Senior Day in Houston as the Niners look to lock down a spot in Pod One with Bonus Play kicking off next week.
NOTE: link below takes you to Rice MBB pregame piece in spite of title etc:
Does coach subscribe to the concept of āa must win game ā? And is this concept utilized in his game prep, in the mental aspect of motivating the team? Some coaches say they approach each game the same. They SAY that, but do they mean it. My point is: THIS IS A DAMN MUST WIN for this team and program, and Iām sure many fans like me who are bought in and ready to take the next step up. We have to win this very winnable game. Please do not approach it like we did the very winnable southern miss game or āthe next step ā may not come until next year. I think a sense of urgency is a useful tool. Use it.
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I agree. Failing to win this very winnable game is inexcusable.
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win or lose we have already taken the next step.
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Historically weāve done better in Houston than in Charlotte - 3-3 on the road vs 1-4 at home. Rice has beaten North Texas and ECU, but the Owls live and die with the 3. Took 37 shots beyond the arc (out of 61 total shots) vs ODU, connecting on only 8. Defend the 3 and we should get the W.
Being too quick to defend the 3 burned us against North Texas. When rotatingā¦our post defender would fly out to cover the open wing too soon well before the swing pass was even made and left their big guy all alone inside for an easy open dish and layupā¦happened a lot.
Just checking stats - Rice has taken 756 3s (out of 1,510 total shots), making 259. Weāve taken 452 3s (out of 1,229 total), hitting 159.
Bamba is great at rotating out but we have no one to cover his spot on the floor. Would it be better for him to stay in the paint and not rotate out?
Itāll be really disappointing if we lose this game, even more so if we lose a spot in pod 1, but in the grand scheme I do not believe itās a āmust-winā for the program.
In the long run, I get the whole āapproach it like every gameā because thatās actually what you want your kidās to do. We as fans tend to confuse that with not getting up to playing or not having any urgency. The coach wants every game to be mistake free, stick to the game plan, and execute in all facets - again, every game. If we lose, itās not because the team didnāt take it seriously enough, itās because we just didnāt execute.
What should happen when the center goes out to help a wing drops down to the paint. This happened on many occasions and then didnāt on some leaving their player wide open. It puts the wing defender in a little bit of a decision on how committed to the pain he should be versus letting his player leak out to the 3. I believe the idea is that by the time the ball swings to the player our center is recovering and the wing defender is recovering. I wonāt call the player out, but we have at least one guy who either doesnāt want to leave his man or doesnāt pay enough attention to what is happening around him. He is always standing behind their player after he dunks it.
- RESURGENT SEASON - Charlotte enters the Rice game with a 14-10 overall record and an 8-5 Conference USA record. Charlotteās 14 wins match the previous two seasons combined win total (2017-18 - 6 wins; 2018-19 - 8 wins). Charlotteās eight Conference USA wins is the most by the 49ers since 2015-16 when 49ers won nine Conference USA games.
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The extended three point line is probably making the rotation by the big more difficult but I agree at times the opposing teams big is left in the paint with no defender anywhere near him. I also noticed this a lot in the UTSA game. Not sure if teams are figuring us out or if our players are getting wore down later in the season & not able to rotate as fast.
Itās a pick āem. Oh joy.
ESPN BPI Matchup Predictor gives us a 54.1% chance of winning.
I understand where you are coming from, but losing this game is likely to happen so idk what you expect.
Someone in the Shoutbox summed it up best, this game is the difference between a good and an Ok season. Hope Iām wrong but until we show that we can win a game like this on the road Iām not betting on us.
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Hunh. I have this game listed for seven tonight. Glad itās this afternoon. Odu is losing by 11 at the half. We win, Pod one gravy time.