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WF MBB: Game #1 - Fairfield Stags - November 7 - 8pm - ACCN+

Complacent Deac said:
Any quotes from Forbes' post-game?

The press conference they forgot to turn ON the microphone - lol.
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From the official website writeup:

"I knew this was going to be a really hard game. I have a lot of respect for Jay Young and his team. I was really concerned with how they played Rutgers. They reminded me of some of the teams I've had in the past when I was at East Tennessee State where you go in there and pop a high-major team because they're not ready to go. They're going to win a lot of games. I don't know where they're picked. I saw something that's not correct. I think they have a really good basketball team. They're really hard to prepare for, because they stay with their offense. It's a really hard game for your first game. That's when you got a lot of new guys, and I thought our guys did a really good job paying attention to detail to put the game plan into the game and how we were going to defend all those actions. We didn't get off to a great start offensively, but we didn't let our offense dictate how we defended and that kept us in the game. Ty and Andrew got in some foul trouble, but our bench really helped us. Bobi, Cam, Keller and even Bradford started and played pretty well.

We ended the half with seven stops in a row from the 4:33 mark. That really turned the table for us going into halftime. In the second half I didn't think we fouled as much and that really kind of helped us and kept them off the line. We only had 10 turnovers and four of those were charges, so only six live-ball turnovers, which is pretty good. They can't turn defense into offense that way. Carr got off to a great start. Daivien made some free throws late. I don't think he and Ty played as well as they can play. Cam played really hard. We scored 71 points, but we left probably a couple or three layups and a couple of one-on-ones on the table there that we probably could have put the lead up a little bit better. I was very happy with that win. I knew it was gonna be a hard one. One of the harder first games I think I've had in my career as far as an opener in a game like that." - head coach Steve Forbes
 
Bradford struck me as meh. He probably stood out to me the most in a negative way. He also repeatedly fixed/cleaned his shoe while the ball was in play - once while he was halfheartedly setting a ball screen and the second when he was the active on-ball defender. I mean, come on man.
 
I am actually a Hildreth fan and I'm glad he is on the team. My frustration is that we looked like shit on offense for an extended period of time, and Monsanto is on the bench while Cam is having no success shooting the ball, even with wide open looks.

I don't have very high expectations for this team, but I'm cautiously optimistic about next year without any unanticipated departures. Keller passed the eye test and was the most disruptive defender at the 5. Carr looks great offensively and showed really nice touch. I agree with many here that Bobi could be special. I'm excited to see Ituka and hope he can run the point. We've got a bunch of other guys who could develop and be solid players next year.
 
Meant to mention this earlier, but I was really impressed with Taylor on defense. He has quick hands and is pretty good at staying in front of his man while also rotating to help on double teams.
 
I am really pumped to see Ituka and Klintman share the floor. I think that combination is going to be fun to watch
 
Is there a reason why Robert McCray doesn't play? Is he hurt? Forbes doghouse? I thought he would be a contributor this year. He is obviously super athletic and bigger/longer than our other guards this year. I would think he could at least give us defensive/glue minutes and provide clean up and transition offense. He was pretty highly touted out of HS...doesn't add up. THX
 
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wfu22fan said:
Can’t shoot a lick. 6-4 power forward with no outside shot. And he takes Monsanto’s minutes. That’s a crime.
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We don't win this game without Hildreth's contribution in the second half. People need to lighten up on making major decisions on players abilities based on one game.
 
TheTwinAndreBen said:
Is there a reason why Robert McCray doesn't play? Is he hurt? Forbes doghouse? I thought he would be a contributor this year. He is obviously super athletic and bigger and longer than our other guards this year. I would think he could at least give us defensive/glue minutes and provide clean up and transition offense. He was pretty highly touted out of HS...doesn't add up. THX
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Lucas Taylor has beaten him out at least for now. When Ituka returns, WF has rotation up to 11. There just aren't enough minutes to go around.

While this is likely Haas, I generally defer to the coaches on minutes allocations as watching only games without knowledge of the content of practice and prep time and then making declarative statements about who should play more or less is beyond arrogant. That said, admit that I have no idea what Damari is going through and perhaps emotional exhaustion explains it all, but either Damari can play or he can't. Playing him for one short stretch in the first half, regardless of how poorly he played (and he did rebound as well as anyone on the roster for that stretch), and then benching him makes no sense to me. WF had two current NBA players on last year's roster, and at times last year, Monsanto was the best offensive player on the team and that was when he wasn't 100% healthy.

If Monsanto is able to play, he needs to get extended runs. At worst, Monsanto is the 2nd most talented player on the roster. WF's ceiling as team is so much lower if he's not going to be a factor. Realize that Monsanto is and may always be prone to mistakes, but he is a rare talent. Only one game, but it's just hard to have him sit out competitive games. Understand that there is likely more to the story, but this team with no Damari (or extremely limited Damari) is not going anywhere.
 
Reading between the lines the few times Forbes talks about McCray is that he doesn't bring it every day in practice to the level necessary, and his defensive principles aren't consistent (not sitting down in his stance -- think the only times I've heard Forbes say that is when it's around McCray). Also think he's pretty loose with the ball. But I dunno for sure.
 
I also want to say I don't think the criticism's of Hildreth are personal or actually degrading like for instance Whitt last year. The kid brings it and goes all out every time he's on the court which is great and played well last night. My opinion is that he's just not talented enough to be a top 5 minutes guy on a tourney team. That doesn't mean he couldn't have a role on one.
 
Deacsfan27 said:
I was impressed for the most part with Fairfield. They shot terribly and still were in it late. They've got some talent that should do well in the MAAC.
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They are probably a tourney team. Team is mostly upper classman and graduate transfers.
 
Happy for the win, obviously. I’m kind of glad it was a fight and a challenge, so the guys know what to expect later in the season. I like the distribution of scoring. It wasn’t all one guy. And I just love how open and honest Forbes is in his interviews.
 
deacfan78 said:
They are probably a tourney team. Team is mostly upper classman and graduate transfers.
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Fairfield is a solid MAAC team, but absent injuries, they aren't going to the NCAAT. Iona is the best team in the MAAC by miles, and that's a one-bid conference.
 
deacfan123 said:
I also want to say I don't think the criticism's of Hildreth are personal or actually degrading like for instance Whitt last year. The kid brings it and goes all out every time he's on the court which is great and played well last night. My opinion is that he's just not talented enough to be a top 5 minutes guy on a tourney team. That doesn't mean he couldn't have a role on one.
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Maybe we’re not a tourney team

Also some of y’all are deranged
 
Yeah, it was the opener and teams certainly evolve over the course of the season (injuries, changes in game plans, coaching, players improving, etc) but I didn't see much last night that made me believe we were watching a team who will get an at-large bid. I trust Forbes though and he knows what he's doing.
 
22fan is either a raging alcoholic or just kinda a mean old dude
 
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