Akron played tough defense and had a great opportunity to join the likes of Princeton, Detroit Mercy, and St. Bonaventure in upsetting UCLA in NCAA tournament play. The Bruins are very fortunate to get away with such an ugly win. They definitely need to shoot and coach much better going forward. Go Bruins!
Our group tends to struggle against two types of teams. One type has athletic bigs that protect the rim, like Gonzaga, Arizona, USC and Oregon. The other type is a smaller, quicker squad that swarms and doubles. Arizona State has given us several close games. Akron played some serious defense, took our post scoring away and forced us to hit threes, which we didn’t do…..until Tyger at the end.
I gotta disagree a little bit about the empty possessions being Juzang's fault. I actually think he isn't shooting enough. I don't know if the funk he is in is making him gun shy, but there were several times where he would make a drive and instead of finishing or finding someone down low he'd pass out to someone beyond the 3 point line. Or several times where he was a bit outside with the defender a bit off him, and instead of shooting like he's done in the past he would pass out.
Now Bernard I agree with. He has no problems ripping off a shot ill advised or not (but man when he's on it's fire!)
The Denver Nuggets' coach Mike Malone said something the other day which I liked. Regarding the Nuggs having a terrible night shooting 3s and asked why his players still kept shooting them, he said that he wants the players to keep shooting and that it's his job to get them out if they are cold. So if Coach Cronin is gonna leave Juzang and Jules and whomever else in the game, then it's their job to create offense. Now maybe they should try to get to the rim more or create some movement to get better looks, but if they keep shooting and missing but stay on the floor, that's on Cronin.
Agreed. I do appreciate Jaquez stepping it up the last few weeks, but if this team is going to go far Juzang is going to have to star. He and Jaquez need to be 1 and 1a. Right now Juzang is barely the #2. He can do so much -- threes, get to the rim, and he's one of the few players in the country with a great mid range game. He needs to step up.
The frustrating thing for us this year is that our Bruins have a very high ceiling, but worse, they also have a very low floor (see ASU). When we shoot a reasonable percentage, we are fine against almost any team, and we typically have enough guys so that if one or two are having an off night, someone else will pick up the slack. We had a deep run last year in large part becase Juzang was fire every night. Last night basically all of our guys were clanking pretty open shots for the first 35 minutes. That doesn't happen often (see ASU), but without a reliable low post game that can ease the reliance on our outside shooting, it remains an ominous possibility.
I am a big Cronin booster. I also think that Watson deserved more time last night. He us a disrupter on D and helps create transition opportunities, which is important in a game like last night. Our team is a tweener. We don’t have great size nor do we possess great quickness or athleticism. We need to play great D, protect the ball and execute efficiently on offense. Akron took us out of the last two. We did defend well for the most part.
OK. It was an ugly win. Move the frack, on. Really. We could have suffered Kentucky or Iowa's fate. The delta between 4/13 and 5/12 isn't as big as people think. By all metrics, UCLA shouldn't have had any trouble with this team - but Akron had literally nothing to lose. And UCLA had everything to lose. It took our team almost 35 minutes to figure it out. Thankfully, they figured it out.
I think had to adjust to three things
1. They were the favorite and not the underdog.
2. To not look past the game in front of you. Getting smacked around by a team like Akron will humble you pretty quickly. Humility is needed.
3. Refs - actually the delta in how things were called last night (lots and lots of contact) and how things are called in Pac-12 (where I think sneezing is Technical or a flagrant-1!). Our team was genuinely confused why some (many fouls) weren't being called. All of our team didn't suddenly get the fumbles. Fortunately, these are smart kids from the country's #1 public Uni. They will quickly adjust.
And finally, a shout out to Tyger. Who decided with 6 or 7 minutes left - "I'm not fucking losing this game" And 8-0 run all by himself.
I definitely agree that being the favorite had an effect. We are tournament tried and tested - but as an underdog. Being the higher seeded team puts a target on you against a young hungry team with nothing to lose. That's who we were last year, and we saw then how much that inspired our team. Hopefully our guys got a good look at our new shoes this year and are ready to go today.
I didn't watch much of the game but they looked terrible. I guess Enfield doesn't trust Boogie and Ethan Anderson got most of the minutes down the stretch. I was surprised to see Charlie Moore is still playing, I think he's as old as Riley haha
I went out on a limb and put them in the Final Four after watching that game against Duke. Their starting 5 is probably as good as anyone left in the tournament but their depth especially in the front court is a big weakness. If RJ Davis can stay hot, Bacot stays out of foul trouble (and makes FT's), and Love gets his confidence back they will be a tough out.
Rooting for them of course but after watching the entire season and all the roster deficiencies (plus no Etienne/McClendon), I have them losing to Saint Mary's. Hopefully they surprise me and go on another magical run like they did last year!
Knowing that their conference rival Gonzaga blew out UCLA earlier in the season, I could see St. Mary's being overconfident for today's game against the Bruins. But I would expect a close game with UCLA's defense and grit helping them to a Sweet-16 victory and a path towards a potential Final Four repeat with the top 2 seeds already gone from their East regional bracket. Go Bruins!
I was wonderin' who was a-tendin' the still whilst Manek was away playin' basketball, and boy do I wonder if the refs had some interest in the final score, but credit to UNC for getting off the deck in OT. It's insane they let a team outscore them by 25 in 10 minutes and I thought they were dead and gone after that comeback.
Almost did today. When Manek got ejected UNC almost gave up the largest comeback win in ncaa tournament history, but Baylor was missing players themselves and it hurt them
Akron played tough defense and had a great opportunity to join the likes of Princeton, Detroit Mercy, and St. Bonaventure in upsetting UCLA in NCAA tournament play. The Bruins are very fortunate to get away with such an ugly win. They definitely need to shoot and coach much better going forward. Go Bruins!
Our group tends to struggle against two types of teams. One type has athletic bigs that protect the rim, like Gonzaga, Arizona, USC and Oregon. The other type is a smaller, quicker squad that swarms and doubles. Arizona State has given us several close games. Akron played some serious defense, took our post scoring away and forced us to hit threes, which we didn’t do…..until Tyger at the end.
I gotta disagree a little bit about the empty possessions being Juzang's fault. I actually think he isn't shooting enough. I don't know if the funk he is in is making him gun shy, but there were several times where he would make a drive and instead of finishing or finding someone down low he'd pass out to someone beyond the 3 point line. Or several times where he was a bit outside with the defender a bit off him, and instead of shooting like he's done in the past he would pass out.
Now Bernard I agree with. He has no problems ripping off a shot ill advised or not (but man when he's on it's fire!)
The Denver Nuggets' coach Mike Malone said something the other day which I liked. Regarding the Nuggs having a terrible night shooting 3s and asked why his players still kept shooting them, he said that he wants the players to keep shooting and that it's his job to get them out if they are cold. So if Coach Cronin is gonna leave Juzang and Jules and whomever else in the game, then it's their job to create offense. Now maybe they should try to get to the rim more or create some movement to get better looks, but if they keep shooting and missing but stay on the floor, that's on Cronin.
Agreed. I do appreciate Jaquez stepping it up the last few weeks, but if this team is going to go far Juzang is going to have to star. He and Jaquez need to be 1 and 1a. Right now Juzang is barely the #2. He can do so much -- threes, get to the rim, and he's one of the few players in the country with a great mid range game. He needs to step up.
The frustrating thing for us this year is that our Bruins have a very high ceiling, but worse, they also have a very low floor (see ASU). When we shoot a reasonable percentage, we are fine against almost any team, and we typically have enough guys so that if one or two are having an off night, someone else will pick up the slack. We had a deep run last year in large part becase Juzang was fire every night. Last night basically all of our guys were clanking pretty open shots for the first 35 minutes. That doesn't happen often (see ASU), but without a reliable low post game that can ease the reliance on our outside shooting, it remains an ominous possibility.
I am a big Cronin booster. I also think that Watson deserved more time last night. He us a disrupter on D and helps create transition opportunities, which is important in a game like last night. Our team is a tweener. We don’t have great size nor do we possess great quickness or athleticism. We need to play great D, protect the ball and execute efficiently on offense. Akron took us out of the last two. We did defend well for the most part.
I feel the TOs became less of a problem in the 2nd half, but yeah offense was muddled up by their swarming D. Agree that Watson needs to be in more
I'm surprised Dimitri didn't highlight Tyger more in this post. Tyger won us the game with so clutch shots.
That deep bomb from the logo..I wanted to cry with happiness.
OK. It was an ugly win. Move the frack, on. Really. We could have suffered Kentucky or Iowa's fate. The delta between 4/13 and 5/12 isn't as big as people think. By all metrics, UCLA shouldn't have had any trouble with this team - but Akron had literally nothing to lose. And UCLA had everything to lose. It took our team almost 35 minutes to figure it out. Thankfully, they figured it out.
I think had to adjust to three things
1. They were the favorite and not the underdog.
2. To not look past the game in front of you. Getting smacked around by a team like Akron will humble you pretty quickly. Humility is needed.
3. Refs - actually the delta in how things were called last night (lots and lots of contact) and how things are called in Pac-12 (where I think sneezing is Technical or a flagrant-1!). Our team was genuinely confused why some (many fouls) weren't being called. All of our team didn't suddenly get the fumbles. Fortunately, these are smart kids from the country's #1 public Uni. They will quickly adjust.
And finally, a shout out to Tyger. Who decided with 6 or 7 minutes left - "I'm not fucking losing this game" And 8-0 run all by himself.
Nervous for tomorrow, but cautiously optimistic
Go Bruins!
Or $Cs just saying.
I definitely agree that being the favorite had an effect. We are tournament tried and tested - but as an underdog. Being the higher seeded team puts a target on you against a young hungry team with nothing to lose. That's who we were last year, and we saw then how much that inspired our team. Hopefully our guys got a good look at our new shoes this year and are ready to go today.
By the way, so much for $C…
I didn't watch much of the game but they looked terrible. I guess Enfield doesn't trust Boogie and Ethan Anderson got most of the minutes down the stretch. I was surprised to see Charlie Moore is still playing, I think he's as old as Riley haha
So long, chief! Too many turnovers (again), but Enfield resorted to blaming the refs for their one-and-done flop. Elite-8 is a distant memory...
UNC looks ridiculously good today…
Whelp going to OT
Yeah UNC got a player ejected and then forgot how to inbound the ball. But they did look scary good
I went out on a limb and put them in the Final Four after watching that game against Duke. Their starting 5 is probably as good as anyone left in the tournament but their depth especially in the front court is a big weakness. If RJ Davis can stay hot, Bacot stays out of foul trouble (and makes FT's), and Love gets his confidence back they will be a tough out.
You didn't pick UCLA? Shame!
Rooting for them of course but after watching the entire season and all the roster deficiencies (plus no Etienne/McClendon), I have them losing to Saint Mary's. Hopefully they surprise me and go on another magical run like they did last year!
Knowing that their conference rival Gonzaga blew out UCLA earlier in the season, I could see St. Mary's being overconfident for today's game against the Bruins. But I would expect a close game with UCLA's defense and grit helping them to a Sweet-16 victory and a path towards a potential Final Four repeat with the top 2 seeds already gone from their East regional bracket. Go Bruins!
I was wonderin' who was a-tendin' the still whilst Manek was away playin' basketball, and boy do I wonder if the refs had some interest in the final score, but credit to UNC for getting off the deck in OT. It's insane they let a team outscore them by 25 in 10 minutes and I thought they were dead and gone after that comeback.
I had Baylor out sadly against Marquette. I thought lack of depth would do in UNC. I still think so.
Almost did today. When Manek got ejected UNC almost gave up the largest comeback win in ncaa tournament history, but Baylor was missing players themselves and it hurt them