Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com

... I honestly can't remember seeing a worse display of basketball from a BG team at home in the 30+ years I've been going to games.

After about the first 10 minutes, I was disgusted.

...

That being said, driving home, I couldn't help but like this team and its chances 3 months down the road. We have a lot of young, raw talent. We have some potentially great players who are still trying to figure things out either because they're new to the system, or they haven't played in a couple of years (').

Coach Twigg was optimistic in the post-game radio interview. That pissed me off at first... I wondered if he actually kept his eyes open tonight, or if he had been heavily medicated or something... but after I shut the radio off and thought about it a little... I'm not ready to throw in the towel.

Yes, we sucked all kinds of ass tonight... yes... we did at Crisler too... BUT, the future is the future. A couple of guys start finding their stroke (we can't ALWAYS shoot this badly), confidence grows, the defense stays good for 40 minutes... I can visualize it.

Call me the eternal optimist... tell me I'm wearing the orange-colored glasses... I don't care. By the time I got home tonight, I was able to say "Yeah... one of the worst games I've ever seen... but I still had fun... and I still think we can be good."

I was encouraged by what I saw against Michigan. Having said that, I bet the farm on Duquesne -4 tonight. That's a pretty good team that came to AA tonight. Some decent buzz around the program down here.

We're very young, but I think we have some nice pieces. If Black and The Apostrophe figure out how to harness their talent within the system, I think we could get something rolling. I would expect that to be more likely next year, but teams with less talent than this have gotten hot and won conference tourneys around the country. Giving up on this team would be pretty dumb given the fact that building towards one hot week in March can get us to the dance.

That was the other thing I meant to say.... I bet Duquesne ends up making a run into March... they had some studs.

Scott Thomas is the only guy playing the same role he played last year. We have 6 guys seeing extended minutes this year who saw next to no time last year. That is an absolute recipe for a slow start. Add in that we have not started the same 5 guys in the first four games and I would not expect things to be going well. This badly....no way....but everyone is finding a role. If Seally can give us minutes at the 5 and 4, atleast on paper this is a pretty complete roster.

Our defensive effort was really bad, but there is no doubt...that Duequesne team can SCORE. They can shoot, and they are VERY athletic.

I still think this team will grow...I just hate these long stretches we have where we can't hit shots. It's discouraging, because we sometimes are getting good looks, we just can't knock 'em down. I don't know how you teach/coach shooting...just gotta keep practicing, I guess.

Grant, I truly hope I'm wrong and you're right, and I will gladly admit to being wrong should this team make it anywhere close to .500! I just can't see these three blow-outs against middle to weak ranking teams anything other than a hurricane warning for NW Ohio.

ZiggyZoomba wrote:... I honestly can't remember seeing a worse display of basketball from a BG team at home in the 30+ years I've been going to games.

After about the first 10 minutes, I was disgusted.

...

That being said, driving home, I couldn't help but like this team and its chances 3 months down the road. We have a lot of young, raw talent. We have some potentially great players who are still trying to figure things out either because they're new to the system, or they haven't played in a couple of years (').

Coach Twigg was optimistic in the post-game radio interview. That pissed me off at first... I wondered if he actually kept his eyes open tonight, or if he had been heavily medicated or something... but after I shut the radio off and thought about it a little... I'm not ready to throw in the towel.

Yes, we sucked all kinds of ass tonight... yes... we did at Crisler too... BUT, the future is the future. A couple of guys start finding their stroke (we can't ALWAYS shoot this badly), confidence grows, the defense stays good for 40 minutes... I can visualize it.

Call me the eternal optimist... tell me I'm wearing the orange-colored glasses... I don't care. By the time I got home tonight, I was able to say "Yeah... one of the worst games I've ever seen... but I still had fun... and I still think we can be good."

Remember Grant, this is Duquesne. In the words of your father "I have two words for you- Willie Ladson!" My favorite quote, aside from his various takes on your one time point guard "Much Traveled".

http://www.salesianhigh.org/sports/bask ... lumni.html

Jacobs4Heisman wrote:I was encouraged by what I saw against Michigan. Having said that, I bet the farm on Duquesne -4 tonight. That's a pretty good team that came to AA tonight. Some decent buzz around the program down here.

OT: Greg Amodio is the A.D. who can get Duquesne into the upper echelon of the A-10. He had a lot to do with Xavier's growth.

AyZiggy97 wrote: OT: Greg Amodio is the A.D. who can get Duquesne into the upper echelon of the A-10.

Well, every year I have fun marking the "magic date" on the schedule where the improbable at-large NCAA bid becomes officially out of the question. Nov 22 is a record breaker. It's nice to get that nonsense out of the way early.

Despite these horrific early outcomes, please remember that we DO have excellent young frontline talent. These few games are nowhere near enough to make me give up on the season, but my hopes are dampened.

Our frontline is young, but our REAL rebuilding situation at guard. Crawford and Kraus have shown that they can do some things, but they need experience. Henderson's situation is a question mark, and we have an amazing guard coming next year in Jehvon Clarke.

If Duquense wins 20 games and makes the NIT it would be a good year for them. In the A10 they are just run of the mill athletic. Everhart has done a nice job there, but coming off a 16-16 year, the loss to Robert Morris (where they got hammered on the glass), and Melquan Bolding transferring, I would be surprised if they made any sort of run.

I think a lot of teams would have looked really good against BG Monday night.

AyZiggy97 wrote:

Jacobs4Heisman wrote:I was encouraged by what I saw against Michigan. Having said that, I bet the farm on Duquesne -4 tonight. That's a pretty good team that came to AA tonight. Some decent buzz around the program down here.

OT: Greg Amodio is the A.D. who can get Duquesne into the upper echelon of the A-10. He had a lot to do with Xavier's growth.

James Posey and David West had a lot to do with Xavier's growth

In all seriousness Amodio is a terrific AD. He has already renovated the Palumbo Center and the mens basketball program has made serious strides in the past 5 years. Looking forward to seeing them play Dayton at the Penguins new Arena later this year.

ZiggyZoomba wrote:... I honestly can't remember seeing a worse display of basketball from a BG team at home in the 30+ years I've been going to games.

After about the first 10 minutes, I was disgusted.

...

That being said, driving home, I couldn't help but like this team and its chances 3 months down the road. We have a lot of young, raw talent. We have some potentially great players who are still trying to figure things out either because they're new to the system, or they haven't played in a couple of years (').

Coach Twigg was optimistic in the post-game radio interview. That pissed me off at first... I wondered if he actually kept his eyes open tonight, or if he had been heavily medicated or something... but after I shut the radio off and thought about it a little... I'm not ready to throw in the towel.

Yes, we sucked all kinds of ass tonight... yes... we did at Crisler too... BUT, the future is the future. A couple of guys start finding their stroke (we can't ALWAYS shoot this badly), confidence grows, the defense stays good for 40 minutes... I can visualize it.

Call me the eternal optimist... tell me I'm wearing the orange-colored glasses... I don't care. By the time I got home tonight, I was able to say "Yeah... one of the worst games I've ever seen... but I still had fun... and I still think we can be good."

I said this in November and I'm sticking by this, btw...

G,

That you did....

GO BG!