Preview: LA Tech at Florida Atlantic

[techman05]

As flat as we come out more often than not, I’m thinking we lose to UAB and UNT at their gyms. We will probably get hot in the conference tourney only to get blown out in the championship game. That is a classic Teching.

[FriscoDawg]

There were several of those no-calls last night. Both ways, actually. There were several plays that looked like football players scrambling for a fumble with no fouls called at all.

That wasn't the problem, though. The problem was our sluggish start and lack of defense - especially in the first half. I posted that this was a trap game and it was. FAU will not be a top team in seeding, but will upset some of the contenders. They are tough to beat on their court this year. On the road, not so much. This was on US, though. We came out with no energy and they took advantage of it. If we could have drawn it to within 5 at the half, we might have had a chance. It was just a miserable performance all the way around.

FAU is tied for #1 (#2 on percentage) in the East right now. That would get a bye that Tech won't get.

Standings are determined and byes are awarded by division. Tech is a solid #3 in the West just a half-game ahead of UTEP.

[FriscoDawg]

As flat as we come out more often than not, I’m thinking we lose to UAB and UNT at their gyms. We will probably get hot in the conference tourney only to get blown out in the championship game. That is a classic Teching.

Thinking Tech wins its second round game, somehow pulls out the quarterfinal, and loses again in the semifinal.

Can't see Tech playing in the championship without earning a bye which looks more unlikely after last night.

[FriscoDawg]

Konkol needs to tweak some things for sure. This isn't a "scrap it and start over" deal imo. That said, we can keep going with the same recipe hoping it'll taste better.

The tweak that is a must is perimeter defense. Tech has allowed 4 of 10 conference opponents to shoot over 43% from 3-point range. Those happen to be the three losses and the WKU game that Tech probably should have lost.

[Dwayne From Minden]

The tweak that is a must is perimeter defense. Tech has allowed 4 of 10 conference opponents to shoot over 43% from 3-point range. Those happen to be the three losses and the WKU game that Tech probably should have lost.

Yep -

Defense and rebounding in key moments have doomed us in 2 of the 3 losses - FT shooting was the booger in the UAB game

You can't control if the shots fall, but you can control the intensity you play on defense and how hard you rebound

As much as I love Jr, I would not call him a hard nose player - we are missing an Eric McCree type who can really get nasty on both ends of the court

[Dawg Fan]

The tweak that is a must is perimeter defense. Tech has allowed 4 of 10 conference opponents to shoot over 43% from 3-point range. Those happen to be the three losses and the WKU game that Tech probably should have lost.

Teams have certainly figured out how to get players open for uncontested 3's (I don't consider flying through the air like Superman as the shot goes up to be a "contested" shot - quite a few end up being fouls however). I think at least two offensive game plans are needed - 1 with Junior being the key down low and 1 with Junior being a decoy, but not really the focus. If teams are willing to focus on Junior - let 'em - then run plays for everyone else. Teams we play seem to have at least 1 player have a career high game. I don't think it is just a matter of Tech having bad luck. They are taking whatever we give them. i think it is time to start Green. I think he has more upside than Christon.

[champion110]

FAU is tied for #1 (#2 on percentage) in the East right now. That would get a bye that Tech won't get.

Standings are determined and byes are awarded by division. Tech is a solid #3 in the West just a half-game ahead of UTEP.

The season is not over. No way to tell what will happen with seeding. Is FAU good enough to keep winning out? If so, whom does that knock out? We have games left to play. I don't believe in giving up hope on a team that has lost 3 conference games (2 came down to the wire and this last one is one where we just played horrible with no defense or energy). We need to right the ship, of course. I would place money on UAB, UNT, and FAU not winning out, though. There is a possibility that we will - at least, I have some hope that we will. We should win all games left and, when we get to UAB and UNT on the road, we go in with revenge on our minds.

Practically, I believe in what some of the posters above me are saying. We HAVE to do something about our perimeter defense. We are just letting 3 point shooters dominate us. Green is a good start on that, but it has to be designed. We are an inside out team - the problem is we never know which of our 3 point shooters are going to be on that day. Willis has been the most consistent. Archibald has off and on nights. Find the hot one and Jr. can pass it out of the double and triple team. A HUGE problem is starting with no energy, though. We get down early and have to depend on a big time run to get back in the games. That has to stop. I would full court press some in the 1st quarter. If there is any player that is standing around, we have to pull him and put in someone else.

We CAN still be in this. Again, nothing matters except the tournament. My hope is to get on a win streak now and get a good seed for that. We have seen many years that we go into the tournament on or close to the top to get wiped out. Our win streaks seem to always be at the beginning of the conference season. I am ready for the opposite - hit a slump and finish strong with a win streak at the right time. THAT would be a big change!