The playing of King (although for only 6 minutes) & the recovery of Osborne, to aid O’Leary & Thomas made a huge difference, versus the using of Crisman as a power forward sub the last game.

LU’s centers & power forwards outscored Tulane’s 30 to 6. Tulane only hit 2 of 11 FGs (18%), including 0-2 from 3 land, and they only shot 2-8 from the line. While the big Ramblers were shooting at a 65% FG rate. The bigs’ rebounding was close: they had 19, while we had 17 (but we had 2 additional team rebounds).

The story at point was not so good. Stark killed us scoring 25 vs. White’s 11 (with Dokubo scoring his usual “0”). White shot well from 2 land 3-4 and the line 5-6, but missed both 3s. He only had 2 assists (and 2 turnovers), but had 2 steals and 5 boards. Stark had 6 turnovers and no rebounds. A lot of improvement is needed in the assist and defense area.

The other crushing mismatch was 6’2”, 210 lb Dabney who should have been covered by our defensive “expert”, Crisman. Crisman who averages 30 minutes a game produces 3 points (with a 30% FG average) and 3 rebounds a game. Dabney poured in 25 against us and pulled down 9 rebounds to Crisman’s 0 rebounds.

Crisman (Whitesell’s last recruit) is a smart player, a team player, who always hustles, and does what the coach says. BUT HE DOES NOT HAVE MVC LEVEL TALENT (speed, jumping ability, size)(AND NEVER WILL) TO BE A STARTER. I am glad we have him coming off the bench. Off the court he could become the team’s most successful personr. If the Coach continues to play him 30 minutes a game for this year and next, I would question if the coach has the talent to be a MVC Coach. Turk and Doyle need minutes and Ingram will need them next year.

As far as the 210 lb., or more, guards we are going to be seeing in the MVC, we may consider playing Thomas a bit against them and having King, Osborne, O’Leary, and CJ in for more minutes.

The other obvious big downfall for LU in the game was the 3 point shooting of our guards, going 2-18, making none in the 2nd half. I think a few more assists by the guards & a few less 3s may help.

Hopefully we will see LU’s Pickett in the near future.

Tulane is a good team and we gave them a scare at their place. And for the next game, we should not be overconfident, Rockhurst has beaten us in the past.

Go Ramblers.

I do not think we have seen the best LU has to offer this year and for two reasons.
1. We have had a lot of injuries and have not yet had our top rotation with much time together.
2. I still think the loss of all of our assistant coaches had to take a toll in getting ready for the season.
However I agree on a couple of your points. We have to somehow be able to compete in the paint. You have to wonder overall what are best 5 is.
Go RAMBLERS