Out rebounded 40 to 27! We obviously have no inside offense or, especially, defense.
To a point, yes, but as mentioned above....and by Coach Powell after the game...there were too many balls on the ground, eye level or right at the rim which Valpo didn't secure or even fight for in some cases. Just bad basketball. This wasn't a "Bigs" issue in itself. It was more of a "want to" issue to me.
....and yes not being able to have Tyler Schmidt understand what he wanted him to do...or the rest of the guys on the court understand what the call was...is just mind boggling.
The comment on Sepp not providing much as an offensive threat I agree with. He has some plusses but the opponent backing off him...and thus getting right in the team's best players space....may hurt more than he helps. Again...what happened with Ellis is a question I'd have.
Concur on Ellis. He appeared to be a nice piece. He didn't really do anything to help or hurt the team majorly last night. One point blank missed layup and a in and out 3 pointer. Maybe one rebound? He tried posting up last night. He wasn't open or our guys didn't feed him the ball when they had opportunity to do so. Even more frustrating SIU was prolly the least talented conference team to play in the arc this year. Is it me or does Tyler Schmidt seem tired? He's going against a lot of physical guards night after night. For as crafty as he is for his size, he struggles to finish through contact
I'm a huge Sepp supporter. He had 4 assists and 0 turnovers yesterday, and is a stabilizing force when he has the ball, as he is unlikely to make a bone-headed pass. He has a pretty good floater game, though scary at times, and his 3 point shooting is not bad. Yes, he is just 5/17 from deep, but if you look at his misses, most of those rim out or roll around on the rim, before going out. He is not airballing, bricking, or way off on those missed 3s. He is definitely better as a PF versus a C, due to the limitations of being 6'7" versus 6'10"+, but other teams have been able to make that work over the years. I panic a bit when I see Wright or Jeff wildly driving the lane, but I don't panic when Sepp has the ball in his hands at the top.
Not suggesting Sepp is relegated to the Scroggins zone deep on the bench...suggesting that somehow we carve a few minutes from him and a few from the guard mob to get Ellis out there for 15-18 minutes. Wish we could find some more for Mcnair too. He gets buckets... he makes mistakes like the others also but he has the super hot zone he can get to that others dont. When he is set for a 3 I am surprised when it doesnt go in. With
Schmidt cold for a month his minutes could be carved a little too...All this is just chatter when we get outrebounded by double digits. The problem has been identified- at least one functional big short and teams have countered our small ball. We can keep it reasonable maybe pick off a game or two but its gonna be a struggle. Nothing but respect for the effort of these guys but thats how I see it.
I watched most of the MVC games tonight. Without a true big, we are not going to match up well against teams in the conference. My optimism about this team is all but gone. I think we are headed for a 11th place finish in conference play. Walker from Ill State is going to dominate against our guys on Saturday.
Is it me or does Tyler Schmidt seem tired? He's going against a lot of physical guards night after night. For as crafty as he is for his size, he struggles to finish through contact
He's not finishing as well as he was earlier in the year which could simply be tiredness or tired of the banging. That can certainly affect his outside game as well. Problem for the offense is someone has to take shots. I think, particularly recently, Wright shoots too much or maybe it's just taking what I think are poor shots. Getting Schwieger the ball where he can do something with it is an overall problem. Sepp isn't going to give us much offensively that isn't generated from an offensive rebound. Doesn't leave a whole lot of other choices.
Ever since we have been in the MVC, it has been demonstrated to be a conference where the best teams have a true big that is a banger down low. Look at Primm, Brodie, Krutwig, Mast, Avila, etc.
