This was a tough loss. I feel for the players. It was there for the taking. They will never have a do over. I am upset, but my pain is incomparable to the players, their families and the coaches. They were fully invested. I believe they are in pain. I never saw a moment when one of them appeared to play solely for themselves. It was a beautiful team. They are winners. Ironically, it’s why our best players were not 1st team all conference. It is hard to pad your stats when you are playing as a team.

As far as post season tournaments go, we need to take whatever we can get. Post season bids are too fickle. We need to let this team go out with as many as wins as possible.

I have been watching Loyola basketball for 40 years. We have never had a season that improved game after game as much as we did this season. This was the best coaching job we have had. These players seemed like sponges. Every time we would have a break, it seemed like we improved. We may not have the national attention of other teams, but this team will go done as one of my favorites.

It still sucks.

After reflecting on the game overnight, I have a few more thoughts.

It was a roller coaster season. Bad way to lose a game, no doubt. We fought hard, but the FTs, in particular, and our FG shooting killed us. I know people think Drew got out coached and he did make some mistakes. However, what can you do as a coach when you are getting the shots you want and they are not going in? I agree we relied on Dame a bit too much. He always struggled all year against length in the post, but we did not have options as none of our perimeter players were scoring. I would have liked to post Miles up when SBU went small and try to take advantage as Miles has shown he does have some post moves coming down the stretch. He's also mobile enough to have stayed with whoever the smaller post guy was.

Overall, we re-established the brand, we have our students engaged, and alumni as well. It was a terrific year and we have some good recruits coming in. Lots of good players already in the portal and we can offer them minutes as our entire front line, with the exception of Miles are leaving. We need a big, who is a big, not a 6'8" post player as too many A10 schools have bigger kids in the post. We need a good athletic combo 3/4 who can defend, score and shoot it a bit. We also need a slick experienced point guard who can break down a defense, draw fouls and score. I think Drew will be very aggressive and will have a good portal season. Transfers tend to thrive here and its a great environment to play at.

Final thought on the last play. Love Des, but he struggled. He's a warrior and has hit big shots. I understand he has that confidence to take the last shot, but it was out of his range. If you listen to Drew's post game he indicated they screwed up the initial play when the ball got knocked out of bounds. On the last play, if you look at it again, we had time to make one pass on the inbound and as Des got the ball, Braden's guy drifted towards Des. Braden was actually open closer to the arc and would have had an open look 3. He wasn't shooting it well, but it would have been a better option.

Oh well, I agree, if we get invited to the NIT, we go! It would be unbelievable to get a home game in the Joe!

Go 'Blers!

Day-after-thought: Two things I heard that I find absolutely crazy if true: This tournament uses a different ball, and teams aren’t allowed to practice in the arena prior to their game? Both teams had to deal with it, so it can’t be used as an excuse in a game you still should’ve won…but I don’t think it’s coincidence that every game was pretty low scoring, and every team that won yesterday had played the day before. I was talking with a co-worker today who played D1 baseball, who agreed that’s crazy to do and compared it to times they were limited in practice on a new field that for certain affected his performance. This isn’t new, but I just can’t understand why they think it’s a good idea?

Interesting. The NCAA rolled the bright orange Wilson Evo NXT ball couple of years back and it was not well received. The A10 this year I believed used the Spalding ball and LU at home uses the Nike ball.

There are no universal standards for ball in the NCAA and the link to the article states, homes can pick what ever balls they want within certain parameters. This is crazy and is probably why homes teams have a great advantage. Seems like teams will go with uniform and clothing partner if they a ball. We are aligned with Nike. These balls all have a different feel. With that being said, we should gotten the A10 ball and we should have used them leading up to the tournament. Notice how some of the west coast teams use the Wilson ball and the better than predicted success they had in NCAA tournament.

https://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-different-basketballs-20160225-story.html

Interesting chart:

Just brutal showing by Des and Braden. Really feel for them. They are such fierce competitors and have looked so good most the season. I'm sure they are taking this hard.

Surprised to see the Free Throw Merchant Banks so high.

Banks shamelessly stated that he bumped into (Miles) to get the 3pt foul. I saw him do it Wednesday night in the game against LaSalle. I have to believe Drew and staff informed the guys on Banks.

I mean, that's a smart play. Once Miles left his feet, he would have been foolish not to get the contact. In two games against us, he shot 24-24 from the stripe. His crossover on Phil a minute or two before that was just sick. With a minute left in regulation, a blind, behind the head dump off to Brown after a P&R for an and-one. Dude just made a number of winning plays down the stretch.

The last play where Miles fouled Banks was at least the second time that we switched a big onto a guard and got smoked. Miles was on an island.

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Do not know the answer to this but there is a possibility there was a defensive mistake. Sometimes we switch all over and other times no....other times slide behind ...other times fight through....other times double and help.....Miles is still not real strong on guarding out on the floor. You would think with a player like Banks they could have made a decision not to switch in which case it was mistake or we did not want Banks to take a 3 and thought that Miles out on him would prevent it and a combination of Miles leaving his feet and Banks just being smart....oh well...it is all over now Baby Blue. Nothing worse than a meaningful game like this where you are full of ..what ifs?,,,,,,But I hope the team takes to heart and takes pride in what they accomplished this year. ...and may still accomplish.