Excellent win to salvage a game down in Chattanooga! The guys brought it across the board!
David Appolon continues to set an example on both sides of the ball. He plays his butt off on the defensive end, and makes as many hustle plays as any one in college basketball. App finished with 11 points, 4 boards, 2 steals and made all five of his free throws.
Rodney Pryor is a player. The man has already shown what he can bring to the table if the Colonials can manufacture him shots. I think we could see Pryor become "the man" on the offensive end, as Lucky Jones looks for his jump shot. Two things on Pryor. One, can he stay healthy? He has missed the last two seasons with knee injuries. Hopefully they hold up. Two, if he does stay healthy, how will his conditioning hold up? A 30 plus game season has to be pretty hard on a guy who hasn't played in two years. It will be interesting to see how Toole manages his minutes as the season moves along. Pryor is currently playing 22.7 minutes-per-game.
Speaking of Lucky Jones... I marvel at his ability to effect a game even when he cant hit shots. Right now, Luck is really struggling with his perimeter jump shot. He was 0-3 from three Thursday, and shooting only 26.5 from downtown on the season (9 for 34). He's only shooting 30 percent overall. With all these struggles, Jones has still been the teams second most important player this season (behind Pryor in my opinion), and is leading the team in minutes, rebounds, and steals. We've seen it in the past, but it needs to be said again. Unlike most players, Jones does not allow his offensive struggles to effect the other aspects of his game.
Home stand: The Colonials will now play four of their next five at home, including three in a row starting Tuesday against Youngstown State. After that, Buffalo and Duquesne come in before a trip to Toledo. The Colonials wrap up the non-conference schedule with a home game against Delaware and a trip to Clemson.
There are some wins to be had as Andy Toole's bunch starts to figure things out. I would guess that RMU enters NEC play at five and seven, but six and six is quite possible.
Some Key Stats: Not only does Pryor lead the team in points-per-game at 14.5, but he is shooting 51 percent from the field, and 51 percent from three! That is very impressive for a guy that does all his work from the perimeter.
Kavon Stewart really worked on his jump shot this offseason, but it has yet to translate over to the game. Kavon is 2-11 from three so far this season. Last year on the season, Stewart took only seven threes all year and made two. Kavon is really struggling at the rim too. Teams are taking away his left hand, and he needs to develop a right hand. Kavon is only shooting 23 percent from the field overall, after shooting 40 percent last season. His assist are up about a half per game, but Stewart needs to be more consistent with his jump shot and finish at the rim if Robert Morris is to take off.
The defense will be excellent by seasons end. The numbers, even with the crappy opener against Lafayette, and beat downs by UNC and Georgetown, still has some pretty impressive numbers. Robert Morris wont play a team like UNC or Georgetown the rest of the regular season. According to KenPom, the Colonials are still holding teams to 99.4 points-per-100 possessions. That's a decent mark considering the 180 points given up in the first two games.
The Colonials zone has done a nice job contesting threes, holding teams to 31 percent from downtown so far this season. Robert Morris is doing a great job turning teams over as well. They are just outside the top 100 in turnover percentage through six games according to KemPom. Maybe their most impressive stat? The Colonials steal percentage is 13.7 percent, good for 15th in the entire country.
Like I said, this could be an elite defense by seasons end. The next six games, five against mid-majors, will be a great indicator.
We will have an update on the NEC and how the conference is doing after this weekends games.
--Lee Kunkel
--@kunkel5
This post was edited on 11/29 3:58 PM by ColonialCrazy
David Appolon continues to set an example on both sides of the ball. He plays his butt off on the defensive end, and makes as many hustle plays as any one in college basketball. App finished with 11 points, 4 boards, 2 steals and made all five of his free throws.
Rodney Pryor is a player. The man has already shown what he can bring to the table if the Colonials can manufacture him shots. I think we could see Pryor become "the man" on the offensive end, as Lucky Jones looks for his jump shot. Two things on Pryor. One, can he stay healthy? He has missed the last two seasons with knee injuries. Hopefully they hold up. Two, if he does stay healthy, how will his conditioning hold up? A 30 plus game season has to be pretty hard on a guy who hasn't played in two years. It will be interesting to see how Toole manages his minutes as the season moves along. Pryor is currently playing 22.7 minutes-per-game.
Speaking of Lucky Jones... I marvel at his ability to effect a game even when he cant hit shots. Right now, Luck is really struggling with his perimeter jump shot. He was 0-3 from three Thursday, and shooting only 26.5 from downtown on the season (9 for 34). He's only shooting 30 percent overall. With all these struggles, Jones has still been the teams second most important player this season (behind Pryor in my opinion), and is leading the team in minutes, rebounds, and steals. We've seen it in the past, but it needs to be said again. Unlike most players, Jones does not allow his offensive struggles to effect the other aspects of his game.
Home stand: The Colonials will now play four of their next five at home, including three in a row starting Tuesday against Youngstown State. After that, Buffalo and Duquesne come in before a trip to Toledo. The Colonials wrap up the non-conference schedule with a home game against Delaware and a trip to Clemson.
There are some wins to be had as Andy Toole's bunch starts to figure things out. I would guess that RMU enters NEC play at five and seven, but six and six is quite possible.
Some Key Stats: Not only does Pryor lead the team in points-per-game at 14.5, but he is shooting 51 percent from the field, and 51 percent from three! That is very impressive for a guy that does all his work from the perimeter.
Kavon Stewart really worked on his jump shot this offseason, but it has yet to translate over to the game. Kavon is 2-11 from three so far this season. Last year on the season, Stewart took only seven threes all year and made two. Kavon is really struggling at the rim too. Teams are taking away his left hand, and he needs to develop a right hand. Kavon is only shooting 23 percent from the field overall, after shooting 40 percent last season. His assist are up about a half per game, but Stewart needs to be more consistent with his jump shot and finish at the rim if Robert Morris is to take off.
The defense will be excellent by seasons end. The numbers, even with the crappy opener against Lafayette, and beat downs by UNC and Georgetown, still has some pretty impressive numbers. Robert Morris wont play a team like UNC or Georgetown the rest of the regular season. According to KenPom, the Colonials are still holding teams to 99.4 points-per-100 possessions. That's a decent mark considering the 180 points given up in the first two games.
The Colonials zone has done a nice job contesting threes, holding teams to 31 percent from downtown so far this season. Robert Morris is doing a great job turning teams over as well. They are just outside the top 100 in turnover percentage through six games according to KemPom. Maybe their most impressive stat? The Colonials steal percentage is 13.7 percent, good for 15th in the entire country.
Like I said, this could be an elite defense by seasons end. The next six games, five against mid-majors, will be a great indicator.
We will have an update on the NEC and how the conference is doing after this weekends games.
--Lee Kunkel
--@kunkel5
This post was edited on 11/29 3:58 PM by ColonialCrazy
