Robert Morris fell to Clemson 64-57. Some thoughts...
-Nice battle from the guys tonight. After trailing by just four at half, Clemson used an 11-0 run to open up what would eventually be an 18 point lead. RMU cut it to as close as six but couldn't complete what would be an impressive comeback.
-The second half thing is concerning to me. We've seen them come out really flat to start the second half of games several times before. Even if you think back to Duquesne, a game they won in dominating fashion, the Dukes used a 12-2 run early in the second half to make things interesting. Against Toledo, it was 13-4. Youngstown State didn't go on a big run, but the energy level was way down. These are concerns. RMU has to bring it for 40 minutes, not 35.
-Marcquise Reed: 21 points on 9-14 shooting. Against the ACC (at UNC, at Clemson), he averaged 22.5 points per game. Reed was just named NEC rookie of the week for the second time last week.
-Reed just really impresses the hell out of me. He's a good three point shooter and INCREDIBLE around the rim. No one can get to the rim, finish, or draw a foul like Reed can. His instincts are incredibly rare for a freshman. I love watching him play.
-Like I wrote about earlier in the week though, RMU just has not had a secondary scorer in any given game. Rodney Pryor and Lucky Jones can score, but it's been a rare occurrence to have more than one guy hitting on one night. Tonight, Pryor shot a dreadful 3-18 and Jones went 5-14. While Reed was great, RMU needs someone else to score with him when he's on. If Pryor or Jones was knocking down shots, RMU would have won this game.
-Scoring around the rim is a huge problem. RMU shot just 32.4 percent from the field, about seven points below their season average of 40.1 percent (294th in college hoops). The biggest problem for these struggles is because of how poorly RMU is around the rim. Upon some research from the site hoop-math, RMU is shooting just 50.7 percent at the rim. Think about that... only half of the shots RMU is putting up within a 5 foot radius of the rim are going in. That figure would rank them 321st in college basketball. So... not good. RMU has to take advantage of looks at the rim. This has to get better.
-Loved the defense today. They forced 17 turnovers and held Clemson to 4-17 from three. It's not like teams have bad shooting percentages from the floor against the Colonials, but the turnovers they force is more than a fair trade off.
-Aaron Tate had another solid game, scoring 4 points and grabbing 5 boards. He also added a block to that total. I really like him playing in the middle of the zone. He brings a toughness that no one else has and is the best rebounder on the team in my opinion. Also, he hit a jump shot which was pretty cool.
One thing I would like to see a little more with Tate is him being used more in the pick and roll action. Tate sets a lot of screens. Like a ton. But rarely ever gets hit rolling to the basket. There are times where he's even in good low post position but his teammates don't find him. Opponents have to respect his ability to roll to the rim or get a decent jump shot out of things.
-The Colonials used their sixth starting lineup of the year. 12 games, six lineups. That says a lot about how the staff is still looking for consistency. Earlier in the week, I wrote about how David Appolon should probably start getting more minutes at point guard and lo and behold look who starts at PG today... David Appolon. He had a nice start to the game but really has nothing of note in the stat line.
-The most annoying thing of the game was no doubt the video broadcast, which showed a replay after anything that happened. That's cool, except for the fact that, you know, a game is still going on. More than a few times we missed a bucket because of a stupid replay.
-RMU finished non-conference play at 4-8. Last year, they went 5-9. It's go time! NEC play begins January 3rd.
That's really all I have, more to come tomorrow.
@C_Cappella
This post was edited on 12/30 11:05 PM by Chris Cappella
-Nice battle from the guys tonight. After trailing by just four at half, Clemson used an 11-0 run to open up what would eventually be an 18 point lead. RMU cut it to as close as six but couldn't complete what would be an impressive comeback.
-The second half thing is concerning to me. We've seen them come out really flat to start the second half of games several times before. Even if you think back to Duquesne, a game they won in dominating fashion, the Dukes used a 12-2 run early in the second half to make things interesting. Against Toledo, it was 13-4. Youngstown State didn't go on a big run, but the energy level was way down. These are concerns. RMU has to bring it for 40 minutes, not 35.
-Marcquise Reed: 21 points on 9-14 shooting. Against the ACC (at UNC, at Clemson), he averaged 22.5 points per game. Reed was just named NEC rookie of the week for the second time last week.
-Reed just really impresses the hell out of me. He's a good three point shooter and INCREDIBLE around the rim. No one can get to the rim, finish, or draw a foul like Reed can. His instincts are incredibly rare for a freshman. I love watching him play.
-Like I wrote about earlier in the week though, RMU just has not had a secondary scorer in any given game. Rodney Pryor and Lucky Jones can score, but it's been a rare occurrence to have more than one guy hitting on one night. Tonight, Pryor shot a dreadful 3-18 and Jones went 5-14. While Reed was great, RMU needs someone else to score with him when he's on. If Pryor or Jones was knocking down shots, RMU would have won this game.
-Scoring around the rim is a huge problem. RMU shot just 32.4 percent from the field, about seven points below their season average of 40.1 percent (294th in college hoops). The biggest problem for these struggles is because of how poorly RMU is around the rim. Upon some research from the site hoop-math, RMU is shooting just 50.7 percent at the rim. Think about that... only half of the shots RMU is putting up within a 5 foot radius of the rim are going in. That figure would rank them 321st in college basketball. So... not good. RMU has to take advantage of looks at the rim. This has to get better.
-Loved the defense today. They forced 17 turnovers and held Clemson to 4-17 from three. It's not like teams have bad shooting percentages from the floor against the Colonials, but the turnovers they force is more than a fair trade off.
-Aaron Tate had another solid game, scoring 4 points and grabbing 5 boards. He also added a block to that total. I really like him playing in the middle of the zone. He brings a toughness that no one else has and is the best rebounder on the team in my opinion. Also, he hit a jump shot which was pretty cool.
One thing I would like to see a little more with Tate is him being used more in the pick and roll action. Tate sets a lot of screens. Like a ton. But rarely ever gets hit rolling to the basket. There are times where he's even in good low post position but his teammates don't find him. Opponents have to respect his ability to roll to the rim or get a decent jump shot out of things.
-The Colonials used their sixth starting lineup of the year. 12 games, six lineups. That says a lot about how the staff is still looking for consistency. Earlier in the week, I wrote about how David Appolon should probably start getting more minutes at point guard and lo and behold look who starts at PG today... David Appolon. He had a nice start to the game but really has nothing of note in the stat line.
-The most annoying thing of the game was no doubt the video broadcast, which showed a replay after anything that happened. That's cool, except for the fact that, you know, a game is still going on. More than a few times we missed a bucket because of a stupid replay.
-RMU finished non-conference play at 4-8. Last year, they went 5-9. It's go time! NEC play begins January 3rd.
That's really all I have, more to come tomorrow.
@C_Cappella
This post was edited on 12/30 11:05 PM by Chris Cappella
