VMI

[ARTerrier]

http://talkinterriers.blogspot.com/2015 ... -game.html Look at what's been going on, and a preview of VMI. Last time these two teams met, I was three and a half years old. Don't be fooled by their record this year, either. They look good.

[boulder3m]

Being in ACC country, the similarities between SoCon play and ACC play is familiar. The teams at the top are not THAT good, and the teams at the bottom aren't THAT bad. Every night they play someone can pull an upset or be upset. We have two BIG road wins out of the 9 road games we play. Our guys have a chance to make that home cooking work for them over the next six games. We need to find our rhythm early and make it work for us. There will be a few interesting games in the SoCon over the next few days. Peddle to the medal guys.

[woffordgrad94]

At halftime the Terriers lead 41-37. Our normally reliable vaunted defense is really struggling. Thanks goodness we are shooting it well. We really don't want a game in the 80s though. It is not our style. Hopefully our defense will make adjustments.

[Hobo]

That was not pretty, but we finally won 75-70. We had 12 TOs and also suffered 8 blocks. And they threw up a lot of shots around the rim that always seem to go in. Plus they outrebounded us by 9. They, however, were only 4-22 from 3-point land.
Oh yeah, some questionable reffing from my point of view.

On to Saturday!

[youngterrier]

VMI is the type of team that can beat us if they're having a good night. They like to shoot the three and they play an aggressive full-court press. In conference play, you can't expect to blow out everybody (or anybody?), what matters is the wins. I'm pleased with this game because for the last 3 games teams have coming out hunting for us and we've answered the bell and won all three. We have to accept that we're top dog until someone knocks us off and in the mean time teams are going to come after us with their best game.

[Terrier13]

I'm with ya Hobo on the reffing- when's the last time Wofford has drawn a charge? We seem to stand in there and get drilled and no call is made (neither a block nor a charge call) and this leads to an easy layup by the opposing team (This has happened several times to CJ in recent games. We definitely didn't receive any home court advantage from the referees tonight. That said, we played sloppy and were loose with some passes and didn't finish at the rim/were blocked. All that combined with the times the ball was literally ripped out of our hands, it's become clear that our guys need to get more physical, play tougher and develop that edge of the defensive side that has historically made our defense great. It was a great win and and our backup PGs really stepped up with Garcia going out with a twisted ankle but if we keep letting teams stick around, we're gonna eventually drop a close one that we shouldn't. Hopefully EG is back for Saturday's game- our offense really runs smoothly when he's on the floor and without him it gets a little gunked up and doesn't flow.

[T-Dog 4]

I think we will see our fair share of these games this year. Because we are the league leaders and streaky from the perimeter, we are going to have some close ones and are almost guaranteed to get everyone's best shot. VMI looked way better than 5-11. Their big guy was unstoppable in the paint. Blocked and changed a lot of shots, too.

We really need someone to develop as a scoring threat when Cochran is off/out, too. Collins has been slumping a bit...hopefully he gets back on track soon because he could be that guy. Everyone else did a nice job of contributing tonight. Would love to see Neumann use a few pump fakes and learn to use his body more to help to get his shots off, a la Dahlman.

I hope EG's ankle is ok. He makes a big difference against a pressure team like VMI.

[WTFan]

That was a solid VMI team. #22 is as good a player a there is in the SOCON. Very tough to defend much like Cochran. We were fortunate to get the W. I was impressed with the crowd. Announced attendance was close to 2000. Students showed up despite interim. Different from past years. I think the students have bought in to this team. Having those buses go to the SOCON tourney championship game last year seems to have carried over to this year. Great atmosphere in the BenJo at the end of the game. Hope EG heals quickly. The kid can't catch a break.

[Ruckus]

VMI matched up well with us and played very hard. Defensively they guarded us as well as anybody. Their big (who wasn't that tall, maybe 6'3-4", but stout) is a freak. Glad his weakness is FTs. Karl was off until the last 10 mins. They KIlLED us on the boards, doubling us up on offensive rebounds. I thought we handled the pressure fairly well and ran se in spots which was nice. Refs let it get rough inside but called it toght on he perimeter. We were hammered numerous times with no call.
Good win. We were lucky to pull it out. We really need EG back.

[boulder3m]

Glad to hear from you guys who were there. It's never easy to figure out from the TV feed how the crowd is interacting at the games. After the post game interviews it was obvious that the plan was to stop their outside shots, which we did. It was very frustrating watching them post up our guys and score, while blocking our shots at the basket. MY evidently figured that they couldn't beat us without the 3's, so that's what we did. OK, we're not going to blow out many teams, so I guess I have to become more patient. Eric played a near flawless first half and then got hurt. He needs to get the bands off his teeth so he can eat and gain back the weight he has lost. They can work on that ankle and get him back going, but it always takes awhile. John Swinton has been a great help off the bench in at least two of the three conference games. Either through instant offense or making the right moves at the right times he really has been valuable. In addition I enjoyed his post game interview. Short haired dogs do what they have to do to get the W. Now, if Sammy hears that Eric is hurt they will start pressing when they get off the bus.

[Hobo]

Boulder, I also enjoyed Swinton's postgame interview. He was so positive. Said he hasn't been playing much lately but also has to practice hard in order to be ready when he gets the call. He was ready last night!