The team did not improve in February/March as I hoped. Matter of fact it appeared to be worse. I wanted to see some improvement on offense, not regression. So that is a negative that Jay Young needs to answer.
Pathetic. Landon was not the same player as last year, and it is very concerning for our offensive prospects that the coaches could not create a reliable play to get him open. Maidoh should have played the whole game.
Now get on that recruiting trail! New sparks needed!
Just did not see the fight in these Stags. Can’t put my finger on it, but I felt the Stags were never playing all out. The lack of urgency in this game forced me to turn it off. I hope the future is more dynamic and uptempo, because this team could put you to sleep.
Fairfield struggled from the floor in the game, making just five field goals in the first half on 24 attempts (.208) and six field goals in the second half on 20 attempts (.300) to finish the night with a .250 field goal percentage (11/44). Chris Maidoh had the most FG (3) on the team and in only 22 minutes of playing time.
The dismal performance comes one game removed from the Stags' season high of 61 percent shot against the Jaspers during the regular-season finale victory last Friday night.
No stat is more telling than the fact that we were outrebounded 41-30. The team isn't good at many things, but one thing they have generally excelled at is rebounding the ball. Not yesterday though.
Not sure what the problem was, but something was missing. The energy just wasn't there. What came easily last week when we easily beat the Jaspers was no longer easy. Manhattan seemed prepared and energetic. We looked like we had forgotten what worked last week and looked passive. We did better against Top 10 Maryland than we did against a weak Manhattan team.
Look forward, get the right pieces in place, and fix the fatal flaws.
One thing I am curious about is where Benning fits in next season? He certainly improved dramatically, and you have to give him a lot of credit for being a steadying influence on the team.
But in spite of playing the point most of the year, he really isn't a point guard. His assist to turnover ratio was not good at 61 to 56, and he really was not much of a distributor. And with Green coming in, I suspect Taj won't be getting much time at the point.
But he isn't a shooting guard either. His jumpshot is awkward and inconsistent. I can't imagine that we rely on him as our scoring guard.
1) He has shown the ability to improve. He may be able to do some things better, next season. I wouldn't put a cap on his progress, yet. 2) In a perfect world - he's probably that veteran 6th-man that can come in and do a bunch of things well... makes his FTs... and can get a big bucket or make a big play... especially when teams are keying on others. A Fairfield version of Marcus Smart?
Jesus:
1) For the next 6 months - he needs to shoot 3's until his arms fall off. I can't really figure it out. His shot doesn't look strange... sometimes he'll tee one up and hit nothing but net... but most of the time, it has the accuracy of a shotgun. 2) Keep working on making plays for others out of double teams. I thought I saw him making some better decisions in the final part of the season. Results don't always show - as the Fairfield shooters weren't knocking much down - but I think if you looked closely you could see him improving.
Last Edit: Mar 11, 2020 10:57:36 GMT -5 by typhaon
Taj Benning, is the most improved player on the court for the stags. A real competitor. I would not think he will yield playing time so easily to anyone eligible next year! I agree he can continue to improve on his awkward looking outside shot. However, he is big, strong and can drive to the basket. If fouled, he makes fouls shots consistently. He gets rebounds and always assigned to play defense against the toughest guard on the opponents team. Jesus, I agree practice your outside shots. U can get better. Remember Mo Barrow, he was not known as an outside shooter. However, he turned that around his senior year and was most improved. It can be done with some good coaching and practice.
Post by 01041949bob on Mar 11, 2020 12:19:34 GMT -5
My thoughts : Obviously, we were offensively challenged this year. Landon was a 2 guard who did not have the year he had last year because he’was the only legitimate outside threat we had and when most teams realized it he was shut down primarily because no one else could shoot. When he finally got open he either rushed his shot or was exhausted trying to get open . Benning did a good job, had nice year , will continue to get better ; Aidas needs to go, too timid to shoot .. he should have shot 20 times yesterday .. was wide open and had he hit those , Landon would have been freed up ; Whipple , big disappointment, don’t know what’s wrong with him ; needs a lot of introspection; Methnani, was ok , should have played more ; Midouh, has potential .. knows what’s he needs to do to become better; EZE , is what he is , mediocre ; Rose , needs to learn how to shoot, big liability offensively at this point. Some of my thoughts
The team did not improve in February/March as I hoped. Matter of fact it appeared to be worse. I wanted to see some improvement on offense, not regression. So that is a negative that Jay Young needs to answer.
Taj Benning, is the most improved player on the court for the stags. A real competitor. I would not think he will yield playing time so easily to anyone eligible next year! I agree he can continue to improve on his awkward looking outside shot. However, he is big, strong and can drive to the basket. If fouled, he makes fouls shots consistently. He gets rebounds and always assigned to play defense against the toughest guard on the opponents team. Jesus, I agree practice your outside shots. U can get better. Remember Mo Barrow, he was not known as an outside shooter. However, he turned that around his senior year and was most improved. It can be done with some good coaching and practice.
Yeah Mo did indeed become a decent jump shooter his senior year, didn't he? So I like him as a comparison to what maybe Jesus could possibly be next year. I'm sure he will work on his shot as that should be a point of emphasis between him and the coaches.
Now to Benning, I agree with you that he was indeed the most improved player and a real competitor. The best player too actually, so he gets a lot of credit. However moving forward, he does have some limitations to his game, he is not really a PG or a 2G for that matter, therefore I believe in his case, less is more in the relation to time on the court and his value to the team based on hopefully better personnel on the roster next year. Actually Caleb Green will be the starting PG I'm quite sure. But as a "Swiss-Army Knife" type of player Taj he should see plenty of action, though not as a starter or a man depended upon to carry the squad on his back. For the truth is, if he has to play the role of the star player for 2020-21, the Stags will be in trouble.