I try to be objective. Both teams played really badly. We just played worse.
From the outset, the team just didn't look prepared whatsoever for the game. The offense reverted back to every bad habit we've seen under Rice and the staff completely abandoned the notion of the press for the vast majority of the game. For me, this is very troubling. Especially since when we did press, it was very effective. Once again, the talk has been press and tempo. The difference has been that the team has been playing it very well. It's not a pipedream with this group. They pressed Indiana into submission, so on and so forth. This team lives and dies in transition. By choosing not to press, Dave decided he was going to abandon everything his team does well and get into a knock down, drag it out halfcourt slugfest with a veteran team that has seen a ton of tournament success on their home floor. As far as i'm concerned, the game was lost in that moment.
It certainly doesn't help that Ike, Jerome and Pat all decided to have their worst games of the season simultaneously. We saw a lot of one-on-one and a lot of chucking. To make matters worse, it was contagious (With the exception of Poyser). We saw ridiculous things like putting our bigs in iso situations at the top of the key and letting them try and drive their men. What kind of solution is that?
Also, in games like this effort is paramount. When it came to 50/50 balls and rebounding it; the Shockers just wanted it more. Rebounding is 100% an effort thing. If u don't believe that, then u have decided to block out guys like Pierce Hornung who have made a living kicking our frontline's asses over the years because they wanted it more than we did. The rebounding needs to be a point of emphasis from here on out.
Despite all of that, we could have won that game. Frankly, i'm glad we didn't. From the coaching all the way down to the players, they deserved to lose. A game like that can be a very valuable learning lesson. On paper, this loss is like the UCLA loss. It doesn't hurt our RPI or our tourney resume. All it hurts is our pride. That can be mended. Hopefully, so too can all the shortcomings on display.
From the outset, the team just didn't look prepared whatsoever for the game. The offense reverted back to every bad habit we've seen under Rice and the staff completely abandoned the notion of the press for the vast majority of the game. For me, this is very troubling. Especially since when we did press, it was very effective. Once again, the talk has been press and tempo. The difference has been that the team has been playing it very well. It's not a pipedream with this group. They pressed Indiana into submission, so on and so forth. This team lives and dies in transition. By choosing not to press, Dave decided he was going to abandon everything his team does well and get into a knock down, drag it out halfcourt slugfest with a veteran team that has seen a ton of tournament success on their home floor. As far as i'm concerned, the game was lost in that moment.
It certainly doesn't help that Ike, Jerome and Pat all decided to have their worst games of the season simultaneously. We saw a lot of one-on-one and a lot of chucking. To make matters worse, it was contagious (With the exception of Poyser). We saw ridiculous things like putting our bigs in iso situations at the top of the key and letting them try and drive their men. What kind of solution is that?
Also, in games like this effort is paramount. When it came to 50/50 balls and rebounding it; the Shockers just wanted it more. Rebounding is 100% an effort thing. If u don't believe that, then u have decided to block out guys like Pierce Hornung who have made a living kicking our frontline's asses over the years because they wanted it more than we did. The rebounding needs to be a point of emphasis from here on out.
Despite all of that, we could have won that game. Frankly, i'm glad we didn't. From the coaching all the way down to the players, they deserved to lose. A game like that can be a very valuable learning lesson. On paper, this loss is like the UCLA loss. It doesn't hurt our RPI or our tourney resume. All it hurts is our pride. That can be mended. Hopefully, so too can all the shortcomings on display.
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