Likes - we emphasized defense, this will be good going forward. Ben came in and got a big block in the 2+ minutes he played.

Dislikes - sloppy ball control (include TO's), foul shooting, 3 pt D.

Out of the ordinary - Alston had 4 fouls and no points. We no longer run our offense through him and that is good as we need to share the ball with the higher level of talent this year. I am not sure if he even charged the basket tonight. I would still like to see that a couple times in the game.

Frustrating - A technical when we were up 38 - 30. Richmond hits both to make it 38-32 and they continue to make it 39-38 and they were back in the game. This was our highest point spread of the night and maybe we could have put the nail in the coffin. We let them back in the game.

Question - Was Welch injured? I didn't see him out there.

Final thought - it seems like we always face a 7 footer! Where is ours?

I started writing a post not too long after the game, and when it got to about 800 words or so, I read what I wrote and decided it was too full of complaints and profanity and negativity and sweeping generalizations that I can't post it. But here's a snippet:



A lot of it is about trash-talking and trash behavior from fans, coaches, refs, and players. Burner accounts and stunts and memes and taunting and lack of accountability and cheating (one paragraph was about the flop from Duquesne's Halil Barre early in the 2nd half of our last game). Maybe it's a real thing, but I'm thinking it might just be how society has drifted over the past 5-10 years.

Anyway, it was a game we should have won. Free throw shooting could have won it. A better crowd would have helped (how many games to we lose when there's no students, low energy and bad weather?), the turnovers were bad but not catastrophic, and I didn't like some of the rotations (some of it was because of bad calls). Richmond wears teams down-- their whole defensive philosophy is going to make teams look stagnant and off-balance, so I thought we did OK.... we shot good enough to win. We gave up too many threes. But it's hard to get over that we lost by the margin of the two free throws they got on the technical foul called on Des Watson.

Watson deserved the T, was jawing at a guy 2 or 3 plays before and the ref let it go. I agree it was a big momentum swing and a mental error that has become typical of this team. Why is he not taken out of the game after that? Drew just encourages the behavior by keeping him in the game. I thought the team played hard but having someone step out of bounds on the last play of the game is something you see in a JV high school game.

Quinn was pushed out though, with the way the game had been called it should have been a foul.

Just watched the replay, could have been a touch foul on Richmond on the floor 10 feet from the basket but it worked to Loyola’s advantage to play on with only seconds left. No one on the bench, including Drew or fans sitting courtside was calling for a foul. Quinn stepped out of bounds.

In a league where trash talk isn't ubiquitous, Des richly deserves a technical. If that call was the start of an overdue crackdown on rampant trash talk, I can live with it. I'll hold out hope.

Well, even if Quinn hadn't stepped out, very unlikely the contested, step-back desperation 3 he sent Braden's way was going in. So many of his turnovers are him just going up in the air without a plan.

I like Jalen, see the flashes but man he's gotta get better. BPM currently sitting at -4.4 for the year -- the numbers are pretty clear he's been the biggest drag on the team. How long do we keep waiting for him to turn it around this year?

I am disappointed to lose a game we could have won.

With that said, we are witnessing an evolving team and a transition from the MVC to the A10. I am convinced we are growing into a better team and we should be stronger at the end of the season than we are now. We are seeing the coaches incorporate more players into key roles. Last night, I thought we were going to run the final play through Norris. Last year, it seemed that everything ran through Norris and Alston. This year we are trusting more players to play key roles and transitioning into a more well rounded team.

Look at scoring, if you consider who has lead the team in points during the season, it has been like no other in recent memory. We have had 6 players lead the team in scoring: Norris, Quinn, Dawson, Alston, Watson, and Dame. I think that Drew is testing and challenging his players - either purposefully or out of necessity. In any event, we are watching a group of coaches and players learn about themselves. We have seen players adjust. It is not always pretty, but it is interesting. I am hopeful that our team will learn and develop from games like these.

For the record, I am patient with our team, but to paraphrase JCT, the refs suck. They have not stepped up their game from MVC to A10 standards. They look a step slow for this league. Phantom fouls and collisions that are no calls. It's brutal.

Another winnable game, lost. That is now 4 on the year. 2nd L at home. Growing team, yes. However, cannot happen at home. Richmond is not a scary team, and won't be very good either.

Next.... Brutal combo between snowstorm + students still gone for break. Place was empty in person, and on TV. 7 more home games on the year.....

Further..... I thought shot selection was pretty good in first half. Lots of semi-open looks, unforced shots. Had half of them found a way in, we should have been up by at least 10 at halftime against these guys. It didn't feel like Richmond amped up their defense until second half came around. Good job to them. Forced our guys into very poor shot selection, and resorting to hero ball as the second half waned on.

Rubin needs to stop finding himself in vulnerable positions. I do not like his placement on the high post on offense (in non-pick-n-roll possessions), nor should he be getting caught in switches to defend the 3. I think Richmond got 3 or 4 threes off of this. Very Krutwig-like positioning on both ends.

Des's technical sucked, and while untimely, shouldn't have swayed the game as much as it did had shots been falling in. But it did. Richmond went on 10-run and that was their game-changing moment.

Quinn @ 30 minutes, for only 5 assists and 0 points. These are some minutes that could have gone to the few other guards & shooters on the bench. That Nerf basketball/ NBA Jam habit of flying to the rim and passing without a plan needs to stop.

Next, it's easy to point the finger at the officiating. But if this team can do things the right way and shots fall in throughout the game, officiating would have been a non-factor during the final minute. Those guys had a very bad night however. Hope to never see them again.

If Phil doesn't get 0...... A few additional made FT's...... Or playing Sheldon for only 1 possession to get a quick 3..... Last night is a Win despite the Des technical and few out-of-bounds miss-calls.

Yeah, 44 minutes between Alston & JQ for a total of 0 points. Throw in 7 minutes for Dolan and a "trillion" from him (0 points, rebs, ast, stl, blks). I think JQ shows flashes of being a legit PG, but we need more from him. And Alston, man, not sure what's up with him. With Dawson, Dame & Des stepping up, if we can get a consistent 13+ PPG from Alston, we should be in good shape. Goose egg (plus 4 PFs and 2 TOs) from him really hurts.