Mr. Analytics Brings Modern Basketball to Campus

[Magic Bird]

12/1: After the game against Rider, Dennis Riley and Shaun Lavin got into a shoving match. I brought them into my office and gently but firmly warned them that their behavior was unacceptable, and that if they engage in it again, there will be more harsh consequences. I'm confident that this is an isolated incident and not a sign of a poor relationship and bad attitudes.

Today the team embarked on its longest road trip of the season to Austin, Texas.

12/3: Lafayette (2-3) @ Texas (3-1)
Texas dropped out of the rankings after losing their first game to current #2 Alabama. I believe they will be ranked again soon. The Longhorns are led by SG Damian Gordon, who is averaging 25.5 ppg, 6.5 apg, 9.0 rpg, 2.0 bpg, 2.8 spg. He's arguably the best player in the nation. His only flaw is that he's a mediocre shooter.

We started the game well, holding a 7-6 lead at 17:46 but losing it then after Gordon made a pair of free throws. We and Texas kept exchanging the lead until about the 12 minute mark, when the Longhorns began pulling away. I'm glad my team kept up with Texas for that long. Lafayette entered halftime down 35-45. My players travelled quite a bit in the half according to the referees. I had some doubts about a couple of the calls but never expressed them. If we don't travel in the 2nd half we may be able to keep up with the Longhorns. Damian Gordon played the entire half and scored 21 points for Texas. They appear too reliant on him.

Texas is a much better team than we are. We can't defend them, and they're forcing turnovers from us. I put my walk-ons in the game for last few minutes. The Longhorns ran away with the 2nd half and defeated us 61-96.

Player of the Game: Texas SG Damian Gordon (39 pts, 8 ast, 6 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl, 7/16 3pm/a, 13/25 fgm/a)
Leopards Honorable Mentions: No one played particularly well.

Leopards Statistical Leaders for the Game:
Points: Woods - 11, Stowers - 11, Stanfield - 7, Long - 7, English - 7, Reed - 7
Assists: Johnson - 4, Woods - 3, Cambridge - 2, English - 2, Faye - 2
Rebounds: Riley - 5, Lavin - 3, Long - 3, Campbell - 3
Blocks: Cambridge - 1, Stanfield - 1, Long - 1, Riley - 1
Steals: Woods - 2, Stowers - 1, Lavin - 1, Riley - 1, Faye - 1

12/7: Lafayette (2-4) vs North Carolina Central (4-2)
In the first 5 minutes we make 4 out of 5 threes. Great shooting! The Eagles are pretty good, though, and my team struggles to defend them. We're also being extraordinarily careless with the ball. Due to all of these factors it's a close game. At 7:41 we're up 28-26 but NCC has taken twice as many shots as we have. We lose the lead at 5:29 when Eagles PF Abdul Swift banks in a 3. Later we retake the lead and enter the break on top 50-45. We must stop turning it over so much. If the team can manage the ball and keep making shots, we will win. I'm thrilled with how well we shot from three (8/13!) but that is not sustainable.

At first we maintain our lead and keep the Eagles at bay by about the same margin as the halftime lead. Both teams trade shots. We start turning it over again, our shooting fortune runs out, and NCC's auspices improve. They hit a few threes, and we lose the lead. I call a timeout, address our team's turnover issues with the two main culprits, Marcus Woods and Vegas Johnson, and instruct us to play tougher defense. The Eagles build a double digit lead by the six and a half minute mark. I use all of our timeouts and call some plays, but our team cannot make a shot. NCC eventually blew us out 79-100. Lafayette's 2nd half performance was awful. NCC took excellent care of the ball and shot well in the half.

Player of the Game: NCC SG Karim Fowler (20 pts, 3 ast, 2 reb, 3 stl)
Leopards Honorable Mentions: Tyler Stanfield (19 pts, 2 ast), Marcus Woods (16 pts, 2 ast, 8 reb, 1 stl)

12/14: Lafayette (2-5) @ Northern Kentucky (2-5)
Neither team started off shooting well. Unfortunately the Norse are the first team to discover their shooting touch. Before we know it we're down by double digits. We're playing fairly well; we simply can't shoot tonight. Late in the period we started turning the ball over so as usual I called a timeout. I expressed my concern with our ball handling, but I don't think the team took my message to heart. We ended the half down 25-42. Our defense and ball handling were terrible.

The second half proved to be more of the same. Every few possessions my team would start playing well, but that would last for only a couple of possessions. Our performance became worse and worse as the half progressed. Midway through the half I called a timeout and reamed the team over their atrocious play. The team didn't wake up until it was much too late. The Northern Kentucky Norse won handily 52-68. We played as poorly as we could. This outing sickened me.

Player of the Game: NKU PG Maurice Blake (15 pts, 3 ast, 4 reb)
Leopards Honorable Mentions: Tim Stowers (11 pts, 3 ast, 11 reb, 1 tov)

Pre-conference play is nearly finished, and we only have 2 wins. So much for scheduling cupcakes. Turnovers and poor defense ruined us the past two games. In games I reversed the adjustments I made earlier to our defense to see if we would perform better but alas nothing helped.

[Magic Bird]

12/21: Lafayette (2-6) @ Brown (3-7)
Brown scored the first point of the game with a free throw at 16:48. Both teams missed their first 8 shots combined. We finally hit our first shot at 15:22, draw a foul, and Tyler Stanfield fulfills the three point play. I call a timeout midway through the period when the Bears take double digit lead 8-19. We're doing alright taking care of the ball, but we can't shoot to save our lives (3/14 from the field).
It seems that after every timeout I call we turn the ball over on the ensuing possession. Throughout the rest of the half we finally hit a few shots and creep up on the Bears, narrowing their lead to 4 points. Unfortunately the last couple of minutes saw Brown make most of their shots and we missed most of ours. Brown entered halftime up 36-29. I'm impressed with Starzee Reed, who carried us with 8 points and 3 rebounds while only playing the last five minutes of the half. He's unstoppable tonight, so I'll give him a lot of minutes in the 2nd half.

We play pretty well in the second half, but our shot making doesn't keep up with Brown's. With about 8 minutes left I call a timeout and set up a play for Tyler Stanfield to get a three pointer. I hope something like this may jumpstart our confidence in our shooting. Tyler makes the three, and our shooting improves for the next few minutes. We close the gap to 5 points with 5 minutes on the clock. That's as close as we would come. Tyler Stanfield fouled out with 1:52 left. His last three fouls occurred over just 2 minutes. I thought he would defend more intelligently than that. We lost this one to the Bears 61-69.

Player of the Game: Brown PG Adarrial Carey (14 pts, 4 ast, 5 reb)
Leopards Honorable Mentions: Starzee Reed (12 pts, 6 reb)

12/22: Most of the team, including my assistants, is heading home for the holidays. I'm staying at Lafayette, but I've mailed a few gift wrapped Amazon packages to my folks back home. Any players who want some individual practice sessions with me I am welcome to work with.

I'm still vacillating in games between using the strong defensive settings I favor and having the team play slightly weaker defense with less pressure. I instruct the team to play at whatever level they appear capable of at that moment.

12/25: Yesterday PG Ronald Blanchard gave us his verbal commitment. That's a nice Christmas present for the program. He's a good passer and ball handler, he's pretty athletic, and he can score and shoot. His shooting in particular is sterling. Also he's pretty good defensively. I hope he can play a big role for us next year. He's currently ranked #505 in the nation with an overall player rating of C, but I think he's better than that.

Our last scholarship will go to a center; I don't know who yet. I'm looking at three right now.

My Thoughts About the Team:
-Tyler Stanfield is frustratingly inconsistent. When he plays well, he's our best player. When he doesn't play well, he's more hindrance than help. Marcus Woods is our best consistent player, but he's only consistently good, not great.

-Individually my players are lousy defenders. As a team we demonstrated the capability to defend pretty well for the first few games of the season. Where did that ability disappear to for the last few games?

-Right now the team is not shooting well. Over most of our past several games we've barely scraped over the 40% mark from the field. Against Brown we found a new low: 31.3%. This team can shoot pretty well; I hope they find their shooting touches near the beginning of conference play.

-I'm not too worried about the recent inflation of turnovers. My guys can handle the ball; we've simply played poorly recently.

-I'm also not worried about how many fouls we pick up each game. My adjustments have slightly reduced that problem over the past few games. My players and I manage our fouls adequately. I am concerned about how often we send opponents to the free throw line. It's not a consistent problem, but once every few games our opponent shoots a significantly larger number of free throws than we do. It's significant enough to impact whether we win or lose.

Lafayette Leopards Statistics:
PPG: 1. Marcus Woods - 13.4, 2. Tyler Stanfield - 9.8, 3. Tim Stowers - 8.2, 4. Johnnie Long - 7.0
APG: 1. Francis Cambridge - 3.4, 2. Vegas Johnson - 3.3, 3. Tyler Stanfield - 1.8
RPG: 1. Tim Stowers - 5.8, 2. Marcus Woods - 3.6, T3. Dennis Riley, Starzee Reed - 2.9
BPG: 1. Johnnie Long - 1.0, 2. Dennis Riley - 0.8, 3. Tyler Stanfield - 0.6
SPG: 1. Marcus Woods - 1.4, 2. Tyler Stanfield - 1.2, 3. Jerome Campbell - 1.0

Other Stats:
-Tyler, Tim, Marcus, and Johnnie are all shooting at least 37.1% from 3. No one else is shooting better than 30% from 3. Tim is shooting over 40%, and Tyler is shooting over 50%! I've been asking Tyler to shoot more threes ever since practices began, and he has made slow but steady progress in that area. Vegas, Jerome, Clint, and Francis are pretty good shooters, but Vegas, Francis, and Clint need to quit forcing threes. If they take easier threes more consistently, they can maintain volume and improve their percentages to a respectable level. Jerome doesn't take enough threes, and we're not doing a good job of getting him high quality shot looks. Once he starts taking more threes, I think his percentage will improve as well.

-Vegas is averaging 2.7 TOPG. No one else is averaging more than 1.8 TOPG (Marcus). Vegas must cease playing with reckless abandon when he runs the point.

And now for a few analytics!

-Tyler has a TS% of 66.9% and an EFG% of 67.2%! Those are Stephen Curry-esque figures. Marcus' numbers in those areas are solid, but almost everyone else has terrible TS% and EFG% numbers.

-Starzee has played very well in limited minutes. His per 40 minutes numbers indicate that I need to play him more. I may start him over Shaun Lavin. However, Starzee's numbers may be benefitting from playing with our bench unit most of the time. I will make sure he gets more playing time at the expense of Shaun's.

-Lafayette ranks in the bottom half of Division I in possessions per game. I'm not surprised, but I'm disappointed. My players have a propensity to hold on to the ball for too long and not get shots off early in the shot clock.

*Author's Note: The advanced stats STL% and BLK% are 0.0 for all of my players. Is this a bug? I know DDS:CB 2019 is close to release, so this issue probably won't be corrected in my game version. However, it's possible this issue exists in the 2019 version. If any beta testers read this, you may want to examine the upcoming game and observe if this issue persists in it.

Patriot League Standings Entering Conference Play:
Bucknell: 6-3, RPI - .536 (108th nationally)
Lehigh: 6-3, RPI - .523 (123rd)
Loyola-Maryland: 5-4, RPI - .475 (214th)
Holy Cross: 5-5, RPI - .421 (307th)
Colgate: 4-5, RPI - .489 (192nd)
Army: 3-6, RPI - .443 (265th)
American: 3-6, RPI - .380 (337th)
Boston: 2-7, RPI - .469 (223rd)
Lafayette: 2-7, RPI - .357 (343rd)
Navy: 1-8, RPI - .431 (286th)

So we're 2nd to last in overall record and last in RPI. We're in the bottom ten in Division I in RPI in fact. If Texas had been ranked when we faced them, maybe our RPI would be higher. Bucknell beat both Clemson and Boston College on the road. Navy and we are the only teams that haven't won a road game. Rival Lehigh looks pretty good; the freshmen Jerome, Starzee, and Tega Allen aren't yet interested in the rivalry but our upperclassmen are eager to draw some blood. We won't meet Lehigh in battle for another three weeks.

Notre Dame (11-1) is at the top of the AP poll and has been ranked #1 since the second week. Preseason #1 Florida (10-1) is now #2. Texas (7-2) still hasn't reentered the rankings. One big surprise is that Long Beach State is undefeated (13-0) and ranked #15. In addition to Long Beach St., #3 Kentucky (9-0), #5 Alabama (12-0), #21 Fresno State (11-0), and Presbyterian (9-0) are undefeated. Rider (0-9) and Furman (0-9) have yet to win a game.

12/28: Lafayette (2-7, 0-0) @ Loyola-Maryland (5-4, 0-0)
Both teams started out hot, and it was a back and forth game until we turned the ball over a few times. I called a timeout 5 minutes into the game and addressed the issue with the team, but they continued to be careless. A few minutes later we were down 14-27 with 7 turnovers, so I called another timeout and chewed out the team. We played better from there, ending the half down 44-52. The Greyhounds went 21/21 at the line. This is one of those games where I do worry about how often we foul. We committed 13 fouls in the half. I'm culpable for allowing this to proceed throughout the half without making any significant adjustments.

We are ice cold from the field in the 2nd half. I told us to sag a little more on defense but we still foul too much. At least we do a great job of taking care of the ball. With 3 minutes left I order us to press and stifle the Greyhounds on defense. We've spread out our fouls and we've started making shots. It's now or never if we want to comeback. We close the deficit to 7 points, but never get closer than that. The team was down 20 midway through the half. Loyola-Maryland wins 80-90.

I was pleased because we handled the ball fairly well this game and tonight's defense resembled our early season defense. However, I'm upset with how I didn't adjust our defense earlier in the first half, which allowed the Greyhounds to go to the line 31 times. I think we could have won if we had shot better at the beginning of the second half and if I had been more reactive in the first half.

Player of the Game: Loyola-Maryland C Justin Shepard (24 pts, 1 ast, 7 reb, 1 stl)
Leopards Honorable Mentions: Marcus Woods (15 pts, 2 ast, 3 reb, 1 stl, but 3 tov, 5/16 fgm/a), Clint English (13 pts, 1 stl, 0 tov, 3/4 3pm/a, 5/7 fgm/a, 13 min),
Shaun Lavin (7 pts, 3 reb, 0 tov in only a few minutes in the 1st half) -- He played several more minutes in the 2nd but didn't do anything.

12/31: Lafayette (2-8, 0-1) vs Boston (2-8, 0-1)
16:41 left in the period and we already have 5 fouls. I made some adjustments but they haven't had much effect yet. At 11:52 we have 8 fouls, they only have 1. The team is shooting moderately well and hasn't turned it over yet. Good! Lafayette leads 16-11. Boston already has used a pair of timeouts. For once we run away with a first half, Tyler Stanfield nails a dagger of a three at the buzzer, and the Leopards enter the break leading 45-22! I tell my team not to get too comfortable or the Terriers could do to us what we did to Bryant to start the season. Lafayette stole the ball 7 times while turning the ball only twice in the half.

Terriers C Marcus Carter is an incredible rebounder. He knows exactly where a missed shot will fly to; his box-outs and positioning are outstanding. Four minutes into the second period he has 4 offensive rebounds and 9 rebounds total. We are still leading 54-29. At 13:07 we've had a series of miscues so I call a timeout. With shocked faces my players listen to me rant at them about how we're turning it over and fouling and being lazy when we run plays and... As I send them back out onto the court I let slip a slight smirk. I hope no one noticed. The guys play with great hustle and effort after that. My tactic worked. We build the lead to 64-31 at 7:55. I'm starving for a win! With 2 and a half minutes left and a 72-46 lead (we had a brief but costly stretch of bad play) I put the walk-ons in. Final score: Lafayette wins 74-50!

Player of the Game: Tyler Stanfield (16 pts, 3 ast, 4 reb, 2 blk, 2 stl)
Honorable Mentions: Francis Cambridge (7 pts, 5 ast, 2 reb), Vegas Johnson (8 pts, 3 ast, 2 reb, 1 stl),
Johnnie Long (5 pts, 2 ast, 3 reb, 2 blk, 3 stl), Dennis Riley (8 pts, 2 ast, 3 reb, 4 blk, 2 stl),
Jerome Campbell nabbed 6 rebounds and Starzee Reed grabbed 8 boards.

The whole team is savoring this victory. Let's get some more!

[PointGuard]

FYI: Checked Advanced Statistics in CB2019 and yes, still 0.0 for everyone for both STL% and BLK%. Advised Gary of this.

[Magic Bird]

FYI: Checked Advanced Statistics in CB2019 and yes, still 0.0 for everyone for both STL% and BLK%. Advised Gary of this.

Thanks for investigating the issue, PointGuard.

[Magic Bird]

1/4: Lafayette (3-8, 1-1) @ Navy (2-9, 1-1)
The team looks sluggish tonight. I try to motivate us during a pair of early media timeouts. We can't find a rhythm, and the Midshipmen are having their way with us. I call a timeout and once again address our struggles and make some adjustments. We still struggle. With 8:46 remaining in the first Navy leads 22-31. At 7:09 I call another timeout and tear into my guys over their apathetic performance. We committed a pair of quick, unnecessary fouls and turned the ball over on our last two possessions. My men just aren't interested in playing basketball tonight as we continue making mistakes. Lafayette's down 37-45 at the half. 9 turnovers and poor defense plagued us. Marcus Woods scored 14 points for us.

We play a little better to start the second half. Navy's play deteriorated which is auspicious for us as well. My team climbed back to a one possession deficit, 52-54, by 15:28. At 13:13 we gain the lead 61-59. So far we've only turned it over twice this period, but our turnovers could flare up any time. We are shooting well, and it's the Midshipmen's turn to commit unnecessary fouls. Both teams trade leads for the next few minutes. Navy has started a three pointer streak, and the game turns into a shootout. We start losing the shootout around 9:30 or so and I call a timeout to disrupt Navy's rhythm and buy our team some breath. It works, as the Midshipmen didn't score for the next 4 and a half minutes. We do score in that time, however, and we eventually pull away to a 97-86 win! This is our first road victory, and our first winning streak. Let's keep it up!

Player of the Game: Marcus Woods (27 pts, 7 reb, 1 blk)
Honorable Mentions: Tyler Stanfield (15 pts, 2 ast, 2 reb, 0 tov, 16 min), Clint English (12 pts, 1 ast, 4 reb, 12 min),
Tim Stowers (11 pts, 1 ast, 4 reb, 2 blk), Sean Faye (8 pts, 2 reb, 1 stl), Vegas Johnson and Francis Cambridge each had 5 assists.

The team made 18/29 threes tonight and shot 52.5% overall! However, we had no fast break points.

A Note About Dennis Riley and the Centers:
I start Shaun Lavin even though he is (by a small margin) the worst of the trio of players I play at center. Dennis Riley is my team's best defender, and I've noticed that he often significantly inhibits the scoring by the opposing team's PF and C, especially if the opposing PF and C are talented. On offense he has a proclivity for drawing fouls, and often puts opposing big men in foul trouble. I treat him like a special tool in a toolbox; when the other team's big men are dominating in the paint, I send in Dennis. He is an excellent disruptor. Starzee Reed sometimes provides a useful spark off the bench on offense. He has an almost unstoppable drive that earns him many easy layups and dunks. He plays well in spurts; otherwise he is a nonfactor on the court. Occasionally Starzee gets on a roll, and has several consecutive possessions where he drives and scores. Once that happens, however, it doesn't happen again for the rest of the game. Shaun Lavin is a player with high potential who I want to get decent playing time. He also is capable of blocking opponents' shots and stealing the ball consistently. I do not want to risk disrupting the usually solid play of my starting lineup by starting a different player than the lineup is accustomed to playing with.

1/7: Lafayette (4-8, 2-1) vs Colgate (6-6, 2-1)
Colgate is led by PG Chezley Turner (playing SG tonight), PF Paul King, and C Kent Tyndell. They are some of the best players in the conference.

In the first minute Tyler Stanfield earns a foul and we turn it over twice. Timeout! Afterwards we play well despite shooting difficulties. Colgate overwhelms us. The Raiders make 4 threes in a row, 3 by Chezley Turner, and we find ourselves down 4-19 five minutes into the game. Surprisingly Colgate sent Chezley Turner to the bench even though he was doing well and wasn't tired. I put Tyler Stanfield back in the game at the 11 minute mark. He plays for two minutes, then the Raiders put Chezley Turner back in the game and Tyler immediately picks up his second foul. Chezley Turner is good at drawing fouls, and Tyler's defense appears especially susceptible. I won't have Tyler defend Chezley Turner in the 2nd half. We fight for the rest of the half, but we can't make shots and Colgate is better than we are. Colgate leads 30-48 at the break.

We don't have any fast break points and only 1 steal; I'm considering instructing the team to focus more on defensive rebounding. The way we are playing, an improved focus on defensive rebounding may give us more offensive chances than waiting to pick up steals and score on fastbreaks. I make the adjustment a few minutes into the second period and Lafayette closes the gap to single digits, 44-53, by 14:31. Tim Stowers is impressive tonight; he has 18 points now. We pull within 5, 52-56, at 12 minutes remaining. For the next several minutes though we trade baskets and misses with the Raiders. After a couple consecutive possessions where we turn it over, I call a timeout. Time: 5:59, score: 62-70. Raiders C Kent Tyndell fouls out at 4:50, and their PF Paul King carries 4 fouls. 30 seconds later we are down 1, 71-72. Can we pull off the comeback? With 3:49 left Paul King fouls out. The Raiders keep fouling, but we keep going 1/2 at the line! AARRGGHH! Tyler Stanfield hits a pair from the stripe to give us our first lead of the game, 78-77, at 2:15! Can we hold on? Colgate's backcourt led by Chezley Turner could pour it on. I've upped our defensive intensity and press frequency. With under a minute left, Chezley Turner makes a clutch 3. We're down again 80-81. 14 seconds left now, and Dennis Riley made a jumper putting us on top 82-81. Timeout Colgate. Should we intentionally foul? Except for their current C, the rest of their players on the court are good free throw shooters. No, we'll have to take our chances that they miss or that we can hit a shot quickly after they do. I move Tyler to the point and put Sean Faye at SG. Now I have my best shooters on the court. Also, I have four of my best defenders on the court. Colgate used all the rest of their timeouts at once. We have one left that I'll use if the Raiders make a shot. This is tense. The waiting for what happens next is nerve racking. Aside from murmurs and whispers, the crowd is quiet, hushed with baited breath. Play resumes, and Colgate makes a shot with 4 seconds left. Timeout Lafayette! I draw up a play to get Tyler the ball. Sean Faye brings it up, but Tyler can't get open. Sean shoots, he misses, and we lose 82-83. Sean is our second best shooter, so I'm not upset that he attempted our last shot. That's why I put him in the game. If not Tyler, then Sean should take those shots. Clint English is also a decent option.

Player of the Game: Colgate PG Chezley Turner (16 pts, 4 ast, 5 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl)
Leopards Honorable Mentions: Tim Stowers (21 pts, 5 reb, 1 stl), Starzee Reed (11 pts, 1 reb, 1 stl, 10 min),
Dennis Riley (8 pts, 1 ast, 4 reb, 3 blk, 1 stl, once again a disruptor in the post on defense as well as offense)

After the game I congratulated my team; I'm proud of their effort tonight.

For the second consecutive game we had no fast break points, though we did steal the ball 6 times.
*Author's Note: I wonder if lower offensive freedom correlates with fewer fast break points. I'm not sure how to keep Lafayette from slowing down into their set offense when they steal the ball, particularly when those steals could have led to fastbreaks. I would prefer that Lafayette simply try to race to the basket as fast as possible for easy dunks and layups when we steal the ball.

[PointGuard]

Good reports!

Your analysis of our centers and their capabilities is interesting.

Re fast breaks: I haven't experienced my team not getting fast breaks. What amount of offensive freedom and offensive pace are you using? That shouldn't cause a team making a steal from ever making fast breaks though, but worth your keeping your eye on...if it continues, it may be something to report to Gary.

[PointGuard]

STL% and BLK% was FIXED for CB2019...good pickup that it had been missing!

[Magic Bird]

Good reports!

Your analysis of our centers and their capabilities is interesting.

Re fast breaks: I haven't experienced my team not getting fast breaks. What amount of offensive freedom and offensive pace are you using? That shouldn't cause a team making a steal from ever making fast breaks though, but worth your keeping your eye on...if it continues, it may be something to report to Gary.

It appears the fastbreak issue was limited to two games, as you'll notice in my next post. I don't know what caused my team not to get and score on fastbreaks in those games. I'll attribute it to individual game circumstances. I'm glad you like my reports.

STL% and BLK% was FIXED for CB2019...good pickup that it had been missing!

Well, in keeping the spirit of the moniker "Mr. Analytics," Coach Colson had better be looking at the advanced stats.

[Magic Bird]

1/11: Lafayette (4-9, 2-2) @ Bucknell (7-6, 1-3)
Bucknell SG Michael Lampley is scoring 16.5 ppg. We'll try to slow him down.

Lampley scored Bucknell's first 8 points. The Bison lead 5-8 with 15:45 remaining in the period. He's a jumpshooter; we'll try double teaming him. We're having another one of those games where we can't shoot but can certainly lose control of the ball. Michael Lampley hit a pair of threes; we'll quit double teaming him. The rest of Bucknell look like they'll struggle to put points on the board. Perhaps we should dare Lampley to beat us by himself. The Bison also like playing with a short bench, leading to some quickly exhausted starters that play while tired. I'm going to increase our pressure defense with the hope that exhaustion leads to carelessness. At 8:25 Lampley picks up his 2nd foul with the Bison leading 14-22. He already has 16 points on perfect shooting. If he struggles with foul trouble and we start shooting better than 26.3% (ouch!), we should come back and win this game. We commit our fourth turnover at 7:42. I can't stand turnovers; I am not pleased. A media timeout ensues, and I yell at my players to try to shake them up. I want us to wake up, make shots, play smart defense, and take care of the ball. We still don't play well. I call timeout at 5:13 after our 6th turnover. I tear into the team again. Michael Lampley and his 19 points go to bench again with his 3rd foul with 2:11 remaining. Down 6 30-36 at 1:26. Marcus Woods has a nice block right before halftime. At halftime Bucknell leads 35-39. Tyler Stanfield was no slouch for us this half; he has 13 points, 2 steals, and no turnovers.

Marcus Woods earns 2 fouls in the first 1:30. Johnnie Long will play for a while now. Later at 14:24 I call a timeout because of a couple recent turnovers. At 12:25 Jerome Campbell gets a steal, dunks it, and we take the lead 45-44! Francis Cambridge drops in a 3 on the next possession. Timeout Bucknell with 11:41 remaining. Lampley picked up his 4th less than a minute after the timeout. We play solid basketball from there and cruise to a 75-65 victory over the Bison! Our defense was stellar this game, as we stole the ball 13 times. This contributed to our 18 fast break points! That's what I want to see! The defense also held Michael Lampley scoreless in the second half.

Player of the Game: Tyler Stanfield (20 pts, 4 ast, 4 reb, 2 blk, 5 stl)
Honorable Mentions: Francis Cambridge (12 pts, 4 ast, 3 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl), Marcus Woods (14 pts, 6 reb, 1 blk),
Jerome Campbell (6 pts, 1 ast, 11 reb, 1 blk, 1 stl)

It's time for The Rivalry against Lehigh. I'm not particularly interested in demolishing Lehigh out of a sense of rivalry, but my upperclassmen are enthusiastic and are talking some brutal trash about the Mountain Hawks. I ask some of them, "You guys really hate Lehigh, don't you?" Junior Dennis Riley responds, "Oh yeah."

1/14: Lafayette (5-9, 3-2) vs Lehigh (10-4, 4-1)
We really need to be careful with the basketball tonight, because Lehigh has 3 of the top 4 ball thieves in the conference. However, Lehigh's backup C, who is one of their best ball thieves, tore his ACL on the last day of December, and their best guard, Rashad Read, is hobbled by a sprained ankle. Read will try to play tonight, but the C is obviously out for the season.

We get out to a great start. Tyler Stanfield has 10 points in the first 2 and a half minutes. At 16:06 we lead 16-2 and commit our first turnover. Dennis Riley once again causes Lehigh's starting C LaVell Sheppard, who is arguably their best player and the second member of their expert stealing trio, to pick up his 2nd foul at the 14:03 mark. That Dennis is a menace (#BirthOfANickname). After he makes a pair of free throws we lead 24-6. The Mountain Hawks play more even with us afterwards. They make some shots, we foul too much, and they make some free throws. However, we still lead comfortably and we are taking excellent care of the ball. Lehigh doesn't steal the ball from us until 6:15 is left in the half. At 2:19 Dennis the Menace makes LaVell Sheppard earn his 3rd foul. The half ends, and the Leopards lead the Mountain Hawks 57-33.

Six minutes into the 2nd period we begin playing sloppy basketball and the Mountain Hawks cut our lead under 20 points. I call a timeout and scream at the team, "WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DESTROYING LEHIGH, NOT LETTING THEM COME BACK INTO THE GAME! POUR IT ON, DON'T PLAY SLOPPILY, AND KEEP THOSE GUYS AS FAR DOWN AS POSSIBLE!" I hope they take to heart my appeal to their sense of rivalry. They play with more effort, and we build the lead back up to 25 with 9 minutes remaining. Mountain Hawks C LaVell Sheppard is good. He made Dennis earn his 3rd foul. With 3:15 left we start making mistakes again. Once again I call a timeout and yell at the team. I doubt Lehigh can come back from 17 down right now, but they are good and I want to make sure we seal this victory. At 1:26 we only lead by 13 after the Mountain Hawks nail a pair of threes. My guys are playing better, but Lehigh could make us uncomfortable if they keep hitting threes and drawing fouls. They only make one more three. Final score: 95-83 Lafayette! Go Leopards!

We had 4 steals and 12 fast break points. Lehigh turned it over 14 times while we only committed 7 turnovers. We also shot 12/26 from three and 50.7% overall.

Player of the Game: Marcus Woods (16 pts, 1 ast, 7 reb, 2 blk)
Honorable Mentions: Tyler Stanfield (18 pts, 2 ast, 2 blk), Tim Stowers (15 pts, 1 ast, 7 reb, 2 stl),
Dennis "The Menace" Riley (10 pts, 3 ast, 7 reb), Francis Cambridge (7 pts, 6 ast, 2 reb)

Starzee Reed strained his abdominals in the game and won't be at full strength for the next fortnight.

[Magic Bird]

1/18: Lafayette (6-9, 4-2) vs Army (6-9, 3-3)
My team gets out to a 10-2 lead, but Shaun Lavin picks up a pair of fouls 2 and a half minutes into the game. Starzee Reed is out, so I have no depth at C now. By 13:08 I have three starters with 2 fouls. This is not looking good. I hope we can hang on for the rest of the half. I call a timeout and express my concerns to the team. Army has been experiencing foul troubles of their own. Play proceeds, and the team commits 4 turnovers in the first 10 minutes. Not good. I'm stingy regarding turnovers. If we are on pace for more than 10 or 11 in a game I'm not happy, and that is the case right now. At 9:09 Johnnie Long throws the ball away, and I call a timeout. I make it clear to my players that I am not happy with our play even though we have a double digit lead, 27-15. If we keep playing like this, we'll lose that lead. We're fortunate that the Black Knights can't shoot tonight. Clint English turns it over a minute later, so I pull him out. The Black Knights cut the lead to 1 at 6:30. I told my guys this would happen. I want to save a pair of timeouts for the 2nd half, otherwise I would use another timeout now. Tie game, 31 all, at 4:42. Both teams are in the double bonus already. I don't like foul fests. We hold on for a halftime lead of 46-44. Army's shooting dramatically improved after my last timeout. Both teams combined for 25 fouls in the half; we had 12, they had 13. If this continues into the next half, we might be playing 3 on 3. Their guard J.B. Blackwell has made 4 of their 5 threes. I'm not sure how to slow him down.

Army's Darcel McCullough nails a pair of triples to give them the lead, 51-52, at the 16:56 mark. We retake the lead with a three from Marcus Woods at 15:55. The score is 56-54. We're hanging on. Midway through the period we hold the lead 70-63. At 8:18 the Black Knights call a timeout when Dennis the Menace restores the lead to double digits, 74-63. He actually hasn't drawn many fouls tonight against Army's big men; otherwise he has played well so far. We play well until about 5 minutes remain, then we turn the ball over a couple of times. I call a timeout and thrash the team, reminding them of how the Black Knights came back in the first half. It appears to me that I've been more temperamental with my men lately than I usually am. I do care about how disciplined we play. My players remember the first period breakdown and play well after the timeout. I put my starters and Dennis Riley in with 2 and a half minutes left. We hang for the victory and defeat Army 93-80. I was pleased that our second half play was much improved from our first half performance.

Player of the Game: Tyler Stanfield (22 pts, 1 reb, 1 blk, 20 min)
Honorable Mentions: Marcus Woods (15 pts, 3 ast, 2 reb, 2 stl), Dennis Riley (10 pts, 9 reb)

1/21: Lafayette (7-9, 5-2) @ Holy Cross (7-10, 2-5)
Holy Cross is pretty good despite their poor conference record. They take the lead early and we stay within a couple of possessions for the first 6 minutes. We snatch the lead a minute later thanks to a steal and some free throws. My players start getting called for fouls; I disagree with a couple of the calls. Dennis Riley and Clint English go to the bench with 2 each. A pair of turnovers before the 8 minute mark infuriate me. Guess what I did? During the timeout, I chew out the team for sloppy play. I know this is a road game, but we must stay focused and motivated. Unfortunately, we lose the lead and continue throwing the ball away like we just don't care. I use another timeout with 5 minutes left in the half to admonish them for their carelessness. We play with more discipline for the rest of the half. At the break the Crusaders lead us 32-38.

Once again we start the 2nd half playing fairly well, outside of a couple careless possessions that ended in turnovers. We can't make shots, though. Holy Cross extends their lead to double digits. The refs keep racking up fouls against my guys. We have 6 fouls six minutes into the half, and I'm not sure we deserved half of them. I stay quiet until the sixth one, then I complain to the nearest official in a calm, polite manner, telling him what I saw. He calls a technical on me! What the hell is this crap? Now I'm fuming. Interestingly, my guys appeared motivated by my sticking up for them and played with renewed effort for the next few minutes. I put Tyler Stanfield in the game, and the referees call him for a phantom foul, his 3rd foul total, as soon he steps on the court. I'm not going to say anything because I think the officials will eject me if I do. We start throwing passes away, so I call a timeout to holler about it. We don't do a much better job than before, and now the refs are piling on a load of traveling calls, most of them questionable. The Crusaders continue pulling away, and we lose 54-74. This was an ugly game for us, and it was mostly our fault.

Player of the Game: Holy Cross SG Kareem Smith (27 pts, 3 ast, 4 reb, 4 blk, 1 stl)
Leopards Honorable Mentions: Tyler Stanfield (11 pts, 5 reb, 5 blk, 1 stl), Johnnie Long (10 pts, 2 reb),
Jerome Campbell (9 pts, 1 ast, 1 reb), Shaun Lavin (6 pts, 1 ast, 6 reb, 3 blk)

I've struggled to keep the team motivated in games lately. I've had to be more vociferous, scream more, and appear more frustrated even when I'm not too upset in order to get their attention. I'm not sure if the grind of the season is wearing them down or if they aren't used to maintaining self discipline. I'm patient; I let them make their mistakes, gently convey my concerns about it, and give them second and third chances before I act angry and yell at them or actually become angry and yell at them. Maybe this blowout will galvanize them.

1/25: Lafayette (7-10, 5-3) vs American (6-11, 3-5)
The Eagles have a pair of skilled big men. I hope Dennis Riley is a menace to them tonight.

We commit three turnovers in the first minute and a half. Timeout! I sit my players down and calmly tell them to concentrate harder. They do play harder, and we roll to a double digit lead, 27-15, by 11:41. American calls a timeout to disrupt our flow. I praise the team for their good work. Later in the period we begin playing poor basketball. The Eagles go on a run to close their deficit to 1, 34-33, at 5:24. I call timeout. I put my starters in, and we close out the half 48-43 as we play solid ball after the timeout. Dennis has not been able to stop American's bigs. I hope other teams aren't adapting to us.

Both teams trade baskets for the first part of the 2nd half. Eagles C Jamar Jensen is 7'2 290 lbs and unstoppable. He has 20 points. We can't defend him. American ties the game up at 11:22. Each team has 63 points. We regain the lead and hold it by only 2 or 3 points for the next several minutes. Shortly before 4:01 the Eagles gain the lead 77-78 and we turn the ball over twice. I call a timeout and scream at the team, "WE CAN WIN THIS GAME; DON'T GIVE IT AWAY NOW!" I'm not angry, I'm just trying to pump us up and warn us about falling into careless play. At 2:35 we retake the lead and never look back, defeating the Eagles 87-82! I'm surprised we won the rebounding battle 29-27 against Jamar Jensen and American's other solid big men. We also shot 40.7% from 3 but American made 60% of their shots, most of them made from within about a 5 foot radius from the rim.

Player of the Game: Tyler Stanfield (23 pts, 4 reb, 1 blk, 2 stl)
Honorable Mentions: Clint English (12 pts, 3 ast, 1 reb), Marcus Woods (13 pts, 2 ast, 1 reb, 1 stl),
Francis Cambridge (12 pts, 5 ast, 1 reb)