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Post by JoeFedorowicz on Nov 8, 2023 6:50:08 GMT -5
Zan's limited minutes were VERY productive. I'm wondering why he got those minutes so early and not late. I agree with you, but perhaps Fran wanted to protect him.
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Post by las71 on Nov 8, 2023 7:50:31 GMT -5
I like playing Drexel. Villanova is done with the round robin so having Drexel in the Big 5 gives us a local opponent that saves travel time and has a rivalry flavor. Players on both teams played hard on every possession and treated it like a Big 5 game. Other positives, Drexel brought some paying customers. Good crowd behind their bench others scattered throughout Gola. Fans got into it and we drew some coverage from the Inquirer. As the P 5 schools continue to expand it will be increasingly difficult to schedule out of conference. After Duke, Miami and Temple, Drexel is one of our better noncon games. If we want to play Villanova this year, beat Temple.
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Post by GlitterBro #2 on Nov 8, 2023 8:21:40 GMT -5
Zan's limited minutes were VERY productive. I'm wondering why he got those minutes so early and not late. I agree with you, but perhaps Fran wanted to protect him. The two really quick fouls might have been the issue.
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Post by DE-LSU84 on Nov 8, 2023 8:49:38 GMT -5
Very good win last night, remember this is the same team that beat LaSalle last year. I am just glad that the reporter for Cityofbasketballlove used my jeer "Welcome to the Big 5" in his article.
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Post by GlitterBro #2 on Nov 8, 2023 9:01:46 GMT -5
Our starting 5 played over 83% of the minutes. I can't remember the last time that happened for us, and they looked like they could have kept going. They seemed to be in much better physical shape than Drexel, so kudos to the strength and conditioning coach and the players for putting in the work.
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Post by coachd on Nov 8, 2023 9:54:51 GMT -5
Has anyone ever answered the question "how does it benefit the original Big 5 teams to add Drexel?"
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Post by explorerman on Nov 8, 2023 10:06:39 GMT -5
I'm wondering why he got those minutes so early and not late. I agree with you, but perhaps Fran wanted to protect him. The two really quick fouls might have been the issue. Yeah 2 quick fouls doesn’t help. He can shoot though and Coach used him to stretch out the defense and have him be the big. Definitely a liability on the defensive side and Drexel went right at him. We got beat pretty badly in rebounds when Rokas isn’t in there.
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Post by theneumann64 on Nov 8, 2023 10:06:57 GMT -5
One thing I'll say for myself on the new big 5 format: it's made me a lot more interested in the other Big 5 games, besides just La Salle's. Even the ones in the other pod, because I'd like to see who we end up playing (even though it'll almost definitely be Penn, due to us not being able to play St. Joe's (of PA).
People need to stop acting like the Big 5 that we "lost" was the Big 5 of 1969. It was the 2022 Big 5 of Villanova and a bunch of also-rans, with no Doubleheaders, no games at the Palestra (besides Penn), and not much juice. I'd have preferred the keep the round robin, but that option was off the table. Give this a chance.
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Post by phillyhoops4life on Nov 8, 2023 10:14:49 GMT -5
I was there... Drexel is a good team... La Salle did a very good job down the stretch...
Brickus let the game come to him and absolutely delivered when the game was on the line...
Great start to a new season
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Post by thelasallelunatic on Nov 8, 2023 10:18:41 GMT -5
One thing I'll say for myself on the new big 5 format: it's made me a lot more interested in the other Big 5 games, besides just La Salle's. Even the ones in the other pod, because I'd like to see who we end up playing (even though it'll almost definitely be Penn, due to us not being able to play St. Joe's (of PA). People need to stop acting like the Big 5 that we "lost" was the Big 5 of 1969. It was the 2022 Big 5 of Villanova and a bunch of also-rans, with no Doubleheaders, no games at the Palestra (besides Penn), and not much juice. I'd have preferred the keep the round robin, but that option was off the table. Give this a chance. I didn't say that. I want to play Nova, on an annual basis, not twice every 10 years. We are playing Rosemont.
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Post by theneumann64 on Nov 8, 2023 10:51:13 GMT -5
One thing I'll say for myself on the new big 5 format: it's made me a lot more interested in the other Big 5 games, besides just La Salle's. Even the ones in the other pod, because I'd like to see who we end up playing (even though it'll almost definitely be Penn, due to us not being able to play St. Joe's (of PA). People need to stop acting like the Big 5 that we "lost" was the Big 5 of 1969. It was the 2022 Big 5 of Villanova and a bunch of also-rans, with no Doubleheaders, no games at the Palestra (besides Penn), and not much juice. I'd have preferred the keep the round robin, but that option was off the table. Give this a chance. I didn't say that. I want to play Nova, on an annual basis, not twice every 10 years. We are playing Rosemont. I get that. I do too. But it was taken off the table. No one knows the specific details but its pretty clear Villanova was no longer willing to participate in the Round Robin. Is your argument that Villanova wouldn't have actually gone through with pulling out if the rest of the Big 5 stood firm on the full round robin? I don't see that being the case. There would have been some backlash, but not from a significant number of people if we're being honest. College basketball blogs and fans of La Salle and Penn aren't going to make them to do something they don't want to do. Assuming Villanova is at the top of their pod most years, and that the pods stay the same for now, we get to play Villanova if we go 2-0 in our pod. If we can't do that more than twice in 10 years, we really have no claim here.
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Post by thelasallelunatic on Nov 8, 2023 10:53:41 GMT -5
I didn't say that. I want to play Nova, on an annual basis, not twice every 10 years. We are playing Rosemont. I get that. I do too. But it was taken off the table. No one knows the specific details but its pretty clear Villanova was no longer willing to participate in the Round Robin. Is your argument that Villanova wouldn't have actually gone through with pulling out if the rest of the Big 5 stood firm on the full round robin? I don't see that being the case. There would have been some backlash, but not from a significant number of people if we're being honest. College basketball blogs and fans of La Salle and Penn aren't going to make them to do something they don't want to do. Assuming Villanova is at the top of their pod most years, and that the pods stay the same for now, we get to play Villanova if we go 2-0 in our pod. If we can't do that more than twice in 10 years, we really have no claim here. I'm saying they would have caved to the pressure. There wasn't social media in 1992. Nova would've been killed across the board if they pulled out this time.
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Post by thelasallelunatic on Nov 8, 2023 10:59:58 GMT -5
I didn't say that. I want to play Nova, on an annual basis, not twice every 10 years. We are playing Rosemont. I get that. I do too. But it was taken off the table. No one knows the specific details but its pretty clear Villanova was no longer willing to participate in the Round Robin. Is your argument that Villanova wouldn't have actually gone through with pulling out if the rest of the Big 5 stood firm on the full round robin? I don't see that being the case. There would have been some backlash, but not from a significant number of people if we're being honest. College basketball blogs and fans of La Salle and Penn aren't going to make them to do something they don't want to do. Assuming Villanova is at the top of their pod most years, and that the pods stay the same for now, we get to play Villanova if we go 2-0 in our pod. If we can't do that more than twice in 10 years, we really have no claim here. And I could be off my fucking rocker.
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Post by theneumann64 on Nov 8, 2023 11:04:05 GMT -5
OK. Thanks. I think you're totally overestimating the pressure they'd receive, especially from sources they'd actually care about it. But I understand your point. I think our choices were a full round robin with Drexel instead of Villanova, or what we have and I'm glad we have this.
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Post by thelasallelunatic on Nov 8, 2023 11:19:17 GMT -5
Fair enough.
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Post by GlitterBro #2 on Nov 8, 2023 13:52:48 GMT -5
The Palestra wasn't even half-full last year for the Big 5 doubleheader with all the non-Villanova teams. The few of us left who care about the traditional Big 5 might make a stink if Villanova pulled out, but when you can't even get the Palestra half-full for a Big 5 doubleheader, the writing is on the wall.
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Post by thelasallelunatic on Nov 8, 2023 14:52:46 GMT -5
It was on a Tuesday night in December, to be fair. And listen, we, as a fanbase, students, as an entire La Salle community, need to take some responsibility for this. I have 3 daughters, with a baby on the way. Life is very busy now, but I should be able to make more than a game or 2 per year, which is all I've done since Ashley's first year here.
So when there isn't a student bus to the Palestra, or Gola has 1200 people in it (basically a third full), that's on us as La Sallians) it was easier to make 10 games a year at 24 than 40, but I have to do better than 1 or 2.
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Post by belfieldhappyhour on Nov 8, 2023 19:33:29 GMT -5
I didn't say that. I want to play Nova, on an annual basis, not twice every 10 years. We are playing Rosemont. I get that. I do too. But it was taken off the table. No one knows the specific details but its pretty clear Villanova was no longer willing to participate in the Round Robin. Is your argument that Villanova wouldn't have actually gone through with pulling out if the rest of the Big 5 stood firm on the full round robin? I don't see that being the case. There would have been some backlash, but not from a significant number of people if we're being honest. College basketball blogs and fans of La Salle and Penn aren't going to make them to do something they don't want to do. Assuming Villanova is at the top of their pod most years, and that the pods stay the same for now, we get to play Villanova if we go 2-0 in our pod. If we can't do that more than twice in 10 years, we really have no claim here. As many big TV execs have said, the answer to all of your questions is MONEY. I saw Mark Jackson, Nova AD, a couple years ago on the golf course. That was the summer before we didn't play them. We had a quick chat, I had looped for him before, and he said we were struggling with cash. I'm guessing he meant we wouldn't pay for the Palestra to play them there. COMPLETE GUESS THERE.
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Post by GlitterBro #2 on Nov 8, 2023 19:41:22 GMT -5
I have 3 daughters, with a baby on the way. I had you pegged as more of a trifecta kind of guy. I should've bet the over. Congrats and don't make apologies about not making games with young kids. I had season tickets until my first was born and then stopped while they were younger only making 1 or 2 games a year, and resumed when they got older.
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Post by blueandgold on Nov 8, 2023 21:09:07 GMT -5
Congrats lunatic! If we’re gonna do this… it’s been eating at me all year that I have a third kid arriving this month, preventing me from a joyous trip to Durham to watch us get blown out and not even be mad about it. Ah well, tradeoffs.
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Post by diehardexplorer on Nov 9, 2023 13:06:16 GMT -5
i didn't want to comment on the game until i got a chance to watch the replay which i did last night. i was really shocked to get home after the game on tuesday right and read so many negative comments. did the team play great? no, they didn't, but they played a solid game (which i felt while i was watching live and again after i watched the replay), especially considering it was their first of the season and it was against a good opponent. and no, drexel is not a bad team. they're going to win their fair share of games. i'd like to think that our guys had a lot to do with drexel's struggles.
that was a gritty win. the "experts" who picked this team to finish 15th in the a10 don't have a clue.
and i'm sorry, but i really feel the need to respond to some of the criticisms.
dunphy's coaching was fine. his team won the game. he went with a short bench because the game and opponent dictated it. his use of ryan zan was spot on. only used him when they subbed out williams which allowed him to compete against drexel's smaller bigs and he came through. same goes for andres marrero. maybe he could have played a little more but he had a hard time staying in front of drexel's guards which limited his minutes. there will be games when he plays a lot more but dunphy used him correctly against drexel. marrero is also dependent on the killer b's and gill to penetrate and dish. he struggles a little with getting his own shot.
imo, the strength of this team are the three veteran guards (brickus, brantley and gill). this team's best chance of winning games this season is riding them. rokas played a fine game and his rebounding and shot-blocking were huge, but there is no way the offense should be run through him. his hands are still questionable and at least 2 of the turnovers charged to brickus were because rokas dropped passes right in his hands that would have led to open dunks. his hands appear to have improved but they're still not there yet. he is also not an accomplished passer. the only successful a10 teams i've seen run their offenses through their centers in recent memory are richmond (with golden and now quinn to a lesser degree) and davidson (with brajkovic). rokas has the potential to be as good as them but he's just not ready yet to have an offense run through him.
to make a long story short, i was encouraged after this win. still lots to improve on but it's a process. what i do know is that the players have all bought in to dunphy's plan, especially brickus and brantley. early last season, that didn't appear to be the case. shep and khalil struggled a little on tuesday but you just know they are going to be consistently good players for us. and even though tunde threw up an ofer, i was impressed with him. he missed his two jumpers but did not hesitate to take them. he had two strong drives to the basket which he could have easily been going to the line for after getting hammered. he battled inside. he is going to help. i also have a feeling that lucas and milos at some point will get some meaningful minutes.
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Post by explorerman on Nov 9, 2023 13:58:27 GMT -5
I forgot to mention Tunde.. Thank you for mentioning him
The line is not great.. But he looks like he belongs.. Give him a year or two and it would not shock me if he is All-Conference, etc.
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Post by golasalle on Nov 10, 2023 10:47:59 GMT -5
i didn't want to comment on the game until i got a chance to watch the replay which i did last night. i was really shocked to get home after the game on tuesday right and read so many negative comments. did the team play great? no, they didn't, but they played a solid game (which i felt while i was watching live and again after i watched the replay), especially considering it was their first of the season and it was against a good opponent. and no, drexel is not a bad team. they're going to win their fair share of games. i'd like to think that our guys had a lot to do with drexel's struggles. that was a gritty win. the "experts" who picked this team to finish 15th in the a10 don't have a clue. and i'm sorry, but i really feel the need to respond to some of the criticisms. dunphy's coaching was fine. his team won the game. he went with a short bench because the game and opponent dictated it. his use of ryan zan was spot on. only used him when they subbed out williams which allowed him to compete against drexel's smaller bigs and he came through. same goes for andres marrero. maybe he could have played a little more but he had a hard time staying in front of drexel's guards which limited his minutes. there will be games when he plays a lot more but dunphy used him correctly against drexel. marrero is also dependent on the killer b's and gill to penetrate and dish. he struggles a little with getting his own shot. imo, the strength of this team are the three veteran guards (brickus, brantley and gill). this team's best chance of winning games this season is riding them. rokas played a fine game and his rebounding and shot-blocking were huge, but there is no way the offense should be run through him. his hands are still questionable and at least 2 of the turnovers charged to brickus were because rokas dropped passes right in his hands that would have led to open dunks. his hands appear to have improved but they're still not there yet. he is also not an accomplished passer. the only successful a10 teams i've seen run their offenses through their centers in recent memory are richmond (with golden and now quinn to a lesser degree) and davidson (with brajkovic). rokas has the potential to be as good as them but he's just not ready yet to have an offense run through him. to make a long story short, i was encouraged after this win. still lots to improve on but it's a process. what i do know is that the players have all bought in to dunphy's plan, especially brickus and brantley. early last season, that didn't appear to be the case. shep and khalil struggled a little on tuesday but you just know they are going to be consistently good players for us. and even though tunde threw up an ofer, i was impressed with him. he missed his two jumpers but did not hesitate to take them. he had two strong drives to the basket which he could have easily been going to the line for after getting hammered. he battled inside. he is going to help. i also have a feeling that lucas and milos at some point will get some meaningful minutes. NPOA
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