(11-19-2014 04:06 AM)pono Wrote: oregon is pretty good, but probably down a bit from last year. a good matchup for us they are athletic but not real big and kinda young. i think the vcu- if all the travel doesn't wear on us- will help on friday.
jonjon seems to have a stinker every four or five games, but i wouldn't write him off. thought drummond didn't have a lot of energy and that hurt us. some pretty weak calls down the stretch. i don't think we lost the game due to refs, but they gave vcu an edge. i don't think i've ever seen nathan boothe called for a hard foul. it seems every call against him is questionable. he plays perfect fundamental d, and the refs seem to anticipate him fouling and can't help but blow the whistle.
Oregon lost Jason Calliste, Mike Moser, Johnathan Loyd, Richard Amardi and Waverly Austin to graduation, lost three players following a sexual assault investigation and saw two more players transfer. To top it off, star recruit JaQuan Lyle didn't enroll due to academic problems.
This leaves the 2014-15 Ducks with three returning scholarship players on the roster. They were predicted to finish 8th in the Pac 12 in the preseason. So it does not appear they are anywhere near the team which competed in the NCAA the past 2 years.
(11-19-2014 08:02 AM)Rocket75 Wrote: We played 9 guys in the game. My guess is that this is the "real" rotation until at least the end of the semester. Interestiing that Aubrey Williams is part of this group. Kurt Hall and Aparicio are not among the 9 that played. Mosley looks like he will be a contributor as a true freshman.
I was thinking about posting the same thing! Mosley has impressed me more than I thought he would through these first 2 games. While he's not where Juice was as a freshman, he also didn't completely collapse out there against the VCU pressure when Juice was on the bench in foul trouble, and almost broke into double-digits. My guess is Aubrey steals a couple minutes a game until Applewhite becomes eligible, and then I'd be surprised if he gets much playing time after that. Along with Aparicio, couple of schollys that aren't likely to contribute much. There was a lot of hype about Hall, so I guess we'll see...I was hoping for a 10-player rotation, but if Hall isn't ready, it probably will be 9.
(11-19-2014 04:06 AM)pono Wrote: oregon is pretty good, but probably down a bit from last year. a good matchup for us they are athletic but not real big and kinda young. i think the vcu- if all the travel doesn't wear on us- will help on friday.
jonjon seems to have a stinker every four or five games, but i wouldn't write him off. thought drummond didn't have a lot of energy and that hurt us. some pretty weak calls down the stretch. i don't think we lost the game due to refs, but they gave vcu an edge. i don't think i've ever seen nathan boothe called for a hard foul. it seems every call against him is questionable. he plays perfect fundamental d, and the refs seem to anticipate him fouling and can't help but blow the whistle.
Oregon lost Jason Calliste, Mike Moser, Johnathan Loyd, Richard Amardi and Waverly Austin to graduation, lost three players following a sexual assault investigation and saw two more players transfer. To top it off, star recruit JaQuan Lyle didn't enroll due to academic problems.
This leaves the 2014-15 Ducks with three returning scholarship players on the roster. They were predicted to finish 8th in the Pac 12 in the preseason. So it does not appear they are anywhere near the team which competed in the NCAA the past 2 years.
I'll echo pono...what concerns me is the coast-to-coast travel for Friday's game...I'm also hoping that we didn't expend so much emotional energy against VCU that we come out flat against Oregon. It's certainly a winnable game if we play well.
after watching the game I came away with a feeling that this UT team will be better than last years. I feel Boothe has improved and so has Garber and will be a handful for anyone in the MAC. Brown and Drummond also will be solid. The wing position at this time between Jon Jon, Jordan, Spoon and Stucky all seem to have their limitations. Spoon is a dunk machine limited on defense and on the perimeter, I don't see why the coaches feel he's a ball handler on the press. Jon Jon seems to still be a step behind as the game still seems to speed up on him at times and he rushes/makes mistakes. Lauf still limited on offense and seems a step slow on defense against better athletes like last night. Stucky, he needs reps, seems to be aggressive at times and has a nice stroke. Really excited to see how Applewhite performs he can be the wild card between an elitie top 20 team and a very good MAC team. Hall will get some minutes early and has the potential down the road to give Lauf a run for minutes if his defense picks up. Overall can't wait, I've been goint to games since 1978 and this as excited as I've been in a longtime.
A little info on VCU:
According to Mark Beier on the pregame show:
one VCU player was 1st Team A-10 last year.
one VCU player was the A-10 6th Man of the Year.
Another VCU player was the A-10 Defensive Player of the Year.
All different players.........
Toledo played VCU waaayyyyy better than Tennessee did Friday night on a neutral court. (I watched it) Toledo would beat Tennessee.
(11-19-2014 08:43 AM)Terry Wrote: Toledo played VCU waaayyyyy better than Tennessee did Friday night on a neutral court. (I watched it) Toledo would beat Tennessee.
This Friday the Rockets go Duck hunting!!!!!!!
A lot of teams are going to beat Tennessee this year. Also, it appears they have hired another sleezy coach.
(This post was last modified: 11-19-2014 09:33 AM by rockytop.)
(11-19-2014 04:06 AM)pono Wrote: oregon is pretty good, but probably down a bit from last year. a good matchup for us they are athletic but not real big and kinda young. i think the vcu- if all the travel doesn't wear on us- will help on friday.
jonjon seems to have a stinker every four or five games, but i wouldn't write him off. thought drummond didn't have a lot of energy and that hurt us. some pretty weak calls down the stretch. i don't think we lost the game due to refs, but they gave vcu an edge. i don't think i've ever seen nathan boothe called for a hard foul. it seems every call against him is questionable. he plays perfect fundamental d, and the refs seem to anticipate him fouling and can't help but blow the whistle.
Oregon lost Jason Calliste, Mike Moser, Johnathan Loyd, Richard Amardi and Waverly Austin to graduation, lost three players following a sexual assault investigation and saw two more players transfer. To top it off, star recruit JaQuan Lyle didn't enroll due to academic problems.
This leaves the 2014-15 Ducks with three returning scholarship players on the roster. They were predicted to finish 8th in the Pac 12 in the preseason. So it does not appear they are anywhere near the team which competed in the NCAA the past 2 years.
I'll echo pono...what concerns me is the coast-to-coast travel for Friday's game...I'm also hoping that we didn't expend so much emotional energy against VCU that we come out flat against Oregon. It's certainly a winnable game if we play well.
The Rockets are traveling today from Washington DC to Eugene Oregon so they will be able to have 2 days to acclimate themselves out on the West Coast before the game Friday night.
For once, I'd like to see a Rocket team finish. It was a valiant effort and a fun game to watch, but we always seem to be the team that finds a way to lose vs. win. Moral victories suck. In football NIU finds a way to win even though they aren't very good this year. For us the last 4 years we'll kick your butt on first and second down, 3rd and 14, no problem we won't even think about punting.
In basketball we make the dumb pass or give up the NBA three point range shot that allows a team to keep it close. Every time we started to pull away last night, they were the team to hit a big shot. Last year we horribly defended the 3 point line or for some reason teams shot lights out from three range against us. Last night we screw ourselves in the end to lose a very winnable game. If Jon John or Lauf have an average offensive game we might have won?
Complaints aside, I thought the Rockets looked really calm under pressure in a pretty rowdy environment on the road. They didn't look flustered and went blow for blow with a very athletic and ranked team. We'll take our lumps earlier in the season this year, but by the late MAC season and tourney time I think we'll be peaking. Garber is going to get better, Jon Jon will have found his shot, we get Applewhite in midseason with fresh legs, Stucky won't be a raw freshman. Not sure if we have the killer instinct that last year's team was missing, but I like the "we got this" attitude I saw last night.
(11-19-2014 08:51 AM)Rocket_Fanatic Wrote: We should beat Oregon. I just want a couple quality OOC wins this season.
Btw, a lot of respect post game from VCU fans. They expect us to be dancing come March...
Yeah but so did the Kansas fans last year. Dancing comes down to what happens one week in March in Cleveland---and NOTHING else.
There is a little more to it. A 16 seed doesn't do much for you.
you missed the point made..........
There are not 16 teams in the MAC. btw, a 16th seed team in NCAA tourney IS still dancing..........
My point is that a 16 seed in the big dance doesn't get to hear more than one song. I don't think that will do much to develop a positive image for the program.
(This post was last modified: 11-19-2014 03:25 PM by northrocket43.)
I said the Huskies would win the MACC in basketball. That will not be happening. Dontel Highsmith is out for the year. He needs another surgery. Huskies are good but to win a MACC, they needed Highsmith. He has become our version of David Brown.
(11-21-2014 12:43 AM)dekalb222 Wrote: I said the Huskies would win the MACC in basketball. That will not be happening. Dontel Highsmith is out for the year. He needs another surgery. Huskies are good but to win a MACC, they needed Highsmith. He has become our version of David Brown.
that's why people shouldn't assume a player coming back from major injury will immediately become the same player after some rehab 8 or 10 months later. occasionally, guys return in good form the next year. often, they get it all back the second year after. sometimes, they continue to struggle to overcome the injury.
too bad for the kid. surprising huskie fans have been assuming he would back in top form so soon.
