Robert Morris lost on the road to Long Island 72-65. RMU is now 11-12 overall and 7-4 in conference. LIU improved to 9-13 and 5-6. Some thoughts...
-The seniors, Lucky Jones and David Appolon, did not play in this one. Appolon dislocated his shoulder last Saturday while Jones suffered a concussion. Both are questionable for Saturday at FDU. Just an educated guess, but I'd say Jones goes and Appolon does not.
-Talk about a frustrating game... Robert Morris might have missed Jones/App but it doesn't excuse some of the play. LIU grabbed SEVENTEEN offensive rebounds and forced SEVENTEEN turnovers. 17!!!! Want to know the easiest way to lose a basketball game? Do that.
-Robert Morris forced 17 turnovers of their own but managed just six fast break points and 17 points off of turnovers.
-Again, it's not like LIU did anything significantly better in terms of offensive input, but the rebounding was too much.
-Marcquise Reed lead all scorers with 22 points on 9-14 shooting but also committed nine turnovers. He was excellent shooting the ball, but that was about it. One of the things Toole's talked about in the past is dribbling into trouble areas, and I think Reed did that several times. He dribbled right into double teams and got stripped several times. Tough day for the frosh. Scoring is great, but you can't turn the ball over nine times.
-Really, this game wasn't just about Reed either. No one played well. Kavon Stewart's cold streak continues, as he went just 1-10 from the field with eight assists and five turnovers. The assists:turnovers ratio is solid, but it still didn't really pass the eye test. Too many times things just felt kind of out of control with dribbling into bad areas.
-Rodney Pryor finished the game strong-ish but still shot 7-18 and 1-5 from three, so his cold shooting continues. He did grab a team-high eight rebounds. RMU needs Pryor to shoot better.
-Andre Frederick registered four rebounds and four blocks in 13 minutes... not bad for the seldom-used freshman. Frederick can be a top rim protector in this league but I still think lacks the overall awareness needed in the middle of the zone. Too often it seems like passes zip right past him. Even still, not a bad showing by him.
-Speaking of big men, Leo Gomis might have had the nicest individual offensive play of the game when he got his only bucket, powering his way in the low post and finishing off the glass with a baby hook.
-Stephan Bennett and Aaron Tate (19 and 24 minutes respectively) finished with just a combined three rebounds. In certain situations, the ball just bounced the wrong way or LIU might have had bigger guys, but that's a figure that needs to go way up with those kinds of minutes.
-It's easy to look at this game and say, "oh, no Lucky or Apolon tonight" and excuse it as just that, but it would be wrong. RMU still had Marcquise Reed and Rodney Pryor, the two most talented players on the floor. LIU is nothing more than a decent team. Sometimes, you just have to find a way. Just because RMU was lacking two pieces doesn't excuse the complete domination on the boards or the lackadaisical caring of the basketball.
This post was edited on 2/5 9:47 PM by Chris Cappella
-The seniors, Lucky Jones and David Appolon, did not play in this one. Appolon dislocated his shoulder last Saturday while Jones suffered a concussion. Both are questionable for Saturday at FDU. Just an educated guess, but I'd say Jones goes and Appolon does not.
-Talk about a frustrating game... Robert Morris might have missed Jones/App but it doesn't excuse some of the play. LIU grabbed SEVENTEEN offensive rebounds and forced SEVENTEEN turnovers. 17!!!! Want to know the easiest way to lose a basketball game? Do that.
-Robert Morris forced 17 turnovers of their own but managed just six fast break points and 17 points off of turnovers.
-Again, it's not like LIU did anything significantly better in terms of offensive input, but the rebounding was too much.
-Marcquise Reed lead all scorers with 22 points on 9-14 shooting but also committed nine turnovers. He was excellent shooting the ball, but that was about it. One of the things Toole's talked about in the past is dribbling into trouble areas, and I think Reed did that several times. He dribbled right into double teams and got stripped several times. Tough day for the frosh. Scoring is great, but you can't turn the ball over nine times.
-Really, this game wasn't just about Reed either. No one played well. Kavon Stewart's cold streak continues, as he went just 1-10 from the field with eight assists and five turnovers. The assists:turnovers ratio is solid, but it still didn't really pass the eye test. Too many times things just felt kind of out of control with dribbling into bad areas.
-Rodney Pryor finished the game strong-ish but still shot 7-18 and 1-5 from three, so his cold shooting continues. He did grab a team-high eight rebounds. RMU needs Pryor to shoot better.
-Andre Frederick registered four rebounds and four blocks in 13 minutes... not bad for the seldom-used freshman. Frederick can be a top rim protector in this league but I still think lacks the overall awareness needed in the middle of the zone. Too often it seems like passes zip right past him. Even still, not a bad showing by him.
-Speaking of big men, Leo Gomis might have had the nicest individual offensive play of the game when he got his only bucket, powering his way in the low post and finishing off the glass with a baby hook.
-Stephan Bennett and Aaron Tate (19 and 24 minutes respectively) finished with just a combined three rebounds. In certain situations, the ball just bounced the wrong way or LIU might have had bigger guys, but that's a figure that needs to go way up with those kinds of minutes.
-It's easy to look at this game and say, "oh, no Lucky or Apolon tonight" and excuse it as just that, but it would be wrong. RMU still had Marcquise Reed and Rodney Pryor, the two most talented players on the floor. LIU is nothing more than a decent team. Sometimes, you just have to find a way. Just because RMU was lacking two pieces doesn't excuse the complete domination on the boards or the lackadaisical caring of the basketball.
This post was edited on 2/5 9:47 PM by Chris Cappella
