Something that still bothers me about the Richmond game.

[WinOneThisCentury II]

They had a 5'8" point guard. We have two guards, Connor and Perkins, that are 6'5", and we never once tried to exploit the match-up by backing him down, or posting him with our bigger guards. To me, this is just unacceptable for Fran and his staff not to try to exploit that matchup. There are so many benefits to getting this matchup down low. They can get the kid in foul trouble...they can score easily...and it would open the perimeter because there is no way they leave that kid alone with Perkins near the hoop. Connor in particular used to back smaller guards down all the time...we didn't do it once yesterday with either Perkins or Connor.

Their point guard was critical to that team...get him in foul trouble and this game changes drastically.

 

[red/green hawk]

Fair question, but have our guards posted anyone up this year? Do they even know how?

 

[nbanflfactory]

Fran was about as good as the shooting was

Be nice if he came out and took 100% of the blame. Don't think he did though.

 

[Hawk_4shur]

Perkins, Joe and even Jbo often tried to penetrate the middle, and usually ran into a swarm of Spiders.

They smothered everyone in the paint, leaving open 3's - the Hawks made 1 out of every 5.

Every time down the court, you could see the guards trying to get the ball inside and weren't able to. If they shoot the same % from 3 that they have since 2/1, that would have been another 18 points and an easy W.

 

[truehawkfan45]

Fran didn’t game plan for them. Keegan went 16 mins without shooting the ball. Abysmal display by a man earning millions to get the best out of his kids.

 

[BirdistheWord]

When JBo doesnt score much and plays over 30 minutes, not a good combination. I understand keeping him in as he could get hot from 3 and turn the game around. But Richmond had so many easy buckets. Better perimeter defense could have helped (in hindsight). Its amazing how cold Keegan, Sandfort, and JBo were from 3. Ugh.

 

[blhawk]

Fran didn’t game plan for them. Keegan went 16 mins without shooting the ball. Abysmal display by a man earning millions to get the best out of his kids.

I knew we were in trouble when facing a team who runs a Princeton style offense and we get burned on 2 backdoors for layups in the first few mins. That's shit coaching and preparation. Yeah, I know the shooting was bad but Fran made no adjustments. The "this one wasn't on Fran" crowd needs to go find another sport to be clueless about

 

[WaterTower]

They had a 5'8" point guard. We have two guards, Connor and Perkins, that are 6'5", and we never once tried to exploit the match-up by backing him down, or posting him with our bigger guards. To me, this is just unacceptable for Fran and his staff not to try to exploit that matchup. There are so many benefits to getting this matchup down low. They can get the kid in foul trouble...they can score easily...and it would open the perimeter because there is no way they leave that kid alone with Perkins near the hoop. Connor in particular used to back smaller guards down all the time...we didn't do it once yesterday with either Perkins or Connor.

Their point guard was critical to that team...get him in foul trouble and this game changes drastically.

Posting up a shorter guard would mean our guards wouldn't be able to dribble around the top of the key and then toss up a desperation shot.

 

[EvilMonkeyInTheCloset]

Fran didn’t game plan for them. Keegan went 16 mins without shooting the ball. Abysmal display by a man earning millions to get the best out of his kids.

Keegan went 16 minutes without shooting, but he did touch the ball several times in that time span, so its not like Fran refused to let the guys get him the ball.....

 

[Sheahawk]

I knew we were in trouble when facing a team who runs a Princeton style offense and we get burned on 2 backdoors for layups in the first few mins. That's shit coaching and preparation. Yeah, I know the shooting was bad but Fran made no adjustments. The "this one wasn't on Fran" crowd needs to go find another sport to be clueless about

I understand what you’re saying but this was a total TEAM loss. Coaches have to coach and players have to play.

 

[the24fan]

again for the one millionth time....shots were short all day. Indicative of tired legs. Ask anyone who knows basketball and when shots are short all day as ours was it's cause you're not getting enough power from your legs......we were a tired team no matter what anyone says.

Perkins, Joe and even Jbo often tried to penetrate the middle, and usually ran into a swarm of Spiders.

They smothered everyone in the paint, leaving open 3's - the Hawks made 1 out of every 5.

Every time down the court, you could see the guards trying to get the ball inside and weren't able to. If they shoot the same % from 3 that they have since 2/1, that would have been another 18 points and an easy W.

 

[amahawk]

Why not try Ash? Fran gave him a scholarship. If what you are doing is not working, try something else. Total coaching failure. Richmond also played and won their tourney.

 

[Rambler Hawk]

Why not try Ash? Fran gave him a scholarship. If what you are doing is not working, try something else. Total coaching failure. Richmond also played and won their tourney.

I would have tried Ulis before resorting to Ash...

 

[Quadhawk]

again for the one millionth time....shots were short all day. Indicative of tired legs. Ask anyone who knows basketball and when shots are short all day as ours was it's cause you're not getting enough power from your legs......we were a tired team no matter what anyone says.

One of the reasons I was excited about this team was how they played when shooting was off. The whole roster was used especially the backcourt and the DEFENSE we played to overcome the lack of shooting. Ullis, Joe T, and Perkins would harass the backcourt and #3 would sit on the bench as the team figured out how to win the game. The players knew their roles and we played like a team to overcome poor shooting and tired legs. This is on the coaches imho for playing a 8 man rotation especially when #3 and rest of team shot was so off like Thursday.

 

[Pepperman]

I’m not really sure if the OP’s premise would have worked. The lane was pretty clogged and most of our bigger guys couldn’t manage much in the paint. Perhaps Connor could have tried to post him up, but there would have been help collapsing on him. Maybe that leads to a wide open shooter but we didn’t make enough shots.

my question is if it’s worth winning a conference tournament like we did? Some fans seem happy about it but I’d rather see NCAA wins with fresh legs. If a lack of fresh legs caused this poor shooting, then it’s not a stretch to say we lost an NCAA game (possible run too) because of winning the BTT. Not a trade I want to make.

 

[the24fan]

One of the reasons I was excited about this team was how they played when shooting was off. The whole roster was used especially the backcourt and the DEFENSE we played to overcome the lack of shooting. Ullis, Joe T, and Perkins would harass the backcourt and #3 would sit on the bench as the team figured out how to win the game. The players knew their roles and we played like a team to overcome poor shooting and tired legs. This is on the coaches imho for playing a 8 man rotation especially when #3 and rest of team shot was so off like Thursday.

That’s a fair argument

 

[Suterman]

I’m not really sure if the OP’s premise would have worked. The lane was pretty clogged and most of our bigger guys couldn’t manage much in the paint. Perhaps Connor could have tried to post him up, but there would have been help collapsing on him. Maybe that leads to a wide open shooter but we didn’t make enough shots.

my question is if it’s worth winning a conference tournament like we did? Some fans seem happy about it but I’d rather see NCAA wins with fresh legs. If a lack of fresh legs caused this poor shooting, then it’s not a stretch to say we lost an NCAA game (possible run too) because of winning the BTT. Not a trade I want to make.

Brad Underwood agrees with you.

 

[Ronman]

Brad Underwood agrees with you.

And he was extremely lucky to win as a #4 seed. They had the lead for about 15 seconds in their game and escaped when the Mocs couldn't hit wide open shots at the end.

 

[RocknRollface]

I’m not really sure if the OP’s premise would have worked. The lane was pretty clogged and most of our bigger guys couldn’t manage much in the paint. Perhaps Connor could have tried to post him up, but there would have been help collapsing on him. Maybe that leads to a wide open shooter but we didn’t make enough shots.

my question is if it’s worth winning a conference tournament like we did? Some fans seem happy about it but I’d rather see NCAA wins with fresh legs. If a lack of fresh legs caused this poor shooting, then it’s not a stretch to say we lost an NCAA game (possible run too) because of winning the BTT. Not a trade I want to make.

Correct.

Theres no way Iowa was going to post up a guard. Their bigs were going to be in the lane.

They were leaving iowas forwards open from 3 all day to defend the lane and Hawks just missed the shots.

Besides that Gilyard wasn't guarding Perkins or Connor and the only way to force that matchup would have been to play one of them at guard with 4 forwards which would really limited ballhandling.

 

[BrewHawk]

They had a 5'8" point guard. We have two guards, Connor and Perkins, that are 6'5", and we never once tried to exploit the match-up by backing him down, or posting him with our bigger guards. To me, this is just unacceptable for Fran and his staff not to try to exploit that matchup. There are so many benefits to getting this matchup down low. They can get the kid in foul trouble...they can score easily...and it would open the perimeter because there is no way they leave that kid alone with Perkins near the hoop. Connor in particular used to back smaller guards down all the time...we didn't do it once yesterday with either Perkins or Connor.

Their point guard was critical to that team...get him in foul trouble and this game changes drastically.

How do you post up someone who isn't guarding you?

Gilyard was on either Bohannon or Toussaint.

 

[mstp1992]

I don’t buy “the lane was clogged” argument. It’s not as if their frontline was that of Purdue or Illinois.

 

[amahawk]

I would have tried Ulis before resorting to Ash...

Try anyone if the players on floor are not getting it done.

 

[WinOneThisCentury II]

How do you post up someone who isn't guarding you?

Gilyard was on either Bohannon or Toussaint.

Ummm...you go big at the guard position...both Connor and Perkins can play the point...and handle the ball.

 

[RocknRollface]

Ummm...you go big at the guard position...both Connor and Perkins can play the point...and handle the ball.

That sounds like a bad idea to have only 1 guard on the floor.

 

[Bulldogs1974]

That sounds like a bad idea to have only 1 guard on the floor.

Perkins is not a good ball handler

 

[BirdistheWord]

Perkins is not a good ball handler

I see him as a pretty good ball handler for a 2 guard.

 

[BBHawk]

I see him as a pretty good ball handler for a 2 guard.

He definitely came on stronger this year. I like him at the 2 in the future. Iowa needs rebounding guards.

 

[CAhawki]

I don’t buy “the lane was clogged” argument. It’s not as if their frontline was that of Purdue or Illinois.

Actually when ever there was a drive attempt… Richmond would cut off the lanes. Thats why we took so many 3s.

i feel like the Hawks shouldve ran a lob play or two, as the base line was there and if they hit on a play like that a few times, the spiders wouldve had to sag back more.