I didn't listen to much of the game, but I caught the postgame

[dawgatUSM]

I saw we went up big early, and then, EKU pulled it closer towards the end of the half. However, Stansbury seemed to explain why this was the case, and it could have just been coach speak, but it made sense to me.<div>
</div><div>First, he said they switched to a 1-3-1 and he said it was his fault for not putting our players in a position to get the ball inside more. To this, I would say... he better figure it out because WVU (I believe) plays a pretty stifling 1-3-1 Defense and they are coming to town not too long from now. So, that's something that definitely needs work.</div><div>
</div><div>However, he said the Princeton style offense this team ran is better defended from a Zone Defense, and he knew that, but he wanted our guys to grind it out in man to man. He basically stated he never really felt like the game was in doubt, and if it had been in doubt then he could have made easy adjustments to pull back away.</div><div>
</div><div>So, I don't know if I believe any of that or not... But it sounds like Stans was wanting a little bit of a challenge for our guys in this first game. We do have a pretty decent test coming up Wednesday though.... We'll see</div>

 

[drt7891]

We did a poor job switching on screens, though, and that concerns me. There was WAY too much dribble penetration by them and a lot of it was just us getting beat on picks... plain and simple. We got pulled out of position a lot because of that and the key is stopping the dribble. <div>
</div><div>Our defense is concerning after tonight. We didn't play a lot of help and it cost us. </div><div>
</div><div>Another concern is our ability to finish in the paint. We missed several big "clean up" opportunities that were just... missed. </div><div>
</div><div>Free throws are yet another concern. We didn't do well at the line tonight. </div><div>
</div><div>Our strengths are hustle and pace. We controlled our pace well (certainly better than the past few years) and we played with a lot of effort tonight. If we can bring that effort together, we will be fine. We certainly have a lot of athletic ability. Another strength is rebounding. We won the rebounding battle convincingly and a lot of that is Moultrie, Sidney, and Lewis. Those guys are physical on the boards and I like that. </div>