In Reply to: Kyle had nice game, and endurance! -to barrya below.* posted by wanabbruin on November 23, 2024 at 09:09:13
true that - thanks for the comment - think you're right - but ... it was just 14 minutes of play. And also it was CSU Fullerton and we wore them down by the last 14 or so minutes of the game.
Yes, he certainly looked okay but certainly not dominant against a strong but unathletic big inside.
I just thought we were getting beaten inside - especially on the boards - too often. We aren't blocking out effectively - on several occasions I saw a Bruin setting up to block his man off the board only for that man to step around him and gain inside position as the ball came off for the rebound.
It wasn't until Mara's late stretch in the game that we had any domination inside with regards our defense. And, as I said, it looked to me like CSU Fullerton was worn down by that time.
I certainly hope those guys are making a significant step up now because we're going to need it. Our smaller lineup was beaten on the boards - and even in terms of allowing scores inside. When our 6'8" and 6'9" guys run into the heart of this season's schedule and run into the opponent's 6'9" guys - who have a strong and dominant 7 footer anchoring them in the pant, it isn't going to be able to get the job done. That's why Cronin is talking about playing Kyle (or Mara?) alongside Dailey and Bilodeau. I just think that's going to be necessary and I hope we can pull it off.
(I had a different reaction to last night's game - happy to see the movement, felt we showed improvement in passing and sharing the ball and in our defense overall. And we won the game! OTOH, Perry said after the game that Cronin was saying we're not just playing for now, we're playing for the future. And getting beaten on the boards by an outmanned mid-major we were able to wear down and out for an easy victory is very worrying. It was a wipeout victory - we won the game by 33 points but lost the rebound battle in the process. As traprh has been warning us, what we were not able to do last night confirms worries about how we're gong to do as the season gets tougher and tougher.
Just feeling that so much depends on Kyle and Mara making significant improvement in-season