Re: The Accidental Career of Guy West (CH2k8)
#5
at #3
Under Pressure
Sometimes the heat of the national spotlight is hot. Sometimes it shines too bright, and the danger is that players lose sight of the game and start seeing the court side cameras instead.
The undefeated Vanderbilt Commodores were very tight to start the game. The Drexel Dragons were even tighter. And although the Dragons only found themselves down by two despite only scoring 5 points in the first five minutes, they found themselves in a much deeper hole because Femi Ramsey picked up two fouls during the first minute of the game.
Vanderbilt kept the pace of the game slow, but they kept their attack balanced. They would work the ball inside, although Duncan Sow is still a very powerful defender down low. Sow managed to stay toe to toe with Emmet Frank, a pre-season All-American at PF, and Josh Henderson in the paint. They would work the ball outside and keep it moving to find the best shot. It was an efficient attack, but not one that was able to put much distance on the Dragons. Although Drexel had trouble hitting jump shots, they got a huge boost from Tracey Cottrill off the bench. Although he is not as strong a defender as Ramsey, he is tall, long, disruptive, and good at attacking the basket.
It wasn't until the end of the half that the jumpers started falling for the Dragons, and when they finally did Drexel began to climb back up the scoreboard and finish the half with a 7 point lead. But with Ramsey getting another foul within the 1st minute of the 2nd half, Drexel's lead would be short lived.
All it took was a vicious dunk by Frank over the outstretched arms of Duncan Sow to get the Vandy crowd back into the game. With momentum suddenly on their side, the Commodores rattled off 14 unanswered points. Despite time outs and adjustments, Coach West could not stop Vanderbilt's assault on the basket and transition offense. To make matters worse, the Dragons were beginning to get sloppy with the ball and helping Vandy's cause by giving them easy chances.
Enter Dallas Marsh, the sometimes forgotten Sophomore who was largely invisible during the first half. After subbing in for Perry McCarthy, who had what can be kindly called an erratic start to the second half, Marsh looked down the Vanderbilt Commodores and saw an 8 point deficit and a crowd that was totally backing the home team.
The game was on the verge of getting out of control. But after seeing the defense playing off of him at the top of the key, Marsh drained a three that changed the tenor of the game entirely.
While Vanderbilt kept going strong, slowly but surely the Drexel Dragons were able to chip away at the lead. That isn't to say the game was slow -- instead, it finally picked up the pace. Marsh pushed the tempo for the Dragons, and in turn Nick Low pushed the tempo for the Commodores. The television audience that had been lulled to sleep by fundamentally sound defensive basketball was rewarded when the second half turned to an offensive showcase.
And the man of the hour was Dallas Marsh, whose 13 second half points brought Drexel all the way back to the lead. But he wasn't the one who would finish it, that man would be Femi Ramsey.
The Dragons had suffered a bit in the middle because players were driving to the basket to attack Ramsey as he was defending in the 1-3-1 at the basket. But Coach West countered this by switching to a 3-2 allowing Sow and Ramsey to support each other down low. The result was conceding the middle of the court, but any time any player drove down the lane they were met by two of the trees. Sow and Ramsey performed flawlessly, picking up no fouls, despite Ramsey being at 4 for the last 5 minutes of the half, and drying out Vanderbilt's scoring push. They had no answers for the 3-2 inside, and the outside shots stopped falling with Josh Payton and Duncan Richard harassing the wings.
The result was a double digit lead late in the 2nd half, and although Vanderbilt attempted to make a valiant push, the game has to end at some time. As a result, Drexel leaves Nashville with an undefeated 12-0 record by the hard fought final margin of 88-76. And anyone in the national audience who believed Drexel is a one trick pony with Femi Ramsey leading the show needs to take another look. The Dragons showed they can dig deep and beat the #3 team in the country with big time contributions from players on the bench. Ramsey made have carried the game home, but without contributions from players like Cottrill and Marsh, the Dragons would have never had a shot.
Coach's Take: It's a credit to our team that we did not get overwhelmed by the crowd. Vanderbilt really got everybody behind them in the second half, but I'm proud of Marsh. He showed how much he has grown since the NCAA Tournament last year. Sometimes you need a spark plug off the bench to get things going. Today we had two of them.
What's Next: Both Drexel and Vanderbilt begin their conference schedules next week.
December 24, 2014
#5
at #3Under Pressure
Sometimes the heat of the national spotlight is hot. Sometimes it shines too bright, and the danger is that players lose sight of the game and start seeing the court side cameras instead.
The undefeated Vanderbilt Commodores were very tight to start the game. The Drexel Dragons were even tighter. And although the Dragons only found themselves down by two despite only scoring 5 points in the first five minutes, they found themselves in a much deeper hole because Femi Ramsey picked up two fouls during the first minute of the game.
Vanderbilt kept the pace of the game slow, but they kept their attack balanced. They would work the ball inside, although Duncan Sow is still a very powerful defender down low. Sow managed to stay toe to toe with Emmet Frank, a pre-season All-American at PF, and Josh Henderson in the paint. They would work the ball outside and keep it moving to find the best shot. It was an efficient attack, but not one that was able to put much distance on the Dragons. Although Drexel had trouble hitting jump shots, they got a huge boost from Tracey Cottrill off the bench. Although he is not as strong a defender as Ramsey, he is tall, long, disruptive, and good at attacking the basket.
It wasn't until the end of the half that the jumpers started falling for the Dragons, and when they finally did Drexel began to climb back up the scoreboard and finish the half with a 7 point lead. But with Ramsey getting another foul within the 1st minute of the 2nd half, Drexel's lead would be short lived.
All it took was a vicious dunk by Frank over the outstretched arms of Duncan Sow to get the Vandy crowd back into the game. With momentum suddenly on their side, the Commodores rattled off 14 unanswered points. Despite time outs and adjustments, Coach West could not stop Vanderbilt's assault on the basket and transition offense. To make matters worse, the Dragons were beginning to get sloppy with the ball and helping Vandy's cause by giving them easy chances.
Enter Dallas Marsh, the sometimes forgotten Sophomore who was largely invisible during the first half. After subbing in for Perry McCarthy, who had what can be kindly called an erratic start to the second half, Marsh looked down the Vanderbilt Commodores and saw an 8 point deficit and a crowd that was totally backing the home team.
The game was on the verge of getting out of control. But after seeing the defense playing off of him at the top of the key, Marsh drained a three that changed the tenor of the game entirely.
While Vanderbilt kept going strong, slowly but surely the Drexel Dragons were able to chip away at the lead. That isn't to say the game was slow -- instead, it finally picked up the pace. Marsh pushed the tempo for the Dragons, and in turn Nick Low pushed the tempo for the Commodores. The television audience that had been lulled to sleep by fundamentally sound defensive basketball was rewarded when the second half turned to an offensive showcase.
And the man of the hour was Dallas Marsh, whose 13 second half points brought Drexel all the way back to the lead. But he wasn't the one who would finish it, that man would be Femi Ramsey.
The Dragons had suffered a bit in the middle because players were driving to the basket to attack Ramsey as he was defending in the 1-3-1 at the basket. But Coach West countered this by switching to a 3-2 allowing Sow and Ramsey to support each other down low. The result was conceding the middle of the court, but any time any player drove down the lane they were met by two of the trees. Sow and Ramsey performed flawlessly, picking up no fouls, despite Ramsey being at 4 for the last 5 minutes of the half, and drying out Vanderbilt's scoring push. They had no answers for the 3-2 inside, and the outside shots stopped falling with Josh Payton and Duncan Richard harassing the wings.
The result was a double digit lead late in the 2nd half, and although Vanderbilt attempted to make a valiant push, the game has to end at some time. As a result, Drexel leaves Nashville with an undefeated 12-0 record by the hard fought final margin of 88-76. And anyone in the national audience who believed Drexel is a one trick pony with Femi Ramsey leading the show needs to take another look. The Dragons showed they can dig deep and beat the #3 team in the country with big time contributions from players on the bench. Ramsey made have carried the game home, but without contributions from players like Cottrill and Marsh, the Dragons would have never had a shot.
| Drexel Dragons at Vanderbilt Commodores | |||
| Dec 24, 2014 | 1ST | 2ND | SCORE |
| #5 Drexel (11-0) | 36 | 52 | 88 |
| #3 Vanderbilt (9-0) | 29 | 47 | 76 |
| Drexel Dragons | ||||||||||
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
| P. McCarthy | 20 | 1-5 | 0-3 | 0-0 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| J. Payton | 22 | 2-7 | 2-6 | 4-4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| D. Richard | 18 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0-0 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| D. Sow | 22 | 6-9 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| F. Ramsey | 11 | 6-9 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
| BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS |
| T. Cottrill | 13 | 6-8 | 0-0 | 5-5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| W. Morandais | 18 | 4-6 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| D. Marsh | 11 | 4-7 | 2-5 | 3-3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| G. McLaughlin | 8 | 3-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| J. Vassallo | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Wilson | 2 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| R. Burnette | 2 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| TEAM TOTALS | 33-58 | 6-18 | 16-17 | 26 | 26 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 88 | |
| Vanderbilt Commodores | |||||||||||
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | |
| N. Low | 25 | 4-10 | 0-5 | 2-4 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| C. Kennedy | 18 | 4-7 | 1-1 | 1-1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |
| K. Zahn | 27 | 3-5 | 0-1 | 1-1 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | |
| E. Frank | 24 | 6-14 | 1-2 | 2-3 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | |
| J. Henderson | 20 | 5-9 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |
| BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PTS | |
| M. Ortega | 16 | 2-6 | 1-4 | 0-0 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | |
| N. Radlovic | 8 | 5-8 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | |
| T. Eldridge | 12 | 3-6 | 1-3 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 7 | |
| D. Gansey | -- DID NOT PLAY -- | ||||||||||
| D. Hardy | -- DID NOT PLAY -- | ||||||||||
| E. Detrick | -- DID NOT PLAY -- | ||||||||||
| B. McDaniel | -- DID NOT PLAY -- | ||||||||||
| TEAM TOTALS | 32-65 | 4-16 | 8-11 | 25 | 23 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 76 | ||
Coach's Take: It's a credit to our team that we did not get overwhelmed by the crowd. Vanderbilt really got everybody behind them in the second half, but I'm proud of Marsh. He showed how much he has grown since the NCAA Tournament last year. Sometimes you need a spark plug off the bench to get things going. Today we had two of them.
What's Next: Both Drexel and Vanderbilt begin their conference schedules next week.
at 
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. Good luck against Delaware
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