For those criticizing the minutes distribution, defense keeps this team in games and wins games for this team. Also, Newton and Johnson are big time rebounders for guards, that and their defense is getting them minutes. That being said, I would definitely like to see Banks eat into Johnson's minutes more. The other complaint I have is D'Amico at the 5. I would like to see him at the 4, and I do NOW think Hornecker can give us more minutes at the 5. Rupert is still very foul prone, so he is probably limited to about 20 minutes a game. Right now I would be ok with Rupert at 20 minutes a game, Hornecker at 10-12 minutes and a smaller lineup at about 8 minutes when the match-ups allow. This will obviously change and we may have only a few minutes with a smaller lineup when Ebube and/if Muila come back.
This team played their hearts out last night in the middle of the night, on the opposite coast against a good, veteran Cal Baptist team. Cal Baptist is going to compete at the top of the WAC. Marcus was special, but Jones, Brown and Newton all played great defense. Newton had 5 rebounds and is averaging over 5 rebounds a game in limited minutes! Wonders still struggles on defense, but Mullins was able to use him well last night, and he reminded me of the "microwave" when he came in and heated it up with those two 3's.
Defense and heart won this game for Southern against a good, senior laden Cal Baptist team who went into Washington and beat the snot out of the Huskies and should have beaten Minnestoa.
P.S. UNLV pummeled Minnesota last night! They were up 21 late, but let the foot off the gas to win by 8. UNLV is legit and like the announcers were saying is probably a top 25 team. Lastly, Kansas State and Alabama are both playing really well so far this season. Those games were invaluable pre-season experience, we would not have won the Oklahoma State game without those warm ups.
Go Dawgs!
Some thoughts............
Similar to last year, SIU desperately needs a PG that can score. I'm not saying they need to be a leading scorer, but the fact that our PG's didn't hit a single 3pt shot in the 3 So Cal games is telling. They also didn't score a single point in the last 2 games in CA. XJ near the top of my 2022-3 disappointment list so far.
Rupert seems to be improving and until we get one of our true bigs back, I wouldn't mind seeing him start. I like that after he took, and made, that forced 3 (due to shot clock) that he didn't just look to start taking more. He knows his role.
It was interesting that Cal Bap did not pressure much on the perimeter, while UNLV was literally in their faces on every ball possession. This allowed Domask, and others, to get some wide open looks.
Good to see Wonders hit some shots, but if you watch the replay, without the emotion of the actual game score, he really does need to improve his D. It will be fun to watch him play against Evansville, Alcorn St and Lincoln.
I saw a lot of the little things from Newton in this game. Rebounding, defense, etc. That being said, he must start hitting shots. Speaking of, the fact that this team won despite another poor shooting performance from Lance, provides some hope considering Cal Bap will likely finish in the top 4 in their conf. Lance is now shooting 25% from 3. We all know he'll finish closer to 35-40% by year end so good things are coming ! Also, his defense cannot be understated. The play where he defended and forced a TO when guarding their 7' was 100% pure Saluki.
The game should never have gone to OT for multiple reasons. Firstly, Rupert missed the FT. Banks also missed a wide open 3. Lastly, I rewatched the last possession by the Salikis and the ball looks like it was hit OOB by them and should have been our ball.
The Salukis played good enough to win, but need to be better. They were aided by poor FT shooting by CB as well as not being guarded closely as CB isnt' as athletic as UNLV was.
The next key game will be against Indiana St. I'm confident they will beat Evansville and lose (easily) to Saint Louis but then comes a HUGE early season matchup with Indiana St., they can go into the Murray St game 10-3 and playing with some confidence after not only winning some games, but since the competition will be less than overwhelming, the bench players can get a lot of minutes and show the coaches what they have.
Finally.......................... A Happy & Blessed Thanksgiving to all my Saluki Brothers and Sisters. We may not always agree on basketball, but in life I wish you ALL nothing but the best and am Thankful for our Saluki Nation / Family.
Sorry for my previous long post, but I forgot one thing, so thank you for the reminder (and good post). I failed to mention that Cade deserves more minutes IMO. I feel like he has only touched the surface of what he can do defensively. Once he gains confidence, I can see him being much more aggressive and not only swatting shots, but altering a lot more. And his mid range jumper came at a critical time.
@insaluki He has a pretty jump shot, don’t know a better word to describe it!
The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty.
James Madison
Some clear pathways for improvement as the season goes on:
- Getting Cade and Foster more comfortable and integrated into the rotation
- Getting some (any!) scoring from the PG position
- Ebube’s return
- Getting Lance’s shot back on target
Not trying to say there aren’t causes for concern/disappointment at the offensive end, but there are some realistic opportunities to improve.
Does anyone know where I can find the replay? This game and the UNLV games aren’t showing up in my Hulu/ESPN apps.
We played good D for the most part, but we only won because they missed 12 FTs.
XJ had 1 stl, 1 asst, 1rb, 0 pts. in 15 minutes and his defense is average at best.
Banks played 24 and had 4 assts., 1 rb, 1 stl, 0 pts and is way quicker than XJ with more potential to score.
Someone mentioned Rupert's fouls. In 20 mins., he only had 2 fouls. Also had 2 assts., 4 rbs., and 10 pts. Nice game. Our new point guard?
Jones was 0 - 6 from 3 - they did a good job of not giving him open lanes to drive the ball. In 39 mins, he only had 5 pts but had 3 stls, 3 rbs, 2 assts., only 1 TO, and played terrific defense with only 1 foul.
Hornecker picked up 4 fouls in only 6 minutes - that has to get fixed.
Our best defensive players are Domask and Jones - it's not close.
I repeat - DAmico guarding their 7 ft center with 12 secs in OT makes absolutely no sense. Rupert was not in there.
Their big guy had 5 offensive rebounds. Their forward had 4 offensive rebounds. They had 15 offensive rebounds to our 2. That's one thing a small lineup gets our opponent - 2nd chances!
ok, the bobber is awake and ready for his turkey and wine. just a couple of late thoughts.
first, bryan had banks in at point down the stretch. i assume that is telling.
and then i was thinking about this: when is the last time we saw someone have a better game than what we saw from marcus last night? it wasn't just the complete stat line, it was doing it with the game on the line after playing 40+ minutes.
finally, we didn't foul at the end of regulation up 3 and got burned. and i don't believe we were going to do it at the end of overtime either. you don't let the clock run all the way down to 1.6 and then decide to foul. but marcus did. i wonder if he did it on his own, which would further add to his incredible night.
I may be in the minority here, but I think this team is gonna surprise us this year. I see a top 4 finish in the Valley, which means a lot with the change in the MVC Tourney format. Glad Marcus's parents were there to see him do his Superman imitation. Am I wrong or isn't he technically allowed another season of play due to the Covid season?
Not in the minority. I still think this team challenges for an MVC title this year but as a diehard, perfectionist fan, I have complaints since we’re 4-2 instead of 6-0. 😜
Rupert should be starting. Cade is a clear difference maker and should be getting 10+ minutes a game as long as he keeps the fouling under control. And Wonders should automatically be inserted for a spark anytime the offense stagnates. I’m also concerned that Marcus could lose his legs by seasons end.
On the bright side; Ebube and Muila will eventually be back and Lance will find his game and be Lance again.
This team has the pieces. There’s talent, size, versatility and toughness there. If SIU puts it together, this can be a special season. The only thing that truly stops SIU from that is SIU, IMO.
--Insert something witty here--
Does anyone know where I can find the replay? This game and the UNLV games aren’t showing up in my Hulu/ESPN apps.
Game was on CBS Sports Network and they don't archive games unfortunately.
A lot of people that didn't watch the game saw they won and are being critical of those that watched and aren't happy. A win is great but they only won last night because of Domask. He was amazing, maybe the best game he's played as a Saluki and you needed a career best game from Domask to beat an okay Cal Baptist team that would finish middle of the pack in the MVC. It's also not a winning formula going forward. This team can't rely on Jones/Domask all season and expect to even avoid Thursday in St. Louis. They need other guys to step up and I'm not quite sure there's an in-season fix there.
I watched the game, as I watch every game and am a season ticket holder who drives 2.5 hours each way to Carbondale for practically every game. I am very happy we won and Cal Baptist would finish anywhere between 3rd and 6th in the MVC this year. Domask had an amazing game, but SIU doesn't win without the great defense played by he and his teammates. SIU played 2 games between 12:15am and 2:30am after long travel and against good teams from the pacific time zone that didn't travel far at all. Sure there's plenty to clean up, but being disappointed or unhappy with this win is just silly. All the players played with incredible heart after being dead tired. That is special.Does anyone know where I can find the replay? This game and the UNLV games aren’t showing up in my Hulu/ESPN apps.
Game was on CBS Sports Network and they don't archive games unfortunately.
A lot of people that didn't watch the game saw they won and are being critical of those that watched and aren't happy. A win is great but they only won last night because of Domask. He was amazing, maybe the best game he's played as a Saluki and you needed a career best game from Domask to beat an okay Cal Baptist team that would finish middle of the pack in the MVC. It's also not a winning formula going forward. This team can't rely on Jones/Domask all season and expect to even avoid Thursday in St. Louis. They need other guys to step up and I'm not quite sure there's an in-season fix there.
Right now Domask is averaging 16.4 points per game, Jones is averaging 12.4 points per game. Your 3rd best scorers (besides Ebube in 1 game) is Newton (6.2 points per game) and Banks (6.2 points per game).
You have Brown, D'Amico, and Johnson starting and they combine for 11.2 points per game. Just don't see how you win anything that way. If Jones/Domask have bad games like they had at Southern Indiana, you're gonna lose.
Domask was awesome last night but if Cal Baptist shoots better than 7-19 (36.8%) from the FT line, you lose. Cal Baptist would be 9th in the Valley by KenPom.
Happy with the win but concerned that this team isn't good enough to take a next step and another year of Domask/Jones are gonna be wasted.
We will compete for the MVC title, I am very confident of that.Right now Domask is averaging 16.4 points per game, Jones is averaging 12.4 points per game. Your 3rd best scorers (besides Ebube in 1 game) is Newton (6.2 points per game) and Banks (6.2 points per game).
You have Brown, D'Amico, and Johnson starting and they combine for 11.2 points per game. Just don't see how you win anything that way. If Jones/Domask have bad games like they had at Southern Indiana, you're gonna lose.
Domask was awesome last night but if Cal Baptist shoots better than 7-19 (36.8%) from the FT line, you lose. Cal Baptist would be 9th in the Valley by KenPom.
Happy with the win but concerned that this team isn't good enough to take a next step and another year of Domask/Jones are gonna be wasted.
Refreshing posts from 88.
I guess its in the nature of fan boards that frequent posters seem to know more about personnel,offense,and defense than the coaches.
I thought it telling that an experienced coach,Coach Watson, thought Mullins use of Wonders and Hornecker was excellent for their development.
Dawgs do not lose to UNLV if they have either big back.
Easy to wonder what will befall the team when Marcus is gone. But who could ever replace Williams? Who could ever replace Brooks? Etc....
