexel is playing good D. Towson is already at 45 points. I have no words. This guy needs to sit down at the end of the bench with Bru's clipboard. LESS IS MORE CLOWN!
15:49: Commentators just gave second half team shooting percentages. With a sample size of half a shot for each team or so? GO MAKE ME A BICYCLE CLOWNS!
14:18: Bah struggling to finish a little bit. Kid is still raw, but no complaints on his play tonight still. Picks up a 3rd with a handcheck on the perimeter which is rough. Williams back in with three fouls as Fouch hits a three. Great to hear Dan Baker's voice on the PA tonight by the way.
13:00: Niether I nor the announces have any idea what Les Jones just called. Otherwise the officiating has been surprisingly better then the CAA average. That's like a succesful trip around the DC Beltway. Sure you did it in less then two hours, but really, are you proud of that?
12:11: Chris Fouch nails a 3 point play. He has 21 of DU's 45 with no end in sight. The kid wants to put this team on his back so badly. Reminds me of his last CAA Tourney game against VCU. CF3's got talent but more importantly he's got heart. And in his sixth year, he's still playing hungry. Enjoy him while he's here DU fans.
11:10: Announcer says Marcus Damas has the last 8 Towson points. I heard the last 8 Thousand points before I rewound and listened again. Eh, both seem true.
8:45: A beautiful full court outlet from Fouch assists a cherry picking Freddie Wilson. It's the first score by DU from anyone whose last name doesn't begin with an F in the second half. Might be the first interior pass of the half, ignoring the fact that it was sent from inside the other arc. Fouch is shooting the ball well, although with a ton of volume, so maybe that's ok. He's gotta be exhausted though, DU needs to mix things up. The Wilson 3 attempt on the next possession wasn't exactly what I meant.
7:00: Fouch really pressing now. Probably should get a quick breath but this years edition of Bru Extra Soft (now with lotion!) isn't going to pull that trigger.
6:16: Things I learned. Rodney Williams was a two time merit scholar in HS. Cool. Announcers don't think Pantovic vs Benimon is a good matchup for the Dragons. Arguably the smartest thing they have said tonight.
1:49: Bru still has Fouch in the game down 13 with under two to go. If you have any comments, please contact:
James Flint
Flint@Drexel.edu
215-895-2348
Daskalakis Athletic Center
3141 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
0:00: It's a final after Stevan Manojlavic has an assist on a Massenat (he's in the game!?) three ball. The Tigers take it 80-68. Plenty of thoughts on this one which will be up tomorrow. At least part of that will be a hat tip to Towson's 50% from distance, but an assist to the Drexel defense for that as well. Thanks for reading along to tonights game, and all season long.
Oh and if you're looking for Chris Fouch, the money is on him sleeping for the next day or two. He's earned it.
Pregame: Broadcast opens with "Towson was the preseason CAA favorite"... listen clowns, I picked em 6th. 6th! No point guard? Many problems.
The DAC was described as downtown Philadelphia! Penn's plan to merge University City and Center City is working! Go Pe... wait a minute. Boooo! Booooo! Puck Fenn!
Stat on screen shows Ruffin at 39.1 minutes a game. That's insane. Good on you MVD!
Annnnd looked it up. CSN typo'd. 29.1 minutes per game for the MVD. Well, for a second that was awesome.
The CSN clowns have done zero prep. Screwed up names on both teams during lineups.
And the tip off is here! Les Jones doing the honors. If most of the CAA refs are garbage, he's at least single stream recycling. Bernard Clinton is there as well, a Bru favorite, and at the bottom of the screen is apparently some fresh blood. CSN tells us its Bill McCarthy but given their prep work, they might as well just call him Barack Obama since I doubt they know any more than I do.
19:45: Sill easy bucket for Towson to start the game, easily driving in. Drexe; responds by not getting the ball inside the 3 point line until the shot clock is down to 13, finally Fouch gives up and takes it in, a tough bucket. Towson answers with a quick turnover, which DU absolutely needs to crush them with this game. All about turnover differential for the Dragons right now.
Second DU possession is an NBA range F-Bomb. Ball never crossed the 3 point line, shot with 12 left on the shot clock. The team just isn't running any offense out of the gate in this one, and Fouch has made it work. Not sure how long that will last. Meanwhile another turnover on Towson. It's a second offensive foul for Mike Burwell and Towson's emergency point guard has to head to the bench. Now TU knows how DU feels right now. Drexel should exploit the lack of pg on the Towson side for the rest of the half.
17:41: The last 3 DU shots have been taken without the ball ever crossing the 3 point arc. There isn't even a pretend offense being run here. A bit embarrassing.
15:00: First media TO. Drexel doing what they want, TU with 3 turnovers, and the game is tied. Uh oh. Best pass of the game so far was Goran to Williams. Williams missed the shot, but already had a monster dunk when he drew his man into the air with the head fake and then while standing still went up and dunked it. Yeah this kid has springs. Out of the timeout the Dragons shoot a 3 without the ball ever crossing over the arc again. I should be keeping count of that. Next game.
14:17: Fouch is down. Looks like he just rolled his ankle. Agree with the CSN guys, thankful its not the knee. Gives CSN their 13 opportunity thus far to show the injured guys on the bench. Freddie Wilson is the sub. Because he's the only sub. He is immediately beat off the dribble by Towson's sixth man.
13:00: Currently Drexel 11, Benimon 11. And Williams goes down hard. Feel like these shots from Benimon haven't even been contested by DU. Someone's gotta step out on the presumed 1st teamer. Duh?
10:19: 2nd media TO. Drexel can't seem to slow the Tigers down inside, so they go zone. Works great the first possession when Towson misses a quick three, but on the second possession Benimon just penetrates the zone like it's not there, makes contact with Williams and scores it. Drexel: struggling in the paint. At the other end, Canady just hit a nice jumper and has been feeding the inside guys who are so shocked its a miracle they're catching the pass. Gotta like it. Towson dunks against the zone out of the TO. Uh oh. On the response Frantz feeds Bah! Bah isn't used to not being passed to yet, and alertly grabs it and dunks!
5:45: Bah has looked really good out there. Not the lost kid he was a bit early in the season. He's been solid on the boards and he just ran the court with Benimon and got himself into position to take a charge from him. Huge play. Kid deserves more credit then he's gotten this year, and hopefully this extra PT from him is helping Bru realize he was wrong to put him in the doghouse early on.
4:55: Rodney Williams picks up his second foul. He got good minutes in the first half before his second, but a little too quiet for my liking. Tough to yell "Bru sucks! Give it to Williams!" given Rodney's foul history though. How involved do you want him at this point?
3:59: They ran the inbounds play again! Way to remember it coaches! It's like the Alamo, and if you forget it again you can go to your own damned doghouses. Bah catches the inbound and gets fouled on his way up. Timeout.... Timeout. Coming out of the media TO the commentators are talking about the tourney moving to Baltimore. They say "everyone enjoyed the tourney in Richmond". To disagree, please send correspondence to:
Comcast SportsNet
3601 South Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19148
3601 South Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19148
2:59: Frantz takes his second 3 and hits. Both tough contested 3's. Assist by Gordo! Frantz to the line for a 4 point play! Drexel right back in this thing, down 3! Annnnd Massenat answers by committing his third foul. That... yeah... uh oh.
1:22: Damas hits an NBA 3. Just tip your hat. Wilson tries to answer for DU and gets a clean look, off the far rim. TU sends a nice pass to Bru going back the other way, Bru is unable to save it.
42.9: Bru takes the use it or lose it TO. In Bru's case, it should be called the use it or win it. Do we really lose when he doesn't have a chance to draw a play? I like Bru with a clipboard like I like Celine Dion on the radio. Less is more.
Halftime: Towson gets 38 points in a not particularly fast first half. The DU zone sucks. Lets just call it like it is boys, it's turrible. Meanwhile CSN guy says "zone was effective". He's wrong by 38 points. Towson didn't shoot great from the outside in the first half, McGlynn was silent, Burwell was barely on the floor and they're still winning by 9. For the second half, I predict pain.
Mas tequila por favor?
Z Dawg on the halftime show! Lil camera time for the big boss! He says he believes in taking risks. Of course he does, look at the risk he took with the
Halftime stats come up. Turns out TU shot 61% from the field. 9/12 (75%) from inside the arc. And the guy on the commentary thought the DU zone was effective. Can we just save some money and let homeless folks commentate in return for a dining hall dining plan? Great PR move, does right by the community, and can't really be worse right?
Definitely mas tequila.
Second half:
17:30: Canady just took an open three which is fine, but Fouch was wide open in the corner and Canady probably should have made the extra pass. Then Damas hits another NBA range shot at the other end. Massenat at fault on this one, didn't step out even though Damas has already shown plenty willingness to shoot from that range tonight. Timeout, timeout. More Baltimore commercials on the way! I don't care! I'll eat all the Baltimore commercials I have to in order to never see Richmond again.
16:20: Benimon to the line, shooting twoooooooooooooooooooOOOOooooo. CSN "professional" thinks Drexel is playing good D. Towson is already at 45 points. I have no words. This guy needs to sit down at the end of the bench with Bru's clipboard. LESS IS MORE CLOWN!
15:49: Commentators just gave second half team shooting percentages. With a sample size of half a shot for each team or so? GO MAKE ME A BICYCLE CLOWNS!
14:18: Bah struggling to finish a little bit. Kid is still raw, but no complaints on his play tonight still. Picks up a 3rd with a handcheck on the perimeter which is rough. Williams back in with three fouls as Fouch hits a three. Great to hear Dan Baker's voice on the PA tonight by the way.
13:00: Niether I nor the announces have any idea what Les Jones just called. Otherwise the officiating has been surprisingly better then the CAA average. That's like a succesful trip around the DC Beltway. Sure you did it in less then two hours, but really, are you proud of that?
12:11: Chris Fouch nails a 3 point play. He has 21 of DU's 45 with no end in sight. The kid wants to put this team on his back so badly. Reminds me of his last CAA Tourney game against VCU. CF3's got talent but more importantly he's got heart. And in his sixth year, he's still playing hungry. Enjoy him while he's here DU fans.
11:10: Announcer says Marcus Damas has the last 8 Towson points. I heard the last 8 Thousand points before I rewound and listened again. Eh, both seem true.
8:45: A beautiful full court outlet from Fouch assists a cherry picking Freddie Wilson. It's the first score by DU from anyone whose last name doesn't begin with an F in the second half. Might be the first interior pass of the half, ignoring the fact that it was sent from inside the other arc. Fouch is shooting the ball well, although with a ton of volume, so maybe that's ok. He's gotta be exhausted though, DU needs to mix things up. The Wilson 3 attempt on the next possession wasn't exactly what I meant.
7:00: Fouch really pressing now. Probably should get a quick breath but this years edition of Bru Extra Soft (now with lotion!) isn't going to pull that trigger.
6:16: Things I learned. Rodney Williams was a two time merit scholar in HS. Cool. Announcers don't think Pantovic vs Benimon is a good matchup for the Dragons. Arguably the smartest thing they have said tonight.
1:49: Bru still has Fouch in the game down 13 with under two to go. If you have any comments, please contact:
James Flint
Flint@Drexel.edu
215-895-2348
Daskalakis Athletic Center
3141 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
0:00: It's a final after Stevan Manojlavic has an assist on a Massenat (he's in the game!?) three ball. The Tigers take it 80-68. Plenty of thoughts on this one which will be up tomorrow. At least part of that will be a hat tip to Towson's 50% from distance, but an assist to the Drexel defense for that as well. Thanks for reading along to tonights game, and all season long.
Oh and if you're looking for Chris Fouch, the money is on him sleeping for the next day or two. He's earned it.
Monday, January 13, 2014
Towson Pregame - Do Your Job
I begin with this, from a Bill Belichick Monday morning press conference earlier this season:
Q: How close was Rob Gronkowski to playing yesterday?
BB: I don’t know. He was inactive.
Q: Did he have a shot to play?
BB: He was inactive.
Q: Going into the day, was there a chance he’d play?
BB: He was inactive for the game.
Q: What about Danny Amendola?
BB: He was inactive too.
Q: I know they were inactive.
BB: They were inactive so they didn’t play.
Q: I think you have an idea how close they were.
BB: Well, they weren’t able to play. What do you want, percentage points? They couldn’t play.
Q: Going into the day, did you know they couldn’t play?
BB: They were inactive.
Q: That doesn’t answer my question.
BB: They were inactive, it’s as simple as that.
You will find me apologizing for being a properly raised New England child, a Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins, and Celtics fan about as often as you will find Bill Belichick helping out the media with injury news. Also, for those that don't know, I was an unabashed John Calipari and Bruiser Flint UMass fan. Bruiser Flint came to Drexel University the same year I did, and there was no one more excited by his hiring announcement than I was. Since that time Coach Flint has had drinks and good conversation with me and him and his staff continue to be receptive and cordial with, regardless of my criticism of their professional judgement. I bring this up both to highlight the character and professionalism of this staff, to show my bias' to the reader in regards to the staff, to remind everyone why, as some of my around the conference buddies say, "We have it better" rooting for a small school basketball family rather than a basketball factory. Also, it lends itself to the below nicely.
Do you know the NFL team with the third most games lost due to injury this year? It's the New England Patriots. As you can read in the papers, they used it as an excuse for their early exit from the regular season playoffs nevermind. They don't get a lot of sympathy for their injuries, and they don't expect any. The same will be true for the Drexel Dragons, who will be down 2 if not 3 starters and their 6th man for the upcoming contest against Towson at the DAC on Tuesday. The Patriots have to do it against the best football teams in the world. The Dragons get a down year CAA. Next man up indeed, giddy up.
The Dragons frontcourt seems established, with Abif hopefully returning in the near future, followed by Williams, Pantovic and Bah. The guards are much more unsettled. Frantz Massenat went down a couple of times last game, and a conversation on playing him or forcing him to heal up a bit before a return next weekend is worth having. Rarely in a season will a player get a full week off, but it might be very beneficial when things matter to let Massenat get rest right now. Frantz showed on Saturday how much he wants to be in the game, and holding him out would certainly be against his wishes, but looking out for the season as well as the player is why Bru gets paid the big bucks. Tavon Allen was added to the injured list the last game, ending a two game stretch where he really shot the heck out of the ball. Still, on the balance Tavon showed as a player who still had some growing to do this year, letting poor shot selection and turnovers get the better of him. This is best exemplified in the chart below, which displays KenPom.com's player O-Ratings for the Drexel guards
Don't be fooled by his quantity of shots, Allen has been holding this offense back as much as he has been helping it. The only issue right now is that Drexel is out of replacements. Canady will get a lot more minutes at the point, pushing Frantz to the 3, which will make some people (me) happy as Canady may be significantly less of a shooting threat at the point than Frantz is but he also has shown a willingness to feed his forwards which will be all the more important in the upcoming days. The backup at all three spots will likely be Wilson who in all honesty has been horrific as a Dragon. Freddie clearly has talent, and just as clearly his slump is in his head a bit.
Not lost in the laundry list of injuries should be Bruiser Flint. He's tried some things that he'd prefer not to do (zone), he's tried some things that haven't worked (4 guards) and he's allowed his team to make some bonehead plays (Allen shooting with 17 seconds left and the shot clock off in the first half at William and Mary) but through that he's found some things that worked. Goran held his own through 41 minutes against Northeastern. Bah, who was in the doghouse's doghouse got postgame public compliments from his coach, Canady looks like he might be able to hold his own at this level yet, and wait for it... The Dragons have run an under the basket inbounds play that's created easy buckets on multiple occasions of late. As fans continue to watch Bruiser get forced into leaving his personal comfort zone, they have to be encouraged seeing him find things that work and that he may remember down the road, adding to what had been a fairly stale toolkit.
The Tigers of Towson University have also taken a big loss this year as point guard Jerome Hairston is now their former point guard Jerome Hairston. Senior Mike Burwell has taken over the point guard duties and has performed well since settling in, only turning the ball over twice in the past 3 games. Drexel's lack of depth takes away the idea of a press, but using a guy like Freddie Wilson on him would seem like a great idea. Freddie is an atrocious off the ball defender, so picking up the guy bringing the ball up may help him focus and get him some confidence, and his quickness could really give Burwell problems. The staff should be about ready to try anything to get Freddie going anyway, and that seems a golden opportunity.
Besides the potential liability at the point, there are three things that everyone on the court needs to know when facing Towson:
1) Where Jerrelle Benimon is at all times. The Georgetown transfer is a beast and will be looking to create problems all over the court against the Dragons. In 2 games against the Dragons last year he had 37 points and 25 rebounds. He's stepping outside a bit less this year, but if he looks to shoot from behind the arc Drexel should roll out the welcome mat for him to do it. If he drives inside that means points or fouls more often then not, and that's a much bigger problem with Drexel's short bench.
2) Vermont transfer Four McGlynn shot 38% from downtown as a freshman and is putting up 40% this year. He's become an exclusive 3 point shooter so there's no reason for the Drexel D to buy the ball fake here. It's the opposite of Benimon, feel free to let McGlynn drive, but do not under any circumstances allow the three. Seeing the sharpshooters (McGlynn and Fouch) defend each other and try to out duel one another will be a fun contest all night.
3) They big. I mean they big. One thing about the Drexel injuries this year is that all of the guys have been tall. Damion Lee has been the shortest guy to go down at 6'6" and that will cause a challenge against the Tigers who run only 2 guys out there who are under 6'5". Expect the Tigers to try to get inside early and often and exploit that advantage, but Chris Fouch can not get caught helping like he did versus William and Mary, he'll need to stick to McGlynn to avoid a drive and kick situation.
This one is going to be a battle. Generally a short turnaround game favors the home team so Drexel gets a bit of a gift from the schedule makers there, although Frantz Massenat probably wishes he had an extra day. Lets assume he plays, and hope that this stays close late. If it does I like the team that hits their free throws and predict that they don't worry about which of their teammates is out there, they just do their job.
Prediction: Drexel 63, Towson 62
Vegas Line: Drexel -5
The Dragons frontcourt seems established, with Abif hopefully returning in the near future, followed by Williams, Pantovic and Bah. The guards are much more unsettled. Frantz Massenat went down a couple of times last game, and a conversation on playing him or forcing him to heal up a bit before a return next weekend is worth having. Rarely in a season will a player get a full week off, but it might be very beneficial when things matter to let Massenat get rest right now. Frantz showed on Saturday how much he wants to be in the game, and holding him out would certainly be against his wishes, but looking out for the season as well as the player is why Bru gets paid the big bucks. Tavon Allen was added to the injured list the last game, ending a two game stretch where he really shot the heck out of the ball. Still, on the balance Tavon showed as a player who still had some growing to do this year, letting poor shot selection and turnovers get the better of him. This is best exemplified in the chart below, which displays KenPom.com's player O-Ratings for the Drexel guards
Don't be fooled by his quantity of shots, Allen has been holding this offense back as much as he has been helping it. The only issue right now is that Drexel is out of replacements. Canady will get a lot more minutes at the point, pushing Frantz to the 3, which will make some people (me) happy as Canady may be significantly less of a shooting threat at the point than Frantz is but he also has shown a willingness to feed his forwards which will be all the more important in the upcoming days. The backup at all three spots will likely be Wilson who in all honesty has been horrific as a Dragon. Freddie clearly has talent, and just as clearly his slump is in his head a bit.
Not lost in the laundry list of injuries should be Bruiser Flint. He's tried some things that he'd prefer not to do (zone), he's tried some things that haven't worked (4 guards) and he's allowed his team to make some bonehead plays (Allen shooting with 17 seconds left and the shot clock off in the first half at William and Mary) but through that he's found some things that worked. Goran held his own through 41 minutes against Northeastern. Bah, who was in the doghouse's doghouse got postgame public compliments from his coach, Canady looks like he might be able to hold his own at this level yet, and wait for it... The Dragons have run an under the basket inbounds play that's created easy buckets on multiple occasions of late. As fans continue to watch Bruiser get forced into leaving his personal comfort zone, they have to be encouraged seeing him find things that work and that he may remember down the road, adding to what had been a fairly stale toolkit.
The Tigers of Towson University have also taken a big loss this year as point guard Jerome Hairston is now their former point guard Jerome Hairston. Senior Mike Burwell has taken over the point guard duties and has performed well since settling in, only turning the ball over twice in the past 3 games. Drexel's lack of depth takes away the idea of a press, but using a guy like Freddie Wilson on him would seem like a great idea. Freddie is an atrocious off the ball defender, so picking up the guy bringing the ball up may help him focus and get him some confidence, and his quickness could really give Burwell problems. The staff should be about ready to try anything to get Freddie going anyway, and that seems a golden opportunity.
Besides the potential liability at the point, there are three things that everyone on the court needs to know when facing Towson:
1) Where Jerrelle Benimon is at all times. The Georgetown transfer is a beast and will be looking to create problems all over the court against the Dragons. In 2 games against the Dragons last year he had 37 points and 25 rebounds. He's stepping outside a bit less this year, but if he looks to shoot from behind the arc Drexel should roll out the welcome mat for him to do it. If he drives inside that means points or fouls more often then not, and that's a much bigger problem with Drexel's short bench.
2) Vermont transfer Four McGlynn shot 38% from downtown as a freshman and is putting up 40% this year. He's become an exclusive 3 point shooter so there's no reason for the Drexel D to buy the ball fake here. It's the opposite of Benimon, feel free to let McGlynn drive, but do not under any circumstances allow the three. Seeing the sharpshooters (McGlynn and Fouch) defend each other and try to out duel one another will be a fun contest all night.
3) They big. I mean they big. One thing about the Drexel injuries this year is that all of the guys have been tall. Damion Lee has been the shortest guy to go down at 6'6" and that will cause a challenge against the Tigers who run only 2 guys out there who are under 6'5". Expect the Tigers to try to get inside early and often and exploit that advantage, but Chris Fouch can not get caught helping like he did versus William and Mary, he'll need to stick to McGlynn to avoid a drive and kick situation.
This one is going to be a battle. Generally a short turnaround game favors the home team so Drexel gets a bit of a gift from the schedule makers there, although Frantz Massenat probably wishes he had an extra day. Lets assume he plays, and hope that this stays close late. If it does I like the team that hits their free throws and predict that they don't worry about which of their teammates is out there, they just do their job.
Prediction: Drexel 63, Towson 62
Vegas Line: Drexel -5
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Northeastern - The Happy Recap - Learning by DUing
Final: Drexel 93, Northeastern 88 (2OT) at The DAC
Player of the Game: Chris Fouch
Key to the game: A Deep Bench
Next Game: Tues Jan 14 vs Towson @ The DAC
There is a known medical phenomenon where an injured individual, while healing, will compensate by overusing other areas of the body to take the stress off of the injured area, causing a new injury to the now overworked area. On a body that makes complete sense. Why the Drexel basketball team is currently doing it player by overused player is a medical mystery.
Three starters were out entering this game for the Dragons, and a fourth (Frantz Massenat) left the court twice, one time in which he was documented being well looked after. Former backup, now starter except not, Tavon Allen left the game with a bad ankle sprain so knock him out for a few weeks at best. Had you placed a wager at the beginning of the season that Chris Fouch would be the last man standing from the top six players on the Drexel roster, you could have made some very nice coin. But Fouch was out there for 47 minutes in this 50 minute effort, which was only beaten out my Massenat who despite leaving with injuries twice still managed to be out there for 48 minutes. Frantz likely woke up this morning looking more swollen then someone with a peanut allergy on the Planters Factory Tour and still only sat for 2 minutes. Hats off to that guy. He'll surely play on Tuesday against Towson, but there's plenty of logic towards sitting him for that one.
The Dragons were more limited since Rodney Williams spent his game in foul trouble. There won't be a double OT game for the rest of the year that Rodney won't foul out of, but in this game he wasn't particularly assisted by the threeblind mice officials that the CAA allowed to "work" the contest.* The larger concern is that during his 20 minutes on the floor, Rodney only pulled down 2 boards. That's a growing concern since last game he played 22 minutes against a not exactly elite frontcourt at William and Mary and only pulled down 4 rebounds. This is something bearing watching as the foul trouble is one thing, but not rebounding when he is in the game is a very real red flag.
Rather then throwing the zone out there with all of the Dragons personnel limitations and despite Northeastern begging for it, Bruiser elected to hide his (lack of) forward depth by playing 4 guards for a significant stretch of the game. This was not fun to watch. While his zone has gotten beaten both times that he has played with it this year, the loss of Tavon Allen may prevent the 4 guard play going forward and given how the team looked when they had 4 guards out there, not being able to use that formation is just fine. It's clear that it's going to take Bruiser Flint some time to find something that he's comfortable with, and speaking as a fan that's just fine by me. After years of seeing very similar plays on both sides of the ball, a few weeks in which Bruiser isn't allowed to be in his comfort zone may be a great thing for both Bruiser's growth as a coach.
Defensively the Dragons should be lauded. They held the two beasts of the frontcourt on Northeastern to 22 field goal attempts and 8 free throw attempts combined. As the NU frontcourt was the big advantage for the Huskies in this game, that was everything that the Drexel staff could have hoped for and more. Hat tips are well deserved to YeaRod, Gordo and Bah for containing the NU frontcourt and continuing to learn by DUing.
No one expected Banegas-Flores to be a big scorer for Northeastern, he's the guy on the other team that you want to try to beat you. That he almost did is a testament to a great game from him, alongside Demetrius Pollard. Pollard is probably the one guy that Drexel should have done a better job on, he had a very good night even before he hit the shot that put the game into OT. Read this before being critical of Bru's not fouling.
Making Chris Fouch the player of the game in this one was a tough call. Without Frantz Massenat's 12 rebounds (!!) and 8 assists Drexel probably goes down, and a tip of the cap to Frantz is well deserved, especially doing that while gingerly limping around the DAC during timeouts. Alas, when it comes to efficiency Chris Fouch just had one of the best games of what has been a great Drexel career. It was clear that Bill Coen saw just how few weapons Drexel had on the floor and made sure Fouch was a focus for his defense, allowing him "just" 15 shots in his 47 minutes (Fouch had been averaging 2.28 minutes per shot going into this game). That Employee Number 3 hit 10 of those 15 shots made that defense moot. What was especially nice to see was Chris' off the ball movement which was downright Goss-ian, exemplified on one play where he floated toward the top of the key while Major Canady was driving to open himself up for a dish from the point guard which led to 3 points, nothing but net. Nailing the dagger with an assist by referee Bob Testa (what a crazy game this was) makes the decision to make him Player of the Game even easier. With 31 points on only 15 field goal attempts, Chris should get all the credit in the world for a career game.
There's a lot to be said about where the team goes without the use of Tavon Allen, who had been playing some time at the 4 with the starting forwards both out. Also more to be spoken about the role of Major Canady, whether or not Frantz really should sit on Tuesday, and the truly disappoint effort from Freddie Wilson. Also, a followup to the big men's performance in this contest (Lady Gaga Applause Applause for Mohamed Bah). For that and more, the Towson pregame will be up by Monday evening.
*The officiating was bad both ways. Bill Humes, Bob Testa and Louis Andrakakos are all CAA regulars, and all household names to CAA followers. If referees are great when they are unknown, well... these guys are very well known.
**This article was written while consuming Williamsburg Alewerks Coffeehouse Stout. Among my all-time favorite beers, from the only place in Williamsburg that can't spell.
Player of the Game: Chris Fouch
Key to the game: A Deep Bench
Next Game: Tues Jan 14 vs Towson @ The DAC
There is a known medical phenomenon where an injured individual, while healing, will compensate by overusing other areas of the body to take the stress off of the injured area, causing a new injury to the now overworked area. On a body that makes complete sense. Why the Drexel basketball team is currently doing it player by overused player is a medical mystery.
Three starters were out entering this game for the Dragons, and a fourth (Frantz Massenat) left the court twice, one time in which he was documented being well looked after. Former backup, now starter except not, Tavon Allen left the game with a bad ankle sprain so knock him out for a few weeks at best. Had you placed a wager at the beginning of the season that Chris Fouch would be the last man standing from the top six players on the Drexel roster, you could have made some very nice coin. But Fouch was out there for 47 minutes in this 50 minute effort, which was only beaten out my Massenat who despite leaving with injuries twice still managed to be out there for 48 minutes. Frantz likely woke up this morning looking more swollen then someone with a peanut allergy on the Planters Factory Tour and still only sat for 2 minutes. Hats off to that guy. He'll surely play on Tuesday against Towson, but there's plenty of logic towards sitting him for that one.
The Dragons were more limited since Rodney Williams spent his game in foul trouble. There won't be a double OT game for the rest of the year that Rodney won't foul out of, but in this game he wasn't particularly assisted by the three
Rather then throwing the zone out there with all of the Dragons personnel limitations and despite Northeastern begging for it, Bruiser elected to hide his (lack of) forward depth by playing 4 guards for a significant stretch of the game. This was not fun to watch. While his zone has gotten beaten both times that he has played with it this year, the loss of Tavon Allen may prevent the 4 guard play going forward and given how the team looked when they had 4 guards out there, not being able to use that formation is just fine. It's clear that it's going to take Bruiser Flint some time to find something that he's comfortable with, and speaking as a fan that's just fine by me. After years of seeing very similar plays on both sides of the ball, a few weeks in which Bruiser isn't allowed to be in his comfort zone may be a great thing for both Bruiser's growth as a coach.
Defensively the Dragons should be lauded. They held the two beasts of the frontcourt on Northeastern to 22 field goal attempts and 8 free throw attempts combined. As the NU frontcourt was the big advantage for the Huskies in this game, that was everything that the Drexel staff could have hoped for and more. Hat tips are well deserved to YeaRod, Gordo and Bah for containing the NU frontcourt and continuing to learn by DUing.
No one expected Banegas-Flores to be a big scorer for Northeastern, he's the guy on the other team that you want to try to beat you. That he almost did is a testament to a great game from him, alongside Demetrius Pollard. Pollard is probably the one guy that Drexel should have done a better job on, he had a very good night even before he hit the shot that put the game into OT. Read this before being critical of Bru's not fouling.
Making Chris Fouch the player of the game in this one was a tough call. Without Frantz Massenat's 12 rebounds (!!) and 8 assists Drexel probably goes down, and a tip of the cap to Frantz is well deserved, especially doing that while gingerly limping around the DAC during timeouts. Alas, when it comes to efficiency Chris Fouch just had one of the best games of what has been a great Drexel career. It was clear that Bill Coen saw just how few weapons Drexel had on the floor and made sure Fouch was a focus for his defense, allowing him "just" 15 shots in his 47 minutes (Fouch had been averaging 2.28 minutes per shot going into this game). That Employee Number 3 hit 10 of those 15 shots made that defense moot. What was especially nice to see was Chris' off the ball movement which was downright Goss-ian, exemplified on one play where he floated toward the top of the key while Major Canady was driving to open himself up for a dish from the point guard which led to 3 points, nothing but net. Nailing the dagger with an assist by referee Bob Testa (what a crazy game this was) makes the decision to make him Player of the Game even easier. With 31 points on only 15 field goal attempts, Chris should get all the credit in the world for a career game.
There's a lot to be said about where the team goes without the use of Tavon Allen, who had been playing some time at the 4 with the starting forwards both out. Also more to be spoken about the role of Major Canady, whether or not Frantz really should sit on Tuesday, and the truly disappoint effort from Freddie Wilson. Also, a followup to the big men's performance in this contest (Lady Gaga Applause Applause for Mohamed Bah). For that and more, the Towson pregame will be up by Monday evening.
*The officiating was bad both ways. Bill Humes, Bob Testa and Louis Andrakakos are all CAA regulars, and all household names to CAA followers. If referees are great when they are unknown, well... these guys are very well known.
**This article was written while consuming Williamsburg Alewerks Coffeehouse Stout. Among my all-time favorite beers, from the only place in Williamsburg that can't spell.
Friday, January 10, 2014
Northeastern Pregame - Zombie Apocolypse
ROCKFIGHT!
More of a war of attrition actually. Both of these teams lost their star power at the guard spot early, As NU lost preseason 2nd team all-conference player Quincy Ford after just two games, an even shorter season then the Dragons were able to get from preseason 1st teamer Damion Lee. Northeastern wasn't deep even with Ford, and now are down to a 6 man team that tries to steal some some minutes from the end of their bench guys Marco Banegas-Flores and Derrico Peck. Drexel is down at least two starters in Dartaye Ruffin and Damion Lee, and may be without the services of Kazembe Abif as well, who is listed day-to-day. That will knock them down to 5 or 6 players that they are happy seeing on the court for this contest before turning to their deeper bench and names like Canady, Pantovic (who may be pressed into starting) and Bah.
The series between Drexel and Northeastern has always been a rockfight theme, even when the squads have been sitting with full rosters. In the 8 games over the last four seasons, only twice has a team broken 70 points. In 2 other games during that time, neither team even reached 50 at the end of regulation. With the depleted rosters this year, look for more of the same as the first to 60 will win this one, and even breaking 50 may be enough to clinch it.
On the Northeastern end of things, talented senior bigman Reggie Spencer was 11-16 from the field in his two games against the Dragons last year, and against the thin Drexel frontcourt you can expect him and his frontcourt partner Scott Eatherton to be good for at least half of Northeastern's shot attempts in this one. Up until the William and Mary game, Bruiser's crutch when Drexel was short on big men due to foul trouble was playing zone, and even if Abif can play in this contest, it would be a good idea for the Dragons to consider doing that early and often in this one.
Another reason for the Z is that Northeastern is down to only two perimeter guys in Walker and Pollard and neither of them are the shooters that Drexel saw at William and Mary. The best comp for this Huskies team may be the 07-08 Dragons, who had Elegar, Neisler and Oveneke in the middle who were held back by the complete disrespect that opposing teams showed the Drexel guards, playing a tight to the basket zone and forcing Hawthorne, Colds and Rodgers to beat them from the outside. It was a miserable season for the Dragons, and somewhat akin to what Northeastern fans have had to endure thus far this season. The Huskies answer to Hawthorn is Demetrius Pollard, a junior who takes 75% of his shots from 3. There's no reason to respect his drive. Sophomore David Walker is the other shooter on the team, and the one guy who NU wants to get the ball to with a late lead as he's shooting 80% from the stripe and no one else is even above 70%.
This game really screams for a triangle and two by the Dragons, with coverage on Walker and Pollard on the perimeter and forcing the big men into jumpers. Back in reality, hope for a 2-3 zone with some idea of where those two are at all times. Back in real reality, hope that Goran and Williams can stay out of foul trouble and don't get destroyed by Eatherton and Spencer in their man to man coverage.
On the offensive side of the ball for DU, I'm looking hard at Freddie Wilson. He needs to get some confidence badly, and if there is a game made for him, this is it. He can be stuck on the non-shooting guard on the defensive end which should insure his normal liabilities, and his ability to drive and dish to Rodney Williams could help get the Northeastern bigs into foul trouble or giving up easy buckets. If Tavon Allen spends any time at the 4 spot, it will given Wilson some additional minutes, and he needs to use what he gets and prove to the staff that he belongs as a relevant player on this roster.
Rodney Williams will be picking up his third start of the year, and may have already come off the bench for the final time of his career. His other two starts have both been away from the DAC, so if he can stay out of foul trouble enough to spend 20 minutes or so on the floor, he can really open up some eyes from the hometown fans. The magic number we're setting here on the blog is 3. That's the number of dunks to look for from Rodney this game, if he can do that then the Dragons are doing something right. No more 3 shot games, its time to start lighting up the scoreboard for the current starting center.
In the last four years, the winner of the first game of this series has won the second game as well. The better team (Pomeroy) has always swept while the current group of kids (less Chris Fouch) have been in school. In the battle of whoevers left, look for the Dragons to play desperate and show some hunger.
Prediction: Drexel 61- Northeastern 57
Vegas Line: Drexel -7
More of a war of attrition actually. Both of these teams lost their star power at the guard spot early, As NU lost preseason 2nd team all-conference player Quincy Ford after just two games, an even shorter season then the Dragons were able to get from preseason 1st teamer Damion Lee. Northeastern wasn't deep even with Ford, and now are down to a 6 man team that tries to steal some some minutes from the end of their bench guys Marco Banegas-Flores and Derrico Peck. Drexel is down at least two starters in Dartaye Ruffin and Damion Lee, and may be without the services of Kazembe Abif as well, who is listed day-to-day. That will knock them down to 5 or 6 players that they are happy seeing on the court for this contest before turning to their deeper bench and names like Canady, Pantovic (who may be pressed into starting) and Bah.
The series between Drexel and Northeastern has always been a rockfight theme, even when the squads have been sitting with full rosters. In the 8 games over the last four seasons, only twice has a team broken 70 points. In 2 other games during that time, neither team even reached 50 at the end of regulation. With the depleted rosters this year, look for more of the same as the first to 60 will win this one, and even breaking 50 may be enough to clinch it.
On the Northeastern end of things, talented senior bigman Reggie Spencer was 11-16 from the field in his two games against the Dragons last year, and against the thin Drexel frontcourt you can expect him and his frontcourt partner Scott Eatherton to be good for at least half of Northeastern's shot attempts in this one. Up until the William and Mary game, Bruiser's crutch when Drexel was short on big men due to foul trouble was playing zone, and even if Abif can play in this contest, it would be a good idea for the Dragons to consider doing that early and often in this one.
Another reason for the Z is that Northeastern is down to only two perimeter guys in Walker and Pollard and neither of them are the shooters that Drexel saw at William and Mary. The best comp for this Huskies team may be the 07-08 Dragons, who had Elegar, Neisler and Oveneke in the middle who were held back by the complete disrespect that opposing teams showed the Drexel guards, playing a tight to the basket zone and forcing Hawthorne, Colds and Rodgers to beat them from the outside. It was a miserable season for the Dragons, and somewhat akin to what Northeastern fans have had to endure thus far this season. The Huskies answer to Hawthorn is Demetrius Pollard, a junior who takes 75% of his shots from 3. There's no reason to respect his drive. Sophomore David Walker is the other shooter on the team, and the one guy who NU wants to get the ball to with a late lead as he's shooting 80% from the stripe and no one else is even above 70%.
This game really screams for a triangle and two by the Dragons, with coverage on Walker and Pollard on the perimeter and forcing the big men into jumpers. Back in reality, hope for a 2-3 zone with some idea of where those two are at all times. Back in real reality, hope that Goran and Williams can stay out of foul trouble and don't get destroyed by Eatherton and Spencer in their man to man coverage.
On the offensive side of the ball for DU, I'm looking hard at Freddie Wilson. He needs to get some confidence badly, and if there is a game made for him, this is it. He can be stuck on the non-shooting guard on the defensive end which should insure his normal liabilities, and his ability to drive and dish to Rodney Williams could help get the Northeastern bigs into foul trouble or giving up easy buckets. If Tavon Allen spends any time at the 4 spot, it will given Wilson some additional minutes, and he needs to use what he gets and prove to the staff that he belongs as a relevant player on this roster.
Rodney Williams will be picking up his third start of the year, and may have already come off the bench for the final time of his career. His other two starts have both been away from the DAC, so if he can stay out of foul trouble enough to spend 20 minutes or so on the floor, he can really open up some eyes from the hometown fans. The magic number we're setting here on the blog is 3. That's the number of dunks to look for from Rodney this game, if he can do that then the Dragons are doing something right. No more 3 shot games, its time to start lighting up the scoreboard for the current starting center.
In the last four years, the winner of the first game of this series has won the second game as well. The better team (Pomeroy) has always swept while the current group of kids (less Chris Fouch) have been in school. In the battle of whoevers left, look for the Dragons to play desperate and show some hunger.
Prediction: Drexel 61- Northeastern 57
Vegas Line: Drexel -7
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