FurmAlum wrote: ↑Sun Jan 28, 2024 4:14 pm
It never ceases to amaze me how a team can play so good the last two games and then come out and be so bad against Woffy. We did get outplayed, out hustled, and yes out coached too but I am at a loss to figure out why. There just shouldn't be that big of a difference from playing at home or on the road but there certainly is if you look at our record.
Based on the WCU and Sammy games I thought we had turned the corner and developed into a very good team that could be real trouble to an opponent in the NCAA Tourney if we could make it there again. And that might still be the case.
This kind of thing happens all over the country in college basketball so we're not the only team that has this problem. We came out and played high level basketball with great intensity and great defense in the last two home games but we were not ready to play a high level game against Woffy. But they sure did!
I am hoping we can get this straightened out and it needs to begin next Wed. night. If we don't come out with fire in our eyes on defense and team work/connectedness on offense to get better quality shots then we will get beat again.
This is what I learned many years ago. Sometimes an athlete -- and often collectively because it is a team -- tells himself he'd better be ready and himself just doesn't buy it.
More specifically, sometimes an athlete's very competitive instincts can work against him. My observation was that Wofford came out fighting, put some shock into everyone, and guys started stepping up and trying to win it on their own, and it played right into the Terriers' plans. Furman got frantic, and all the carefully constructed flow got lost. Forced shots that clanked replaced good shots that splashed.
Wofford conducted a clinic on blocking out. They played hard and aggressive, but in terms of careful shot selection, they beat the Paladins at their own game. I didn't think it was a lack of effort as much a lack of composure and pace.
It was a lesson. I'm confident Richey and team will learn from it and react accordingly. Another thing I've learned over the years is that while I know a lot about the team from watching the games, I don't watch them at practice. I watch the games but not over and over. Bob is a conscientious practitioner of his craft. He studies the forest AND the trees.
Debunk the SoCon all you want, but a team pays for missteps, and most every team has them. 5-3 ain't bad. They'll keep getting better and be ready for the tournament. -- MD
