Thanks Evan. Good interview. Team chemistry matters a lot

I took a road trip down to Newark this afternoon to watch the Dragons win their 11th straight against Delaware and their 11th overall. I was informed by the Delaware Band that "Dragons aren't real". But the score surely was. A 52-32 win where the outcome was rarely ever in doubt. Drexel had another offensive funk in the first half, but Delaware's was much worse, as Drexel led 19-11 at halftime. Drexel took advantage of a bunch of Delaware mental mistakes on offense in the 3rd quarter that broke the game open. Once again, Bailey struggled offensively early on, but Washington stepped up and was the offensive star leading the way with 14. She was the only Drexel player in double figures.

One funny moment from today's game. Delaware has a tees for threes contest where members of the dance team throws out tee shirts when a player hits a 3-pointer. Delaware didn't get their first 3-pointer until the 4th quarter. The dance team member came over, and despite 1,652 in attendance, the tee shirt landed in the lap of one Dr. Eric Zillmer.

Drexel now has a tough road ahead as their next 4 games are against the teams who are currently 2-5 in the standings.

At least when we’re bad on offense we run the whole shot clock. It limits possessions and helps our defense.

Maybe TV adds a few pounds or inches but it looks like we can “go big” with Leonard and Metzel. Would like to see more offense from them but at least we can match up on the defensive end.

I would like to see Aubree Brown take more shots. I thought of her as more of a facilitator but she leads the team in turnovers by my count. She has the size to over power people in the post.

(02-16-2020 08:49 PM)hiroshimacarp Wrote:  At least when we’re bad on offense we run the whole shot clock. It limits possessions and helps our defense.

Maybe TV adds a few pounds or inches but it looks like we can “go big” with Leonard and Metzel. Would like to see more offense from them but at least we can match up on the defensive end.

I would like to see Aubree Brown take more shots. I thought of her as more of a facilitator but she leads the team in turnovers by my count. She has the size to over power people in the post.

Aubree leading the team in turnovers is a direct symptom of her being the primary facilitator. She leads the team in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio. But I agree, I'd like to see her scoring role be a little more consistent, as we start getting close to the postseason, senior experience is going to become even more important.

(02-16-2020 09:41 PM)jcohen42 Wrote:  

(02-16-2020 08:49 PM)hiroshimacarp Wrote:  At least when we’re bad on offense we run the whole shot clock. It limits possessions and helps our defense.

Maybe TV adds a few pounds or inches but it looks like we can “go big” with Leonard and Metzel. Would like to see more offense from them but at least we can match up on the defensive end.

I would like to see Aubree Brown take more shots. I thought of her as more of a facilitator but she leads the team in turnovers by my count. She has the size to over power people in the post.

Aubree leading the team in turnovers is a direct symptom of her being the primary facilitator. She leads the team in assists and assist-to-turnover ratio. But I agree, I'd like to see her scoring role be a little more consistent, as we start getting close to the postseason, senior experience is going to become even more important.

I don't think she is a very good shooter. I think that she's shooting less this year, and she's focusing on her strengths as a facilitator. However, she did surprisingly make 2 of Drexel's 3 3-pointers today. So maybe she's the next Drexel offensive threat. What makes this team so dangerous is that there seems to be a different offensive threat every game. As Bailey's offensive numbers have gone down, the team as a whole appears to be getting stronger.

https://www.henshots.com/Basketball/Wome.../i-cCXDLPk

Here's a link to some great photos from today's game in Delaware. They made sure not to show any pictures of the scoreboard. You couldn't tell from the photos just how bad a game it was from Delaware's standpoint.

I don't think anyone has doubts about our defense. It is top notch. Even in our blowout loss against DePaul it was evident. The first quarter in that game we looked like deer in headlights and we crushed from the opening tip. After that point through 3 quarters we were the better team and cut that lead to single digits. That to me showed our defense is real even against legitimately strong teams. To win those games your offense has to be good because shear size will still score points. 4th quarter we struggled again on offense and the lead ballooned again.

However for the CAA our defense is absolutely suffocating which keeps us in every game, even if our offense is not playing well. If we play well on offense you get results like JMU where we still score a bunch and hold a team to seemingly nothing. I think our offense has looked a lot more consistent the past couple of weeks where we are not relying on purely our defense (yes I am aware our points scored have not been impressive but felt like our looks have been much improved). The upcoming 4 games will absolutely mean a lot and tell us whether our offense "has arrived" or if we still see some struggles. Our games will always be played in the 50's and 60's, it is just how we are designed as a team. We cannot be looking ahead to JMU we need to beat W&M and Elon first. Big home crowds would go a long way

After the weekend:

Drexel- RPI 49, SOS 125
JMU- RPI 41, SOS 144

W&M- RPI 128, SOS 292

Would be nice if W&M can squeak into the top 100 to boost ours and JMU's numbers, though unlikely since they hopefully fall to us and likely lose to JMU as well. Picking up a couple of extra top 100 wins would be nice. I will update a previous post about wins in a bit to update our schedule. Still quite unlikely either sniffs an at large. Best case scenario for that to happen is honestly us running the table then losing to JMU in the final or vice versa JMU winning out and losing to us in the final. JMU has a better resume as far as wins. Our worst loss (CofC, 256) is significantly worse than their worst loss (Towson, 170). JMU has no OOC losses outside the top 50 (for now). So JMU has an outside shot at an at large but can't afford other losses.

Update from previous post. Very clear that our OOC opponents have not fared well through their conferences as most of the games have now fallen out of the top 100 (Pacific, Buffalo namely), which kills the slim hopes of an at large.

Drexel- 49, SOS 125

Davidson (W)- 109
Depaul (L)- 20
Pacific (L)- 116
Richmond (W)- 120
Buffalo(L)- 133
St Joes(W)- 229
Villanova(W)- 96
Bucknell(L)- 74
La Salle (W)- 182
Penn (L)- 62
Maine (W)- 207


JMU- 41, SOS 144

Longwood (W)- 265
Villanova (W)- 96
Maryland (L)- 3
St, John's (W)- 58
Georgetown (W)- 246
Liberty (W)- 105
Virginia (L)- 50
UCF (W)- 44
Delaware State (W)- 272
George Washington (W)- 154
Robert Morris (W)- 134

Drexel:
Top 50: 1-1
51-100: 1-2
101-150: 5-2
151+: 11-1 (loss to CofC, 256)

JMU
Top 50: 1-3
51-100: 2-0
101-150: 4-0
151+: 12-1 (loss to Towson, 170

JMU certainly has the key "avoid a bad loss" and winning games you should win. They played what amounted to a strong schedule as well. Either team is going to pick up a top 50 win though with a win over the other. JMU is the only possible scenario that I could see an at large going to the CAA. For that to happen JMU would need to beat us in the regular season and both teams win to the finals with a Drexel victory. That would put JMU at 2-4 against the top 50 which is pretty strong. Not a lot of mid majors get 6 cracks at top 50 games.

i'm good with the balanced attack but i'd still like to see a few more games where they're hitting on all cylinders...or at least an idea of where we're going for points when we need them. that's the only way i'll feel really confident headed into the tournament.

connolly only attempted 1 shot yesterday. i mention since i feel like she could be a consistent shooting threat.

I can understand that and it certainly adds uncertainty to our team. I think these next 4 should answer most of those questions. If we can weather these 4 games without a blemish or only one to JMU we have to like our chances of making it the final.

ESPN Bracketology lists Drexel as a 12 seed. Granted they're listed only because they're in first place right now. What's more interesting is that JMU is listed as the 1st team out. Which means that they're really close to being considered for an at-large. Now I'm not sure if Drexel would be as highly considered as JMU is, but it's really close right now. I do think that in order for either to be considered, neither team can lose to anyone but each other.

No doubt. From the numbers I posted yesterday, JMU has a chance. I seriously do not think we do as top 100 games have slipped outside the top 100. For a mid major we have far too many losses outside the top 100 without enough wins to make up for it. JMU's resume is quite impressive to be honest. If they did have the Towson blemish on their resume, I think you are talking about a 8/9/10 seed for them (assuming they beat us in the regular season).

https://www.collegeinsider.com/womens-mi...top-25.php

The latest mid-major poll is out, with Drexel climbing up to #12. JMU remains at #7. #18 Penn is now the only other opponent on the list. Bucknell and Buffalo also received votes. And Drexel's next opponent, William & Mary also got a vote.

Tonight kicks off an important weekend of games. Go out and support them if you are nearby. Tonight we face the 3rd place team in what should be a good one. W&M has given us troubles recently so I am looking forward to a good performance in this one. To me, winning this game with any conviction goes further than what happens in Harrisonburg next week

I have a weird feeling about tonight's game based on history of how Drexel's seasons seem to go. I actually predict that they're going to have a setback and struggle offensively tonight. I can tell that Big Ed hates Drexel and will have his team ready to play. I can see Drexel losing tonight by a score of something like 49-46. Then Drexel will be pissed off, have a great practice tomorrow, and go out and beat Elon by 20. Or maybe Drexel is just that good, and they'll be ready for Big Ed and company tonight. We shall see.

I am highly concerned about tonight as well. Not concerned about Elon Sunday.

Incredible win tonight. I was right in my prediction that it would be a really tough one for Drexel. I was wrong that it would be a defensive struggle. I was wrong that the score would go the other way. 12 wins in a row now for Drexel. Once again, I give another shout out to Washington who dominated the Tribe in OT tonight and finished with a game high 25 points, including 10 in OT. All this while playing with 4 fouls through much of the 4th quarter.

Most frustrating part of the game was the free throw shooting for Drexel. They missed 12 at the line, while W&M only missed once. If Drexel makes their free throws, they win in regulation and it doesn't have to come down to a miracle finish in regulation to get it done.

Drexel now 5-0 in OT games this year and their experience keeps paying off as they continue to win really close games.

I think Washington answered my question for where we go for points when we need them.

The 2nd quarter was bad. We gave up 28 points. The rest of the game and OT we only gave up 36. Thats pretty good defense. In fact the final 5 minutes plus OT was some of the best defense I have seen. Which means in a tight game when everything is most important we battened down the hatches and were at our best on defense. Thats impressive. Refs were CAA refs. I felt they were consistent in that they called tacky stuff both ways.

Washington showed up when we needed someone. That was great to see. Her aggressiveness is something we need more of every game. Someone willing to take the ball and make a play. Especially when Bailey was getting double and sometimes triple teams. The end of regulation W&M trapped us into giving Bailey the ball and they forced a turnover. We got lucky that we got other chances, but our defense allowed us a chance. Regardless huge win in a game that really felt like beforehand would be a loss