80-53

[Dane Pound]

That was a butt-kickingand a half. Squandered a very good effort by Zoellner who had a double-double. Maybe the first of his career. Jamar didn't seem like himself to me-wonder if that injury is still bothering him.

[sarge965]

Greetings from the west coast -

ouch that was painful to watch

jamar out of control - trying too hard

levi just out of control

lou - did he even make the trip?

finally a good offensive showing by Zo (but no D)

Any one know the status on lilis - his parents were at the game and he sat on the bench

This team needs to start playing with hustle and discipline

They are not playing D

they continue to turn the ball over

with all that being said - I'm looking forward to Pauley Pavillion on Tues

time to enjoy the sights

Good to hear the women won - they may turn out to be quite a surprise

[statefan]

Was Lillis in uniform?

[sarge965]

Lillis was in uniform and participated in warm ups

I'm worried that his injury may be taking much longer to heal

[olddog71]

This team needs to start playing with hustle and discipline

They are not playing D

they continue to turn the ball over

 

Sarge,

 

Thanks for your eye-witness report. I find your views of the team's performance rather disturbing.

 

I had really been looking forward to this season, but now I've pulled back my optimism drastically. At this point in the schedule, I am dreading the future games worse than in the last five or so years. At least then we were not expecting much, and I was encouraged by the hustle and desire. The last two games have shown me the opposite. I'm not even sure any more whether we will have a winning record. I hope I am very wrong.

[reeder]

I haven't pulled back on my expectations - I still expect them to play very well in conference.

 

My view is that the team had problems last year - they were very bad on the road to end the year, they had trouble scoring in the post and relied on the 3 too much and when it didn't fall they were in trouble. To date, they are still trying to address these issues - I think that Iati returning will help with more consistent perimeter play but Iati is only 5'9", he needs to get open shots. That means they have to keep working on setting screens and moving without the ball. Also, even with the blowout loss to SDSU, Zoellner had a big game (relatively speaking) - this was his best game since Army last year. That makes me think that the coaches spent some time wotking on post play for the game. Once Zoellner can consistently contribute from the post, the team will be much improved. Also, they will not see any teams that are nearly as athletic as SDSU.

 

They are still learning and understanding their roles. My thoughts on the roles so far are that :

 

1. The on the floor leaders of this team are Brent and Jamar - they will score a bunch of the points and have to be consistent for this team to win.

2. Lucious' role is changing. I don't think a lot of points can be expected on a regular basis. He needs to be a defensive stopper - at a legit 6'2", he will be bigger and more physical than most 2 guards ni the conference. HE also needs to keep going to the basket and not rely on his perimeter shot so much

3. If Levi cannot control himself, he will spend a lot of time on the bench and Siggers and Lillis will get his minutes.

 

They will be fine once conference play rolls around - they just need to make it through UCLA tomorrow.

[Dane Pound]

I agree with you Reeder about Lucious role to some degree. His role has changed but there seems to be something else going on there also. I can only guess it's the ankle problem from the preseason but he isn't the same player as last year. If it is a physical problem I'd rather see him sit out a few games and get back to 100% then keep playing hurt (if that's whats happening).

 

I have my doubts about Jamar's health also. Maybe it's just concidence but he's had two sub-par games (for his standards) since the injury at Florida. Then again I could be paranoid.