First game of conference play always gets the blood flowing. Need to start out strong. No Elmore or Burks this year so I can't imagine we'll see a replay of last year's opening tournament game.

Marshall still scores the ball well (#67 in the country) and doesn't defend well (#263 in the country). Keys to the game:

> All about defense. Even without Elmore and Burks, Marshall's still gonna chuck up as many shots as possible. They attempt the 14th most shots in the country
> Attack and try to score inside. Marshall struggles defending inside the arc and is close to the bottom in terms of fouls given. If we pass it around aimlessly and settle for jumpers, we're going to make it harder to win
> Protect the ball. Like a lot of teams that foul a lot, Marshall plays handsy and aggressive defense. They force nearly 16 turnovers per game (#59 in country)

Well, 4 minutes in and everything for the Owls is from way outside. Owls trail 6-8.

Nothing inside for Rice so far (except for that Ako runner). Murphy hurt again. He's gotten mauled on two straight possessions with no calls. Offense is way too stationary. Looks like we're moving in molasses.

14-8 Marshall. I kind of overlooked that Rice doesn't really have anybody a guard that can attack inside (except maybe Parrish). Alarming lack of offensive precision so far. That last play by Moore just perfectly summed up the first 10 minutes.

16-11 Marshall. Martin with a nice fake, exactly what we should be doing more of, but then bails at the hoop and throws one up wildly. Need more composure if we're going to break them down. Either go up strong and in control or sit and find the shooter.

23-16 Marshall with 8:20 left. Don't know what the staff coaches during the week because our defense still hasn't improved.

Absolutely getting out-athleted and out-hustled ... as well as out-shot.

And still can’t make a layup.

31-26 Marshall. D'Antoni clearly saw something on tape because Marshall is sneaking guys on the baseline with ease. Actually better offensive execution than most of our first halves but still a bit tentative working inside. Clearly impacted by Marshall's shot blocking.

37-28 Marshall. Refs are laughably poor on both sides. Help side defense is non-existent. I'm not counting but that's at least four or five lobs that Marshall has thrown unabated. Every time we pump fake or move with a little urgency you see signs of how bad Marshall's defense actually is, but not enough consistency to take advantage of it yet.

One step forward, two steps back. Really good offensive execution from Mullins and Adams to pull us within 6, then Peterson jumps out to a non-shooter which leads to a foul, Murphy opts to shoot a floater from a few feet instead of aggressively attacking the basket, and Murphy gives up a foul and 2pts after missing said floater.

44-35 Marshall at the half. 35 points is pretty bad considering how poor this Marshall team is defensively.

Don't know if you can play Fiedler in a game like this. He's getting bullied inside. Might just pay to play small ball as much as possible.

51-41 Marshall at the under 16. Murphy is cold and it's hurting. Not out of it but feels like the game is teetering on the brink.

59-43 and I'm not sure who's more to blame, the players or the coaches. Easy Marshall lob --> Rob missed three after 2 seconds --> easy pin for Marshall --> Ako missed three after 3 seconds. It's clear D'Antoni came into the game thinking we couldn't handle rollers, slippers, etc. and he's been proven right. Either that was unexpected or the coaches didn't handle the prep well enough (or the players just aren't executing). Doesn't help that we can't make anything, but defense is the story of this one.

(01-02-2020 08:18 PM)elw4796 Wrote:  59-43 and I'm not sure who's more to blame, the players or the coaches. Easy Marshall lob --> Rob missed three after 2 seconds --> easy pin for Marshall --> Ako missed three after 3 seconds. It's clear D'Antoni came into the game thinking we couldn't handle rollers, slippers, etc. and he's been proven right. Either that was unexpected or the coaches didn't handle the prep well enough (or the players just aren't executing). Doesn't help that we can't make anything, but defense is the story of this one.

Shooting 31% to Marshall’s 54% certainly doesn’t help. Neither does being nearly doubled up in rebounds.

Another pathetic performance.

Not a surprising performance based on what I saw vs. Sam, but a disappointing one at the same time. I agree we may as well go to a smaller lineup and start either Moore or Parrish instead of Fiedler. I really don't have much faith we can do any better at WKU either, and with 5 of the first 7 conference games on the road, we need to do something different to avoid getting off to a horrendous start in the conference.

It would be shocking if Rice finished outside of the bottom quartile. They've dropped to #205 in Pomeroy.

(01-02-2020 09:59 PM)WRCisforgotten79 Wrote:  It would be shocking if Rice finished outside of the bottom quartile. They've dropped to #205 in Pomeroy.

What happened to the team that beat Penn and UCSB and was 6-3 through November? This hasn’t seemed to be the same team and it would be great to have that team back.