Add any more football/hoops comments here
Talk about latest MU football and hoops developments here. Anyone think MU gets an at large 1-AA football bid? They go out next Sunday.
e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
posted by Tony Graham at 7:58 PM
6 Comments:
Mr. Graham and fans:
Tonight was a good night for MU hoops and MU hoops fans, however it could've been a great night. Monmouth played their hearts out tonight in Norfolk, VA. From the opening tip MU came out aggressive on defense and effective on offense. Dejan Delic led the charge for the Hawks and they built an early lead. However, Deki and Alston were sitting and the lead fell to 24-20 with 7:47 left in the 1st half. They both returned however MU gave up the lead 28-26 at the 5:21 mark before Deki tied it up on the next posession with 2 free throws. The rest of the half was trading baskets and finished off by a two-handed power stuff by John Bunch to give MU a 37-36 halftime lead!
The 2nd half began with trading baskets for the first 5 minutes or so, with the MU supporters in attendance showing great enthusiasm and appreciation to their team. Whitney Coleman took a shot that looked like a goaltend but was not called and the referees went downhill from then on. Mu went on a run that consisted of 2 Whitney Coleman free throws, a backdoor layup by Youngblood and a Delic layup. MU-51 Clemson-47 with 11:02 remaining in the 2nd half. Then things got ugly. Clemson stole and inbounds pass and converted an And-1 3 point play to tie the game at 51. Clemson and MU traded 3 point plays and the game was tied at 54 with 9:43 remaining. It was looking like a nail-biter in Norfolk! MU took the lead again at 57-56 with 7:59 to go, but alas this would be their last lead of the game. MU turnovers and a missed dunk by Bunch led to Clemson leading 67-57 with 4:20 to go in the game. Deki Delic answered back with a 3 pointer to cut the lead to 67-60, but Clemson came back with a 3 of their own to take a 10 point lead. John Bunch then was poked in the eye which caused him to move his feet and travel with the basketball and the ref's did not give him the call. This deflated MU and Clemson ended up winning the game 77-65. The tale of the second half had to be that Monmouth was called for 10+ team fouls and Clemson was called for just 5. Monmouth showed their fans though that they will be a force as the season progresses, which is a far cry from what we were thinking after yesterday's dismal performance.
Game Notes:
Delic was very strong with 18 points (6-11) and Whitney Coleman had a marvelous game with 17 points on 6-10 shooting. Youngblood and Alston also were both very effetive tonight. The one major problem during this game was John Bunch being in the game and the team being unable to break the press. I love Dave Calloway as a coach, however I felt that he should've inserted Hallet or went small in order to combat Clemson's defense.
In closing, all I have to say is we better beat Arkansas St. tomorrow. MU Mystery Coach
I think they have a decent shot. Better than San Diego w/ schedule difficulty counted.
4 to 1 shot for playoff.
Basketball was a meltdown. With experience they will get better this year.
Not sure what you ment by "John Bunch being in the game" . He's gotta play.
Back court..five assists, 13 turnovers. MU now has 44 TOs in three games..it took them three games last year (granted first two with Azzarelli) to reach 46 TOS.
Good friend of mine suggests Azarelli will be missed big time this year. MU fans gotta hope turnover situation settles down.
Granted MU has lost to two teams they did not figure to beat and was in both games in the second half which is where I felt they should be...what did MU Mystery Guest think of Ark State if he saw them play?
Tony,
I meant that Hallet was doing a great job being the first man to receive the ball and making a good pass to break the press which is why he should've been in the game instead of Bunch. Bunch did not react well to the press after catching the ball, which aided Clemson's ability to create confusion and turnovers out of MU. I enjoy having Bunch on the team and I think he is a weapon on most nights; however on this night Clemson took away his effectiveness and I feel that Calloway should've went back to Corey much sooner as Clemson starting pulling away. Also, Corey had 9 rebounds and was VERY active on defense all night long.
Arkansas St.: I was not very impressed by them at all. I saw the 1st half of their loss to Clemson and a little bit of the 1st half and the whole 2nd half of their loss to ODU. Arkansas St. has a forward named Wells who is a crafty lefty with good range and slick driving moves. He is 6'8 strong and ahtletic and could create some problems for MU today. Otherwise, they are missing their top guard Jim Jones due to suspension and a few of their players seem to play out of control on the offensive end. They do have a nice looking freshman pg named Wedel who finished with 15 points yesterday, runs their offense well and has a nice long range shot. I believe MU will win today. If not, it's going to be a LONG ride home to Jersey.
Thank you,
MU Mystery Coach
Ok....makes sense to me now that you've explained what was transpiring ..hard to know not being there. Good job by you as usual.
Wonder when (if) we're going to see "Rickie the Rookie." Seems to be he might add some athletic spark if it's needed....
Bottom line.. they need this one today....
Mr. Graham,
Was in Va for Cox Classic and thought MU played horrible !st game but very compettitve game against Clemson who I thought would kill them after watching them against Ark. St. Friday nite. As a whole the team looked alright. Just need to patient for team chemistry to show and prove like it did Sun. against Ark. St. I think Ship has to look to take more shots. The kid actually does have a great outside shot.Love Whit's game as well as Marcus, Cory,Deki's, & Ship! Big John looks lost most times but there's no denying he is a presence. All in all a nice trip! with a promise of more good things to come...
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