[thesportscritic]

post your thoughts about the game here

[Stevev]

We did better than I expected considering of our below par performance the last 2 games. 17 turnovers seem like a lot but I am not sure how much of it is due to GW or not. Someone has to step up the scoring besides Megan if we are going to be successful agains't these types of teams. We folded a little down the stretch and the score might be somewhat misleading but overall we put up a good fight the entire game. We just need to take better care of the ball.

[Sly Fox]

The sloppy ballhandling and passing is beginning to become more of a concern (I considered it a mere nuisance at first). Frankly I didn't see this being a problem with our experience in the backcourt. We are going to need to tighten that up quickly or that tourney Maryland is going to be ugly.

That said, we're still so far ahead of everyone ijn the Big South that we have little to worry about once league play begins. Its not time to hit the panic button despite the three straight losses.

[thesportscritic]

if this team doesn't turn the ball over then they could be sitting at either 8-0 or 7-1. plus this is the third time in a row where our defense breaks down in the second half. They are giving up an average of about 42 points in the second half and that is unacceptable especially for LU considering how good our defense has been in the past several years. They gave up 45 in the second half today.

[bigsmooth]

i am not a hater of this team or the coaching staff, but here are my observations:

1. we have very average point guard play. at times they are not even good game managers.
2. we lack the killer instinct. we had GW on the ropes and could not close it out
3. we rely way to much on megan...if someone else does not step up, it will be a quick out in the NCAA provoding we get there.
4. defense and turnovers...a huge problem

i think we wil be ok once the conference season starts, but if an opponent can key on megan and limit her touches, we can be in trouble.

[Go Flames]

This years team will give anybody a good game as long as they can match up at the guard position. The top teams seem to always have quick guards, we do not. Experience can never be overlooked but it cannot replace quickness. Maryland's team last year won it all without any experience, but they had quickness. When the point guard has to back into the play to keep a quick defender from stealing the ball, the offense breaks down. The guards have got to penetrate and face the basket. Without the ability to penetrate and open up the offense our offensive sets just become a series of passes outside the 3 point circle with each pass being immediately defended. Megan is successful because she can penetrate and create a shot.

On the defensive end, the opponets quickness at the quard position has left us defenseless. The guards quickly penetrate and open up the offense. This leaves our interior defense having to step up to defend the penetration and opens up a real can of worms when they get in foul trouble as a result.

Coach Green is well aware of the problem as witnessed by his starting lineup against GW, but the replacements didn't seem to fair any better. Maybe they need a little more experience, but nobody is going to be able to teach them quickness.

[thesportscritic]

i am not a hater of this team or the coaching staff, but here are my observations:

1. we have very average point guard play. at times they are not even good game managers.
2. we lack the killer instinct. we had GW on the ropes and could not close it out
3. we rely way to much on megan...if someone else does not step up, it will be a quick out in the NCAA provoding we get there.
4. defense and turnovers...a huge problem

i think we wil be ok once the conference season starts, but if an opponent can key on megan and limit her touches, we can be in trouble.

all true points bigsmooth. This offense is too one dimensional, 3 games in a row defensively we give up between 40-46 points in the second half after playing a decent half of defense. and finally this team continues to be a turnover machine. if not for those turnovers we could be 8-0 or 7-1 right now. In my opinion our point guards are not aggressive.

[thesportscritic]

Parker has shown some agressiveness but not enough and as for allyson she has been a non factor.

[PAmedic]

Yeah- starting to get a little worriesome now. That's 2 in a row, by my count- where we go into the locker room UP , and fail to make the proper adjustments in the 2nd half.

Not good. I realize these are good teams (GW shown as what, 19th?) but if we want to be respected at that level we have to step up to the competition. I'm sure Coach Green can get it done though.

Hopefully, we get these kinks worked out now, early in the season- and blow thru the conf . A return to the tourney at the end of the season when the ladies have a full season under their belts may bring different results.

[thesportscritic]

great points about our guards Go Flames.

[thesportscritic]

yeah medic. these two losses when we have been up is giving me nightmares about last season when we would be up at halftime and then lose handily to good teams.

[jcmanson]

The negativity on this forum is testament alone to how well Coach Green and the Lady Flames' program is doing. Yes, these last three L's hurt, but when we take a step back and realize WHO we are losing to, and how close we are, we can only be positive about this program.

I do feel the same as you all though, we should have been able to hold on to at least one of these last three.

[thesportscritic]

it is the way we are losing that really irritates me

it is simple things like holding on to the basketball which cost us the game yesterday and a few other things.

[PAmedic]

The negativity on this forum is testament alone to how well Coach Green and the Lady Flames' program is doing. Yes, these last three L's hurt, but when we take a step back and realize WHO we are losing to, and how close we are, we can only be positive about this program.

I do feel the same as you all though, we should have been able to hold on to at least one of these last three.

yeah- I did have the same thought- but its not really negativity so much as higher standards. We now EXPECT the ladies to compete and WIN against top 25 teams, because thats where we see OURSELVES. When you have a team on the ground- its all the more disappointing to end up dropping the game- ESP at home.

(sorta like Winthrop's MBB- they really go in there expecting to win some of these games. It really IS a good position to be in)

[bigsmooth]

i do not think it is negative at all...these are all true points. we are used to this team doing so well, and i think people get a bit numb if a problem arises.

[givemethemic]

I agree with Smoothie... This is a forum what is wrong with people saying what they think is wrong with a team... You can choose to agree or disagree. On the respect issue they respect us alot we should have won yesterday. The biggest change that GW made was trapping our guards the entire 2nd half in the frontcourt and we never really handled that real well.. Coach is not giving the girls the day off today as he told us in the postgame he wants this to stay fresh, they will have the day off tomorrow. Saturday's game is perfectly placed on the schedule and will build them some confidence before Cancun.

[jcmanson]

I wasn't saying anything about people shouldn't talk negatively. They should. We have played poorly at some point during each of the last 3 games. There should be negative talk right now.

I was just stating that it is good that we can be complaining and be negative about a team who has lost to Va Tech, and a top 20 GW team. I know we should have won at least one, and I am dissapointed that we didn't.

[fsn32]

Wow... where to begin... after that loss I felt depressed because we could have won but then I read this thread and it makes me feel like I was easy on us.

We played poorly in the second half, that's true, but it wasn't all our defense. GW is really good and they hit some key shots in the second half. We forced them into some tough looks and they hit them. Megan was amazing in the 1st and didn't have a great 2nd, and we didn't have anyone fill the void. To be honest we played above our heads in the 1st half shooting the ball... starting 4-4 from 3-point land was what gave us the lead. I was just hoping we could hang with them and figure out a way to win. (Remember this is a top 20 team in their building.) We did just that but a couple things didn't fall our way. The score is deceiving... it was a 3 point game and then we had to foul and they got a cheap 3 at the end. Basically, we missed 2 free throws and a front end of a one and one... also Molly (who was shooting 67%) missed a 3 that would have tied the game at the time. What I am saying is that we are a good free throw shoot team but we missed a few and Molly is a good three point shooter but she missed one... it happens sometimes.

Not having KP was big with Moriah getting in foul trouble. GW's sisters were huge... we needed someone to fight with them.

There is no doubt we could have won the game, but if we look at it independently from the rest of the season I think we can't be too critical... a Top 20 team, in their building, an injured KP, in the middle of finals week. It could have been the recipe for a 20 point blowout.

Our second half performances against the last three teams has been less than ideal... but I wouldn't throw the defense under the bus just yet... even when you take Columbia Union out of the mix, we are holding opponents to right at 35% shooting on the year and are giving up around 61 points per game. In those three loses the opposition has also hit shots in the second half that they missed in the first even when defended. I would also guess that if there was a line in these games, we would have been the underdog in both JMU and GW and a slight favorite verses VT. It would have been nice to beat VT... but loses at JMU and GW are not that big of a deal... a lot of good teams will lose in those buildings.

Of the games, I would say that only in the JMU game, was there a lack of effort in the second half... it is difficult though, to say that we didn't make the needed adjustments in the second half of those games because we were ahead or close in each one at half. No reason to adjust what is working.

I think we could easily be 7-1 now... but I wouldn't sound the alarm yet because we are 5-3. Hopefully we will find a guard that will step up and get 10 points a game... if we had that and everyone healthy we would be hard to beat. We are so close to being a top 25 team that it is scary... but we aren't quite there yet. The good part is that the core of this team still has 2 1/2 years together.

[absturgill]

Good analysis FSN, couldn't agree with you more. Sorry I couldn't make it to Foggy Bottom but we'll see you and GMTM at the Maryland Tourney here in a few weeks.

[givemethemic]

absturgil, odds are that you will not see me, I more than likely be in the ATL covering the Peach Bowl...

[PAmedic]

absturgil, odds are that you will not see me, I more than likely be in the ATL covering the Peach Bowl...

ooooh oooooh, Mr Big Shot

wait- is the Peach Bowl a REAL bowl game this year, or some NAIA thing?

[thepostman]

hahaha...i was going to say something but Medic beat me to it....

mr big shot sportsline something or another......hahahaha

[PAmedic]

gotta get up pretttttty early in the AM to beat smart alek PAmedic.

hugs and kisses to GMTM. At least he spelled PEACH correctly

[thepostman]

good point....i wonder if he gets free chic-fil-a out of this deal, if not I would complain.....

seriously though, the Peach Bowl?? come on....since the BCS has come about who really cares about these kind of games unless your school is in them...and even then you have to force yourself to get excited.....

[givemethemic]

When the boss says hey your going to the ATL for the Peach Bowl you really don't say ahhh no.... Plus to going to see Erin Andrews that's not a bad deal neither....