Even when Marcus comes back, this is Lance Jone's team. This guy is going to be special for us.
Big win to end the streak. Ball movement was much better, and of course the difference was we were hitting 3's. Verplancken and Jones hit big shots when the game was on the line. Hopefully, somewhat of a coming out party for Verplancken. If we could get Domask back for Bradley who is really struggling right now, that would be big! Plenty of season left.
Jones was obviously the star. But the contributions from Filewich, Verplancken, and D'Avanzo can't be overlooked
Lance played an absolutely great game - best game as a Saluki. 40 minutes, 27 pts., only 2 TOs, 6 assists, first player to make 7 3s in 21 years (Kent Williams!)
Also shot 67%! Shades of Kai Nurnberger!
BM said he talked to Lance last night and told him "this is your game!" And it was!!
Banks played a nice game (a few too many TOs - 6 - but a promising Freshman) as did DAvanzo - this is the DAvanzo we saw earlier in the year. 10 rbs and 11 pts! And Verplancken - he's got some bball chops!
And Kyler Fillahoop!
(Ben Harvey and Trent Brown had a rough series shooting wise! Let's hope they got it out of their system.)
Good win!!!
Winning an MVC game without Domask AND Harvey and Brown both laying goose eggs is quite the coup (too soon?)
Lance was awesome, and you could really see he and other guys consciously looking to pass when they were in a crowd in the paint rather than pick up a charge or force a bad shot. And best games from Verplancken and D’Avanzo so far.
Needed that one badly for morale and to relieve a bit of pressure. Hung on for dear life.
UNI has some nice underclassmen, BTW. That Anderson kid is the type of athletic wing I’d love to add for next year.
Winning an MVC game without Domask AND Harvey and Brown both laying goose eggs is quite the coup (too soon?)
Lance was awesome, and you could really see he and other guys consciously looking to pass when they were in a crowd in the paint rather than pick up a charge or force a bad shot. And best games from Verplancken and D’Avanzo so far.
Needed that one badly for morale and to relieve a bit of pressure. Hung on for dear life.
UNI has some nice underclassmen, BTW. That Anderson kid is the type of athletic wing I’d love to add for next year.
Anderson and Born both talented. Born is a good shooter and very quick. Mr. Iowa Basketball.
We got more talent coming next year!!
Bryan Mullins postgame with Mike Reis:
https://siusalukis.com/watch/?Archive=5447&type=Archive
Bryan Mullins postgame:
Lance Jones postgame:
Much better defense, much better shooting, good example of being able to close it out when the pressure is on (that last three by Jones was great!). Onward and upward. Hopefully after a second week in a row of full practice they continue to come together, improve, evolve, and progress.
Good win to stop the losing streak 6 games is a long time for any team. I could be wrong but I would like to see dembele play more, I think he could bring more athleticism, he definitely shows some spurts but isn't playing enough to know for sure, I think he could be a 10 minute a game, Jones is our best athlete, I'm curious how good we would have been with cook and Jones playing together with all that speed!
Nice to get the W!
https://twitter.com/SIU_Basketball/status/1356061330315358209
No complaints, but a few observations:1.We need to make 3s and driving layups to win, but we rarely (if ever) take those 6-8 footers that other teams seem to get. 2.UNI came back by using a zone, I’ve wondered why we couldn’t use a different defense occasionally as a change of pace. 3. Sometimes we seem lackadaisical in our ball handling.
“The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores.”
-- Al McGuire
I found it telling that the Marcus Domask family made the 1,000 mile round trip to watch a game knowing that Marcus would not be playing. First you build the culture.
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
One other thing I noticed...mid way through the second half they had 6 fouls and we had 4...the next 6 fouls were all called on us...and in pretty rapid fashion, and at least in my view in some questionable ways...just seemed a little...over the top shall we say..
Even when Marcus comes back, this is Lance Jone's team. This guy is going to be special for us.
Not trying to be negative at all here, and Jones certainly had a great game. He definitely has the tools....but, the day before he was not at all good and cost the team. I don't believe this is his team, though it probably should be. I think it can be....but his inconsistency has and is a problem. His driving to the hole and not finishing and making bad choices in the lane is a problem. Yesterday he was great. If he can keep that up then the skys the limit...Just think its way to early to say this is " his team".
Fair enough. Time is the greatest judge of all.
Even when Marcus comes back, this is Lance Jone's team. This guy is going to be special for us.
Not trying to be negative at all here, and Jones certainly had a great game. He definitely has the tools....but, the day before he was not at all good and cost the team. I don't believe this is his team, though it probably should be. I think it can be....but his inconsistency has and is a problem. His driving to the hole and not finishing and making bad choices in the lane is a problem. Yesterday he was great. If he can keep that up then the skys the limit...Just think its way to early to say this is " his team".
Hopefully Lance can use yesterday's game as a springboard to be the leader SIU needs him to be more consistently. He's not always going to shoot like that, but making good decisions most of the time (nobody's perfect) and finding that balance between aggressively looking to score and setting up teammates when the situation calls for it is huge. I don't think it's an overstatement to say how much progress he makes in that regard is the biggest single factor in whether this team becomes an MVC contender in the next couple years. It's also a big coaching challenge for Mullins and Co. to bring that out of him.
I think Lance and Marcus can both be First-Team All-MVC players these next couple years. They will both have their moments, and hopefully the necessary pieces are put around them for them both to lead the Salukis back to the promised land, sooner than later.
