Thanks. I know skilled size is tough to find, but it seems like we are almost always at a disadvantage in the post against the teams we need to be beat to make some noise. Milsap was what 6’8”, but a freak rebounder.
Thanks. I know skilled size is tough to find, but it seems like we are almost always at a disadvantage in the post against the teams we need to be beat to make some noise. Milsap was what 6’8”, but a freak rebounder.
I agree with Dwayne regarding the chemistry of this team. Konkol was more assertive with the referees yesterday, bordered on getting a technical. I think it put a different tone and energy in our players. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to see him lose his composure but passion is contagious. That's the best on-ball defense I've ever seen from Bracey. It might have been the difference in the game. I don't think he does that without Konkol expressing passion for the win.
We absolutely locked them down for the last 10 minutes of the game. It was great!
We shoot FTs 5% better as a team over the course of the season and we probably win 3 or 4 more ballgames
It’s that thin a margin
''Don't be a bad dagh..."
I think we are the team nobody wants to draw in the tournament. We can beat any of them.
That piqued my interest to see exactly how it compared to the last few years % wise
I think you would NOT be surprised to find out that this is the lowest % FT made in the last 7 years
The team is shooting 65.4% from the stripe for the year (323 in the nation) - Incarnate Word 80.4%
Here are the previous 6 years % (I also included the top team in the nation each year) -
17-18 - 72.5% (134) William & Mary 81.0%
16-17 - 70.9% (146) Notre Dame 80.0%
15-16 - 66.5% (294) UConn 79.3%
14-15 - 68.9% (185) Illini 79.4%
13-14 - 67.9% (239) CSUN 79.1%
12-13 - 69.7% (169) Davison 79.5%
As you can see - my point that if we had made anywhere from 7 to 14 more FT's we would be looking at 2 to 3 more W's
I also find it interesting that our two best TF shooting years were the two prior years
''Don't be a bad dagh..."
Do you think that because of the type of game some of our players have that they work more on it vs free throw shooting? I am not saying this is right but to get that extra 10% requires practice on your own and they don't see the importance because of the amount of time that sports center spend on individual high light plays?
I think it is a combination of things -
1) making FTs isn't cool like shooting the 3 or highlight dunk
2) unlike most schools in our conference we don't have a dedicated practice facility where the players (men & women) can put in extra work 24/7 in a controlled environment
3) it's just not that easy to may 72-75% of FT's individually - you would be shocked at how bunched the number's are national wide
4) it's more of a ME game than a TEAM game now -
5) AAU effect - less individual dirty work in the gym
6) There is no Jacobi Boykin on this team - having him or a Lonnie Cooper type helps to hide the poorer shooters and boost the team avg
But that's just my thoughts
''Don't be a bad dagh..."
I dont understand #2, between the TAC, Memorial, and even the Lambright courts to work in their free time.
Most of our conference mates - have dedicated basketball CONTROLLED practice facilities that are NOT shared with other facets of campus
That is NOT the case here - we share these facilities with other facets of the campus whether its student life or athletics
Our basketball players - either Dawgs or Techsters DON'T have free reign/access to any facility
The dept wants you think they have "practice facilities" - and that's just what it is a practice facility
Take Saturday for example - due to graduation and the turnaround necessary for the flipping the facility - access to the TAC was not available until LATE Saturday on a GAME day
When school is in session - Memorial and Lambright are booked with classes or intramurals most of the time
It's better than it was 10 years ago - but it is still NOT where it needs to be
I actually feel that a dedicated basketball practice facility is just as important as an indoor practice facility for football
But it looks like we will get the new academic center and administration offices first before these two facilities - I know that they are beating the streets for $$$$ on this project right now and that an announcement should be coming soon
''Don't be a bad dagh..."
Now look at C-USA play only: Tech is shooting 60.6% from the free throw line. That's 5% lower than our season average, 10% lower than our OOC average. Tech's 60.6% is by far the lowest FT% in C-USA play. Only 3 teams in the entire country (of 353 D1 teams) are shooting worse than 60.6% from the FT line for the season.
But it's not just free throws. Tech is also the worst 3-point shooting team in C-USA play at 30.1%.
We are simply not a good shooting team at any level.
Tech shooting in C-USA play
FT%: 60.6% - 14th (last)
2-pt%: 48.0% - 10th
3-pt%: 30.1% - 14th (last)
If we would've made any free throws, Tech would've won at UNT, ODU, and USM. That's 3 conference losses due to poor FT shooting.
And for various reasons we couldn't pull out wins at FAU, where we were within 1 with less than 3 minutes to go and playing a team without 2 starters - or at FIU, where we had a 2-point lead coming out of the final media timeout.
Win the USM game and any one of those other four games - FAU, FIU, ODU, or UNT - and we would have been sitting at 19-8 and in Group 1 going into Bonus Play.