So the SIUE Cougars are not off to a great start at starting great. In all three regular season losses, the Cougars dug themselves into deep holes going into the locker room before rallying to a decent second half.
Last night's game was flat out embarrassing. It was the Cougars biggest loss of the season, and it was against the one team they had a legitimate chance of beating. Here are the numbers.
SIUE is being outscored by their opponents 68-133 in the first half.
SIUE is being outscored 121-107 in the second half.
What a difference a 15 minute break does for this team. I don't know what it is. Coach Forrester has been stressing all along in his post-game press conferences that the team needs to play an entire 40 minutes. It is one thing to say it and another to do it. Who knows what it is. Whether it is nerves, inexperience, pre-game preparation or just a lack of urgency out of the gates something needs to be addressed by the Cougars coaching staff. Something has to be done to make this team score early, and it starts from the inside out.
The rebounding game has got to be better, and it's not the players fault, we don't have the tools to compete with some of the bigger athletes. Many of you saw the game against Illinois State, the Cougars were dominated in the paint. The same happened at Illinois. Last night, Evansville out-rebounded the Cougars 49-23. Those are eye-popping stats. the Aces grabbed 26 more rebounds than SIUE. You cannot win basketball games doing that. Mark Yelovich grabbed seven boards to lead the Cougars, followed by Aamir McCleary's four. McCleary leads SIUE averaging five rebounds a game. Your offensive minded team leader and GUARD cannot lead your team in rebounds. This is spawned by the Cougars weak inside game, Nikolo Bundalo and Dob Mavrik shared time against Evansville in the paint, with 18 and 19 minutes respectfully. Mav had 2 rebounds and 2 points, while Nik had 3 rebounds and 4 points. There is no production from inside the paint. Zeke Schneider is finally sitting on the bench, he played just three minutes last night.
For the Cougars, the inside game and establishing some physical presence should be a priority. Whether it is feasible with this cast of players remains to be seen.
On the bright side, help is on the way for next season. Mike Messer, a shooting guard has committed to SIUE, he is the first of SIUE's three commitments for next season to be evaluated by Scouts Inc. and he comes in with an 85 ranking, which in english terms means he is a "mid major prospect," expected to start for 2-3 seasons. They say "Messer is a smooth and skilled wing that competes on both ends of the floor. He has a terrific work ethic that allows him to be productive on a regular basis. In transition Messer runs the outside lane for the spot up jumpers or displays his ability to handle..." on the ESPN website.
That's great, now get us some help in the paint.
The three point shooting needs to settle down. SIUE was 2-15 from long range, take Cody Rincker out of the equation and they were 0-13.
SHOT SELECTION
SHOT SELECTION
SHOT SELECTION.
needless to say, it hasn't been smart.
Next up for SIUE is Ball State. the Cardinals are 1-0 after a 10 point win over Valparaiso. Ball State had six players in double figures, and all eight players on the floor scored. Jarrod Jones provide the size that the Cougars have not proved they can stop, measuring 6"9. He led them with 19 points in the game and had six rebounds.
The Cardinals can rebound, kind of scary, considering SIUE cant.
Thats all for today kids.
11.19.2009
My second angry rant of the season...
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Allan J. Lewis
