Coaches Blog

[Clickclack]

02.10.09: <-LINK

Well, we are in the midst of a 3 game losing streak. We lost to the three teams that are ahead of us in the standings. We really struggled in the first half of each game. That is something that we need to focus on and improve as we move forward. The biggest statistic that is hurting us is our opponents points off turnovers. When we turn the ball over it is not a travel or a bad pass that goes out of bounds. Our turnovers lead directly to points for our opponent and that is killing us.

 

The Boston University game was played at Agganis Arena which is a tremendous facility. BU plays a few games each year at Agganis which is the hockey facility on campus. BU is playing the best basketball in the conference right now. They have two dominant players in Lowe and Holland and some others who really understand and embrace their roles. They have been playing 40 minutes of zone and we struggled attacking it in the first half. Plus, our defense was not as solid as it needed to be. It was a one possession game with 2 minutes to go and they made plays down the stretch and we did not. Lowe really hurt us in the 2nd half.

 

We hosted Vermont for the Big Purple Growl. They are currently in 2nd place in the conference. Again, we got off to a slow start. Vermont did a nice job running the offense through Blakely who is the reigning POY in our conference. He makes everybody around him so much better. Trimboli and McIntosh played well and made big plays that you would expect of veterans. It was a 1 possession game with 2 minutes to go and we missed the front end of a one and one that would have given us some momentum. It was nice to see Louis have a great game. He is a hard worker and has been struggling with an injury to his achilles. He has been dealing with it for about 2 months. He has really shot the ball well in practice when he has been able to practice. The game was a sell out and the crowd was great.

 

The Binghamton game was the worst 1st half of this three game stretch. This game was a sell out and the crowd was great. Binghamton played with great energy early and consistently made jump shots. Our game plan was to play 40 minutes of zone and take away driving lanes and force them to stand and shoot jump shots. It worked when we played them at the SEFCU. They hit some uncontested 3's but also hit some deep 3's. We could have done a better job in the zone but what killed us were our turnovers. We shot 50% for the game but had 19 turnovers. We had 12 turnovers at the half and that was the biggest reason for a 16 point deficit. We had 11 turnovers for the game the first time we played Binghamton. Binghamton scored 26 points off our turnovers and we scored 6 points off Binghamton turnovers. As well as they shot the ball we did not help ourselves at all. We started the 2nd half in man to man but Binghamton presents poor match-ups for us. They played very small. They went with 4 guards and a power forward. Our best defensive line-up is with Johnson and Hastings on the floor. The problem is neither is very offensive minded so we need to pick and choose our spots as to when they play together. They exposed us in man and we went back to the zone and they only hit 2 3's in the 2nd half. We did do a much better job in the 2nd half in the zone but we had too big of a deficit to make up. Rivera and Tiki played very well.

 

We have a big game at Stony Brook on Thursday. We have no excuses. We need to regain focus and try to help ourselves as much as possible. We are really trying to help this team improve its overall basketball IQ. This is probably our biggest weakness. We need to improve our feel for the game. I really think this is why we commit so many silly turnovers. This is not an easy task but something that we need to focus on each day.

 

We need to gain some momentum down the stretch and take it one day at a time and one game at a time. We have 5 games remaining and we will be feeling much better if we can get a win at Stony Brook. Stony Brook is much improved and they play very hard. We lost to them at home earlier in the season. We were up 5 at the half and fell apart in the 2nd half. It should be a tough game.

 

The overall health of the team is not going to improve any time soon. Raffa is struggling with the turf toe and Will is battling the tendonitis in his knee. Some days they will practice and some they will not. They could not practice this past week as we played 3 games in 5 days. Timmy has been difficult to guard and he has played with great energy the last two games. Mike Johnson has also given us a great lift off the bench. He is playing excellent defense and he gets his teammates open shots.

 

We are not in panic mode. We lost three in a row to three good teams. We will be just fine. The way we lost is the big concern and we will continue to work on the slow starts and careless turnovers.

[UA_MA_2000]

I'm not really sure what turf toe is--perhaps I've even had it at one point while involved in athletics--but as a fan I feel lucky that that is one of the only major injuries that Raffa has sustained. I always cringe and say "oh sh**" whenever Raffa goes airborne into (or through) the crowd ... .

 

At least these hopefully are injuries that the players can slightly recover from by tournament time and in the off-season. Don't want to see anything major happen to the players who are out there going to battle for the school on game night!

[Dane96]

I have had turf toe...and it is a REALLY annoying and painful injury. As a comparison...imagine spraining your thumb to the third-degree sprain level. then try to conduct everyday activities with that hand.

 

Likely...you cant.

 

Turf toe is similar to the foot in importance and pain.