Yes that was me. However, one good game does not make him a good recruit. Certainly hope he proves me wrong during the season. Let’s hope he is consistent.
"We’ve really improved the last 4-5 games. The wins are going to come" - Sydney Johnson....
Great game, decent effort, Stags battled an ACC team, moral victory, patience has been paying off, the future is bright, etc...but the reality is that with a third of the season over with the team is just (2-9), at the bottom of the MAAC at #10 in OOC wins and over the last 7+ seasons Fairfield Men's Basketball is now a less than mediocre (109-134)(.448) lower mid-major college basketball program.
Maybe finally the wins "are going to come" for the Stags(2-9) on Saturday afternoon at AE New Hampshire (2-8) who have already lost to Quinnipiac(4-4), Niagara(5-4) and will play Marist(4-5) on Wednesday night?
I don't mean to rain on Whipple's parade, at least of three of those 3 point shots were uncontested because BC couldn't figure out how to defend the weak side.
The chuck up three pointer strategy didn't work and it's not going to work unless there are more true sharpshooters on the roster. I hope we never see it again.
Herren, Tabbs step up, carry BC past Fairfield 77-67
...“That’s the credit to their team, Bowman attracts so much attention, they had some other guys step up,” Fairfield coach Sydney Johnson said. “This is a potent offensive team. It was hard to keep down the other weapons they have.”
After the Stags sliced it to 49-43 on Jonathan Kasibabu’s dunk, BC took charge with a 10-4 spurt, moving ahead 59-47 on Tabbs’ 3-pointer from the right wing with 9:01 to play.
Fairfield did cut it to 71-67 on Whipple’s 3 with 1:56 left, but never got any closer. "I had a lot family and friends in the stands today and it's the closest we have played to my home so I wanted to go out there and compete and get a win," Whipple said. "I played a good game but in the end the team lost so we just need to keep trying and getting better every day."
“We were down four with a wide-open 3 with 1:30 to go,” Johnson said. “I thought our guys battled. To put ourselves in that position, I think we can build on this.”
The Stags entered the game being outrebounded by an average of 8.5 a game. It’s a trend they’ll need to fix moving into the season. BC owned a 43-35 edge on the glass.
“We were on the wrong side of that today,” Johnson said. “That’s something we have been tightening up.”
Too many early 1st half turnovers came back to bite them.
* Stags played pretty good D throughout. BC made some athletic tough shots that ACC players will make... and you kind of have to give them to cover up other areas.
* Aidas really ran the offense well in the 2nd half of the 2nd half. Whipple can rise up when he shoots. He also moves the ball well and is a more physical presence.
* Lemetti didn't have a great night shooting and his 2 turnovers were ugly... but give him some credit, too. I think he drew 3 charges and he's playing much better D. He also has a knack for sliding around and getting open.
* Nice to see Omar out there. Somewhat worried in that I thought I saw him limping a little on the bench in the 2nd half. Hope it's nothing.
* I thought Cruz had a nice 2-way game. Whoever he was covering on BC was generally not having a good time.
It's not a great BC team - but it's still probably better than any team in the MAAC. I didn't really have any complaints about the coaching - other than I'd like to see Wassef out there as the 4 a little... especially if we're playing a strategy of shooting a lot of 3's.
If Whipple's last 3 had dropped, the Stags would've been within 1 on the road with 1:20 to go.
It was a good crowd. No students, but I was expecting friends and family only. Stags were quite the draw!
Last Edit: Dec 16, 2018 16:27:52 GMT -5 by typhaon
"I think our patience has been paying off and we are seeing some of that over the last few games," Coach Johnson said. "We are playing really good teams. And if we were to drive these guys into the ground when they are diving for loose balls, taking charges, listening to coaching and not putting their heads down, then we would be dead wrong. I think we are in sync. I really respect these guys for the effort they are giving us. They are getting incrementally better each game. I really think this team is playing much, much better and will continue to grow."
"Patience is a skill," Whipple said. "Thankfully my time at Northfield Mount Hermon taught to be patient when I was playing behind really talented players. That helped me to learn to always be ready and perform when I get that opportunity."
"I think we had a slow start and were slow to react in the first four minutes of the game," Coach Johnson said. "After that, I thought they played hard and had some passionate play. The effort was outstanding especially since we had a lot of young guys out there. . I know we want wins and I think those are coming."
Post by curioustag on Dec 16, 2018 16:53:52 GMT -5
We NEED the win on Saturday vs. UNH. They will be ready to get one themselves so it should be a battle.
No BS by Sydney can say convince me that the team has any confidence. IN terms of the team morale, these "close wins" aren't serving as anything other than frustration I bet. The sunshine and rainbows post-game speeches are simply window dressing from SJ.
We NEED the win on Saturday vs. UNH. They will be ready to get one themselves so it should be a battle.
No BS by Sydney can say convince me that the team has any confidence. IN terms of the team morale, these "close wins" aren't serving as anything other than frustration I bet. The sunshine and rainbows post-game speeches are simply window dressing from SJ.
Yeah losing is tough but haven’t seen effort slip even a bit or bad body language on the bench in any of these last games.
Post by nittanystag on Dec 16, 2018 17:14:00 GMT -5
While Alvarez did have bad game with the ball in his hands, he was able to slow down Bowman during the first half. Bowman started lighting it up when Alvarez sat in the second half. While on the pines, I do hope Neftali took notes on how Aidas was setting up Jonathan down low and Calvin on the wing with some great passes. I'm still puzzled by Benning's game status.
While Alvarez did have bad game with the ball in his hands, he was able to slow down Bowman during the first half. Bowman started lighting it up when Alvarez sat in the second half. While on the pines, I do hope Neftali took notes on how Aidas was setting up Jonathan down low and Calvin on the wing with some great passes. I'm still puzzled by Benning's game status.
Freshmen Lead the Way in 77-67 win over Fairfield Chris Herren Jr. (22) and Wynston Tabbs (20) lead the Eagles in scoring
The Eagles were playing without starters Jordan Chatman and Steffon Mitchell, who missed the game due to injury. Chatman ranks third and Mitchell 25th, respectively in the ACC in minutes played.
The old adage is to play fast but don’t rush. Sometimes we are in too much of a hurry. For a guy who hasn’t played that much, Whipple impressed me. Not just his shooting, but the way he was patient and didn’t try to force anything. Maybe his last shot was a bit quick, but otherwise he played like a veteran. Hope some other guys start to play that way.
Post by 01041949bob on Dec 16, 2018 18:43:09 GMT -5
Yes , Whipple played well today ... got called for at least 2 phantom fouls too . If Coach could get our rotation right and adjust to the flow of game we could be very good... I would start JK, Omar with Methnani and Milan as their backups; then start Alvaraz, Whipple and Taliaferro with Lemetti, Cruz and Benning / Aidas as backups
The old adage is to play fast but don’t rush. Sometimes we are in too much of a hurry. For a guy who hasn’t played that much, Whipple impressed me. Not just his shooting, but the way he was patient and didn’t try to force anything. Maybe his last shot was a bit quick, but otherwise he played like a veteran. Hope some other guys start to play that way.
The BC announcers were wondering why they were not covering Whipple, especially after he went 4 of 5. So watching the game it was either that Whipple knew how to get open, or BC was focusing more on defending Taliaferro and Lemetti.
I do like Whipple's defense.
Last Edit: Dec 16, 2018 19:17:21 GMT -5 by JoeStag
