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nol · 08-28-2014, 01:42 AM

January 2037

Tyson Freeland's college career is done as he's ruled academically ineligible for the spring semester. He wasn't setting the world on fire with 2 points per game in 7 minutes, but we're now critically thin at the wing positions. Our two freshmen An and Robins are now the only bench players at SG and SF. I personally wouldn't mind asking Gong to play out of position at SF, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to see if Robins can do anything in these next few games since he's been whining about PT.

At home against Dartmouth, our offense is pitiful to start. Kratzer has all 10 of our points in the first 7 minutes. Jones and Hintz both pick up a couple fouls early, and guys like Robins and James Lindsey are playing their first meaningful minutes of the season. They play a couple minutes of error-free basketball and we're able to take our first lead of the game. Our starters come back in with a 35-28 lead with 2:30 left in the half and allow Dartmouth to cut the lead back down to one. We played an unacceptably sloppy first half with 11 fouls and 9 turnovers. Hintz is scoreless with 3 turnovers.

We elect to stay in our 3-2 zone to start the 2nd half to avoid potential foul trouble. Dartmouth is not backing down, but Hintz gets a steal and a breakaway jam, and that seems to get him into the rhythm of the game. A couple threes and three-point plays later, he has 11 points in the first 10 minutes of the half to give us a 6-point lead. Dartmouth clearly doesn't have the talent to keep up with us, and we eventually build the lead to 14 points. From there, Hintz has a rather shameful end to his night as he picks up his 4th and 5th fouls by getting dunked on for a three point play and getting T'ed up. We pick up yet another underwhelming win at home, 77-67. Kratzer only had 4 points after the first 10 minutes, but he had 2 blocks, 2 steals and at least that many drawn charges. Our senior walk-on PG Chris Earl continues to be a stabilizing influence off the bench; he had 14, 4, and 4 on 4-6 shooting.

Our last nonconference game is at Rhode Island. We are quite the RPI darlings heading into this game, ranked #6 in the nation thanks to the four top-10 teams we've played thus far. USC (still undefeated), Florida, and Connecticut are a combined 41-2 on the season, so we're going to be their number one fans once conference play starts. Rhode Island's hotshot freshman from last season became a one-and-done lottery pick, but his replacement, an unheralded juco guard by the name of Nestor Herren is averaging nearly 23 points in 30 minutes per contest.

Once again, Lindsey picks up 2 quick fouls and has to sit. If this happens in conference play, we'll get buried and I let him know that as he comes to the bench. Luckily, our defense has responded to the challenge of shutting down Herren. He's scoreless through the first 15 minutes and we lead 36-23. Once again, Earl fills in admirably for Jones with 8 points in the half. Much like Dartmouth did against us, we give Herren some easy points by putting him at the line following an illegal screen, and this sparks a URI run to pull within 40-33 at halftime.

In the 2nd half, they begin to heat up and take their first lead 5 minutes in. Jones is putting up an 0-7 stinker at this point. We fall behind by 10 and then get back within 3 with 2 minutes left. We get three shots on our next possession and come away empty-handed. With just over a minute left, we elect to try for a stop. Unfortunately, Rhode Island is able to run off the last minute thanks to an offensive rebound and NCAA rules that only allow coaches to tell their players to intentionally foul at certain junctures of the game. We lose 66-63 in what will hopefully be our worst shooting performance of the year. Jones has been held to single digits in 3 of our last 4.

Heading into ACC play, we actually have the worst non-conference record at 7-5. Florida State, NC State, UNC, and Virginia Tech are currently in the top 25, and Duke, Miami, and Clemson aren't far behind. There aren't going to be any pushovers this year. We open at home against Duke and then travel down to Miami. After those two games, our starting PF Diaz should be back from injury.

08-28-2014, 01:42 AM	#22
nol Banned Join Date: Oct 2003	January 2037 Tyson Freeland's college career is done as he's ruled academically ineligible for the spring semester. He wasn't setting the world on fire with 2 points per game in 7 minutes, but we're now critically thin at the wing positions. Our two freshmen An and Robins are now the only bench players at SG and SF. I personally wouldn't mind asking Gong to play out of position at SF, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to see if Robins can do anything in these next few games since he's been whining about PT. At home against Dartmouth, our offense is pitiful to start. Kratzer has all 10 of our points in the first 7 minutes. Jones and Hintz both pick up a couple fouls early, and guys like Robins and James Lindsey are playing their first meaningful minutes of the season. They play a couple minutes of error-free basketball and we're able to take our first lead of the game. Our starters come back in with a 35-28 lead with 2:30 left in the half and allow Dartmouth to cut the lead back down to one. We played an unacceptably sloppy first half with 11 fouls and 9 turnovers. Hintz is scoreless with 3 turnovers. We elect to stay in our 3-2 zone to start the 2nd half to avoid potential foul trouble. Dartmouth is not backing down, but Hintz gets a steal and a breakaway jam, and that seems to get him into the rhythm of the game. A couple threes and three-point plays later, he has 11 points in the first 10 minutes of the half to give us a 6-point lead. Dartmouth clearly doesn't have the talent to keep up with us, and we eventually build the lead to 14 points. From there, Hintz has a rather shameful end to his night as he picks up his 4th and 5th fouls by getting dunked on for a three point play and getting T'ed up. We pick up yet another underwhelming win at home, 77-67. Kratzer only had 4 points after the first 10 minutes, but he had 2 blocks, 2 steals and at least that many drawn charges. Our senior walk-on PG Chris Earl continues to be a stabilizing influence off the bench; he had 14, 4, and 4 on 4-6 shooting. Our last nonconference game is at Rhode Island. We are quite the RPI darlings heading into this game, ranked #6 in the nation thanks to the four top-10 teams we've played thus far. USC (still undefeated), Florida, and Connecticut are a combined 41-2 on the season, so we're going to be their number one fans once conference play starts. Rhode Island's hotshot freshman from last season became a one-and-done lottery pick, but his replacement, an unheralded juco guard by the name of Nestor Herren is averaging nearly 23 points in 30 minutes per contest. Once again, Lindsey picks up 2 quick fouls and has to sit. If this happens in conference play, we'll get buried and I let him know that as he comes to the bench. Luckily, our defense has responded to the challenge of shutting down Herren. He's scoreless through the first 15 minutes and we lead 36-23. Once again, Earl fills in admirably for Jones with 8 points in the half. Much like Dartmouth did against us, we give Herren some easy points by putting him at the line following an illegal screen, and this sparks a URI run to pull within 40-33 at halftime. In the 2nd half, they begin to heat up and take their first lead 5 minutes in. Jones is putting up an 0-7 stinker at this point. We fall behind by 10 and then get back within 3 with 2 minutes left. We get three shots on our next possession and come away empty-handed. With just over a minute left, we elect to try for a stop. Unfortunately, Rhode Island is able to run off the last minute thanks to an offensive rebound and NCAA rules that only allow coaches to tell their players to intentionally foul at certain junctures of the game. We lose 66-63 in what will hopefully be our worst shooting performance of the year. Jones has been held to single digits in 3 of our last 4. Heading into ACC play, we actually have the worst non-conference record at 7-5. Florida State, NC State, UNC, and Virginia Tech are currently in the top 25, and Duke, Miami, and Clemson aren't far behind. There aren't going to be any pushovers this year. We open at home against Duke and then travel down to Miami. After those two games, our starting PF Diaz should be back from injury. Last edited by nol : 08-28-2014 at 11:15 PM.