18-19 MBB Season Recap

Young team returns in 2018-2019 with tons of promise. Can they get back to the NCAA Tournament?
StablerBum
Posts: 98
Joined: Thu May 10, 2018 10:51 pm
Contact:

18-19 MBB Season Recap

Post by StablerBum » Mon Mar 11, 2019 9:36 pm

Starting a new thread to discuss the season as a whole. I looked up the Lehigh "Team Sheet" for the purposes of the NCAA NET ratings that will be used by the selection committee. Each team has a resume that includes their performance and scores against Quad 1, Quad 2, Quad 3, and Quad 4 opponents.

Lehigh was 0-1 against Quad 1
  • Lost to Kansas State by 19 on the road
Lehigh was 0-4 against Quad 2
  • Lost by 10 @ Yale
    Lost by 21 @ Miami
    Lost by 10 @ WVU
    Lost by 13 @ Colgate
4-4 against Quad 3
16-2 against Quad 4

I share this because this team won 20 games, but didn't win a single game in which they overachieved. Not only that, they lost by 10 plus in their 5 games against "good" teams (Quads 1 and 2) with an average margin of 14.6. This team wasn't close to being competitive at an NCAA tournament level. I don't see a path to the NCAA tournament unless one of two things happen - Brett Reed lucks into a second NBA lottery pick to carry him or this program decides they want to be good at basketball (i.e. win games against good teams) and not just shooting.


User avatar
RichH
Posts: 3904
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2018 5:53 pm
Contact:

Re: 18-19 MBB Season Recap

Post by RichH » Tue Mar 12, 2019 2:44 pm

Multitasking has usually not been a hallmark of Doc's teams. This year no exception. A one trick pony. Out shoot the opponent. As SB points out, that trick doesnt beat good teams.
Next year?? More athletes fewer "shoot only" players.
Will we be any less frustrating?
Hawk85
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 3:12 pm
Contact:

Re: 18-19 MBB Season Recap

Post by Hawk85 » Tue Mar 12, 2019 3:30 pm

RichH, with this team I am not sure who you are referring to. Which shooters would you remove?
User avatar
RichH
Posts: 3904
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2018 5:53 pm
Contact:

Re: 18-19 MBB Season Recap

Post by RichH » Tue Mar 12, 2019 3:44 pm

Not my point. This past season D of any kind was rare . With the loss of CB and MW even rarer still. Partly depth I guess but more players who when hot could carry the team. A liability tho on D and lethal when shots didnt fall.
Why Doc couldnt get this team to play D, I dont know.
We could be real interesting next year. D??
Hawk85
Posts: 12
Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 3:12 pm
Contact:

Re: 18-19 MBB Season Recap

Post by Hawk85 » Tue Mar 12, 2019 3:55 pm

Got it, I am hopeful D will improve, but concerned points will be at a premium.
User avatar
RichH
Posts: 3904
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2018 5:53 pm
Contact:

Re: 18-19 MBB Season Recap

Post by RichH » Tue Mar 12, 2019 4:22 pm

Offense certainly will be different. That does not seem to be a bad thing tho. Can JC create more balance between scoring and distribution. MW ,PA,CB JW JA give Doc lots of options 2 thru4. Karnik and Lynch at 5

The broken record - Will we play Defense??
ngineer
Posts: 1119
Joined: Sat May 26, 2018 10:54 pm
Contact:

Re: 18-19 MBB Season Recap

Post by ngineer » Tue Mar 12, 2019 4:54 pm

If Karnik and Lynch can "up" their game, they could become potent. It's been awhile since we've had some strong #5's and when you do, it can free up the perimeter guys. We'll still have some shooters and Cohen should be 1st team pre-season. An improved D would certainly be a difference maker.
User avatar
van
Posts: 767
Joined: Mon May 07, 2018 1:49 pm
Location: KY
Contact:

Re: 18-19 MBB Season Recap

Post by van » Tue Mar 12, 2019 8:13 pm

not sure if you an expect Karnik to up his game substantially as his game is already pretty sound in my opinion, Lynch has the most room for improvement
StablerBum
Posts: 98
Joined: Thu May 10, 2018 10:51 pm
Contact:

Re: 18-19 MBB Season Recap

Post by StablerBum » Tue Mar 12, 2019 9:55 pm

I think Karnik and, to a lesser extent, Lynch are pretty good on the offensive end and decent on the glass. Definitely room for improvement on D for both. I know that neither of them will be a shot blocker/rim protector type but it would be nice for them to be a bit more active on D. Hoping that J. Wilson, C. Bennett, and maybe Alamudun can bring some length and athleticism to the wings.

Part of this is philosophical (and I would say a huge strategic mistake) as Reed has this team playing extremely conservatively on D. They ranked 323rd out of 353 in forcing turnovers and 307th in block %. If you play that reactionary, you should have an exceptionally low FG% defense. Basically, play extremely fundamentally sound, don't gamble at all, and force your opponent into low % shots. Instead, Lehigh plays with zero aggression (no turnovers and blocks), yet still gives up an average (159th in the nation) FG% defense. It's just not working.

And for those wondering, this defensive philosophy does work. Former Bucknell coach Dave Paulsen was a master at it. Their 2013 Bucknell team finished 28-6 while finishing DEAD LAST in the nation in forcing turnovers. However, they were 4th in the entire country in FG% defense. And they went to the tournament as an 11 seed. Again, it's not the philosophy it is Reed's inability to get guys to buy-in and execute.
Sundayamqb
Posts: 676
Joined: Mon May 07, 2018 10:42 am
Contact:

Re: 18-19 MBB Season Recap

Post by Sundayamqb » Wed Mar 13, 2019 11:34 pm

I remember after the Army win, perhaps, one of the players -- JW, I think was talking about how Doc talked all the time about the importance and focus of paying D.

Clearly, the strategy being employed is not working with top teams.

That said, more depth allows for more aggressive D -- and more opportunities to be aggressive and commit fouls.

I like the potential offense next year. It's the year to make things happen, but there's got to be depth throughout the year.

Andree and Cohen are two top-notch players and have the potential to provide great senior leadership. Three rising sophomores and two rising juniors showed their mettle this year. Add in a couple of question marks and a freshman or two and you've got the makings of a great team.

But it seems we say this before almost every year.
Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 30 guests