Weber @ PSU

[Grant H]

We played well at times during this game, but terribly down the stretch and most definitely deserved to lose. This is probably irrational because from what I know of betting lines they are rooted in sound analysis, but I was really surprised when I saw PSU was favored by 3.5 points tonight because I know that Weber owns us, and once again they got the win.

I see Peery's decision making as having a big hand in this loss. The last several possessions he had the team hold the ball until there were 10-15 seconds left on the clock before even trying to initiate the offense, but it had already been established, with the way their defense was playing us that it was taking at least that long to find a decent shot. So the result was either a shot clock violation or desperate heave at the buzzer, yet he kept going back to that approach. Just run the offense as normal and I think our chances of winning would have vastly improved. The last two baskets that we made during which the game was still contested was Strickland's 30 foot prayer and a three from Hollins, which isn't a shot he can reliably make. Despite the lead we had with a couple/few minutes to go it took some luck to even get to overtime and compete in the first couple of minutes of that period.

This team looked so good in the non-conference season and the advanced metrics that I saw backed them up as being a really good team and the best in the Big Sky, so it's so disappointing that this is going to be just another of our many mediocre seasons. I think there's still a lot of hope with Peery since he had the team playing so well just months into his tenure, but with the number of seniors we have this year it doesn't seem reasonable to expect a legitimate conference title contender until the 2019-2020 season at the earliest.

 

[bigskyconf]

Weber 95, PSU 86 (OT)

I'm actually optimistic about Peery. This year he was basically playing out the string with Geving's kids, and while everyone is feeling good when they are winning, losing tends to revert back to the old habits. I think he found a gem in Woods and once he gets his own recruits in here, things will be different. Peery also got a look at the conference and now knows what he needs to do in order to maintain the #fortyminutesofchaos that started the season so well. The success in non-conference may have raised expectations this year. Rarely does a coach come in and achieve success in any conference in his first year at the helm. I too, would have liked to see them not slow it down so much in the closing moments of regulation, but Woods, Canda and Hollins all were hobbling so maybe Peery thought it was best at that time. I have to remind myself that it is a work in progress, that Woods is only 18, and that this is the first year under Peery.

Other conference scores tonight:

North Dakota 61, Southern Utah 57
Northern Colorado 95, Northern Arizona 60
Eastern Washington 74, Montana 65
Idaho 88, Montana State 78
Idaho State 67, Sacramento State 64

 

[martymoose]

Some thoughts…

- Too bad that Farris wasn’t able to go last night, but sort of par for the course this season with as many games that we’ve had guys miss. I have to think that if he was able to play last night we’d be talking about a win today. Sort of turning into a ‘what if’ season at this point.

- Lot of turnovers last night that I think cost us the game. Well, that and a guy in purple named Ryan Richardson. That guy can really shoot.

- I’m not sure how big of a fan I am of us burning clock at the end of the game. Up five with two and a half to go, I’d say it didn’t work. On the flip side, we’re certainly not as deep as we were earlier in the season due to injury/suspension. Peery was pretty clear that our pressure and tempo isn’t really sustainable with high minutes. Heck, Hollins and Canda had 36 and 38 minutes last night. Perhaps this team is just tired. Then again, Weber had three guys play over 40 minutes last night and they smoked us in overtime.

- Hollins continues to be so fun to watch. Super high energy at both ends of the court. Nice double/double last night and his shooting

- Wait, did we actually play a half of basketball without getting into the bonus? We’re usually in the double bonus after ten minutes.

- I hate it how Randy Rahe seems to get away way more than other BSC coaches without getting technical called on him. That little munchkin was out on the court screaming at the one official with no technical.

 

[davema]

Welcome to the big sky. Peery has a lot to learn. Geving was 15 17 last year w the same group less Robinson...who he replaced w a calmer woods and some other strong pieces. All the key players except for Edwards were geving recruits. W so many returning from last year and the additions, Peery should have a winning season...geving set him up nicely. Peery did a good job of aligning the kids out of the starting gate and got some freatvwins as a result, but my sense is he is less of a disciplinarian than geving...north is case in point (a tech from the scorers bench in the biggest game of his life...come on. Geving kept him in check last year...the just announced season ending suspension suggests Peery didn't). Time will tell if Peery has recruiting chops...the new arena should help. He was lucky to have such a strong team to start with...now the real work begins. And the jury is out on his x and o abilities. Something tells me it's going to be a rough few years. Even w a new building, support from the administration compared to big sky powerhouses like Weber and montana is woefully lacking. Until that changes, it will be tough for anyone to win consistently.

 

[bigskyconf]

Welcome to the big sky. Peery has a lot to learn. Geving was 15 17 last year w the same group less Robinson...who he replaced w a calmer woods and some other strong pieces. All the key players except for Edwards were geving recruits. W so many returning from last year and the additions, Peery should have a winning season...geving set him up nicely. Peery did a good job of aligning the kids out of the starting gate and got some freatvwins as a result, but my sense is he is less of a disciplinarian than geving...north is case in point (a tech from the scorers bench in the biggest game of his life...come on. Geving kept him in check last year...the just announced season ending suspension suggests Peery didn't). Time will tell if Peery has recruiting chops...the new arena should help. He was lucky to have such a strong team to start with...now the real work begins. And the jury is out on his x and o abilities. Something tells me it's going to be a rough few years. Even w a new building, support from the administration compared to big sky powerhouses like Weber and montana is woefully lacking. Until that changes, it will be tough for anyone to win consistently.

Geving also had Parsons. And he couldn't get anything from Mayhew or Farris last year.

Viks do lose a bit this year, but still have a lot returning. Woods should get conference player of the year and should be back next year. Strickland, Mayhew and Brown all will return. We also will get Rumel back from injury. And we get our awesome on-campus home back. Things are looking up.

Conference play is always tough, regardless of the conference itself, and regardless of how you did in non-conference. These teams that play you on a regular basis pick up on your characteristics and will bring a strong effort every time. You can see the conference standings and see that Duke, Butler and Oregon all are not doing as well as they thought they would in their conferences, when they were all here for PK80.

Big Sky teams do get support from the administration, but they also get support from their alums, as in Weber's case, strong support from a current Portland Trail Blazer (I don't see how an invitation from an alum to an NBA game cannot be construed as an "improper benefit" but I guess it isn't). It would be nice if PSU's professional athletes (Ime Udoka, Julius Thomas, DeShawn Shead) would show a little more support, but I guess they do in their own way.

I see the future being bright for PSU basketball. :thumb:

 

[pdxfan]

Tucker's back and shooting. Is he finally going to be a frequent flyer?

 

[bigskyconf]

Peery is less of a disciplinarian than geving...north is case in point (a tech from the scorers bench in the biggest game of his life...come on. Geving kept him in check last year...the just announced season ending suspension suggests Peery didn't).

If anything, I think it showed Peery is more of a disciplinarian than Geving. Peery had the guts to suspend North, while as you say, Geving "kept him in check". Geving would have backed down, while Peery made a statement that no one is bigger than the team.

 

[Pounder]

This is the time of year to be clutch, and right now, Strickland is more clutch than Woods; certainly was Thursday. Woods isn’t POY this year. He’ll learn... it’s not for lack of talent, he’s hit the decision-making wall, so to speak.

Every time I’ve watched during conference, there’s only 9 or 10 players dressed. That’s one way to wreck a 40-minutes-of-chaos plan. I could joke about the wisdom of the players engaging in sweep-the-leg drills during practice, but (sigh) North. Grumble.

 

[bigskyconf]

This is the time of year to be clutch, and right now, Strickland is more clutch than Woods; certainly was Thursday. Woods isn’t POY this year. He’ll learn... it’s not for lack of talent, he’s hit the decision-making wall, so to speak.

Every time I’ve watched during conference, there’s only 9 or 10 players dressed. That’s one way to wreck a 40-minutes-of-chaos plan. I could joke about the wisdom of the players engaging in sweep-the-leg drills during practice, but (sigh) North. Grumble.

My bad. When I said Woods would be conference player of the year, I meant FRESHMAN player of the year.