[jcmanson]

Come on RMK, don't sound sad and beaten. We let them off the hook!

He's always like that after a loss. I've never heard him mad.

He didn't interview after UNCA. That's probably a sign that he's mad.

Maybe so

[jcmanson]

In the post game, McKay described our defensive effort as "horrendous" and alluded that there may be "lineup changes" before the next game due to our lack of defending the 3 ball.

Any speculation as to who will be benched and who will start in his place?

Dead God, please bench Kyle Ohman.

Another thing Coach said in the postgame interview was that teams are backing off of Jesse and Brolin and daring them to shoot. This means that teams are tightly contesting Ant, Seth, and KO. I haven’t seen the last couple of games, but it sounds like that’s the case. RMK said last night that we are basically playing 3 on 5 on offense and that can’t happen. I don’t see him benching Kyle when he thinks he’s one of the 3 that is actually being guarded. More than likely if anyone is being benched it’s one or both of those 2 (Bro and Jesse).

The problem is I don’t know if we have anyone on the bench that can do any better.

[grm]

Don't poke the (grm) bear!

The bear is working on being "board content."

It really is tough to win on the road. I think it is hard to have the road games early, but then, there were less students at those games than there would be during semester, and you've got to play the road games sometime. They were games that easily could have gone the Flames way, so I don't think their confidence is shaken. It hurts the record, and that hurts, but in terms of their improvement and growth, I don't see these two losses as a big deal. They've just got to hold home court.

[SuperJon]

In the post game, McKay described our defensive effort as "horrendous" and alluded that there may be "lineup changes" before the next game due to our lack of defending the 3 ball.

Any speculation as to who will be benched and who will start in his place?

Dead God, please bench Kyle Ohman.

Another thing Coach said in the postgame interview was that teams are backing off of Jesse and Brolin and daring them to shoot. This means that teams are tightly contesting Ant, Seth, and KO. I haven’t seen the last couple of games, but it sounds like that’s the case. RMK said last night that we are basically playing 3 on 5 on offense and that can’t happen. I don’t see him benching Kyle when he thinks he’s one of the 3 that is actually being guarded. More than likely if anyone is being benched it’s one or both of those 2 (Bro and Jesse).

The problem is I don’t know if we have anyone on the bench that can do any better.

I said that mainly to get his ego in check. It's embarrassing seeing him yelling at the opposing team's coach during a game. Stuff like that just shouldn't happen. The kid can be a very good player when his head isn't the size of Kenny George. Look at UVA.

[jcmanson]

I know, and I hate it when he plays like that too, but fact is he’s our 3rd leading scorer on a team that is desperate in need of complimentary scorers to Seth and Ant. He’s going to play and play a lot.

[SuperJon]

We desperately need Tyler to get in game shape and to get adjusted to the speed of the game again. His shot right now isn't anywhere close to falling and he's a step slow on defense which gets him in foul trouble. There are flashes of what he could do when he gets to that point though. He juked a guy out of his shorts last night from the high post. If he can stay healthy and speed up that adjustment process we could definitely use it.

As for Brolin, his defense and rebounding has been very good the past few nights, but he's not scoring. I don't see how a kid that drops 15 and 10 in the two scrimmages can't get 5-6 points a night in a game.

[olldflame]

Brolin had 8 points and 11 boards last night, and played fewer minutes than he would have due to foul trouble. I'll take that from him every day, but you are correct that he has completely disappeared at times offensively.

[SuperJon]

Brolin played really well last night. His put back dunk was a flash of what he'll be when/if everything clicks with him.

[olldflame]

We have lost 2 nailbiters on the road, and when you look at the box score the thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is Seth's shooting. He is 11-37 and 4-18 from 3. Defenses are learning how to play him. He needs to adapt to get his shot off, and also become more of a playmaker when they double him, but of course that means the guys he dishes too will have to make their shots.

Think about the fact that if he makes or sets up just 1 more bucket in each of these games (which would still have him at a subpar %), we win both of them. I'm still a firm believer. He and the team will make the adjustments, and the wins will come.

[SuperJon]

I was talking to a buddy of mine before the game yesterday about Seth's shooting. He tends to shoot better from the outside when he is able to get some of his floaters or layups early. He has a great arsenal of moves with the ball when he is being guarded one on one. If he can get a couple of those mid range shots early, his deep game gets a lot better.

[LUconn]

I've been impressed with his ability to drive through traffic to the basket. But lately it seems like he's just settling for a shot. Any shot. Its really killing his % and could even be the reason we keep fall
ing behind early.

[SuperJon]

You basically just said what I meant to say, but better than I would've.

[inthebeginning]

Through 4 conference games:
Curry 21 fgm/70 fga 30%; 8 3fgm/ 32 3fga 25%.

LU 38% fg 28% 3fg -7.6 reb
OPP 42% fg 41% 3fg

The numbers don't reflect very well on the effectiveness of our play in any area critical to success. Hopefully we will shoot better at home.

[BJWilliams]

inthebeginning I said that because I am trying to look at this in a positive yet realistic light. These last two losses have sucked eggs that cannot be denied. But this isnt the time to be flushing this team down the toilet. We have two games at home this weekend that I know we can win. Then we have a tough road game against VMI but we can win there as last year proved. We win those three games we are 4-3. the next 10 games 7 of them are at the Vines Center. This is a young team but we have shown that we can be a very GOOD team regardless of our youth. This stretch will be a good test of who can step up and be that 4th and 5th option and spread the floor. TB has the potential (once he gets back into game shape as SJ is saying needs to happen) to be one of those other options. The question is who among Austin, Brolin Jesse and all the rest will step their game up and really become somebody that everybody is going to have to game plan for.

[inthebeginning]

inthebeginning I said that because I am trying to look at this in a positive yet realistic light. These last two losses have sucked eggs that cannot be denied. But this isnt the time to be flushing this team down the toilet. We have two games at home this weekend that I know we can win. Then we have a tough road game against VMI but we can win there as last year proved. We win those three games we are 4-3. the next 10 games 7 of them are at the Vines Center. This is a young team but we have shown that we can be a very GOOD team regardless of our youth. This stretch will be a good test of who can step up and be that 4th and 5th option and spread the floor. TB has the potential (once he gets back into game shape as SJ is saying needs to happen) to be one of those other options. The question is who among Austin, Brolin Jesse and all the rest will step their game up and really become somebody that everybody is going to have to game plan for.

I believe we will play better at home. Have got to!! I am amazed at how we now qualify our losses, these losses to teams of 1-10 and 5-9 record have some deeper rationale. VMI goes into CSU without either Holmes which means they are really young and wins. Seems like many are trying to justify the performance. Just call it as it is a sorry loss, a terrible start to conference play. If Smith, Curry and Mckay respond with victories in the coming games then call those big victories. Or is that to straight forward.

[LUMU11]

Well, i'm like a lot of you on here. At 1-3 and 14 conference games left it's not time to throw in the towel. However, having said that I've been trying not to drink the kool-aid too much, but after the way we played at UVA and Clemson and not shooting well but playing SLU, DePaul tough, and beating GMU without playing that great I thought we would be able to "out-talent" some teams in the BSC. Presby being one of them, so I really penciled that in for a win. Wasn't in Clinton last night, but was at the WU game. I thought the same as many here, where are Jesse and Brolin, Brolin, in particular? At WU he just showed no aggressiveness offensively. Never really looked to shoot when he had space and definitely never put it on the floor even when he could have. Jesse is not a scoring issue for me, it's a playmaking issue. He was making a lot of stuff happen for us early in the year with dribble penetration, hustle plays, etc. Not so much recently. Also, TBake is going to help us. Kyle has the attitude back and that's a huge issue, bc I think we all know when he plays with that "edge" he doesn't play well. But as stated it's hard for Ritchie to bench him bc of the possibility of what he can do offensively. At WU he was starting to put the ball on the floor a lot again and try to do stuff instead of just getting in the offense and setting up and looking to shoot, then driving when it was available. Also, I think that our guys have so much confidence in Ant and Seth that they are basically deferring to them all the time offensively, basically expecting those 2 guys alone to produce and keep us in every game. Sometimes everyone is getting caught watching those two. I love the 1-2 punch, but we've got to get everybody involved somehow, that will free Seth up more. I know Ant missed the FT at WU, but these 2 games on the road he has put us on his shoulders, just making plays and hitting shots every time we need. He's really picked us up. I could see him ending up avg'ing 23-24 per game in the conference the way he's going. Seth is playing a lot of minutes and having to work really hard during those minutes so that is something to keep an eye on. Need a good weekend at home

[RagingTireFire]

This is what happens when your team is led by freshmen. You lose some games on the road that you shouldn't lose. Having beaten Virginia earlier in the year doesn't change that. In fact, if not for that one big win I doubt that most of us would have had such high expectations going into conference play.

[LUconn]

I am amazed at how we now qualify our losses, these losses to teams of 1-10 and 5-9 record have some deeper rationale. VMI goes into CSU without either Holmes which means they are really young and wins. Seems like many are trying to justify the performance. Just call it as it is a sorry loss, a terrible start to conference play. If Smith, Curry and Mckay respond with victories in the coming games then call those big victories. Or is that to straight forward.

If you're trying to prove that McKay losses get judged differently than previous regime losses, well then check and mate (no pun intended). Things like that happen. We're hypocritical. Get over it. I'm not sure what else you're trying to prove other than that you're annoying. And that seems to be your only agenda. You didn't get your way a couple years ago so you're going to annoy us for who knows how long. But hey, if you throw in a few backhanded complements now and then maybe none of us will notice.

[olldflame]

Winning on the road in conference has always been a struggle, regardless of who the coach was, and in many cases those losses were truly ugly, not double-overtime thrillers. Choosing terms like "terrible start" and "sorry loss" to describe what has happened to us so far playing 3 of our first 4 on the road in conference play is IMHO revealing of an agenda. UNCA was sorry and terrible. These 2 losses, quite frankly, were much more competetive than we have been on the road in conference in most past seasons. I repeat........ just 1 made shot in each game and we are 3-1 instead of 1-3, and certain people withdraw to the rock the crawled out from under. Implying that Presby is a bad loss because they have an overall losing record is ignoring the preconference schedule they played. The fact is, they are 3-1 in the BSC as we stand, and there is no reason to believe they will not continue to be very competetive.

Is it important that we win at home? Without question; and our young players will need to figure out how to get a few on the road as well if we are going to get a good seed and have at least 1 home game in the tournement.

[LUMU11]

IMO I feel that although it seems like we may justifying losses a little bit, which everyone does, ny kind of rationale on a loss is a slight justification, I don't think we're making excuses. I think we are trying to look at it logically. Being in a low-major conference always makes it interesting too bc a lot of our conference opponents go play money games and get shallacked and that leads to a lot of, well quite frankly, tick poor records going into conference play. Personally, I don't see how Presby is any good, but they are now what, 3-1 in conference? Winthrop, yea they were 1-10 overall, but I just don't know if we can tell 100% how bad these losses are right now. I think we're going to need to wait a few weeks until everyone in the BSC is 7-8 games into conference play to see who's got what. Personally, I didn't think WU was very good, but they played hard, played D and made some shots, which in this conference will get them some wins. I think right now VMI isn't the norm, they are the execption, they are just playing really well and proven early that they seem to be the favorite. But who knows, they could come crashing back to earth with 1 or 2 losses. Whereas, if strap together a 4 or 5 game winning streak we could take off running. Look for our guys to bounce back this weekend with 2 wins and then if we can get 1 or 2 on the road, particularly close ones, you may see us start to take off. IMO, if Seth hits that floater at WU (which I have no idea how it didn't go in) or Brolin gets the uncontested tip-in, we don't lose at Presby. Actually we probably kill them. It's all about confidence and believing and I don't think our guys are completely believing they can win on the hard. I think we're hoping to win.

[inthebeginning]

I am amazed at how we now qualify our losses, these losses to teams of 1-10 and 5-9 record have some deeper rationale. VMI goes into CSU without either Holmes which means they are really young and wins. Seems like many are trying to justify the performance. Just call it as it is a sorry loss, a terrible start to conference play. If Smith, Curry and Mckay respond with victories in the coming games then call those big victories. Or is that to straight forward.

If you're trying to prove that McKay losses get judged differently than previous regime losses, well then check and mate (no pun intended). Things like that happen. We're hypocritical. Get over it. I'm not sure what else you're trying to prove other than that you're annoying. And that seems to be your only agenda. You didn't get your way a couple years ago so you're going to annoy us for who knows how long. But hey, if you throw in a few backhanded complements now and then maybe none of us will notice.

No big heart burn here and I don't play chess. However I am glad you readily admit the obvious inconsistency. Sorry if a factual look at performance dampens the pin wheels of spin.
If those who don't drink the blindfolded comlpiment then it is classified as backhanded, but yeah the spin don't get wins.

I believe we will rebound and hold home court this weekend.

[jcmanson]

Isaiah 43:18: "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past"

[olldflame]

There is a difference between "justifying" losses and maintaining a positive attitude and not going postal over them. I don't see myself justifying losses, but rather accepting the fact that a team with 7 Freshmen playing significant roles is not going to win them all. If we are competing hard and are in every game, I believe they will learn how to win.

Another factor that should be considered in these 2 losses is that in each game an opposing player had a carreer shooting night; Faison for Winthrop and Miller for Presby. Now you may want to say that was because we played such poor defense, and maybe we did, but they still had to make those 3s. These are not guys Liberty or any of the other teams they played are staying up at night game planning for based on their track record. I'm willing to bet they have both gotten good looks in other games because they have not proven themselves to be much of a threat. But they had hot nights against us and carried their teams. 6 3s would have easily been a career best for Miller, and if he had only made 6 we would have won. He made 7. Stuff happens.

[TDDance234]

In football, the general honeymoon period lasts 3 years...which is enough time to get three recruiting classes in to your program and worked in to your system. The same may hold true for basketball but McKay's losses are judged a lot more lienant than the previous regime because 'he-who-shall-not-be-named' had plenty of time.

If we're staring at 1-7 or 1-8 in conference at the beginning of next year, we can start to point fingers.

[inthebeginning]

In football, the general honeymoon period lasts 3 years...which is enough time to get three recruiting classes in to your program and worked in to your system. The same may hold true for basketball but McKay's losses are judged a lot more lienant than the previous regime because 'he-who-shall-not-be-named' had plenty of time.

If we're staring at 1-7 or 1-8 in conference at the beginning of next year, we can start to point fingers.

We finished the regular season 3-5 last year and are 1-3 to start this season so 4-8 is acceptable and called progress?? Probably not enough talent or the league is alot tougher than Marshall. Reboul, Platt and Peterson.

But let's not dwell on the past, the inconsistencies and biases have been admitted. We are in the midst of an exciting run towards unprecedented success.