LAMAR VS SFA

WITH A WIN TONIGHT LAMAR WILL HIT 20 WINS ON THE YEAR.

WITH A WIN TONIGHT LAMAR WILL HIT 20 WINS ON THE YEAR.

 

Lamar hasn't beat SFA since the 2012 semifinals. 9 wins in a row for the Jacks. Time to change history tonight. Weisbrod was an absolute non-factor in the regular season meeting. They need to find other ways to get him the ball. 4 shot attempts for your best player (vs. SELA) is not a winning recipe in the SLC tournament.

 

Colton only had 3 shot attempts in the regular season meeting AND he fouled out. Hope they come out as focused as they did last night.

Lamar has lost a number of games this year as the game wound down due to turnovers and poor shot selection. I think Lamar is fully capable of beating SFA by a fifteen to twenty point margin, but if the game is close then ????????? Agree Weisbrod will need to play better than at SFA and last night. To win it all Lamar will probably have to win against three teams it didn't beat in the regular season as of the six left Sam is the only team Lamar has a win against. I'm pulling for a win tonight and twenty wins will be a major accomplishment.

Sam Houston takes out HBU. Good deal as HBU is the team I would least like to face if Lamar were to get to the final.

About six minutes into the game and SFA is up by 7, SFA is shooting about 75% so far.

7:50 left in the first half and SFA is up by five at 25-20. Lamar had gotten down by 10 but then hit three straight three pointers to climb back to one down. Weisbrod has not been able to anything yet offensively.

At the under four minute timeout, SFA has opened up a 14 point lead scoring the last thirteen points. Lamar hasn't scored in over five minutes. Good defense by SFA but no real offense for Lamar. Weisbrod totally shut out so far.

At the under four minute timeout, SFA has opened up a 14 point lead scoring the last thirteen points. Lamar hasn't scored in over five minutes. Good defense by SFA but no real offense for Lamar. Weisbrod totally shut out so far.

 

Our dribble around offense isn't cutting it tonight. Lamar has a definite height disadvantage - both inside and outside. SFA's Happy Gilmore is giving us fits.

Halftime and Lamar is down by fourteen. SFA has shot the lights out compared to Lamar at 62.5% to 36% SFA has six more rebounds than the Cards and Weisbrod has been held without a shot and only two rebounds. Defensively Lamar has given up fifteen points to SFA forward Leon Gilmore who only averages about eleven points a game. Lamar has nine turnovers. Nzeakor has four points which is all of the Cards inside points. Maybe a layup or two by the guards but nothing consistent.

Twelve minutes left and Lamar hasn't cut into the lead at all. Weisbrod just picked up his fourth foul. A total lack of a mid range game has left Lamar looking for answers. Since I don't expect a miracle which is what is needed for LU to win, what will it take for Lamar to improve next year. As much as Weisbrod has brought to Lamar this year his lack of size, quickness and any kind of outside offensive game has to change next year. Either he will have to develop an outside game or he will spend a bunch of time on the bench if the two new guys bring in anything. Bosha is a good defender, but is tentative on offense and like many of his teammates generally is not ready to shoot as soon as the ball arrives. Price is going to have to figure out a way to play three bigs as the undersized guards Lamar have can't consistently deliver on offense and can't consistently stop the larger guards from the other teams. There are players on the bench who need to develop, Atwood and Hubby are the first to come to mind for me.

Twelve minutes left and Lamar hasn't cut into the lead at all. Weisbrod just picked up his fourth foul. A total lack of a mid range game has left Lamar looking for answers. Since I don't expect a miracle which is what is needed for LU to win, what will it take for Lamar to improve next year. As much as Weisbrod has brought to Lamar this year his lack of size, quickness and any kind of outside offensive game has to change next year. Either he will have to develop an outside game or he will spend a bunch of time on the bench if the two new guys bring in anything. Bosha is a good defender, but is tentative on offense and like many of his teammates generally is not ready to shoot as soon as the ball arrives. Price is going to have to figure out a way to play three bigs as the undersized guards Lamar have can't consistently deliver on offense and can't consistently stop the larger guards from the other teams. There are players on the bench who need to develop, Atwood and Hubby are the first to come to mind for me.

 

Another crappy year in the books. If my calculations are correct that's 31 out of the last 32 years. Maybe time to scrap men's basketball (ok, I'm being a smart a$$...but some of us remember the university ruining decision to scrap football)

Final score SFA 75 - Lamar 59.

Bosha is still rehabing his knee. He was only a sophmore in terms of minutes played. Nobody knows, but his family and coaches, about the ailments he had to deal with.He made tremendous strides. I am proud of him. I didnt think he would play again, because of all the injuries. Too see him dunk and shoot 34percent from the 3 point line; as well as, 70 % from the free throw line was amazing. We look at his season with a great sense of pride, because he had to also overcome mental obstacles. My family stayed in prayer. We gave him daily scriptures to read. He almost threw in the towel. The fact that he broke the steals record shows how graceful God is. Never judge a book by it's cover, because you never know what a person has endured. With tears in my eyes, i say Great season Zjori. I love you!!!!

Sweet T, I know you and Bosha are close and while I knew he had some physical issues and think his defense was a big plus for LU this year I didn't think it was a negative to point out an area that needs to improve next year. Personally if I were in Prices shoes Bosha would be either my point guard or my starting shooting guard and I would be expecting him to shoot the ball any time he was open from ten to twenty feet out from the basket with no hesitation. I think he can shoot 40% or better from that range and has the quickness once the other teams have to respect him to drive to the basket and score. As a team Lamar has to develop a ten to fifteen foot scoring threat. Watch the games and who is shooting those shots. To me Bosha's performance over the course of the year has been a bright spot for the Cards, but I would expect that he will tell you there is a lot of improvement that needs to happen if the Cards are going to build on this years record.

I agree. He is not hesitant. He can only do what his body allows him to do. He will be even better next year and i know he will shoot more. There were times that he exerted so much energy on defense, he didnt have the stamina to shoot. We talked about that a lot. He often had to guard the best guard on the opposing team. He couldnt even jump last year and now he can dunk. I expect great thinks out of him. Thank you for your words of encouragement.

FYI...Zjori also has asthma and it reared it's ugly head this year. He went years without having symptoms. We thought he outgrew it. Imagine having to guard the best player on the team, make hustle plays etc while sonetimes struggling to take a deep breath. That is why he chews gum during the game, to help with gas exchange. Sometimes he just doesnt have enough energy to shoot. He struggled last night and tonight. That is why he played limited minutes. I am praying that he doesnt experience symptoms next year. It needs to go away again. I think he will be okay. He had games where his breathing was okay. It got better as time progressed.

Lamar has lost a number of games this year as the game wound down due to turnovers and poor shot selection. I think Lamar is fully capable of beating SFA by a fifteen to twenty point margin, but if the game is close then ????????? Agree Weisbrod will need to play better than at SFA and last night. To win it all Lamar will probably have to win against three teams it didn't beat in the regular season as of the six left Sam is the only team Lamar has a win against. I'm pulling for a win tonight and twenty wins will be a major accomplishment.

 

Do you ever go back and read your posts in hindsight? I truly admire your optimism but some people might think you are delusional.

Don't have to re-read them. I can wish for miracles as long as I expect reality, which is exactly what happened. Poor judgement and decision making at the end of games is perhaps the number one reason LU ended the season and SLC tourney at 19-14 instead of with four or five more wins.

Don't have to re-read them. I can wish for miracles as long as I expect reality, which is exactly what happened. Poor judgement and decision making at the end of games is perhaps the number one reason LU ended the season and SLC tourney at 19-14 instead of with four or five more wins.

 

I don't mean to bash you or anything like that. Obviously you watch a lot of basketball. But, seriously, is there anyone on the planet that thought we'd beat SFA, much less win by 15-20? I mean, if I only watched SFA play all season and not us then I'd say we could beat them by 15-20. But from watching us play all season, no way. Don't get me wrong, we are headed the right direction but our weaknesses have been pretty glaring for most of the season. Not aggressive enough, lax defense for long stretches, poor offensive execution (you front weisbrod and we are dead), too much dribbling around, virtually no half court plays that get anyone open, I mean the list is pretty long. And, to me, the conference was border line terrible this year. I guess we will find out more in this CIT tournament but my guess is it will be bad. And I hate to bring up names but I thought Chapman (Chatman) was supposed to be a 3 star recruit? From what I've seen, he's not a 1 star. Plays with little effort most times, can't shoot a lick, has virtually no ball handling skills, and doesn't appear very quick. I mean, our post presence is 6' 5"?! Seriously? And, as a side note, our 6' 5" "post" better learn to shoot a jump shot and better learn to pass because it was pretty evident that most teams figured out to stop him.

Agree it would have taken a near perfect game for the Cards to win by that much and like I said I didn't expect it, but if the guards got hot from three point land early and LU got a lead then strange things could happen. Garth is capable of making a bunch of threes occasionally but not consistently. My hope for next year is that the two recruits might come in and contribute right away and the transfer that sat out this year brings something to the table. Again I don't expect the new recruits to contribute but I believe that for Lamar to improve on this year they are going to have to. I don't expect Weisbrod to learn to shoot from the outside, I don't expect the team as a whole to learn to take care of the basketball and eliminate turnovers. I do expect there will be no set offense that gets open shots and there will be the same standing around waiting for whoever has the ball to make their one against the defense move and prayer for a foul that delivers another great 60% team free throw performance. If all we ever post is the negatives then how do you encourage others to become fans. Edited March 15, 2017 by geezer

Agree it would have taken a near perfect game for the Cards to win by that much and like I said I didn't expect it, but if the guards got hot from three point land early and LU got a lead then strange things could happen. Garth is capable of making a bunch of threes occasionally but not consistently. My hope for next year is that the two recruits might come in and contribute right away and the transfer that sat out this year brings something to the table. Again I don't expect the new recruits to contribute but I believe that for Lamar to improve on this year they are going to have to. I don't expect Weisbrod to learn to shoot from the outside, I don't expect the team as a whole to learn to take care of the basketball and eliminate turnovers. I do expect there will be no set offense that gets open shots and there will be the same standing around waiting for whoever has the ball to make their one against the defense move and prayer for a foul that delivers another great 60% team free throw performance. If all we ever post is the negatives then how do you encourage others to become fans.

 

Fair enough. I do get tired of posting negatives but I don't want to be a Polly Anna either. I am optimistic because it appears that we are headed the right direction. I do know that Price has had a lot of success in his past. And I am optimistic that we apparently have some bigger players coming in to help out. I like weisbrods overall game and especially his effort. I think Noel should be our starting point guard. I like Garths ability to shoot although I wish he were much more consistent. I think Bosha understands how to play team basketball. I wish he would have done more in the weight room. I think Nzeakor has promise but he needs to develop a jump shot but given our lack of size he's forced to play in the post. Granted, our season beats the hell out of where we've been in the past. But, there is a lot that frustrates me. I'm hoping that it's more to do with the lack of inside talent than it is the coaching. That's why I said earlier that Price has definitely earned at least two more seasons. A raise, no. If he leaves, oh well. But that's not going to happen goin 10-8 in our conference. If he gets us to a legitimate contender then we pay him. If he doesn't then we let him go and we step up and pay what it takes to get a good candidate in here. Or we say screw it and go to club/non scholarship division 2 basketball. Coaching is a brutal world. Win or youre gone. If you can't deal with that find a new profession. I'm not saying it's right or wrong but that's the way it is. Getting free college to play a sport is a privilege. If you can't win and thus can't make money then you are just penalizing the rest of the students because they essentially have to subsidize you via higher tuition to cover the costs.

Edited March 15, 2017 by PeckEm