Castaneda ran over Lairy and gets called for it. Miami ball.
Lairy drives and gets 2, 69-68, 33.5 left. Timeout Miami, we’re out of timeouts now.
Lairy has been playing out of his mind the last couple minutes. What a baller.
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Same for me
An Offensive foul on Akron and Lairy with a quick layup, we are down 1 with 33 seconds, Akron ball.
That was the defensive call during that time out?
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Mirambeaux needed to foul Hunter, he’s only a 61% FT shooter, but let him have the dunk. Lairy tried to get 2 but took a tough shot. Akron rebounded and got fouled. 9.9 left. It’s 1 and 1.
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They eviscerated our press. Keep in mind this is a contest between the brothers. I think Groce had that drawn up special for the occasion.
Well, that’s 1-6, fellas. Ugh.
Tough loss tonight. We did a lot of good things. You hate to waste that effort against a very good team and come up short in the last 30 seconds.
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Lost by 5.
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I think the blueprint against Akron is to double team Casteneda all night long. He accounted for half their points. Geez, that guy can shoot.
I missed those 35 seconds too.
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If anybody wants to watch, NIU and Kent are tied with 13 minutes to go in Dekalb.
Great effort tonight.
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From last Saturday game vs. WMU:
“Point guard Xavier Castaneda was the only UA player to score double figures, finishing with 32 points — just one shy of a career best — on 11-of-25 shooting.”
Our record may not show it, but we don’t stink. MAC is way improved this year. NIU is the perfect example. Western as well. No easy games but I like how we are trending.
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It’s a young group, and the veterans are adjusting to a new system and way of doing things. The ups and downs are to be expected. While the record is disappointing, I’ve been pleased with the effort and how tough they’ve played against some of the top teams in the conference so far. I think the future is bright.
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Just a tidbit to show how well we played, Akron is one of the best in 2 point field goal defense (45%). We were 18/29 from 2, a little over 60%. And most of those were at the basket after running crisp offense.
Some of us have wanted us to play slower to minimize our deficiencies of transition defense and lateral quickness. Well, we got a matchup against one of the slower teams in Division 1 that didn’t look to push the ball and look what happened. We gave up next to nothing in transition. The slower pace kept our turnovers down and allowed us to play at a comfortable pace, letting the offense work. I think we need to do everything in our power to slow the game down.
The biggest mistake we made tonight was unforced and that was playing zone. We played zone on 5 possessions and they scored 10 points. Our man-to-man defense was solid. There was no need to switch it up at all. The 1 possession they didn’t score, they got a clean look. Giving up 2 Castaneda 3s on high pick and roll wasn’t good either, especially the last one when we pick him up 30 feet from the basket. With Mirambeaux playing drop coverage, Castaneda or any other shooter is able to step into a 3 right at or just behind the 3 line. That and getting caught on a similar play at the end of the 1st half when Castaneda hit a 3 made up the margin. If we’re going to do that, put Safford on him or wait to pick them up.
Safford was good all night long. Lairy got better and better as the game went on. I thought Lewis was good as well. Williams played well at both ends. Again, these guys have to realize this effort is required every night, not just against the really good teams in the league. If we can play at a slower pace, that would help.
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Agree 100%. Lairy sets a pace that seems incompatible with the rest of the team.
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