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Post by rusharp on Feb 11, 2018 7:38:25 GMT -5
The UNC-A loss was devistating. Lost essentially at the buzzer, after being up 7 with under 2 min to play. That’s the negative. The positives: our inside-outside game (with emphasis on the inside game) much better, our defense shows signs of it’s earlier season form,, especially 2nd half 9but not last 2 minutes) just need to be more consistent, when we go on an offensive run (streak) wow it’s an awesome thing to watch-how do we make that the norm?
3rd place is probably our best scenario at the moment. This team still has the potential to be our best one since we went to the NCAA tourney under Greenberg. No way any of us should pout or give up at this juncture. Big ESPNU game this Thurs at the Dedmon, 9PM tip.
Still time to regroup and get back to the form we showed in late December and early January. Let get locked in and do this thing. .
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Post by claidheamhmor on Feb 14, 2018 11:25:01 GMT -5
Great post, and good idea to start a thread for all remaining games. Looks like we probably won't host now, but hopefully we have a good run left to finish off the season.
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Post by claidheamhmor on Feb 15, 2018 21:28:36 GMT -5
Great start!
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Post by rusharp on Feb 15, 2018 22:46:16 GMT -5
So far, so good. 4 min left to play and we’re up double digits. Play has been a little inconsistent but this is very much better execution on both sides of the court. Saw where liberty beat unc-a. Interesting. Liberty ihas been playing well. We have them soon. Hope we can blow them out when we visit them later on.
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Post by dedmondeviant on Feb 16, 2018 15:53:07 GMT -5
The game last night was our best in a while. Throughout the year when Holland has played well, we win. Or in the case of the Vandy game, we play pretty good and competitive. I don't know if its matchups or what, but he has to be a focal point. Takes so much pressure off of Polite. Liberty is a very dangerous team, but if we hit a stride at the right time we could definitely win it all. But, we also could go out in the first round if we go back to old tricks.
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Post by ruxchighlander11 on Feb 18, 2018 14:53:01 GMT -5
Time to close out the home schedule with a win! Also, keeping an eye on Winthrop vs. Longwood! Hoping the Lancers can pull the upset!
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Post by rusharp on Feb 18, 2018 17:50:31 GMT -5
Well, we pulled it out, I guess we should be thankful for any and all Big South Conference wins as this season has been one big grind each game, and for each victory. Now off to Liberty. Liberty is the game that I’m hopeful positions us to roll through the Tourney with confidence and purpose.
BTW, did anyone listen to the post game interviews with Coach Jones and Randy Phillips? Coach Jones spoke about all the distractions the team had to endure pregame and that impacted our performance. He really didn’t say much more than that, but I’m unsure if he was referring to simple distractions such as senior day or distractions that are much more complex that deals with team chemistry.
And Randy Phillips. Great interview. He talked about practicing his free throws (shooting 800 of them as a practice) while listening to music. He said he just thinks of the music before he shoots and that has helped him improve. His free throw with 1 second sent us to overtime. He’s probably improved more than anyone on the team from last year with his free throws and his offense. His defense and rebounding was solid last and this year.
Well off to Lynchburg Thursday night....
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Post by claidheamhmor on Feb 19, 2018 18:57:23 GMT -5
Yes, decent win. Presby shot well, and we beat them. I didn't take much away from the interview per se, but it's hard to ignore Ed not getting the start.
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Post by claidheamhmor on Feb 19, 2018 18:59:53 GMT -5
Team chemistry seems good. I'm excited to see how the end of this season pans out. I can imagine us going in as the 2 seed. I had hoped we could host, but I like our depth going in to the tournament. Just have to play like we have during stretches of the season.
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Post by ruxchighlander11 on Feb 19, 2018 19:20:05 GMT -5
Yes, decent win. Presby shot well, and we beat them. I didn't take much away from the interview per se, but it's hard to ignore Ed not getting the start. I wouldn't read too much into Polite not starting. It was senior night. Carlik Jones didn't start either. Even if they did have him come off the bench regularly, I actually don't mind. In many ways the team has become dependent on him showing up big in games to win. At this point, he's on everyone's scouting report. He's always going to see double teams. If I'm Coach Jones, I'm trying to teach my team to find ways to win without him. Hard to argue with the result......Christian Bradford, Donald Hicks, and Randy Phillips have all come up huge! I'd rather he play less and stuggle against Presbyterian and learn (as long as we get the win) because hopefully, it will pay off big if we catch Winthrop or Asheville in the Big South Tournament. That way, if Jones and Polite get taken away, we have options to go to who can take control of the game and win it for us.
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Post by ruxchighlander11 on Feb 19, 2018 19:30:58 GMT -5
That said, there won't be any easy games in the tournament. If the standings stay as is, which they could change, we'd be playing High Point in the quarter final game. That's a team that both games have been decided by 2 points and 1 point so, it's a coin flip. If we make it past that, it's likely we'd see Asheville, followed by Winthrop in the final (Likely that Winthrop hosts that game as the 1 seed). We'll have to play our best basketball of the season.
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Post by claidheamhmor on Feb 22, 2018 21:18:08 GMT -5
Well, if we play like we did tonight I like our chances! Defense was outstanding tonight, and Ed Polite is a special player.
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Post by rusharp on Feb 23, 2018 17:25:35 GMT -5
Well, if we play like we did tonight I like our chances! Defense was outstanding tonight, and Ed Polite is a special player. Agreed. Hope we play well vs Longwood and have significant momentum for the tourney. Maybe this question is getting ahead of ourselves, but if we win Saturday and Winthrop loses, who has the tiebreaker for 2nd place? It’s not out of the realm of possibilities thst UNC-A goes down in the quarters given the parity of the Big South this year. So, a Big South championship at the Dedmon is not a crazy idea. Improbable maybe, but not crazy.
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Post by rusharp on Feb 24, 2018 17:05:01 GMT -5
Well, if we play like we did tonight I like our chances! Defense was outstanding tonight, and Ed Polite is a special player. Agreed. Hope we play well vs Longwood and have significant momentum for the tourney. Maybe this question is getting ahead of ourselves, but if we win Saturday and Winthrop loses, who has the tiebreaker for 2nd place? It’s not out of the realm of possibilities thst UNC-A goes down in the quarters given the parity of the Big South this year. So, a Big South championship at the Dedmon is not a crazy idea. Improbable maybe, but not crazy. WELL WE ARE THE #2 SEED!! See above. Given the parity of the Big South, a championship game at The Dedmon is NOT out of the question. Are we peaking? Interested in everyone’s opinion. PS- I or one of the administrators will start a Big South Tourney thread before Tuesday. Thought we’d close out the regular season with comments about the Longwood game and reflection on the regular season before we pivot.
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Post by 01Highlander on Feb 26, 2018 9:57:40 GMT -5
LETS DO IT RU!!!
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