What a strange game. I'm not surprised by the outcome, only how they got there. There was a 39-point swing from being down 19 to a 20-point win. There is no doubt these guys are fighters and playing hard for Schwartz. They have already come back from 16 and 19 down, two of the largest comebacks in ECU history. Still, it's less than ideal to be getting down like this and when they run into better teams it won't be as easy to make up deficits like that. Figuring out the rotations and what works sooner than later is important so you aren't scoring 2 points in the first 9 minutes of the game.
The team was without Brandon Johnson who I believe is the best player, but Presbyterian was also without their best player. Their missing player was projected All-Big South in the preseason. Even with him, this is not a good team. Presbyterian was preseason projected 314th by Torvik and lost by 12 to an equally bad team in the Citadel two days ago. This is the kind of team at home ECU should have no trouble with if it wants to be a decent team.
The offense in the first half was essentially a 5-6 freshman. LaCount seemed to be deployed as the break glass in case of emergency tool to rescue the game when it was getting out of hand, and he did it. He's the only player that seems capable of generating anything on offense himself. Almost everyone else is getting it in transition or with help. LaCount is the only reason ECU was even in the game at halftime.
Not only doesn't LaCount not start the 2nd half after that, but he only plays 5 minutes. Most of that was at the end when up 20 as well. That's weird. The only explanation I can come up with is that Schwartz is still afraid he's going to give it back on defense, otherwise, how do you not start the guy that had 13 points in 14 minutes in the 1st half and only play him when the game is in hand in garbage time in the end? It's 2 games in and he's toying with the rotations and different starting lineups anyway. I don't see why he was married to the same lineup that started and dug the hole. Didn't LaCount e earn the chance to start and play the 2nd half?
I also wondered why we didn't see Ausar but 2 minutes in the first game. My initial impression was if Debaut was in the rotation for that game then Asuar must be completely unready if Schwartz isn't playing him. After seeing him today I don't believe that is the case or understand how he's not already above Debaut, Especially if the stated goal is developing young players and keeping them here. That makes no sense.
I still think this team is shooting way over its head from three. Water is likely to find its level and 10+ threes at what they are shooting are unsustainable. It's good they are banking these wins while the shooting is hot. The defense was a lot better today and I find that much more believable and sustainable if Asaur is going to play more. Ausar was +15 in only 22 minutes and seemed to have the most impact on that end of the court. That's still the easiest path I can see for this team to achieve its highest ceiling. I don't think Johnson or Debaut are going to anchor a defense that can carry the team at that level. He's the best hope IMO. It was a pretty good effort team rebounding as well. No one player dominated the boards and everyone stuck their nose in and got a few. That's a good sign moving forward.
There were certainly some positives to take out of this game winning by this many in the end. Hopefully, it continues to carry over. Schwartz played a ton of players, but he is settling into playing about 8 players the majority of the minutes and splitting that 9th spot up between the rest. I don't mind that aspect at all this early in the season. It's not like he's playing everyone 20 minutes. Still there is some weirdness surrounding Ausar needing an absence to get a chance to play, or play over Debaut. As well as a head shaker for not playing LaCount after he rescued the team doesn't make a lot of sense to me he's riding pine in the 2nd just to put the same guys that dug the hole to start the game back out there in the 2nd to start it. Had they repeated even half as bad as the first 9 minutes of the game ECU likely loses. It's not like any of them are proven commodities that earned the level of trust to forget about how hot LaCount was. That's something I believe needs to be monitored moving forward.
Oipirate. I think the 3 point shooting is much better during a run and after we have regained the lead. Shooting “relaxed” vs hoping it will go in. I know Ellingsworth only played a couple of minutes but I watched him very closely during that time. He is very aggressive (no fear) knows where to be who to box out etc. Seams to be fundamentally sound, I know it was just a couple of minutes but I think this kid could develop into a very solid contributor for us (maybe a star) if not this year certainly next year. Probably needs to live in the weight room.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting Ellingsworth got in the game over Jones. At this point I'd rather see any of the other post options than Debaut. He has played 22 minutes in the two games and has a -2.4 PER. He's got twice as many turnovers as points and almost as many as rebounds. He's an open book at this point. Lets see something that might surprise us in a good way.
DeleteBTW you guys can post under your handle, just click on the Name/URL option and ignore the box where it ask for your URL and leave it blank and put in your handle and continue. I can't get rid of that box and I know it's confusing. You don't have to sign in or do any password there either. I'll keep it that way for ease as long as the bots don't show up.
DeleteI think you may be more right than wrong but excited to see the season play out.
ReplyDeleteLaCount is probably going to keep the season watchable, he's that interesting. I still have concerns about his defense, but I think he's got to play more regardless on this team. That's what I was getting at. He's already shown enough I think 19 minutes a game is low. I think just live with any defensive issues and hope he can be enough of a pest to make it work.
DeleteOry, Igoe just made the comment that it’s possible Jones may be redshirting this year. If we are going to go the high school rout (mainly) for recruits I really like the idea of being able to redshirt one player a year (especially bigs). What do you think.
ReplyDeleteThat would help explain why the walk on played over him. I don't see the point in today's game to redshirt, anyone especially for anyone other than bigs. Most guys that redshirt can't help and it's used to help buy 6-10+ guys some time so they can add weight or get better. If you are a guard it makes even less sense to me to tie up a scholarship for a guy not playing with 1800 transfers available? Players are unhappy and leaving for playing back up minutes, I can't imagine it helps keep players happy either and staying. Dooley wanted to redshirt Newton for some odd reason if you recall and he played like a top 10 player in AAC play his freshman year. It wouldn't have helped us keep him either, you just invest the year and time in and would have lost it.
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