Men vs Loyola Chicago Game Thread

[Eagle Eye 7 2,535]

3 hours ago, Randman5000 said:

Nice!! Jabari!!

I heard some one refer to Smith as a guard in a Forward body and I believe that was a good description . He moves well to be 6’10”. 

[AUBwins 10,074]

2 hours ago, BJCrawford said:

Well it’s not football but number 10 Alabama basketball falling to Iona still warms my heart.

Pitino team right? 

[tigerman1186 537]

Biggest complaint...we stand around too much on offense at times...guards spend too much time dribbling...need to get the ball to Kessler....Smith and Williams...when the ball is in their hands, good things happen....

[AuburnNTexas 7,140]

This was a very good game. I watched the whole thing then we ate so I did not get to reply at that time. We are coming together as a team.  This game we were better at almost every position but Loyola played well and took advantage of our players at time fighting under screens leaving open three's in the second half we didn't do that as much.

Kessler has had two back to back games where he had double figures in points and rebounds he was a total mis-match for Loyola down low and could easily have had 20 points if our guards would pass to him when he gets great position and makes himself available. Kessler was also a huge defensive presence in the paint 4 blocks and a lot of altered shots. Smith is just going to get better game to game he has it all. I think he has the best jump shot on the team. He moves so well for a man of his height.  Cambridge played his best game this year he is super athletic with a long wingspan which helped on defens and when he plays under control he is a real asset. Today he scored 7 points he was 3-4 on FG's and of those 1-2 on 3's.  

I have learned a lot about this team in last 2 games. While I think we are a better team then UConn their big guards were hard for our small guards to handle in the half court. That said our pressing defense led by our super quick small guards led to a lot of turnovers and we could have won. Against Loyola we were less frenetic then against UConn as we were able to take advantage of our size up front and remained in control most of the game. Even though we didn't see it in the Loyola game because Williams wasn't a factor, we have three players who can post and score down low Smith, Kessler, and Williams sadly to often the entry pass is from one of them to the other and not from our guards. Cardwell is energy when he replaces Kessler and the one pass he got down low he made a nice little shot to score we have the bodies to score down low we just need to get the ball to them. 

It will take some time when Flanagan returns for him to get back to playing shape and for team chemistry but that will give us 4 players who can easily score in double figures in every game Smith, Flanagan, Kessler, and KD.  Flanagan is probably our best all round defender which will make what I think could be a good defensive team into a great defensive team. I am excited to see how far we go this year.

Edited November 26, 2021 by AuburnNTexas

[augolf1716 21,103]

16 minutes ago, AUBwins said:

Pitino team right? 

Yep

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,662]

May miss out on the beginning of this one, but I'd love for another fast start. I think UConn hit us first in the first couple minutes, but I'd say we won the first half of the first half convincingly. Opening with the press was a cool twist today as well. 

The passing to the bigs has taken leaps in this tournament, and this is one of the better games we've had in that regard to me, in a while. When Wendell is passing off the drive like today, I really do feel like he can be a true point guard. I won't go on too much more but that insistence to get the bigs involved and get them the ball when rolling to the rim, is gonna be massively important to collapse Cuse's zone. Pearl figured out the pack line defense in about 25 minutes...we don't have a Harper or a guy who can hit a 3 from any angle with any space like Bryce, but I think he'll figure out a counter to their zone

[Mikey 16,575]

Tomorrow's game: Friday the 26th vs Syracuse at 3:30 PM Central time. ESPN2

We look like exactly what we are. A bunch of talented athletes that haven't played together enough to jell into a team. Lets hope this jelling happens at some point this season.

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

10 hours ago, Mikey said:

Tomorrow's game: Friday the 26th vs Syracuse at 3:30 PM Central time. ESPN2

We look like exactly what we are. A bunch of talented athletes that haven't played together enough to jell into a team. Lets hope this jelling happens at some point this season.

On the other hand we are fortunate to have great depth and can play at least 10 guys without a lot of drop off. That helps wear the other team down.

Note....I can't remember us ever playing 3 days in a row. 

[rexbo 104]

13 hours ago, tigerman1186 said:

Biggest complaint...we stand around too much on offense at times...guards spend too much time dribbling...need to get the ball to Kessler....Smith and Williams...when the ball is in their hands, good things happen....

I can’t stop thinking about “what if Sharife” had stayed; in this game against an undersized, slower team he would have had at least 10 assists and Kessler easily would have had 3 or 4 alley-oop dunks.  It would have been a 20+ point blowout…