Nova ThoughtZ™

[RichZ]

1. A disappointing outcome, and an even more disappointing because despite playing poorly, we managed to stay in it until late.
2. Bouk was on fire early. After tweaking his elbow, he was a different player. Couldn't make a jump shot, and lost the ball almost every time he tried to drive. When he met the first line of resistance heading for the hoop, he turned his back on the pressure and got the ball tipped away or flat out taken away from him. Still, he managed to hit for 21 and had a double double. I can't help thinking that if he never banged his elbow today, we win this game by double digits. Can't imagine how ugly it would have been without him.
3. No one should ever pass the ball to Sanogo on the perimeter. He's good (and will be great at some point) in the interior. But put the ball in his hands much more than 10 feet from the rim, and he doesn't know what to do with it.
4. We fell right back into passing/weaving around the perimeter instead of attacking early in the clock.
5. How does Gillespie get away with jamming his shoulder into the defender then pushing him off every time he drives? If I was the ref, he'd foul out in the first half. I did smile when he tried it against Tyrese and just bounced off him though.
6. Whaley seems to have regressed offensively, and on the boards. He did have 4 blocks today, but his rebounding and shooting were Carltonesque.
7. My memories of Nova may be skewed by the Rollie years, but I always think of them as a finesse team. This team is very physical, and seems to get Duke treatment from the refs.
8. Other than Bouk, Cole had an OK game, and Martin played strong, especially on the boards. Everyone else, not so much.
9. Our "bigs" got us 6 boards. Bouk and Martin had 21 between them.
10. I'm gonna stop here. Can't find anything else decent to say about our guys today, and I'm tired of pointing out problems and defects that pop out at me every time I replay a little of the game. I've got nothing left except complaining about the officiating, and I don't want to sound like a broken record on that.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Whaley was the man down the stretch last year and is useless on offense this year.

 

[Ratso]

we need boatright

 

[Bomber36]

1. A disappointing outcome, and an even more disappointing because despite playing poorly, we managed to stay in it until late.
2. Bouk was on fire early. After tweaking his elbow, he was a different player. Couldn't make a jump shot, and lost the ball almost every time he tried to drive. When he met the first line of resistance heading for the hoop, he turned his back on the pressure and got the ball tipped away or flat out taken away from him. Still, he managed to hit for 21 and had a double double. I can't help thinking that if he never banged his elbow today, we win this game by double digits. Can't imagine how ugly it would have been without him.
3. No one should ever pass the ball to Sanogo on the perimeter. He's good (and will be great at some point) in the interior. But put the ball in his hands much more than 10 feet from the rim, and he doesn't know what to do with it.
4. We fell right back into passing/weaving around the perimeter instead of attacking early in the clock.
5. How does Gillespie get away with jamming his shoulder into the defender then pushing him off every time he drives? If I was the ref, he'd foul out in the first half. I did smile when he tried it against Tyrese and just bounced off him though.
6. Whaley seems to have regressed offensively, and on the boards. He did have 4 blocks today, but his rebounding and shooting were Carltonesque.
7. My memories of Nova may be skewed by the Rollie years, but I always think of them as a finesse team. This team is very physical, and seems to get Duke treatment from the refs.
8. Other than Bouk, Cole had an OK game, and Martin played strong, especially on the boards. Everyone else, not so much.
9. Our "bigs" got us 6 boards. Bouk and Martin had 21 between them.
10. I'm gonna stop here. Can't find anything else decent to say about our guys today, and I'm tired of pointing out problems and defects that pop out at me every time I replay a little of the game, and I've got nothing left except complaining about the officiating, and I don't want to sound like a broken record on that.

I don’t disagree with anything you wrote.

 

[Bomber36]

we need boatright

Well, he graduated, so there’s that.

 

[Dabutlerdidit]

Bouk was gassed .. not an elbow issue

 

[Ratso]

we lost to a team who can easily win a ncaa title again

that is all

 

[AuRevoirAAC]

If you told me in October that we would have 3 COVID pauses, Bouknight would be out for 8 games, Andre Jackson would break his wrist, and Akok would barely touch the floor, I’d say there’s no shot we make the dance.

And yet, here we are....If we win 3 of the next 4, we’re likely in. Win 4 of 4, and it’s almost certainly a lock. No need to hit the panic button, let’s focus on the remaining Big East games and take advantage of the opportunity in front of us.

Villanova is legit. The only takeaway from this one is that they are a final four caliber team, and we kept up with them for 35 minutes.

 

[Ts5034]

If you told me in October that we would have 3 COVID pauses, Bouknight would be out for 8 games, Andre Jackson would break his wrist, and Akok would barely touch the floor, I’d say there’s no shot we make the dance.

And yet, here we are....If we win 3 of the next 4, we’re likely in. Win 4 of 4, and it’s almost certainly a lock. No need to hit the panic button, let’s focus on the remaining Big East games and take advantage of the opportunity in front of us.

Villanova is legit. The only takeaway from this one is that they are a final four caliber team, and we kept up with them for 35 minutes.

Exactly, and with the St John's and Seton Hall losses tonight, we can finish 3rd place in the Big East if we win out the rest of the way since we are now tied with Seton Hall in the loss column. When we play them in New Jersey next week, that will be a big game.

 

[Watchdog]

Gillespie not only pounds his shoulder into his defender and keeps bumping the defender away, but the call against Whaley when Gillespie upfaked and then tucked under and into Whaley was a farce. The refs were like "homers" to the nth degree.

 

[Hi-Low]

I think Bouk missed 9 of his last 10 fg attempts. He should have kicked out on some drives to what must have been wide open shots for others.