MisterD
The Baptist Himself
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Post by MisterD on Dec 18, 2013 14:46:42 GMT -5
Yup. Its a one sentence answer and it has nothing to do with heart or effort or anything that is really a knock on our current players ...
One special player really can make that much of a difference.
We have the talent to still be a very good team. Without Galloway, we aren't lined up to be special.
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Dec 18, 2013 14:56:06 GMT -5
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Post by lasalle89 on Dec 18, 2013 14:56:06 GMT -5
I don't think expecting a return to the tourny this year was naive. The Sweet 16 was wishful thinking but why not. I thought Duren and Garland would be even better and our bigs would improve. I will watch with the hope that we find our way out of this but I am not to optimistic.
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Dec 18, 2013 14:56:57 GMT -5
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Post by lasalle89 on Dec 18, 2013 14:56:57 GMT -5
I don't think expecting a return to the tourny this year was naive. The Sweet 16 was wishful thinking but why not. I thought Duren and Garland would be even better and our bigs would improve. I will watch with the hope that we find our way out of this but I am not to optimistic.
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Post by mookie on Dec 18, 2013 15:24:19 GMT -5
Nobody said expecting a return to the Tourny this year was naive.
What I said was expecting a top 25 team was naive especially when you lose your best player. You're now saying the Sweet 16 was wishful thinking but you original post said you expected that as well.
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MisterD
The Baptist Himself
Voted Most Popular Poster 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023
Posts: 8,530
Likes: 6,408
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Post by MisterD on Dec 18, 2013 15:32:43 GMT -5
We were the second to last team in, nearly blew an 18 point halftime lead in the real 1st round and were losing our best player. Maybe naive isn't the right word, but everyone treating the tourney as this year's starting point was probably getting way too ahead of ourselves.
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Post by a10champion15 on Dec 18, 2013 15:43:25 GMT -5
I don't think expecting a return to the tourny this year was naive. The Sweet 16 was wishful thinking but why not. I thought Duren and Garland would be even better and our bigs would improve. I will watch with the hope that we find our way out of this but I am not to optimistic. No one said expecting to return to the tourney was naive. What naive is to think we could make the sweet 16 again and be a top 25 team. I thought if we had done well in the non conference schedule we would be receiving votes. However, I honestly didn't think our non conference schedule was going to be this difficult. It funny because I said our schedule wasn't tough enough when originally released. I was completely wrong, it was much stronger than I expected. Our 5 loses are to obviously Manhattan, Providence, Penn State, Northern Iowa and Villanova.. Manhattan RPI 76 - 9-2 with wins over South Carolina, Illinois State who beat Dayton and Manhattan doesn't have one bad loss Providence RPI 58 - 9-2 with wins over BC and Vandy, currently near the top of the Big east Northern Iowa RPI 79 - 4-5 worst lose is to George Mason, beat VCU and took Iowa State to overtime Villanova RPI 6 - we all know there 10-0 with wins over Kansas and Iowa Penn State RPI 75 - they beat St Johns, barely lost to Pitt and Ole Miss, and lost in overtime to a sneaky good Princeton team NONE OF THOSE ARE BAD LOSES. It interesting to note with how the teams on our resume performed last night our RPI went from 125 to 123. We can turn this thing around. I know the way were playing right now absolutely sucks, but I still believe this team when playing well can sneak in the tournament or be a strong seed in the NIT, the latter is more likely obviously. They have been improving in my opinion. Keep this in mind, January 19 of last year we were 12-5 with a lose to Charlotte, Xavier, Bucknell and CCSU, YUCK..... Only one of those as we know was a tournament team which was Bucknell. There still plenty of time to turn this ship around. Obviously, our guard play needs to improve but I think it will. I don't think our guards are going to play this poorly all season long. The galloway lose is big by no means we need the time to adjust. Also, many of you say that Galloway opened lanes and helped with open shots which is true BUT Zack, Wright and Garland are also huge distractions now. Wright and Zack are much better than they were last year this time. Garland shouldn't be shooting but driving to the basket. We can beat Wagner, Miami, Penn, Dukes, Rhode Island. Two games I am worried about is GW at home and Temple. Lets say we are able to upset GW, beat Temple and move to 12-5 without a lose to a terrible team. Than it will come down to the rest of our conference schedule which is really favorable. We play Dukes, SJU and the Bonnies twice. The Bonnies are always tough but they still lost to Siena and if we can win all those games thats 6(5 because I already counted one) wins right there in our conference schedule. It is not easy to play at the Gola, so VCU, SLU and GW better watch out. It stinks school not in session for the GW game, because the students help us win games. KEEP THE FAITH! LETS TURN THIS S*** AROUND EXPLORERS! P.S ENJOY THE LENGTHY POST OF OPTIMISM...someone gotta be optimistic!
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Post by fvp47 on Dec 18, 2013 15:50:28 GMT -5
A10, I am always keep the faith and have been doing so for many more years then most of you. However that does not mean one can not be more than a tad disappointed. I must agree with John, they are good proven players and their stats over the last two years prove it. It will improve.
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Post by durenduren on Dec 18, 2013 15:51:53 GMT -5
A10, the issue isn't that the loses are to poor RPI ranked teams, the issue is that there's a shitload of loses. RPI means squat unless you're winning some those games, and we're not! We've lost every meaningful game so far.
Every. Single. One.
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Post by a10champion15 on Dec 18, 2013 15:56:17 GMT -5
A10, the issue isn't that the loses are to poor RPI ranked teams, the issue is that there's a shitload of loses. RPI means squat unless you're winning some those games, and we're not! We've lost every meaningful game so far. Every. Single. One. I agree with you, BUT beating Nova was an unrealistic expectation. We have many more meaningful games left, whether its, the two GW games, @dayton, @umass, VCU and SLU. KEEP.THE.FAITH durenduren!
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Dec 18, 2013 16:03:34 GMT -5
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Post by durenduren on Dec 18, 2013 16:03:34 GMT -5
A10, the issue isn't that the loses are to poor RPI ranked teams, the issue is that there's a shitload of loses. RPI means squat unless you're winning some those games, and we're not! We've lost every meaningful game so far. Every. Single. One. I agree with you, BUT beating Nova was an unrealistic expectation. We have many more meaningful games left, whether its, the two GW games, @dayton, @umass, VCU and SLU. KEEP.THE.FAITH durenduren! I love the optimism, and I'm there with you. BUT... Was Manhattan realistic? Or Northern? Penn State? You get my point. We have a decent RPI not because of what we're doing on the court but simply because we scheduled certain teams. RPI boosts won't be coming in bundles from other opponents when they hit conference play, Manhattan/Quinnipiac/Siena aren't seeing juggernauts in conference play etc...
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Post by a10champion15 on Dec 18, 2013 16:14:45 GMT -5
I agree with you, BUT beating Nova was an unrealistic expectation. We have many more meaningful games left, whether its, the two GW games, @dayton, @umass, VCU and SLU. KEEP.THE.FAITH durenduren! I love the optimism, and I'm there with you. BUT... Was Manhattan realistic? Or Northern? Penn State? You get my point. We have a decent RPI not because of what we're doing on the court but simply because we scheduled certain teams. RPI boosts won't be coming in bundles from other opponents when they hit conference play, Manhattan/Quinnipiac/Siena aren't seeing juggernauts in conference play etc... They were all realistic. Manhattan and Iona are going to be top 75 teams battling for the MAAC conference. The wins we have aren't impressive whatsoever. They were all winnable games with probably the exception of Providence, I thought Providence was pretty good but without Kris Dunn now I really don't know. We have to win a lot if not all games over the next month. The last thing I want is game day to be between two pathetic teams. The thing is were going to lose to good teams just like losing to Charlotte, Xavier and Bucknell last year. Hopefully tomorrow is the start of turning it around.
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Dec 18, 2013 16:32:15 GMT -5
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Post by durenduren on Dec 18, 2013 16:32:15 GMT -5
I've been trying avoid a talk of post-season play because I don't think it's very realistic with this squad, not at this point. But in the very least, you need to start with beating teams you're supposed to beat.
But here's my problem - I don't have the slightest idea who we're supposed to beat anymore because the only thing we've done consistently was beat ourselves.
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Post by 1stflooredwards on Dec 18, 2013 16:41:34 GMT -5
Attachment DeletedIf only we could find someone with a degree in Sports Psychology to turn this team around. Is there a doctor in the house? You're STILL an idiot. -signed the entire board once again. Who's taking orders?
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Dec 18, 2013 21:03:00 GMT -5
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Post by theneumann64 on Dec 18, 2013 21:03:00 GMT -5
As I've said in the past, you can go line by line and excuse every loss, and make a decent case for each. But there's too many of them. If we end up with 17 losses this year, you can explain as many of them away as you want, as a whole, it's still too many losses. Villanova? Top 10 team, no shame in that. Providence? Big East team, we were outclassed,etc. Manhattan is the best team in the MAAC. And so on.
None of that is wrong. But at some point, win some of them. I don't know if you noticed, but they have not looked great in their wins either. Siena, Quinnipiac, Hartford, Morgan State, Stony Brook. You can find me reasons all of them are better than we think, and maybe even be right, but the line has to be drawn somewhere.
Does anyone really think we'll get anything more than another 29 percent shooting night and like an 8 point win that's way too close way too late against Wagner tomorrow?
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Dec 18, 2013 21:06:33 GMT -5
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Post by durenduren on Dec 18, 2013 21:06:33 GMT -5
I'll make a friendly bet that we'll be down with 10-12 minutes left and we'll storm back to a rousing 5 point win. That's how we do.
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Dec 22, 2013 17:48:58 GMT -5
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Post by lasalle89 on Dec 22, 2013 17:48:58 GMT -5
Well I think it's safe to say that this is our team for the year. We are what we are. NCAA's are not happening and NIT is a real long shot. I will watch the rest of the season but with new expectations.
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Post by theneumann64 on Dec 22, 2013 18:01:10 GMT -5
Yeah I think that's the only choice. Games can still be fun to watch, and follow, and I always enjoy talking on this board. But we need to revise our expectation to 2008 levels if you're going to wring any enjoyment out of the next few months.
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Post by lasallescreamer on Dec 22, 2013 19:49:59 GMT -5
I am stunned but agree- this is not the team I thought we would have.
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Dec 23, 2013 13:47:17 GMT -5
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Post by lasalle89 on Dec 23, 2013 13:47:17 GMT -5
Wanted to have a successful season this year for so many reasons. On the top of the list is to establish us as a winning program that gets to the post season regularly, to cash in on the revenue that the tournament brings, and keep the city and the country talking about us. It's sad to see this.
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Post by lwc4591 on Dec 23, 2013 14:28:33 GMT -5
89 it is not what we expected but I still believe the team has a good chance at 17 or 18 wins which is certainly not a disaster and would give us a winning season. Most including myself believed the team would win somewhere between 23-26 games and have a good chance at an NCAA tourny return which is now not realistic. As I said before a few seasons ago we would have been somewhat happy with 17-18 wins but now that program has improved it is not the case anymore. If this is our down year that in itself is good news.
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Dec 23, 2013 14:49:55 GMT -5
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Post by lasalle89 on Dec 23, 2013 14:49:55 GMT -5
lwc I will happily take 18 wins this year. Even 17 at this point.
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Post by a10champion15 on Dec 23, 2013 21:40:02 GMT -5
I wasn't going to post anything because of my disappointment/melt down yesterday where I was about to toss my game day ticket but it has somewhat subsided. I just don't think this is going to be the story this year with La Salle. Yes, it stinks were 6-6 BUT I still want to try and make sense of it.
Honestly the A10 is so odd this year. Over the past couple of years I probably watched the most A10 games I ever watched before. The A10 is strong this year currently the 7th best RPI conference but UMass is currently the only ranked team. VCU, UMass, SLU, GW and somewhat Dayton have shown they are the teams to beat in the A10.
As far as the others....
I have not been impressed by any other teams in the A10 as a high/decent caliber team. I actually was pleasantly surprised with Fordham this year but that mainly due to Severe. There hit or miss. GMU is not good, Hewitt is not a very good coach either is Archie Miller IMO. Richmond has no depth. Duquesne is awful and the Bonnies are the same as always, can't win away but tough in Olean. SJU is a complete mystery to me. URI I thought would be strong but has been plagued with issues.
I honestly think we could grab 10 wins in conference play maybe more. Currently La Salle has an SOS ranging from 58-72 depending on your source which is one of the highest I can remember in a long time. That puts us around 3 or 4 with Dayton, UMass and SJU. The rest of the A10 has had a cake walk with most over 200 in SOS.
Another thing I noticed about our losses. 1. OBVIOUSLY we aren't playing shooting well ranked sub 300. 2. were losing to teams with size, I didn't really pick up on it till the Miami game and then I looked at the other rosters. 3. We struggle away 4. Our injury issue has been improving notably Mills and Duren.
What I think needs to happen.....
1. Garland, Duren and Lewis need to stop focusing on shooting so much, drive to the basket use your speed and score/get fouled. 2. Wright and Zack are playing well get THEM open, guards need to create distractions. 3. La Salle currently is top 3 in the conference in free throw %, rebounding, #1 in least amount of turnovers. UTILIZE IT. 4. Peterson issues need to be addressed, he getting too many minutes for what he doing on the floor. G needs to sit down with him. 5. SOMEONE has to get emotional out there, show some life. 6. G got to put something together on offense. If I see Duren and Garland pass the ball back and forth with one another one more time I am going to lose it. 7. When we get stops we need to score on the transition as quickly as possible, USE YOUR SPEED. Dictate the tempo. 8. We need to learn how to use the zone more affectively.
17 or 18 wins, I still say yes and anything can happen in Brooklyn. NIT I think so. Keep the faith!
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Dec 23, 2013 23:00:38 GMT -5
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Post by durenduren on Dec 23, 2013 23:00:38 GMT -5
Conference play predictions - I don't think your number is bad on paper, but this team plays down to every team's level, with Wagner the lone exception. It'll bite them more then.
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Dec 31, 2013 16:38:06 GMT -5
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Post by lasalle89 on Dec 31, 2013 16:38:06 GMT -5
Does anyone really think we have a shot at the NIT? I know mathematically we do but does anyone think, after what you have seen this far, we will actually turn it around and make it. If yes please tell us why.
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Dec 31, 2013 17:53:11 GMT -5
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Post by durenduren on Dec 31, 2013 17:53:11 GMT -5
Does anyone really think we have a shot at the NIT? I know mathematically we do but does anyone think, after what you have seen this far, we will actually turn it around and make it. If yes please tell us why. Impossible? No. Improbable? Yes. The crappiest at-large record to make the NIT in recent years was Iowa with 17-16 record, but they play in the Big Ten. Most BCS schools that get an at-large bid sport an 18-14 record or something in that area. I'd consider us lucky if we reach an 18-14 record, but we're still in the A10.
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Post by a10champion15 on Dec 31, 2013 17:53:36 GMT -5
Does anyone really think we have a shot at the NIT? I know mathematically we do but does anyone think, after what you have seen this far, we will actually turn it around and make it. If yes please tell us why. Take a look at La Salle losses and there also an entire A10 schedule to play. Keep the faith.
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Post by fvp47 on Dec 31, 2013 18:02:38 GMT -5
If you look at the 2011-12 season you can get a feel for what is required. We finished the season 21-12 and were seeded 3rd in the NIT. Given the strength of the conference we could get in with 18-19 wins, regular season and tournament.
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Post by vasalos on Dec 31, 2013 20:23:43 GMT -5
Hi everyone,
I think we just need to focus on winning games here. Forget about the NIT. I see La Salle being a 14-15 win team this year. No way we make the NIT and that shouldn't be our focus. This is coming from the guy who posted the Official La Salle Postseason thread the last two years.
Trust me I want to believe, but I just don't think the NIT is in our picture this year. Dayton and GW will be battling for NCAA tourney spots. I see Dayton being left out and going to the NIT. I think Richmond and St. Joe's will also be in the NIT talk.
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Post by jellybean on Jan 1, 2014 11:37:33 GMT -5
We still could catch lightning and win the A10 tournament (the 100% optimist in me. The realist in me is 2%).
Seriously I could make an argument for this team going 19-11 this regular season and split two games in the tournament. That could be good enough for an NIT bid.
I could also make an argument that we finish this year at 13-17.
So we can we anything from a 13-17 team to a 20-12 NIT team or anything in between. It all depends on which team shows up on any given day.
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Post by lwc4591 on Jan 1, 2014 13:44:40 GMT -5
Looking at the new year and thankful we have Coach G. When looking at the landscape of coaching in sports today I have nothing but respect for G in how he has handled himself even after his great run last season with nothing but humility (people said I was a bad coach and now they are telling me I am a great coach ...) . Look at the ex-guy from Penn State who just fired two coaches (one was linebacker coach) just a few weeks ago(seems to me this guy knew he was leaving and went out of his way to screw Penn State as much as he could because it didn't make any sense particularly with the regularity that school has with sending linebackers on to the pros) and then turns around and quits after telling his recruits he was staying. G thanks for sticking with us and building a solid program with very little to work with you are a refreshing breeze compared to the dogsh.. which litters our landscape today in the coaching ranks.
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