UA/UMBC

[haggyland]

Was there an update on Hodges' injury?

[Clickclack]

Was there an update on Hodges' injury?

 

Yeh, rolled ankle!

[haggyland]

Was there an update on Hodges' injury?

 

Yeh, rolled ankle!

Rest

Ice

Compression

Elevation

 

I guess he'll be fine then.

[KingDane]

Interesting to read all the comments. I attended the game and was just as disgusted in person.

 

UMBC clearly a better team.

 

I agree - Brent contributed almost nothing. Looked asleep most of the game. That is not to say he hasn't been there in the past, he just didn't show up tonight.

 

I can tell you this - Gifford and Turley also didn't contribute. Turley stuffed twice and Gifford unable to go up with the ball the couple of times he found the ball in his hands under the basket.

 

The best thing we can do is let Lillis drive and either shoot or find someone on the wing. Ambrose only played with real intensity the last few minutes and when he did, he looked good.

 

We seemed tentative most of the game and I'm not sure that is not a function of the coaching. A number of times we should have kept it uptempo, but we pulled up and hung around looking.

[McFan]

Interesting to read all the comments. I attended the game and was just as disgusted in person.

 

UMBC clearly a better team.

 

I agree - Brent contributed almost nothing. Looked asleep most of the game. That is not to say he hasn't been there in the past, he just didn't show up tonight.

 

I can tell you this - Gifford and Turley also didn't contribute. Turley stuffed twice and Gifford unable to go up with the ball the couple of times he found the ball in his hands under the basket.

 

The best thing we can do is let Lillis drive and either shoot or find someone on the wing. Ambrose only played with real intensity the last few minutes and when he did, he looked good.

 

We seemed tentative most of the game and I'm not sure that is not a function of the coaching. A number of times we should have kept it uptempo, but we pulled up and hung around looking.

 

I like the Ambrose comment and noticed that on the webcast and in the last handful of games. Let the beatings begin but --- he is playing at times just to not make mistakes. He is a freshman with a load of talent and the ability to make some bad mistakes. I just would like to see his rope a little longer. It is very difficult to play while looking over your shoulder if you take a bad shot, commit a TO, or miss a defensive assignment.

[KingDane]

 

It is very difficult to play while looking over your shoulder if you take a bad shot, commit a TO, or miss a defensive assignment.

 

 

Sitting behind the bench I had a good look at coach and player reactions as they played and as they came off the court. It is just my opinion, perhaps more indicative of my own style - but it appears to me that players, individually, are chastised too often, and often by Coach Brown's surrogates. There is a lot of immediate criticism and instruction given to guys who are breathing hard, and pissed off already about their play. Not all of them, but some of them are pretending to listen, but saying f.u. under their breath.

 

I'm uncomfortable saying this because I'm not part of the group, don't know what their relationship is. I don't know any of these people personally. It just seems like the guys on the court have one eye on the coach at all times, seemingly concerned they're doing the wrong thing. It looks like a son who just can not do enough to earn the approval of his dad.

 

IMO we have a few guys who would do better playing with a little more offensive recklessness earlier in the game. It looked to me that this was discouraged until we tried to mount the comeback. Then we pushed everything hard, with good results. Our guys are tough and physically and seemingly capable of bringing it more than they are allowed to.

 

Ambrose looked very tentative, like he was trying to remember his lines, until we were scrapping at the end - then he had license to bring his natural game. I also tried to watch what Turley does away from the ball. He too looks more like he's trying to remember his lines, rather than move naturally. Several times he was setting imaginary picks. And although I've seen him do better, last night, with the ball, Turley looked grossly overmatched.

 

I was impressed with Iati, and I have often criticized him. Despite injuries, he was a real competitor and sometime a general. I enjoyed watching him. Connelly worked to get open and some great looks in the paint but just missed the shots. I thought offensively he played well, good shots just didn't fall.

 

The last 5 minutes of the game Lillis took over as a leader and as a scorer. Is he being discouraged to play with similar intensity during other parts of the game?

 

Defensively, we were overmatched. UMBC was good. Greene is small but he is a true point guard. They found open guys and they could shoot. I was surprised we made it as close as we did.

 

Finally, if our strategy is to play a controlled offense, we need to play it better. We've got guys bumping into each other, guys with obvious confusion about where they belong. Many times it just comes down to improvised offense anyway. If that's the case, maybe we'd be better off using our 2 minute offense earlier in the game.