Nice win....a little ugly but a win. Freshmen REALLY play hard....made some mistakes but they hustle. We're soft in the middle on D. But I think this team will win some games and be tough in February.

I didn't get to see or hear the game, but here's what the stats are telling me:

First the good:
6 guys in double figures, love the balance
5 different guys had assists, including multiple assists for four starters, which indicates good ball movement resulting in easy shots
Shooting percentage backs that up, no one shot under 50%, had to be several easy looks for the bigs
8 steals looks good, but may have just been sub par competition, in any event steals = fast breaks = easy baskets which contributes to the good shooting percentage
Also like to see 5 blocks, but again tempered by competition

Now the places for improvement
Biggest one is we lost the number of possessions by a lot. That's a key stat to keep an eye on with this team, against good offensive teams, this is the reason teams get blown out of the gym. There are two ways to lose this category, more turnovers than your opponent and allowing offensive boards. Both are the case in this game.
CJ needs to be our rock and has to set the example when it comes to protecting the basketball. Not sure if he was the main ball handler but leading the team in TO's could be a bad precedent to set for the youngins to see. Everyone who played significant minutes had at least one turnover. Young teams do this, that's why the upper class men have to set a good example.
We won the battle of the boards but gave up 13 offensive boards. This kills momentum....you just played great D, probably forced a tough shot but couldn't close the deal. Gotta play D again. This costs your legs and it doesn't allow you to build on leads and momentum. This one is one to keep an eye on, especially when we play bigger teams (for example MD is out rebounding KU by 14 at the moment and have had almost 20 more possessions. This is how that had a chance to beat KU).
3 point shooting (save Chase) was poor, not sure if they were forced or if they weren't in rhythm or what but the plus side is when it appeared the shots weren't falling, the guys didn't keep firing them. Taking only 11 threes is a good sign of discipline and offensive execution.

All in all, we got a win when we were supposed to. I'm sure it was a great learning experience for the guys and felt good to play a game that counts. Now, lets emphasize what we did well and work on what we didn't. The goal is to improve and get ready for a battle next week against UConn

I must say that was hard to watch.  They got 19 offensive rebounds and if Radford had shot free throws, they would have or could have won.  It was a 2 possession game & Radford had the ball with about a minute to play.  They bonked about 8 free throws in the second half.

Luckily CJ was his normal self & some freshmen played hard.

Travis and CJ with a total of 8 TO's, post game conclusion was they were trying to force it too much.

CJ was not the primary ball handler (CMM 28 minutes, Jones 17).

Travis 0-3 from 3pt sunk the 3pt%.

Moto was very impressive.

Thomas looked to be more ready than we were lead to believe (supposedly he's a foul machine).

UConn is going to be very revealing.

CJ was sick, actually, and Travis hasn't played well in either game so far.

Just finished watching the replay on ESPN3.......ya'know what, we looked better than I expected.  I'm not a BZinner ( surprise), but generally I wasn't unhappy with what I saw.

1) Freshmen played the majority of the team's minutes, and all of them, Jones, Cavanaugh, Thomas, Moto and CMM showed tons more talent and potential than the frosh we had ly.  They're still freshmen, making mistakes, finding their way, etc.  We won't be dominant because of them, but they can definitely learn to play effectively.

2) offensively I was pleasantly surprised to see us "trying" to post up guys in our offense.  we weren't effective, but we were trying....it's a good sign imo.  We won't be strong inside because of the lack of a true post player, but you have to do it to keep the other teams honest and open up some perimeter shots....already much better than ly.

3)Defense was active, but not good, which frankly is typical BZ.  He doesn't emphasize defense or rebounding and never will.  BTW, the offensive rebounds we gave up weren't off the glass, but long rebounds and loose balls so that wasn't as bad as it looked in the stats.  Actually I thought our defensive rebounding was at least solid, with good hands, and no turnovers off the release pass....definitely could've been worse

4) The one true negative was that we struggled to beat a team like Radford.  Here's why imo.  We are not a dynamic team, even when we shoot a good percentage, and play well.  It's the combination of being mostly underclassmen, not having any players who can simply take over a game, and a coach who isn't dynamic and doesn't inspire or create the kind of emotion you need in the college game.  Our guys play a flat, quiet game that reflects our coach.  We won't ever be dominant with his "leadership".  BUT the young guys we have look to me like they can learn to be good players....that is positive. 

Don't know if we'll win many games, but we might not be bad by Feb....we might be much improved.

Thanks for the insight.  I didn't get to go last night.

If we'd shot free throws decently it wouldn't have been close - we missed the front end of some one and ones.

Madison made a nice floater at a critical time - good to see them be willing to step up and take (and make) that shot. Moto had a very impressive first half.

It's nice to be able to sub guys in and out without a drop off or being fearful that we can't get the ball up the court.

The young guys have a learning curve but they show every sign of embracing it.

Hate to be Debbie downer but we likely won't play a weaker squad than Radford this year. My 13 win prediction may have been optimistic . Will continue to support the players but I see no future with this staff.

Well, I predicted 13-14, then cltdeac, had me down to around 12-13! I think I will say we win 12 ballgames, and I know this was the first real game that counted, and we are young, but Radford did have some opportunities themselves were we could be sitting at 0-1! But heres the key we will find out from this moment on if Buzz can coach these guys up, because each game we should be seeing some improvement, if these guys don't develop any by the end of the season then Ron will have to do something, but if these guys continuously get better as a team, then maybe their is hope for Buzz!

A win is a win.  However, not to be negative but this was a Radford team that finished last place in the Big South last year.  I agree with 12-13 wins this year.

Learning curve. Won by double digits and missed a ton of free throws. We will need to have everyone clicking to beat good teams but I have hope. Really pleased with Thomas, Moto, and Codi. Travis had a bad night.

Btw...anyone know why our 7'er doesn't play at all last night ?

Perhaps he is a redshirt prospect???

We have plenty of L's left in the season, but I see lots to feel good about. This team looks like they understand playing as a team as witnessed by the assists and easy baskets we picked up. You don't shoot 70+% in a half without some sound team bball. That speaks some good coaching to me when you can get this type of play this early in a season when starting 3 freshmen. I know all the Buzz haters will disagree, but I see a much better team than I have the last two seasons. Improve rebounding and TOs and we'll beat some decent teams. Get a good presence inside and we'll be good again.

I appreciate any win these days, but I didn't see much to feel good about in the Rollins or Radford games. It will be another tough year for the Deacs. I don't think Bzdelik can get us back to being decent again.

I really get a kick out of the variety of reactions to the same game. 50-50 positive, negative.

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--- OldBlackAndGold wrote:

I really get a kick out of the variety of reactions to the same game. 50-50 positive, negative.

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Pretty much tracks how the game was. 50/50 good and bad. Good was shot selection, percentage, hustle, defense at times, freshmen stepping up. Bad was rebounding as always (really not sure BZ can teach it), turnovers, and free throws. So I can see how the reactions can be all over the board. I am trying to have hope because every player in the court has more talent than every player we had last year.

Travis and CJ will play better in most games this season (or at least one will).  We are lucky to beat any body when they are both somewhat off.