Back from the game which was a tale of two halves. The second half was so much better then the first. Kudos to coach Casey for adjusting on defense with a 3/4 court zone trap and then falling back into a two- three zone. Rider could not handle it and the stags pulled away. Our guards are terrific and along with a front court that is on the mend the stags are set for a very interesting close out of the regular season . So exciting!
Sounds like a version of the defense we threw at Manhattan in the second half that completely stalled their offense too. Conceptually it makes sense. Teams have top work to get the ball into the frontcourt, melting some seconds off of the shot clock, and then can't attack the rim as we drop into a zone. Plus, the guys seem to play zone fairly well, and it is less taxing on the legs. Every opponent and game flow is different, but I am really enjoying the fact that we have a coach who is analytical and innovative during a game, and a roster that is nimble enough to capably show and play a variety of looks.,
The variety of looks is indeed important and appears to be paying off. But a subtle thing that I think Casey was able to do both last night and in the Manhattan game previous was that he waited until half-time to make the adjustment from the man to man into the pressing and half-court zone looks that had the effect of confusing both those opponents. A retired Connecticut Hall of Fame high school coach who also happens to be a friend of mine once explained to me that he purposely held off on making major adjustments in the first half of a game (unless things were completely falling apart) with the purpose of surprising the opposing coach who then had to make his own adjustments on the fly. Worked most of the time for him, and it looks like Chris is following the same type of script some 25 years later (since my friend retired). And at least in this latest two game sample it is working for him too.
Jasper the “thief” is indeed so much the key to our current and future success this season. His basketball intelligence and court leadership are off the charts. His value to this team can not be underestimated compared to our other star guards. Here’s hoping Jasper has a terrific game against St Peter’s and perhaps joins our other 3 guards as theMAAC Player of the Week.
Jasper the “thief” is indeed so much the key to our current and future success this season. His basketball intelligence and court leadership are off the charts. His value to this team can not be underestimated compared to our other star guards. Here’s hoping Jasper has a terrific game against St Peter’s and perhaps joins our other 3 guards as theMAAC Player of the Week.
Agree. He is an old style pass first point guard. He really doesn't look to score till it's needed.
Jasper the “thief” is indeed so much the key to our current and future success this season. His basketball intelligence and court leadership are off the charts. His value to this team can not be underestimated compared to our other star guards. Here’s hoping Jasper has a terrific game against St Peter’s and perhaps joins our other 3 guards as theMAAC Player of the Week.
Agree. He is an old style pass first point guard. He really doesn't look to score till it's needed.
Have 3 different Stags ever scored 20+ points in the same game before!?! Saw this old tweet (which also happened to be against Rider)
This is from the game story on the Fairfield Athletic website
The last time a trio all hit the 20-point mark for the Stags was Jan. 4, 2016 when Marcus Gilbert scored 21 points while Tyler Nelson and Jerry Johnson Jr. each had 20 in a 97-85 win over Dartmouth at Alumni Hall.
1) The team just doesn't seem to get rattled. They might go through a bad stretch, but they recover. They were outscored 17-3 at the end of the first half, but were able to retake the lead before the first TV timeout of the 2nd half. Just the fact that they started the season 1-6 and are now 14-9 is fantastic. What a turnaround.
2) We knew that rebounding would be an issue this year, and now with much of the frontcourt injured, you would think it would be a fatal issue. Yet we were even with Rider last night and actually had more offensive rebounds than they did.
3) The ability of Fields, Goodine, Leach and Floyd to, on any given night, put up 20+ points, and to have more than one of them do it in the same game. We have not seen scoring balance like that in quite some time.
4) How many nailbiters have we watched over the years? Games where we lose a lead late and lose by a couple of points. Way too many. These guys are not only winning, they are doing so with room to spare.
5) They make their free throws (76.3%).
6) Their assist to turnover ratio is so much better than in past years (334 A / 260 TO). They have 55 fewer turnovers than their opponents (2.4 fewer per game). That helps offset the rebounding issue.
7) Not that it should be impressive, but the fact that Coach Casey seems far more willing to shake things up a bit, and present different looks, than Coach Young was. I know that's what coaches are supposed to do, but given that Young rarely did it, and Casey does, really feels like a breath of fresh air.
Keep it up guys!
Last Edit: Feb 9, 2024 12:04:02 GMT -5 by vastagman
The much-anticipated appearance of Alexis Yetna was one of the highlights of last night's exciting win over Rider. While he was rusty, not at one hundred percent, nor at the top of whatever level he could reach given his injury history, I thought his presence on the floor made a significant difference. For the first time this season, we had a big man who was able to match the opponent's big with physical strength. He was pushing and shoving 255-pound Tariq Ingraham on every possession. He only had one rebound and no blocks but he was still a presence inside, which contributed to our ability to tie Rider on the boards. I am looking forward to how well he does against Quinnipiac's Paul Otieno in Hamden. Yetna's presence, the return of Bleechmore, Seck's improvement, and the hopeful return of Peyton Smith provide reasons for optimism in Atlantic City. Now excuse me while I go wipe the stardust of Stag Euphoria from my eyes.
Last Edit: Feb 9, 2024 13:26:21 GMT -5 by tommyd74
Have 3 different Stags ever scored 20+ points in the same game before!?! Saw this old tweet (which also happened to be against Rider)
This is from the game story on the Fairfield Athletic website
The last time a trio all hit the 20-point mark for the Stags was Jan. 4, 2016 when Marcus Gilbert scored 21 points while Tyler Nelson and Jerry Johnson Jr. each had 20 in a 97-85 win over Dartmouth at Alumni Hall.
Good research SOD. And in thinking back about that game I believe our old coach Paul Cormier, working his second stint as the head man at Dartmouth, got a technical foul called against him at a point in the contest when the result was still very much in doubt even though the Stags went on to win rather easily. But the other thing, and something that kind of connects the two events, is the fact that that year's squad (Sydney Johnson's 'Running Stags") went on to have an outstanding season even though falling short in the tournament. And in many ways the makeup as far as scoring was very similar to this year's squad in that quite a few guys could go off at any time and put up points in bunches. Marcus, Tyler, JJJ, yes, but also Curtis Cobb too was a threat. In any event the thing that ties both teams and events together here is the ability of both of these teams to play an exciting brand of ball based on the makeup of each squad and the fact that the head coach was (and is) willing to let the guys perform with freedom.
Yetna looked gassed - which is totally to be expected. It's going to take him a few games to get his legs back under him. I so look forward to seeing where he is physically by the time the MAAC tournament rolls around.
Yetna looked gassed - which is totally to be expected. It's going to take him a few games to get his legs back under him. I so look forward to seeing where he is physically by the time the MAAC tournament rolls around.
Any news on Smith? Any ETA on his return?
Don't expect him this weekend. Next weekend is the earliest for him.
1) The team just doesn't seem to get rattled. They might go through a bad stretch, but they recover. They were outscored 17-3 at the end of the first half, but were able to retake the lead before the first TV timeout of the 2nd half. Just the fact that they started the season 1-6 and are now 14-9 is fantastic. What a turnaround.
2) We knew that rebounding would be an issue this year, and now with much of the frontcourt injured, you would think it would be a fatal issue. Yet we were even with Rider last night and actually had more offensive rebounds than they did.
3) The ability of Fields, Goodine, Leach and Floyd to, on any given night, put up 20+ points, and to have more than one of them do it in the same game. We have not seen scoring balance like that in quite some time.
4) How many nailbiters have we watched over the years? Games where we lose a lead late and lose by a couple of points. Way too many. These guys are not only winning, they are doing so with room to spare.
5) They make their free throws (76.3%).
6) Their assist to turnover ratio is so much better than in past years (334 A / 260 TO). They have 55 fewer turnovers than their opponents (2.4 fewer per game). That helps offset the rebounding issue.
7) Not that it should be impressive, but the fact that Coach Casey seems far more willing to shake things up a bit, and present different looks, than Coach Young was. I know that's what coaches are supposed to do, but given that Young rarely did it, and Casey does, really feels like a breath of fresh air.
Keep it up guys!
Great points all. I will add a few other observations. This team plays to win. They don't play not to lose. Several times in the last month, I have seen the team with a lead take the ball right to the hoop and score. They have the confidence to take shots and continue scoring. They don't sit back and try to run out the clock. This is a big difference between what we had seen the last 4 years. Its a winning mindset.
This coach/ this group also tries to break the press. Several times last night we got the ball past the defense and got easy scoring opportunities. This didn't happen at all under Jay Young. Again, its a play to win mindset. Yea we might turn the ball over trying to beat the press but they are willing to take that risk to get the easy basket. More often then not they are getting the easy bucket. Its a very refreshing change from last season.