Post your comments on SPC game here
Heading out now to Squan/Wall football and then to MU hoops. See you all later!
e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
e-mail tonygsports@aol.com
posted by Tony Graham at 9:35 AM
Saturday, November 25, 2006
About Me
- Name: Tony Graham
- Location: United States
If you have a moment please check out my Asbury Park Press blog at app.com. Just click on sports and then colleges. We talk about all MU sports..football, men's and women's hoops, soccer, the works...as well as local colleges in general. Thank you.
Previous Posts
- Late night blogs
- MU football coverage, etc.
- MU hoops pre-game notes
- More Saint Peter's preview
- SPC preview, prediction
- So....what does this all mean?
- Reminder
- Wednesday men's hoops practice
- Have been busy
- CSTV to carry Gridiron Classic
11 Comments:
This a pre-games post, but I just noticed something for those getting on Mike Shipman's case. He has 23 assists versus 22 turnovers; great? NO, but improving, and almost 5 assists per game...Whitney COleman 8 assists and 18 turnovers, and Jhamar the "Jeeeet" 6 assists to 19 turnovers...The Jhamar apologist on here, will be all in rage for this post, but cmon guys. We need to get on Whitney and have him start taking care of the ball more; its clearly not just on Ship.
What a struggle to watch...This was a tough one to watch, even though the energy in Boyland was very good in the 2nd half. The game was at a stand-still to start. MU fell behind earlier, however I felt that MU started to come back with very good energy led by Whitney Coleman's inspired offensive display. A few botched defensive assignments and a missed follow-up dunk by Jhamar "And 1" Youngblood led to a Peacocks comeback. Also, the 1st half was filled with terrible calls against Dejan Delic; which took him almost totally out of the game.
Fast forward to the 2nd half...A scary moment for MU. Big John Bunch fell to the ground, wrenching in pain. The MU faithful thought for sure it was another serious knee injury for the big man. This coincided with MU falling behind by 7 or 8 pts. However, Monmouth came back led by spirited efforts by Mike Shipman (who finally connected from donwtown), Marques Mr. Big Shot and Deki upon his return. Deki split his free throws with the game tied at 50 and that set the stage for the Hawks' final defensive stance. The Hawks did a nice job denying Orta (8-10, 20pts) a chance to receive the ball and forced Spitler to take the final shot. Spitler missed a tough fall away out of bounds and the Hawks fans rejoiced by chanting his name.
My thoughts: It was a nice win, as any win is nice when you are 1-4 starting out the night. I feel that some length and athleticism could aid the Hawks and Rickie Crews could be the answer if he can fix his study habits. Bunch did a very nice job taking Sowell (STP's top post threat) out of the game, blocking 6 shots on the day and forcing Sowell to turn the ball over multiple times. When Bunch came back from falling down, I had flashes of Willis Reed in my head-I know I wasn't the only one! I also see Youngblood as a bigtime crowd-favorite already. His energy and relentlessness is adored by the Hawks faithful. Shipman and Coleman looked good together in the backcourt and Marques and Deki played well in spurts. I would like to see Corey Hallett get some more run, but Calloway went with the small lineup to combat SPC's guards and I understand that completely. Also, Alex Nunner is a joke defensively and Yaniv Simpson didn't look much better. I would feel better without those two playing, but with a lack of depth, Deki's foul trouble and while trying to teach Rickie a lesson I can understand what the coach is trying to do. Not a great performance, however I think that a win is something to build upon.
Tony, will you be in attendance for the Seton Hall game?
Another fine job by MU Mystery coach. I will be at Rider and Seton Hall, not sure about Penn.
Yeh..it was a struggle to watch. Remember how MU won at the buzzer on over SPC on Marques' shot as a sophomore. I could see it happening in reverse.....but..it didn't.
I will post my game story for Sunday shortly...
From where I was I thought Spitler had a wide open look at about a six to eight footer and basically flubbed it.
Impretant stat..MU 10 assists 11 TOs. SPC 11 assists, 19 TOs.
For a while there in the first half I thought first one to 10 wins.
The game was not one of the best exhibitions of basketball with both teams shaky in the first half. However a win is a win. Whit played a good game Ditto for Ship!& if I'm not mistaken there TO's were not too bad either. Hopefully Big John will be ok for U Penn. Let's go MU!
Tony I agree with the first 1 to 10 will win theory. That is how I felt as well. But a "W" is a "W" no matter how we get it. Bunch however, I feel sorry for the kid if he was really hurt. It looked more like embarrassment than actual pain especially walking right back into the gym less than 5 five mins after leaving with very little pain showing. Maybe Calloway needs to run a 5 guard as Nova does, because unfortunately Bunch and Hallet are not gonna get MU back to the dance with this performance.
The guards today:
COLEMAN, Whitney...0 asst, 1 TO
SHIPMAN, Mike.....6 and 2
YOUNGBLOOD, Jhamar..2 and 1
Your five-guard plan (w Delic and Marques) has some merit, depending on the opposition, match ups, etc.
The small line up with Marcus and Delic up front with the three guards will work well in the NEC,the other players need to step up and play much better,Corey Bunch Nunner Simpson are better than what we have seen. Bunch had blocks and walked a few times no calls thanks Ref, and Corey missed an easy two and went into the tank.Lets get a big win at Penn !
I think it should be pointed out that the post players are not getting that many touches from what I can see. It comes down to "if you can't get the ball in a position to shoot, then you can't score" MU definately needs to work on their post game as a back up in case the outside shooting is not working. But like everyone is saying, it is early in the season, remember that MU went 1-8 (I think, or close to) in the past two seasons before starting their conference schedule.
The posts need to work harder to get position down there...You dont think the guards would give them the ball if they established solid position on the blocks?
They definitely would, but with Corey only taking about one-half a shot per game and Bunch struggling what are they gonna do. And then Deki was out much of the time Saturday in foul trouble.
Marques can be very effective down low, as you know, when he's not outsized.
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