"11:14 There will be a lot more observations on this one tomorrow. I'm in no mood to write a lot after a pretty bad game from the Colonials (plus I'm dead tired after a nine hour work day), and Chris was rapping all night (and not well). Look for more content tomorrow."
Here is a game report by our man Andrew Chiappazzi over at Colonials Corner. RMU falls to EMU
Eastern Michigan's size crushed the Colonials, they couldn't get a rebound. EMu won the battle on the glass, but not even the 45-35 advantage tells the whole story. When the Colonials grabbed a board, it took every ounce of energy the team had to get it. EMU would get the boards with ease, and got easy buckets of of that.
EMU used that physical advantage to win the game. They scored almost all their points from point blank range, or at the free throw line.EMU got to the line 42 times, and made 28. That's staggering. They only made one three the whole game, but it was a big one at the end of the first half to give them their first lead of the game.
Ray Lee dominated the Colonials. He scored a game high 21 points and got to the rim with ease. The 6-3 freshman has a wide frame, and was able to get in the paint whenever he wanted. RMU couldn't help much because of the size advantage at the rim.
RMU also couldn't figure out the Eagles long 2-3 zone. Stephen Gertz does a nice job of breaking down their struggles here. All night long they had to settle for contested shots late in the shot clock. They lacked the creativity and shot making ability to get EMU out of the zone. As good as the offense looked the first two games, it was equally as bad tonight.
Lucky was really good. He played his best game of the season. This is one of the lone positives. he scored 18 points on only six shots. That's insanely efficient. I would Luck to see Luck take a few more shots and be a bit more aggressive, but he didn't force anything, and that's a good sign.
Karvel Anderson couldn't buy a bucket, and forced a few shots. He once again got hot at the end of the game but it wasn't enough this time. RMU needs him to start scoring the ball earlier in the game. I'm not going to complain too much here, because let's face it, we know Karvel is really good. He had an off game, and I'm willing to bet he fills it up against Kentucky and Texas Arlington.
The bench gave RMU nothing tonight. App looked like a wing playing point and that's no knock on him, that's what he is, a wing. The team really missed Kavon Stewart tonight. Chuck Oliver, Desjuan Newton and Jeremiah Worthem looked like new guys playing their first back leg of a road swing (two games in three day). Again, we're only three games into the season, and not a bad thing that these guys struggled a bit. They were expected to. That's why you play these games now.
HC @AndyToole: "Lucky and Mike we're really good, but tonight we didn't the spark off the bench like we did in the first two games."Ant looked a lot better, but he has to find his shot. He can't make anything right now and that's worrisome. he had 8 assists (that's eight more than the Lafayette game) but he is 1-11 from the field, 0-6 from three-point-range, and just 3-11 from the foul line. He missed a key front-end of a 1 and 1 last night that really hurt the team late in Thursday's game. A point guard shooting 9.1% is not a good thing. Again though, it's only three games, and one or two good performances change those numbers drastically. Time for Ant to pick it up.
— RMU Men's Basketball (@RMUMBasketball) November 15, 2013
Kentucky --coming off a loss to Michigan State-- is up next. Look we all know what happened last year, but both these teams have changed so much since that famous RMU win. I still haven't figured out how RMU will stop, or even remotely slow down Julius Randle, so the Colonials could have their hands full.
Let's not act like RMU is going up against the Miami Heat though. The UK guards struggled mightily against Michigan State Tuesday. Julius Randle carried them, but let's face it, this guy could be the number one pick in what could go down as the best draft class of all time. If RMU can somehow get him in foul trouble, or he picks up an injury, RMU can certainly play with the Cats. Are they SUPER TALENTED? Yes. Are they young and still learning how to play together? Yes. Coach Cal had some nice words for the RMU program yesterday via twitter. One thing is for sure, UK won't be overlooking the Colonials.
I hope everyone knows we didn't schedule Robert Morris for revenge. I wanted them on the schedule because I know how hard they play.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) November 14, 2013
They execute as well anyone and are going to give us a dogfight, which is what our team needs.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) November 14, 2013
This is a tough loss. Coming home with a 3-1 record would have been really nice, but it will be an uphill battle with the most talented team in the country hungry for a win waiting in Lexington. That said, not one game has even been decided on paper, so let's just let it play out on the hardwood.
Who knows, maybe something shocking will happen on ESPN2 Sunday night.
--Lee Kunkel
--@Kunkel5
No comments:
Post a Comment