This team is going to be the death of us all.
- Thread starter CardX
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I won't go that far, but this is the 3rd straight game where the guy receiving the inbounds pass falls down right under the opponents basket in the closing seconds. Against FSU and Duke, it lead to a basket with virtually no time off the clock. The only thing saving us from the same result, and the loss, this time was Nwora recovering to block the easy lay in. SMH 
I thought that last Clemson shot was going to go in at the buzzer. Then I was going to go to the garbage can and vomit.
But a win is still a win.
But a win is still a win.
Whew !! that was close. Not sure what was going on today but I will take it. We best get right fast as that "Zone" will be waiting for us at the Carrier Dome for sure. All you guys have a good weekend ! - Go cards and I hope the Vols can rip up 430 W Vine st haha
Hard to feel great but just imagine how you would have felt had we lost. Thank goodness Nwora didn’t sulk after the inbounds pass. Losing that one would have buried this team (and the fans) mentally.
I mean good gosh I bet these guys can’t even close with the ladies. When they go on a date things go great until they ask her about her weight right before it’s over lol.
Nwora should have never been passing the ball in the lane in that situation to begin with. Get something going down toward your basket.
Glad to see the Cards win, but the real story is why Clemson did not pressure the Cards much sooner.
Cards were struggling today coming off an emotional loss. Awful coaching and overall game plan by Clemson... and they still had an opportunity to steal it in the end.
Glad to see the Cards win, but the real story is why Clemson did not pressure the Cards much sooner.
Cards were struggling today coming off an emotional loss. Awful coaching and overall game plan by Clemson... and they still had an opportunity to steal it in the end.
A coach is nuts that doesn't press this team all game long or at least at key times. Duke, FSU, AND Clemson are not ALL good pressing teams...
Really dumb phrasing. Wouldn’t expect anything less Hoosier boy. Land of meth and pool pushers. I do the right, Kev?
I would hate to see them go against Nolan Richardson's old Arkansas teams.
Yay, another gif! Yes, dumb phrasing from an inept poster! Love ya bud! You know you wanna kiss me, closet Kev. Pucker up!LOL at "dumb" reading. Do they still speak English where you are?
I love Cunningham, but he does this too- against FSU and Duke.
Happy with the win. Don't care how we stay north of the opponent on the scoreboard as long as it ends that way. Winning a game like that is much better than losing a game like that.
Duke ALMOST beat UofL twice today. That was a huge hangover that somehow the Cards survived. Good enough for me.
Duke ALMOST beat UofL twice today. That was a huge hangover that somehow the Cards survived. Good enough for me.
If UofL was going into the NCAA tournament today...............NOBODY would be scared to play them.
Guess it's a good thing the NCAA tourney isn't today because I agree with you. This issue of not closing out games has GOT to get fixed before the post season rolls around.
Don’t know about that. We’ve got to fix our late game attack vs pressure, but that doesn’t change the fact that we controlled and beat down title contender UNC in Chapel Hill by 20 and we led the consensus best team in the country by 20 well into the 2nd half. The late game collapse issue is more fixable than most team’s warts.
Even with the last 3 games in 8 days highlighting our close out issue, we are an 18-8 team with 3 OT losses, and 2 other single possession losses. We’re not that far from being a legit Contender to make noise in the tourney.
Even with the last 3 games in 8 days highlighting our close out issue, we are an 18-8 team with 3 OT losses, and 2 other single possession losses. We’re not that far from being a legit Contender to make noise in the tourney.
Certainly agree with the last part, the biggest loss we’ve suffered was against the cayuts and that was a fluke. It’d be closer if we played the again. But we need to close as you’ve stated.
What is crazy is some think this is a coaching issue. It’s not, it’s a player issue. If you think Mack can’t draw up a press break then he should have never been hired. I love our team but they are not elite in terms of quickness and talent. This is the real issue and it’s not something that’s going to be cured by schematics.
The only reason UofL looked good against UNC and Duke is because UofL had a big scoring advantage over them..........UNC and DUKE could not hit anything. The win against UNC, UNC only shot 34%. Then just recently, UofL vs Duke..Duke went on a scoring drought. UofL took advantage which was nice, but when Duke started making their shots.....it was all over. plus the UofL turnovers didnt help.
Without question. Consider 4 of our Top 7 players (CC, Fore, Sutton, Mc$$) received zero Power 5 scholly offers out of high school (other than ours to Ryan). What they lack in talent, they’ve made up for with humility, maturity and drive, which are our strengths in game planning and taking the right mental approach into a game. However, the physical talent gap is highlighted when other bigger, more naturally talented players are in desperation mode and it becomes a helter skelter fight to just get open.
Excellent post. These guys are just not great players. I think they end with 20 wins, which is an incredible feat, given the talent. I feel much better about the Mack hire.
KenPom Adjust D rankings...
Duke#4
Clemson #12
FSU#16
What analysis did you use to determine they aren't all good pressing defenses?
How much do they press? I've never seen any of them press beyond the closing minutes of a game...
FSU presses and traps all over the court. They are one of the leaders in the country in forcing turnovers. They go 10 deep, so they are capable of playing a hectic style throughout a game, and they do it.
The reality is most teams are good at pressing in spurts, because most teams press only when trailing and desperate, unconcerned about fouling. Good defensive teams like Duke, FSU, and Clemson have more probability of being good at pressing than other teams, because those teams hang their hat on the D side of the ball.
I love it when this team struggles and everyone is so quick to remind everyone that this team has no talent yet when do remarkable things it’s because of the coaching?
Heard the Clemson coach in the postgame yesterday acknowledge that they don't press much...
I listened to his post game and thought he gave a great presser.
To go back to your original point - "any team would be nuts to not press the Cards all game long or at key times"...
He pointed out that UofL got an easy dunk against the press and would have gotten more dunks if they started pressing earlier. I will also point out very few teams have the personnel to press an entire game, but that is not something he said, that is just my opinion.
He then said something I said in a post above - pressing opponents is situational...teams press late in the game, to apply game pressure, when they are desperate, and the team being pressured ends up playing not to lose. That means a press is effective for a lot of teams that are trailing due to the "playing not to lose" mentality of the team being pressed, it's not about "who has a good or who doesn't have a good press" at all - it's about the game pressure the opponent feels not wanting to blow a lead - and he said many teams with the lead struggle late in the game when pressed regardless of the opponent.
He politely but pointedly rebuked the reporter for asking the question, "Why didn't you press sooner" which you could take one of two ways. You could say the coach A) Doesn't like being second-guessed, or B) He had a valid explanation for not pressing sooner..I'm leaning to B., because he really didn't seem angry or rude at all - he seemed to take the tough loss in stride and came across pretty insightful and accommodating throughout the post game - he was complimentary of both teams. He just responded to the question brilliantly.
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Yeah, you don't become a pressing team because the other guys can't handle a press. At the other extreme, it will be interesting to see how much UVA might try it, not that their defense needs any help.
My point is that we didn't suddenly run into the three best pressing teams on our schedule the last three games. And that's not to discredit those teams defensively. At the moment, we simply can't handle a team of average ability in that regard...
My point is that we didn't suddenly run into the three best pressing teams on our schedule the last three games. And that's not to discredit those teams defensively. At the moment, we simply can't handle a team of average ability in that regard...
