Short thoughts on Temple

[RichZ]

I usually try to analyze the game. But after the debacle the other night, my thoughts aren't about details as much as they are about the general situation we find ourselves in.

1. Despite the improvement we had seen heading up to the Temple game, we are a foundering ship. Over three games, we thought we were making some progress, but slipped back far more than we had inched forward, when we met a little resistance Thursday evening.
2. Even during the rally early in the 2nd half the other night, I never felt comfortable. I was kind of surprised to find us up a dozen. That kind of lead would seem insurmountable given the excruciating pace of the game, but I didn't really feel like we had dominated anything to get there. And what -- six possessions later? -- the lead was gone. Just like that.
3. We have no consistent outside shooters. We have three guys who sometimes get hot from the outside. In a game as slow as Temple has forced us into, the number of possessions it takes to find out which, if any of them might be hot can kill us.
4. When we were getting destroyed on the boards in the 1st half, we needed Facey and/or Enoch in the game. Against their bulky big guy, Enoch should have been given a look, anyway.
5. I didn't have as much as a problem with the absence of Jalen in the 2nd half as everyone else seems to. We made our run without him. Got what should have been a safe lead. It fell apart so quickly, there was no stopping it.

That's all I've got on this one. Don't really want to think about it any more. But for the first time in a long time, I don't have even a hint of a positive feeling about this season's outcome.

 

[InKembaITrust]

Read on a different thread someone saying our team is just soft. Couldn't agree more. If I were Shonn Miller I would be so unbelievably frustrated. He's the one guy IMO that plays night in and night out with physical and mental toughness, and then he doesn't get the ball late in games....

Hang in there Shonn you'll get the spotlight soon

 

[Husky Dad]

Soft and no balls. Its one thing to have no brains(basketball IQ) which clearly they dont. If you arent smart and arent the best, you better make up for it in balls, toughness and hustle. That is why we are losing. We cant finish at the hoop, and we get out toughed at ends of games. Other teams Cinci and Temple look at us and know they will take the game from us no matter how much they are down by. Screams of entitlement. If they were banging and bruising and dunking and rebounding and jumping for loose balls I would feel for these guys. Its not what I am seeing. This team is an idea, but its not a basketball team ready to play ball to win.

 

[buddy]

Also remember that they blew a 19 point second half lead at Tulane and were very lucky to hang on and win that game. Looks to me like no lead is safe until the final buzzer sounds.

 

[intlzncster]

Huh, soft. I remember them coming from behind by 20+ against both MD and Gonzaga and making a game of it at the end. That's toughness.

This team is a bit Jekyll and Hide mentally, that's probably the most accurate state of affairs.

 

[OkaForPrez]

@intlzncster keep fightin the good fight man.

 

[Waquoit]

1. We have no consistent outside shooters. We have three guys who sometimes get hot from the outside. In a game as slow as Temple has forced us into, the number of possessions it takes to find out which, if any of them might be hot can kill us.

That's our Achilles heel. Keeps us from making comebacks and fighting off rallies.

 

[Fishy]

Huh, soft. I remember them coming from behind by 20+ against both MD and Gonzaga and making a game of it at the end. That's toughness.

This team is a bit Jekyll and Hide mentally, that's probably the most accurate state of affairs.

Jesus.

Those games were the very definition of a soft team. They s--- the bed to go down 20 in those games and once they got close, they spit the bit.

Throw in the Syracuse game, the Cincy game, the Tulsa game, the Temple games....look this team in the eye late in the game and they're done. But the coach and everyone is doing a great job, so I'll just wait for the six-game winning streak in April or whatever is supposed to happen.

 

[borninansonia]

Can good coaching overcome this type of mental softness? Or is this mental softness so deeply innate that, like height, one either has it or not?

 

[intlzncster]

Throw in the Syracuse game, the Cincy game, the Tulsa game, the Temple games....look this team in the eye late in the game and they're done. But the coach and everyone is doing a great job, so I'll just wait for the six-game winning streak in April or whatever is supposed to happen.

Who said that? Not me. But this team is bipolar. They can definitely be soft, especially lately. B

I guess coming back after being punched in the mouth for 20pts is the sign of a soft team now? It's not all or nothing fishy.

 

[borninansonia]

in other words, could JC have made Purvis and Gibbs into clutch players?

 

[InKembaITrust]

Huh, soft. I remember them coming from behind by 20+ against both MD and Gonzaga and making a game of it at the end. That's toughness.

This team is a bit Jekyll and Hide mentally, that's probably the most accurate state of affairs.

Major difference between toughness and them playing looser and without nerves when down by 20. It aint toughness in my eyes when you'r playing under those circumstances with nothing to lose.

How about some toughness when it really matters....closing out games when you're up in the second half, playing lock down defense and maintaining composure and consistency on the offensive end. THAT'S toughness.