All five starters for the Bobcats (16-8, 11-4 MAAC) hit double figures and all played over 30 minutes. Zaid Hearst had 20 points and Ousmane Drame added 17 points and eight rebounds for Quinnipiac which dressed just seven scholarship players. Evan Conti and Shaq Shannon both scored 10 points and combined for 13 rebounds.
“It’s very rare to play four games 36-plus minutes but they were up to it,” Moore said. “I didn’t know if they were going to be. “I thought we had pretty good discipline getting the ball inside offensively for long stretches of the game. And we’re older than them. I thought we made a few more plays than them.”....
“Fairfield plays hard and they do it every game,” Moore said. “I knew they weren’t going to go away. We survived not only a real thin rotation but we survived missing 20 free throws, too.” Hearst finished 13-for-15 from the free-throw line but the rest of the Bobcats were woeful at the stripe hitting just 18-of-36 attempts.
“Missing that many free throws was an everyday occurrence three or four years ago,” Moore said. “We’ve been better at that lately.”....
I was among them...that number might count everyone working, cheering, and just walking near the arena outside.
By the way, lost in another frustrating loss was the play of KJ. He had an all conference line by game's end. I know one of their guards was out. But KJ was the best guard on the floor, imo. His game is really growing.
Rose is legit. It was a college game last night and he played as well as anyone could:
38 min--18 pts 7 reb 4 asst 1 TO 3 stl
that's just 3 turnovers in the last two games, and he plays every minute.
If you don't give him credit for what he's doing and how much better he's getting than you either aren't paying attention or are deliberately ignoring evidence because you don't like SJ.
Stat line is funny for the game. 3 of our starters combined for a grand total of 3 points. The lowest scoring 3 starters for QU combined for 37. We just do not have the offensive scheme and/or scoring talent to stay competitive, especially when we put teams to the line 51 times in a game.
Temper the excitement on Rose- he played vs backups with Shannon out.
Last time the teams played, Umar Shannon played the entire game and KJ outplayed him head to head. Umar did nothing against KJ.
Not sure that KJ's performance last night is diminished by Umar Shannon not playing.
18 points, 7 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals and only 1 turnover in 38 minutes. Any MAAC coach would take that in a minute from their senior point guard. I think KJ deserves a lot of credit. He is steadily improving his play, His decision making on the court was much improved last night as well.
Last Edit: Feb 14, 2014 8:48:13 GMT -5 by stagmaster
Actually Rose played against Shaq Shannon last night, who is their starter. The thing about Rose is that he is involved in every aspect of the game ..... that is what a guard has to do. What he has to improve is his outside shot. At least enough to keep the defense honest. But he certainly can score by taking it to the hoop, so the opposition has to play him as one of our top scorers.
IMO, if he was playing next to a consistent 2G and 3G (like Needham or Todd), or even a PG (Han), I think he would excel even more.
Post by nashvillestag on Feb 14, 2014 10:14:26 GMT -5
KJ is quietly putting together a very good freshmen year for the Stags. Unfortunately the horrendous season the team is having is kind of hiding how well he has performed in his first season as a college player. And without checking how he would stack up with the competition on the other teams, I wouldn't be surprised if he were to show up on the all MAAC rookie team at the end of the year (if he continues to play well of course).
Post by ctghostman on Feb 14, 2014 10:22:06 GMT -5
I'm not anti Rose. I just think he's limited. If FU is going to beat anyone, the oppositions scouts have to choose it to be him. That's not all him-the 2 guard situation doesn't help. I notice very few of his assists are to the big men in the paint. Our bigs need to get their bigs into foul trouble also. The point guard does have something to do with that. I think Tom Moore has to be happy when he shoots 18 times- that means QU could pack in the defense.
I'm not anti Rose. I just think he's limited. If FU is going to beat anyone, the oppositions scouts have to choose it to be him. That's not all him-the 2 guard situation doesn't help. I notice very few of his assists are to the big men in the paint. Our bigs need to get their bigs into foul trouble also. The point guard does have something to do with that. I think Tom Moore has to be happy when he shoots 18 times- that means QU could pack in the defense.
Ghost, you are right, Rose is a bit limited in that he doesn't have a great outside shot. But it has been getting better recently. As far as working with the 2 guards, the situation not only doesn't help, it is a major albatross to KJ not only because it limits his assists, but also because it puts more pressure on him to handle the ball when the opposition puts on the press. But concerning your point about getting the big men involved (and therefore getting even more assists), perhaps he is not tremendous yet in feeding the post at just the right time. However the truth is that other than maybe Mo Barrow, who would you say would be able to complete a post pass into either a score or a foul against the other team on a consistent basis? Let's put it this way (since you brought up Tom Moore and Quinnipiac), if KJ was the PG for the Bobcats and he had the opportunity to post feed Izotam and Drame, wouldn't he look a lot more effective when they add up the numbers? I think he would.
so ok, we can agree that KJ's stats and play have improved............the issue and question is.........what about the other dozen or so players on the squad? It takes two to tango and a lot more to play winning basketball!!!!!