I'm reaching apathy stages at this point. I don't know how many more games I can watch where SIU struggles to score 50 points in a game. The defense is great but you need more than 2 guys on offense if you want to win games.
Johnson played 28 minutes and scored ZERO points. Newton played 25 minutes and scored 5 points. Brown played 27 minutes and scored 6 points.
Last year SIU actually had a 3rd scorer in Coupet and they didn't replace him at all. The defense is a bit better and there might be a bit more scoring overall but in general, it's about the same team as last year. They'll win a few more games because the Valley lost so much last offseason but they're not an NCAA team, they're not an NIT team. It's year 4 and I don't think they're close to either.
SIU needs a POST PRESENCE!! Anyone with a thimble full of basketball knowledge can see it.
I do NOT understand the stubbornness of this coaching staff. Without naming names, there are three guys getting way too many minutes and producing very little.
Also: TROY IS NOT A 5 AND WOULD NOT BE A 5 ON ANY D1 ROSTER WITH SERIOUS POST SEASON ASPIRATIONS!! Can’t shout it any louder. Can we fly this as a banner over Mullins’ office?
Seriously, I don’t mind Troy starting, just not at the 5. Bring Trent off the bench, start Rupert and let Troy play the 4.
I don't get it. At all. Make it make sense..
--Insert something witty here--
SIU is:
334th in the country in turnover %
290th in the country in offensive rebound %
303rd in the country in 3 point %
306th in the country in block % on the offensive end
351st in the country in steal % on the offensive end
Last year they were 189th in adjusted offense which was the best under Mullins, right now they're 203rd.
The 8-man veteran rotation played last night is a team that plays hard and is strong defensively but a group with a low ceiling and a team that needed a couple rimmed in 3s to get to 49 points against a quality opponent. On top of that, while it was overall a great defensive effort, they could not keep UNLV’s athletes from successful drives during crunch time.
Mullins has proven to be quite conservative with leaning on veterans in bigger games but I don’t think he has much of a choice now but to see what younger guys like Wonders, Hornecker, Ferguson and Ebube (when he’s back) can do to inject some life in the offense. There surely will be some growing pains and who knows if those guys can shine at this level, but the status quo is simply not good enough, so we all better hope a youth movement eventually arrives and changes the equation.
The 8-man veteran rotation played last night is a team that plays hard and is strong defensively but a group with a low ceiling and a team that needed a couple rimmed in 3s to get to 49 points against a quality opponent. On top of that, while it was overall a great defensive effort, they could not keep UNLV’s athletes from successful drives during crunch time.
Mullins has proven to be quite conservative with leaning on veterans in bigger games but I don’t think he has much of a choice now but to see what younger guys like Wonders, Hornecker, Ferguson and Ebube (when he’s back) can do to inject some life in the offense. There surely will be some growing pains and who knows if those guys can shine at this level, but the status quo is simply not good enough, so we all better hope a youth movement eventually arrives and changes the equation.
That sounds good but Mullins will not give extra minutes to players who haven’t earned them.
The 8-man veteran rotation played last night is a team that plays hard and is strong defensively but a group with a low ceiling and a team that needed a couple rimmed in 3s to get to 49 points against a quality opponent. On top of that, while it was overall a great defensive effort, they could not keep UNLV’s athletes from successful drives during crunch time.
Mullins has proven to be quite conservative with leaning on veterans in bigger games but I don’t think he has much of a choice now but to see what younger guys like Wonders, Hornecker, Ferguson and Ebube (when he’s back) can do to inject some life in the offense. There surely will be some growing pains and who knows if those guys can shine at this level, but the status quo is simply not good enough, so we all better hope a youth movement eventually arrives and changes the equation.
That sounds good but Mullins will not give extra minutes to players who haven’t earned them.
The players that earned them led to 4 points in the last 10:03. It’s great that this team defends their asses off but you can’t be the 2000’s Salukis when you only have 2 guys that can score. You don’t have Tatum, Falker, Shaw, and Young that were all fully capable of scoring.
I'm thinking the first 2 games may have fooled us
Based on what I've seen from both teams, albeit very limited views on UNLV, I would put the line at UNLV -6. I was willing to bet anything less than that. Seeing it's only 1.5 though, actually scared me away from this bet. It (the line) doesn't seem right to me.
I am about to watch the game begrudgingly, but it looks like Vegas was still relying a bit too much on Kenpom.
I'm not going to add anything different than everyone else in terms of why we lost, but the stats bare it out. Turnovers cost us this game. We actually shot the ball better than UNLV, by a slight margin, but b/c of the turnovers they shot the ball 11 more times than we did...ELEVEN. Despite out rebounding them. The turnovers were spread pretty evenly amongst our entire team, everyone who played had at least one...most with double digit. I don't care how good their defense is, that is unacceptable and that's how you lose games.
Based on what I've seen from both teams, albeit very limited views on UNLV, I would put the line at UNLV -6. I was willing to bet anything less than that. Seeing it's only 1.5 though, actually scared me away from this bet. It (the line) doesn't seem right to me.
I am about to watch the game begrudgingly, but it looks like Vegas was still relying a bit too much on Kenpom.
KenPom may very well have been right. You’ll see that SIU was actually the better team most of the night but SIU gave away their chance to win in the first half via turnovers. And then the final 10:03 when they scored 4 total points.
UNLV is a good team, wouldn’t be shocked to see them in March. I don’t think on paper this is gonna be a bad loss but it’s one SIU should have had and a team serious about taking that next step should have won that.
I only watched the first half and they dominated them for a good part of the half. That was when their shots were falling. While I do not think Trent should be starting, he did provide some points in the first half and played well. It was an extremely physical first half with very few fouls called. I was hoping that Hornecker and Ferguson and Wonders could get a few minutes if just to give Domask some rest. He played the entire game. Some of the turnovers I saw in the first half were directly related to the physicality that the refs were allowing. Rupert played well and deserves to start. The 3rd place game won't be a cake walk if Cal Baptist plays like their first game. If I read the box score correctly, we out rebounded them and they got off 11 more shots than us. I believe that we were successful against Ok. St. because of the use of our other players. The ones that did not play last night.
I only watched the first half and they dominated them for a good part of the half. That was when their shots were falling. While I do not think Trent should be starting, he did provide some points in the first half and played well. It was an extremely physical first half with very few fouls called. I was hoping that Hornecker and Ferguson and Wonders could get a few minutes if just to give Domask some rest. He played the entire game. Some of the turnovers I saw in the first half were directly related to the physicality that the refs were allowing. Rupert played well and deserves to start. The 3rd place game won't be a cake walk if Cal Baptist plays like their first game. If I read the box score correctly, we out rebounded them and they got off 11 more shots than us. I believe that we were successful against Ok. St. because of the use of our other players. The ones that did not play last night.
If you watched the first half (live) and then logged off, this loss is your fault. 😉 😉 😋
The 8-man veteran rotation played last night is a team that plays hard and is strong defensively but a group with a low ceiling and a team that needed a couple rimmed in 3s to get to 49 points against a quality opponent. On top of that, while it was overall a great defensive effort, they could not keep UNLV’s athletes from successful drives during crunch time.
Mullins has proven to be quite conservative with leaning on veterans in bigger games but I don’t think he has much of a choice now but to see what younger guys like Wonders, Hornecker, Ferguson and Ebube (when he’s back) can do to inject some life in the offense. There surely will be some growing pains and who knows if those guys can shine at this level, but the status quo is simply not good enough, so we all better hope a youth movement eventually arrives and changes the equation.
That sounds good but Mullins will not give extra minutes to players who haven’t earned them.
How can they earn them if not given the chance?
@spike you earn minutes at practice, then show something in game minutes. It starts at practice.
@spike you earn minutes at practice, then show something in game minutes. It starts at practice.
I don’t know, Cade apparently showed enough in practice to pull the redshirt, but he doesn’t deserve to see the floor at all against UNLV in spite of a severe lack of production from several upperclassmen?
Or young guys need a shot to build confidence and produce too, especially when we’re getting a consistent lack of it from some of the regulars. Otherwise, why are they here?
--Insert something witty here--
