Early Season Over-analysis

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Nate, Dan, Bill and Leon overanalyze the Penn loss and dive deep into how the team has been doing, what’s working and what’s not as they look forward to the next matchups.

Show Notes

Transcript

Welcome to Dragonscast

Nate H: Hi everybody and welcome to the, uh, Dragonscast of Drexel basketball podcast. I'm Nate and we got the usual courier. We got Bill, Dan, and Leon. So, uh, we're gonna spend some time talking about the games that went on over the last week. We're gonna start with the men's games. We'll go through Penn, and then we're taping this on a Monday night.

Drexel MBB vs Penn

Nate H: So we just got done with the UT Arlington game. We'll talk about that. And then we'll go through women's basketball. They had a couple games this week too, and, and, uh, we'll go through that too. So hang with us here and, uh, you know, go back to the Penn game. We'll start out. So, uh, Drexel loses that game, uh, to Penn.

Nate H: It was 64 to 59 and it, it really was kind of an ugly first half. We shot very poorly. Uh, had us at eight of 26 from the floor. Two for 10 from three, four for nine, from the free throw line. Penn wasn't great either. I mean, they were 14 for 28, which is pretty good. But, uh, I mean, I, I looked at the family at, at with like maybe a minute or two left and I was like, man, if we could stay within 15, I feel like we've, you know, maybe won something here.

Nate H: And we actually were almost in single digits until we gave it that turnover and that layup at the buzzer. So, ended up being down double figures played a better second half, I think We were just in general not quite as tight. We were willing to actually shoot the ball and it was Luke house that kind of got us going and hit some threes that, uh, kind of got everybody else in rhythm a little bit.

Nate H: And, um, so he finished, I have, he was nine points in a game on three of six shooting, and that was from three point range. Um, and then we still, it was just terrible from the free throw line the entire game. And really it looked like we were just gonna kind of walk out of there losing by 10 to 15 points somewhere in there if we were lucky.

Nate H: And then just made a run outta nowhere and got ourselves 57 55 with a little under two minutes left. Amari was, well, we'll talk, I'm sure, more about his performance overall. Uh, he had a good, good night for us and it was kind of the trigger throughout the, he finished with 20 points on eight of 14 shooting.

Nate H: Probably did more in the first half. Kept us in the game. Really. He had 13 points in the first half, and then it was, uh, Clark Slacker who just came up with the big shots when Penn really needed him and hit a three from the top of the key that, that kind of sealed it. We actually had the, a chance, I think we were down only three.

Nate H: We had a chance to tie the game at the end, and it was kind of a long shot, but, uh, really that was kind of the dagger for Penn and they sort of, uh, kind of escaped at the end after it looked like they were gonna kind of dominate us all the way through. Jordan Dingle kind of lived up to the reputation.

Nate H: He had 21 points and, uh, had a good night for Penn. But, uh, you know, I, I ended up feeling a little bit better as we walked away. It looked like Penn was just gonna dominate us the whole way. At least we made it. I, I got the chance to, to kind of pump my fist and yell and scream and look across at the pen fans.

Nate H: Cause we were in a section next to 'em and saw some fear in their eyes. So it made the, the trip down, uh, worth it for me. But, uh, yeah. Um, so we'll go around, uh, who wants to start kind of throwing their 2 cents about the game on, on Tuesday?

Dan C: Yeah, I, I wouldn't mind jumping in just because I think Penn is, from my eye, it's maybe like an average ca team, like, as far as level of play. And so to see, you know, kind of that level of team come into the DAC, um, which actually had, you know, a decent home quarter event, I thought, I thought the, the turnout was pretty good.

Dan C: Um, and walk away with a win is disappointing, really disappointing for me. I, I thought that that game, uh, feeling pretty good coming outta the opener. Right. Leon, I think I might have mentioned that you don't, uh, wanna read too much into the opener, but, uh, yeah, it's, it's, it was really disappointing, um, to me.

Dan C: I thought, um, the guards in particular, um, Didn't, didn't really put on a show. I also thought, um, what you said, Nate, was very important. The first 10 minutes or so looked pretty rough, 10 to 15 minutes, and I think you knew it was gonna happen. Um, Penn was, oh and three coming into that one. They were going to West Virginia after leaving the DAC.

Dan C: Like this was kind of a backs against the wall. You don't wanna be oh five right? In a 30 game schedule. Um, they, they kind of needed, they were a little desperate for this early in the season and you knew that they were gonna come out swinging. And I didn't think our guys were really, you know, jumping off the walls coming outta the locker room, right?

Dan C: I didn't think they were super, super psyched up for this, but I think they came out a little flat against the pent team that was really coming out, looking to throw a punch and they landed it. And I think if that game goes another 10 minutes, we'd probably come back to win it. I think Drexel's maybe the better team, but I, I think that they weren't, you know, they got beat outta the gate.

Dan C: Hard, hard, hard. And then they were in catch up with the rest of the way. And the other thing I, I saw that, you know, kinda disappointed me, I looked a little bit better today against Arlington, but you look at, um, Coltrane, Lamar Oden. Mate combined for one of three from two point range, that's three of your five starters.

Dan C: You only took three shots between the ARC combined. Um, it's also two, two year seniors, you know, and a junior. These are upper class veteran players. Uh, Penn wasn't so great defensively inside that, you know, that demanded that they couldn't drive the ball. Um, Justin Moore had seven shots from two. Jamie Bergen said was four of six off the bench from two you could drive with these guys.

Dan C: We just weren't with, with, with our veteran players. And it was really disappointing. Really wanted to see just a lot more out of them. And I think we'll talk about Mate as the podcast rolls along, but I, I thought that's where we really got beat.

Bill M: I mean, culture wasn't great, but you can't get two points from combined from Lamar Oden and Oak Gross as two of your starters. I mean, just that. And then the free throws clearly, I mean, be nine for 20. I mean, that's not gonna get the job done, uh, anywhere, really. Um, but yeah, that, I mean, those two guys for me really need to step it up.

Bill M: Um, and like I said, we'll get into Arlington a little bit later, but, and Noro is struggling still, but. But yeah, no, that I would agree. The guards need to step up and they didn't in that.

Leon M: And it's one of those things, right? We just beat odu and I know you told me not to get too hyped up, but I was pretty hyped up going into the pen game. Uh, I, I definitely wanted to win that one desperately second time that come into the DAC. Uh, and, uh, the DAC was packed. I gotta give it to the DAC Pack and, you know, the folks that were maybe the ODU game that came back, you know, people were there to, to, uh, to support the Drexel team.

Leon M: And we had, we had more fans, you know, by far more fans than the Penn team did. But to your point, they came out like they came out strong. And I guess we caught a little bit on our back foot. And we couldn't execute on some fundamentals. Right? Free throw, shooting, come on. Now, I'm not expecting us to go damn near perfect like Penn did.

Leon M: Uh, and I think that did make the difference, them going perfect on us going 45% from the free throw line. Uh, that is the game. Like we would've won the game if it wasn't for that, despite all our shortcomings outside of that. And, uh, it, it seemed very apt that we tried to find some hope at the very end. I think Marshall was at the game and he turned to me with the, the now made famous with Ted Lasso, but the perpetual English soccer quote of the hope that kills you.

Leon M: Cause you know, we, we just had to make it close enough to make it feel like, Hey, maybe there's a shot. We could, we could pull this one out still. Maybe there's a miracle, miracle that, uh, you know, that'll come to existence, but we, we couldn't get it done. And, uh, battle for 33rd Street, you know, I was hoping it would be on, uh, Drexel would be winning it, but it ended up being Penn and.

Leon M: Between that Clark, uh, likeat shirt and, uh, Dingle, you know, they, I guess they deserve the win over there. And their coach seemed pretty like, I know Donahue.

Dan C: Steve Dokey, which is Coach Biker's former head coach.

Leon M: So like, he seemed good, you know, he seems to, they have that hashtag one O on all their outfits. I was like, what the hell is Juan o And I, I had to search that up and I found the Daily Pennsylvanian article about the, the Maori phrase, I guess, that they've adopted as part of, uh, as part of their program too.

Leon M: It's, uh, something that the, what is it? The New Zealand All Blacks have as their motto of, uh, it means extended family and I guess the, it's, uh, , it's the New Zealand All Blacks and UPenn basketball, uh, the two programs that are, that are sharing that quote right now. So, seem to work for them though, you know, so I, I gotta give it to them.

Leon M: But you, I definitely wish the result wasn't what it was, especially with the attendance that we had, you know, you need. Wins and big games like that cuz that just drives the, uh, it kind of grows that fandom exponentially when you have a big win and we couldn't get it done. So that definitely hurt.

Dan C: Killer, especially with a big break coming up here. You've got the tournament. Out there on the road for Thanksgiving. Uh, temples on the road. You don't come back until the 30th, so you know, it's like two weeks between home games. You'd like to have that, that good taste on the tongue with the fans thinking about the last time of the DAC and, and that, that is tough.

Nate H: And let's put it out there. We all love Luke house. I mean, he is like the player that, you know, you just, you just love. And it just, but then again, I looked at, it was like for him to be the trigger man. I don't think that, Necessarily what we want. And I mean, it just seemed like everybody was hesitant. I think you guys said he could, we, a couple guys could have driven, they weren't any idea what you think was going on there?

Nate H: Maybe it was like a first big game for some of these guys. So just kind of adjusting to that situation. But any thoughts on that?

Dan C: Well, we're talking about Coltrane, right? Mae and, and Lamar. So, so, no, it's not the first big game for Right. I, I just, you know, and it's funny that you mentioned Luke House and I'm glad you did. Um, cuz Mike Tub bro on the air was just, I think he got match up on d. Late, um, when the game was tight and tubes kind of just said, Hey, this is not the matchup you want.

Dan C: If you're a Drexel fan, pretty much, you know, I mean, you don't, you know, Luke house is, is, uh, he's hardnosed, he's rugged, he's everything else, but he's not the most athletic guy in the gym. And you don't want him on, on the other guy team's best player. He's, he's provided an offensive spark. He was 50% for three going into tonight's game.

Dan C: He was fine tonight. But to your point, Nate, like, I get why the coaching staff wanna get behind a guy like that, right? You wanna, you want to back the guy who's working his ass off in the room, who can kind of be a leader in practice and, and, and, and who's fighting for minutes because that's, um, good culturally for your program to see those guys succeed.

Dan C: So you wanna see everybody, you want everybody else to see that guy succeed, to wanna work harder, to wanna work like that guy. And if he's the hardest working guy in the locker room, uh, personally I wish it was Amari Williams, but if he's the hardest working guy in the locker room, then you know, you wanna set that tone.

Dan C: So I get that. Do I think you wanna be in a position where he's the best option? In a rivalry game at home with five minutes left at a tight game. That tells me you, you have a personnel issue, right? I mean, or you're not ready to compete. And again, if the pen is an average ca team, your guards were, were beat just all night.

Dan C: Um, and Luke House was probably the most best offensive performer in that group. Um, so that's maybe Jamie Bergens off the bench. And I actually really like what I've seen outta Jamie. Um, he's, he's got some questionable decision making, but he's got all the tools, I think to, to be successful. Yeah, I, I'm, I'm, I'm glad you mentioned it.

Dan C: I, I think we gotta talk about mate a little bit as well. Um, cuz it's tough to see a fourth year player, you know? Um, he's been an integral part of this team, but he's not a plus defender. I, I won't care what the coaches say to me. He's not a plus plus defender to my eye. He brings length to it, but I don't think he has the athleticism really.

Dan C: Um, and if he's not providing the offense, you know, he's got five points and three D one games this year. That's, that's four year starter, 1.3 points per game. That's kind of average competition. Like that's a concern. I don't know if it's a lingering injury issue from last year or if he's something new or, or anything in between, but they're gonna have to make a decision with him pretty soon if this keeps up.

Dan C: I, I, but again, to your point, Nate, who's behind him, Luke house, I think you need, I think you need Shane Blank Lake.

Leon M: Yeah, it, it, we definitely missed, I guess Shane Blakeney, who we haven't seen yet, and I hope, uh, comes back after, I think, was it two weeks? We heard? Uh, so hopefully he'll be back, uh, coming back and, or coming in for the first time in two weeks. But it, it just didn't seem like we could get anything going though in that pen game.

Leon M: And I don't know what it was. I couldn't like, put a finger on what it was that we like forgetting free throws for a second. Even in the first half, we couldn't even shoot a three. We were like going 20% from the three point line. It looked like, uh, like what Bill, what did you see that, like, was it just, what did it look like, I guess from the, you were watching it at least on tv.

Leon M: What, like, was it just a lack of energy? Like what did it look like to you on flow sports where you watched this, I assume this is a flow sports plug.

Bill M: Yeah, I mean, I did watch it on flow. I mean, it just like to dance one early. It just seemed like the guard just aren't hitting shots. They're not producing, especially the starting guards in, in this case. I mean, like I said, Bergens and House came to play, but, um, he just can't have like, out there just taking up space.

Bill M: I mean, that's basically what doing right now. He's just, he's not shooting well, and if he's not shooting well, I don't even know why he is out there. Um, ma up until, I would say the game tonight had been a little disappointing for me, but I mean, it's really early the season, but, you know, he, he needed to play better.

Bill M: We, we can't have just Amari having to carry the entire load by himself with, you know, Luke house hitting threes. I mean, you need other players to step up. Um, and we didn't have that. But I mean, today, today's point too, like I would with Oak Gross, I would try to bring him off the bench at least. I mean, he had, he can't be in the starting lineup anymore.

Bill M: I mean, maybe you start. You could start Bergens right away. I think just put him in the starting lineup. I mean, I know he's, you know, the backup point guard, but they run together at times. Anyway, put him in, uh, the year we went to the tournament. I think Oak Gross really started playing better once he was coming off the bench behind Xavier Bell.

Bill M: Um, if I'm correct. So give it a shot. I mean, he's just, he's not, there's something wrong right now, and it has to be in his head. I, I mean, he's too good of a shooter. I'm not exactly sure what's going on there. Like Dan said, maybe it's injury driven, but you have to try something else. He, he can't be out there this many minutes not hitting shots.

Dan C: And, and Ken Palm's got a stat, um, usage rate. And I, I'm wary of stats this early in the season, right? Because kind of, um, it's, uh, it, it's, you can, again, stats can lie and, and usage stats and everything else. It's just too early, samples, too small. But, you know, they've got him nearly invisible, less than 12% of position possessions used.

Dan C: Like he's, to your point, Billy, you're a hundred percent right. He's out there and he's, he's, they're not passing the ball to him in a position to shoot. And they're, uh, you know, they're just not ready to, it doesn't look right out there. It doesn't look right. Something's not working, and he's not even being involved in the offense, let alone taking shots of missing for him.

Dan C: H eight three attempts in three games is actually really short too. You know, he's only taken two and a half roughly shots, a game for three, which you. Just give him the opportunity more than that. So no part of this is working out well. He is. I think, you know, maybe one or two assist.

Leon M: He only had five points in the Arcadia game for crying ad lab. Like you'd think he'd, he played 26 minutes, you know, and get, get your jitters out or whatever it is. He at the pen game and that's the only game I was in person for. He looked a little like in person. He looked like his eye. He almost looked like unnerved, like a little unnerved.

Leon M: I don't know. He didn't look like he felt confident out there at any point during the game. This was even before he took his first shot of the game, so I don't, I like, I forgot about his injury from last year. I dunno if there's something still lingering from that. I'm hoping it's an explanation like that because a fourth year player that is starting right now, he's definitely not at the caliber or anywhere close to what he should be doing.

Nate H: I'm gonna follow up too. There's a conversation on the Slack channel about did we go to Amari Williams too much? And I was sitting there. It's like at some point it just seemed. It kind of torn because in some sense, where else were you gonna go for points? And I mean, he did have a great game, but then again, there were some plays where, it's hard to put my finger on it.

Nate H: You felt like if he would've gone up strong or you know, made one quick move and gone to the basket, he would've scored, he got caught off off his feet a couple times on defense. Uh, he did have the highlight real play, which by like credited all our marketing people. And I don't blame when they plastered that dunk all over the place.

Nate H: So, you know, forget the score. Show a monterey's dunk. That was great. Great. Uh, a great job on their point. But did you guys feel it? Maybe at some point we went, we should have bailed on that a little earlier.

Dan C: Can I, can I go both ways with this one, Nate, and just say, um, I, I have no problem with how much I went to Amari, but I agree with you. He's, he's, his first move is not fast enough. I thought watching him in Arlington tonight, I caught the back half of the game, but he, they were double teaming him instantaneously and it was always take a second and then pass out, take a second, take a dribble, then pass out.

Dan C: You have that double team coming, you wanna move the ball, right? And, and, um, I do, I agree with you, the hesitations there, and that's having a real impact on the offense.

Bill M: I think he needs to catch the ball closer to the hoop too. I don't know why he is catching the ball so far away and then he has to face up, dribble to the hoop a little bit and then back him down, like get him, get better position near the hoop right away. Like I, it makes no sense. There's multiple times, even during the Arlington game tonight, where he just caught the ball out by like the free throw line or closer to the three point line.

Bill M: Like why is he getting the ball there?

Leon M: But that seems to be by design though, right? It seems to be by design that he catches the ball on top of the key. I do not understand that absolutely either. Like, and we were forcing that at the pen game at points, and it would lead to a turnover sometimes because he would just not get, you know, pass that ball out quickly enough.

Leon M: But to your like, but Bill, I completely agree with you, but it seems like that's something we wanna do, or seems like that's part of. Design at this point for Amari to catch it on top of the.

Bill M: It does seem like it's part of the offense. I don't know. I don't understand why like get him to fight for position inside, get him closer to the hoop so he has easier little hook shots in there and he doesn't have to go very far.

Dan C: Well, bill, I mean, I'm, I'm, I'm not, Or so, so help me out. But one thing we always hear about him from the coaching staff is that he's an elite passer, right? If, if you really feel like a passing is a big piece of his game, do you want want him in the high post so that you know, he can, you know, create things for other people, create cuts towards the basket, not clock the middle, and then, you know, if nothing's there, he can, he has the ability to go off the dribble and get toward the basket.

Dan C: Is that, do you think,

Bill M: Yeah, you,

Dan C: seems like a reasonable, what they're going for,

Bill M: could be right on that. I just think you're losing some of his offensive potential doing that. Like having to have him dribble, uh, put the ball on the floor, get close to the who, and he can pass out, like if you can pass out a double team from the post too. He can, he can make things happen from there too.

Bill M: But I know if that's they're going for then, you know, that's fine. He just needs to, at times get a little bit closer to the hoop, because when we need a bucket, that's the guy you can feed. He can go get you a bucket most times. But I don't wanna see him shooting like, You know what, eight or nine foot hook shots, like, there's no, there's no need for that.

Bill M: Get, get close to the hoop. And he's, he's pretty accurate from in there.

Leon M: Yeah, and he had a, he, he did have a good pass today and I, I get that comment completely, uh, that you wanted, but look for the pass. If it's not there, give like, look for that. I guess really good pass that sets up another player for an easy layup. If it's not there, pass it and go back under the hoop. But he's float, he's still floating around the three point line.

Leon M: For some reason you are not a three point.

Bill M: And they don't even guard him out there. I mean, they literally, they don't even bother going near him when he is on three point line like Arlington tonight. Just left him there. Um, and, and, and crowded everyone else. So I don't know if how much that helps you. Um, but he has a good pass. I do like his passing ability.

Bill M: He, you know, he, he did create a couple looks, uh, for his teammates tonight too. But I'd like to see him get closer to.

Dan C: For the record, I agree with you. I was just going with the devil's advocate, what I think that they might be going for. Yes, please give them the ball to the basket.

Nate H: Yeah. Yeah. You put that, now you say that that's a big part of it. He's catching the ball too far away and he's gotta do so much work just to get in, you know? And then sometimes I feel like he fades away and he forces the shots cuz he is gotta do too much work to get to the, to where he should have been when he first touched the ball.

Nate H: Um, I, I mean, good passer. I don't know that I'd use elite passer. Like I said, I can think of one plate today you where you made a nice pass. I don't need an elite pass or I, yeah, double team get rid of the ball or the wide open player. That's all you really need. So, but, um, and I guess the last point on the game too, and, and it kind of feeds into again, I guess kind of how we maybe scout our own talent and, uh, you know, I, I kind of left and again, I was, I was actually in a good mood leaving the game at one point cuz at least, again, at least I got to look across.

Nate H: The stairs there at the pen fans and see pain and that at least made it worth it. And plus the, you know, the atmosphere there, you know, still to full house. My son was into it. Everything they're adding on it is a good experience. But, you know, so I left feeling pretty good, walking outta there. At least we made it interesting.

Nate H: But then, you know, I thought of me the next morning, I was like, you know, in some sense after the game I was like, you know, I feel like Penn is picked second in the Ivy League. You feel like maybe this is a team they've been building towards. Although they're probably not feeling good about things. Cuz like you said, they're pretty close to being oh five.

Nate H: I think they got stomped by West Virginia after they played us. So it's like, okay. Penn's building to something and we're not, you know, we're kind of maybe at the, at sort of a little lower on the pole of trying to rebuild. But then I was like, you know, but Coach Spiker's not new. I mean, he's been around for a while.

Nate H: So then I, and, and I'm looking at this too. I'm an LSU fan by the way, and, and you know, Brian Kelly comes in and. It's a different situation, but I think LSU fans are kind of like, Hey, you know, let's, let's just hope we get better game by game and see if this team gets better. Now, lo and behold, they won the SCC West and overachieved, but I don't know, I just kind of walked the next morning, I was like, you know, we really shouldn't be at a rebuilding phase.

Nate H: We should be more at a, a level of, um, you know, like we've built towards something. And I, I guess, um, early in the season, but I dunno about you guys, but, um, and it's just a small sample size. I, I guess I'm hoping we see that progress as we go game by game.

Bill M: I mean, yeah, I think when you just lose as many players as we did, it's gonna, it's hard not to rebuild a little bit, just the t support. I mean, if we had Xavier Bell, TJ Baff, and, uh, you know, cam Winter here or not, I mean, that's a pretty amazing team that you have going at that point. Whereas now we've lost all those guys and the guys who graduated and you're looking at, you know, what are we bringing eight, nine guys, um, this year.

Bill M: So it's just, it's hard, uh, with the trans report losing that many guys. But, you know, team's been up and down so far a little bit. . I've been encouraged, especially with the last two games. I know one of them was a D three game, but at least it got, you know, some of the guys on track. I feel like, especially Lamar Oden.

Nate H: You know, I and I, and I, yeah, I hear that we keep turning the roster over in a sense, so it's like, you know, again, can we figure out how we keep a roster together? Or is this just the nature of, you know, a mid-major basketball program and the NI transfer portal era just gonna be constant turnover and you really can't build, you know, maybe that's just the way things are, but.

Dan C: It's probably a mixture they're made. I, I do think, listen, teams three and one right now, so we record, um, we're complaining about Amari Williams. You're probably in decent shape, right? We're probably, actually don't get too high after the opener. Probably don't need to get too low. Uh, right now. Um, there's a middle ground here that says we're, we're we.

Dan C: Look, you know, if you look back and you say Odus would be a decent team in the caa, Penn would be a decent team. Not title Contenting team, but there'd be 500 or better probably, uh, in the caa. Um, and. Arlington is basically a D six school, so we ignore that one for a second. But, um, you know, they haven't been terrible.

Dan C: It's three home games in a neutral site game, so, you know, the profile's not bad, I guess is my point. You know, let's not get too harsh. We've been harsh on basically every single guy in the roster on the spot so far. Um, and we're three and what, so, so we're losing to try to say to something,

Leon M: We lost a rider the year we went, had 20 wins, didn't

Dan C: I was very, very, very much there, Leon, and that still hurts.

Nate H: Yeah. And that's where it set the expectation. Again, I guess as I'm looking through this season, I just wanna see again, game by game, we're getting better and where it ends up, we'll see. And then I think the long term success with Coach Spiker is some way of carrying that one year to the next. I don't know how that's gonna work out, but, but yeah, just, you know, and thankfully, yeah, we've got two other games to talk about, which is better news.

Drexel MBB vs Arcadia

Nate H: Um, so, you know, for the most part, I feel like, so, um, on Friday night, so I think we went, I didn't write the score down honestly, but we played Arcadia home game one by 40. So I would say kind of beforehand, I guess I look at these games as it's opportunity, sort of like, you know, you go to Penn State game, they win, you know, by when they beat Rutgers, like 55 to something on Saturday.

Nate H: And you're not gonna necessarily get to see a guy plays in crunch time, but you're gonna see the whole roster. So, and you kind of get a look at different guys. Anybody have any comments or anybody stand out to them in the minutes they played on Friday?

Dan C: I don't watch D two games. Three games, sorry.

Leon M: Yeah, I yield my time to.

Bill M: I mean, I'll, I watch any game. I mean, you got guys, like you said, you got guys minutes who don't usually get minutes. I think that's, you know, the biggest thing. Uh, you know, Kobe McGee came in, put some solid minutes. Um, you know, I was a little surprised the two butlers didn't barely got any run. I think they got what, eight minutes for one and four for the other.

Bill M: Something along those lines. So, you know, strange to see even in a 40 point blowout that neither one of those guys really saw the court. So I don't anticipate will see that much this season at all. Um, so that was kind of, Um, the biggest benefit I think that we got from that game is that it seemed to get Lamar Oden going a little bit before this.

Bill M: I think he looked a little hesitant out there, and he went into this game, you know, knocked down some shots, scored in double, double figures, and, uh, it seems like that translated over into the, our, the next game we get started with tonight. So, um, I'm happy about that. Um, you know, you come away with a 40 point win, that's about all you can hope for.

Bill M: Everyone's healthy. Yeah, that's, that's about the biggest takeaway you can get from a game like that.

Nate H: And like I said beforehand too, I like Kobe McGee. What I saw of him, and I, he's from Allentown, so he'd have to do a lot to get on my bad side. You know, Danny Hs from Allentown Central Catholic. I think he's the last sort of Lehigh Valley player. Oh no. Uh, Hawthorne went to, uh, steel High, so nevermind. But um, but yeah, being an Allenton guy, I'll root for him.

Nate H: And it seems like he is pretty good size. And he drove the lane a couple times, showed that he could shoot. So again, it's Arcadia, but at least you can do it against somebody. So I, I like to, I, I thought I liked what I saw from him.

Dan C: One last thing. Uh, and it's a silly, silly note, but I like it. Um, but the referees for the Arcadia game were Tim Kelly, who's still officiating. God bless him, uh, out of Boston. Um, Steve Perry, which is probably outta Boston too, I would assume. He's taking a break from his other gig. Uh, and then Christopher flattery.

Dan C: Bill, I hope to see shivers go up your, up your spine. When you hear that last name, I'd imagine it's related. Um, so any game where we win with a flattery in attendance is a good game as far as I'm concerned.

Nate H: What's the connection there?

Dan C: William, you have it. I was the, uh,

Bill M: I think it's a Delaware.

Dan C: university of Delaware. Yeah. He killed us. Killed us at Delaware.

Nate H: But you know, maybe it's a good time too to talk. I've been seeing the conversations about how bad the CAA has been doing out of conference, so, and I know a couple of you guys have talked about the concerns about just scheduling these games period. And then plus the league has done poorly, so, um, Maybe Dan, or, uh, you probably follow this, how bad is the league doing?

Around the CAA

Nate H: And, uh, how do you feel about how things have started out so far in non-conference?

Dan C: Uh, wide variance is what I would tell you. Um, it's not, you know, and, and somebody tried to capture this on Twitter, I think, by just giving the records of like the top four schools and, and the rest of the conference. And I don't think that's fair cuz records at this time of year, it's like somebody's played two by games against UNC at Duke and somebody else has played three D two games.

Dan C: Like, don't give me records in mid-November cuz they're kind of meaningless. But, um, Yeah, I mean, Towson's four and up with four pretty good wins. Like Towson looks the part. Um, they would at UMass on the road at Penn, on the road at USC Greensboro, who's actually pretty good this year on the road. Um, they should win their next few.

Dan C: Um, honestly, they should, they should be, should be. They got a tough one that against Mercer, um, this weekend, uh, Thanksgiving tournament, but they should be really like nine and oh going into playing at Clemson. Um, if they do it right, um, so they, they have a chance to make real noise. Um, Charleston did make real noise.

Dan C: They just won the Charleston plastic, which is a tournament that they host every year. It's the first time winning, but they played Davidson at Colorado State and Virginia Tech. It was our, those are teams that are gonna be, you know, bubble teams in a few months. Um, almost all of them. So that's three real good wins.

Dan C: They'd beat Richmond in overtime right before that. Um, and they went to Chapel Hill and scored 86 points in a 1 0 2 86 loss. Um, you know, unc, I think is the number one rank team in the country right now. So if you put up 86 on them, you're raising my bras a little bit. Um, so Charleston Tasn, which are supposed to be the flag bears, have done, have done their job.

Dan C: Um, Hofstra's four. Oh, going to the St. Mary's game. They just got pummeled at St. Mary's, but St. Mary's looks legit. Pack 25, legit. Um, but, and has did be Iona, who's a top 100 team right now at home, and Iona will probably hold serve. They've also got a roadway at Princeton who we'll see in a couple weeks.

Dan C: But Princeton should be pretty good in compete in the Ivy. Um, Delaware, bad loss at Air Force, then they lost to Duke. I don't know what you can pull from that. There's nothing there that wouldn't be like, you know, they should have beat Air Force. But, um, first D one game of the year was on the road.

Dan C: Whatever happens, let's see how they do Colgate for them on Friday. This Friday for Thanksgiving is gonna be a big game. And then Wilmington, I think is the team. Bloomington's probably the team that I was kind of out on, um, that everybody else is in on. Um, but they've, they've beaten two non D ones and they've lost two, like three ranked opponents they've lost at UNC Uon and Oklahoma.

Dan C: So again, what can you read from that? Somebody's gonna tell me their oh one three gets division one opponents. Okay. They played UNC, Oklahoma and Uon. So jury's out, which is to say, I think the top of the league is still pretty good. Matter of fact might be much better than years past. Um, the bottom of the league is really bad.

Dan C: It just is. Um, I think Elon, William and Mary Hampton, um, I've heard nothing but not good stuff out of William and Mary thus far. Hampton the quota guy from somebody was, they don't look ca caliber at this point. Um, listen, you look at Hampton and a and t and Monmouth, they're transferring up. You don't really expect them to be ca caliber cuz they didn't recruit ca caliber athletes for the last three years.

Dan C: Um, there's gonna be some growing pains. It looks like they're gonna be pretty, pretty stark. Um, Stony Book's probably the team, I'm disappointed by. Um, they're one in three but they just lost at Brown. Um, they don't have a D one one yet. They've a losses at Florida, Rhode Island and Brown. So they got swept by the state of Rhode Island.

Dan C: Again, you lose at Florida, you lose at Rhode Island, you're not really shaking your head too much either. So I don't think we've taken like terrible losses yet. That Air Force for Delaware's bad at Brown for books not good. But those are things that ca teams do even when we're in an up here. Um, jus it's a little early is what I would tell you to say to dog the league does.

Dan C: Yet I do think the new additions are gonna be a drag this year, and I think that's by designing. I think that's okay. But the top of the league looks pretty good.

Nate H: Yeah, I guess you just. See, yeah, A conference champion that's not what, like 17 and 12 or something like that. So I guess you're right. Yeah. Cause I was thinking the terms, like I've seen some of the scores out of NCAA and T and stuff and I'm like, man, they're really bringing us down. But if they add add wins to the top part of the league, make them their schedules or like their, their records look a little bit better, you know, for the, I mean, thanks Dan.

Nate H: That was perfect. I thought I was putting you on the spot, but you came through and you know, people like me sometimes and a lot of people, casual fans will look at just the records and be like, oh my god, you know, how'd they get in the tournament? And they're 17 to 12. So, I mean, hopefully I, and you know, obviously I'd love it to be us, but there will be a year where it will be us and if Towson does the work for us or somebody like that, Charleston raised a profile league.

Nate H: I think that's.

Dan C: One school, Northeastern Northeastern's gotta show me more. They're owed for all four D one games. All four of them were relatively, I mean, at Syracuse is not super winnable, but at Providence, They're okay this year, but they're like n i t. Okay. And then bu on the road. And then Harvard at home. Harvard at home probably feels a lot to them like Penn at home did for us.

Dan C: Um, and we were picked next to each other in the standing. So I'd imagine you're gonna hear a lot about the co-op schools kind of in that fifth, sixth, seventh, battling it out right now. I'd say we profile a little bit better than that. I, I still think the Dragons are a looking out kick that set number seven pick, um, based off the early season look.

Dan C: And, um, I think we all agree they can play better than they have. So that's a good sign.

Drexel MBB vs UT Arlington

Nate H: We'll move on. And, and again, we started the, the tournament, uh, tonight. Well, we're taping on Monday. So, and, and Correct. Gulf Coast Classic. Is that what we're calling this thing?

Dan C: Who

Nate H: can't remember the name of it. Uh,

Nate H: but either

Leon M: the Gulf. It's the Gulf. Excuse me. It's the Gulf Coast Showcase, guys. Come on.

Nate H: Got it. Thank

Leon M: it's a, it's a, it's happening down in Es Florida where the Hertz, uh, moved their headquarters to, it's this, this is a happening town and a happening place. They had electricity and no leaks. Come on. This is a step up for us from a pre early season tournament standpoint.

Leon M: So,

Nate H: Especially if the Hurricane Cote, cuz I mean it didn't, that area get hit pretty hard so Yeah, if they're, they got the arena through it looks like, so that was good to see. But, uh, but no, so we started out tonight, we played um, UT Arlington and, uh, so picked up, you know, a nice win. So we win 59 to 38 in the first round of this tournament.

Nate H: And so, man, I hope that I don't screw it up cuz it was such a great quote from the, the play by play guy or whatever. He was like, uh, the col, the coal train is coming down the tracks. So if I got it right, really he kind of book ended this game of just kind of dominating. So I think he had, I was trying to count this up and we'll see how good my mouth is, but he had 11 of our first 17 and we shot outta the gate up 17 to seven.

Nate H: Uh, we probably missed that cuz unfortunately it looked like the production got taken over by aliens and you couldn't really see what was going on. But, uh, and, and that was down our ut on, called a timeout was about 12 minutes ago. We were up 10. Uh, we got sloppy. We played actually pretty poorly, especially I thought, especially towards the end of the first half.

Nate H: I think we had like 10 of our 14 turnovers were in the first half and a lot of 'em seemed like they came late. And then, uh, UTR made a couple runs at. I don't think they got any closer than probably within like, uh, let's see, like five with about 14 minutes to go. But then we closed the game on another run that's a 21 to five, I think it was 16.

Nate H: 16. Oh, at one point. And again, it was col, trey that triggered it. He had 11 more down the stretch, finished with 22, and uh, he was six of eight from three and eight of 13 overall shooting. So he was terrific tonight and they kept leaving him wide open and he killed him pretty much every time. It felt like Oden had a great game tonight and used his athleticism, used his size, got to the rim, uh, you know, had a really good game and maybe again, carried over from that Arcadia game.

Nate H: The other thing those games can do, they can be get right games. I mean, that's what happened for him. So, uh, he, he was terrific for us. We didn't have to rely on Amari as much. He had 10 points. He was four four from the. And that's something else. I think that factors in with him in the post. If you can get foul and get to a line, that could be a big part of your game.

Nate H: So maybe sign up good things to come for him. And again, I guess the only down IROs, unfortunately. Oh, for four total. Three or oh for three from three point range. So you guys already kind of covered it, trying to get him going. But overall, uh, again, Coltrain was terrific. Uh, ut Arlington was terrible. They shot 25% for the game.

Nate H: Maybe give our defense some credit for that too. So, uh, good to, uh, so yeah, here's that progress we were talking about. So even as this podcast was, is progressing, hopefully I'm not sounding as depressing and we're seeing some, some progress being made here. So,

Bill M: I mean, I just think it was, it was nice to see the guards carry us a little bit this time with the, especially Coltran and Oden, like you said. Um, I mean, Oden really got going. He looked good. It's important for how good we're gonna be this year is is relying on him a little bit at least. Um, and Coltran was, was awesome.

Bill M: I mean, not only was he hitting open shots, but even he created a couple looks for himself too and knocked them down. Uh, he really put that, put the game outta reach for those guys. Um, you know, Amari only had 10 and 10. It was an okay game for him. He was in foul trouble, but, you know, we won anyway. Uh, and that's important.

Bill M: I think we can't rely on Amari to, you know, have 20 and nine every game. So, I mean, hopefully we can, but I don't think he will every game. So it was, it was good to see those guys step.

Dan C: Bill. I love the fact that we're at the point where Amari gets ten, ten four assist a block and a steel in 26 minutes, and we're like, yeah, nope. Should have done better.

Bill M: It's his, it's his worst game on the season. I mean, it's, it was, it was good. He's still, and he had on defense, he impacted a lot, you know, in their block of shots. He's a really good player. I mean, we're lucky to have him, but he can't just have one guy, no matter how good one guy is, uh, you're not gonna carry the team.

Bill M: So, you know, I was really happy with, especially like I said, with Lamar and just stepping up in Oak Gross, something needs to be done. Uh, I think everyone's on board at this point. He can't just be out there, uh, not doing much. I mean, he's, he's not like a basher mason or something where he is locking down on defense to the point where, you know, you need him out there to get steals and, and shut down the other team's best defender.

Bill M: I mean, even if he's a slightly plus defender, it's, it's not worth it for him to not be knocking down three. We need more outta him or he needs to not be playing as much.

Nate H: And we all agree, great kid. Everybody wants us, wants him to succeed. I think the play that was telling, I think he drove the baseline and had a pretty easy layup and just missed it. And that happened last year too. I remember the Princeton game that comes to mind where. He was, was trying to add that to his game, driving the baseline and it just, for some reason just couldn't finish.

Nate H: So yeah, we've gotta get him doing some other something else other than shooting the ball for just saying, Hey, shoot out of it. In the meantime, he's gotta do something else. So hopefully his coaching staff can figure out something or yeah, we gotta go look looking for other places. So.

Bill M: I just don't think he has any confidence. I don't know what it is. I don't know where he lost that confidence because he was a great shooter coming in. I mean, the tournament run, he stepped up huge, had big shots for us, so I, I don't know what happened and maybe he, like I said, hey, maybe still hampered by the injury a little bit, but he's gotta get his confidence back and find a.

Bill M: um, I don't know exactly how you do that, but coaching staff has to find a

Leon M: sometimes you just need a little reset, right? Like he had a pa pass go through his hands today. Like he maybe just needs to come off the bench, a couple of games over that reset. But, uh, you know, I don't wanna, again, these guys are college athletes. I, I always, uh, it's, it's, uh, difficult sometimes to be so harsh on these players, but at the same time, He, he is a fourth year player that, you know, we are expecting more out of it.

Leon M: We wanna see more out of because we wanted to succeed, you know, and that's where I think we struggled a little bit on. We don't know what's happening, right? That right now with Oak Gross, you know, and Oden, again, if we didn't have this game and we were recording before this game, I would say I'd be a little down on Oden as well.

Leon M: But he, Arcadia, I guess, got the cobwebs out of him and he's able to show up to this game and amazing game. In addition to Coltrane, who, again, going into this season, I think everyone's been high. Coltrane being the new leader of the team sorts. And I think the performance today, you know, had leadership written all over it.

Leon M: Uh, and he loves those long threes. Man, let me tell you, let some of those three point shots. He thinks he's Steph Curry out there,

Dan C: So does Luke house, uh, you know, I, uh, it was great. It's great to see, um, first of all, also culture trains bigger. Like he's been in the gym, man. Like he got, if you look at him when he walked in as a freshman and him today, you could fit two of his arms freshman year into one. Um, you know, it's, uh, he put on a lot of weight, which is good, uh, muscle.

Dan C: And, um, yeah, I mean, the kind of the clothes I have, I'm gonna tell you is just, and I do think it's, and it's an injury, you know, I have, I have no insider knowledge. I, I don't know anything. I, I just, um, he took a three, uh, pen game that was just really off and just stuff that's uncharacteristic for him. Um, so I, I go back to last year when j.

Dan C: Was, was, was not, you know, he was struggling to get through, put it that way. And we were playing him over Amari at times and all of us were like, kind of throwing stuff at the screen. Like, I'm all for loyalty. Especially to a guy who's been here four years, serves you well, helped you bring in Amari, right?

Dan C: Like there's a lot of, I mean he's, we gotta be behind with hey the guy, cuz he's an awesome guy from all accounts. Um, but you can't let that loyalty get in the way of, you know, the program moving forward. Um, and, and so I'm, I'm really intrigued. I'll keep it close eye kind of how this one plays out. Um, and hoping, hoping if he's, if it is an injury, it's a, it's a short he'll bounce back if it's mental, same thing, you know, maybe it's a change of scenery to do you guys point, maybe pull him off a bench.

Dan C: But, um, really want him to be successful. It's important for the dragons, for him to be successful. Uh, cuz again, who else, who's, who's walking through the door. Um, so they gotta figure out a way to make that

Nate H: You know, like I said, he's not a small guy. I mean, he's got good size, so you feel like, you know, yeah. Even, you know, can he, can he, you know, pump fake and, and get to the rim, get to the line, he's probably a decent free throw shooter. So again, something that I put that on the staff of finding other ways that he can help out while he kind of gets, gets right with the shot.

Bill M: I'm, I'm just hoping like when Blakeney comes back that, you know, he can take some of these minutes and make the decision a little bit easier. I think to your point earlier, like who, who's going in, I mean, maybe you're playing Bergens, but if they really like him as, you know, more of the backup point guard and then, you know, playing some two occasionally.

Bill M: But, um, if Blakeney comes back and is ready to play, I hope they don't continue to leave Oak Gross out there if he's struggling. I mean, you really gotta, you know, do what's best for the team. Like, like Dan said. Um, but I hope he finds his way. I was hoping he'd come in this year and just shoot a higher volume than he had previously because I really do think he has a great shot at just, it's not falling for him.

Bill M: And I think it has, I think it has to be mental at this point.

Dan C: It's the only other quick notes I had on the lineup just real fast. We, we, I'm really comfortable with where we are at the five, like Garfield Turners are really capable. Um, ca level backup, backup center. I really like what I've seen outta him. Um, I think Justin Jennings was on with us and he said, you know, you're gonna love the hustle.

Dan C: You're gonna love, yeah. All that stuff was true, you know, really enjoyed And Omar in front of him, with him behind. I feel like we have legitimate depth up there. You know, we're not gonna get run in the front court at any game. I also think, I don't mind Morden Bergens, I mean Justin, he's a freshman. He's had some freshman moments.

Dan C: Um, but he, he's sewn flashes too of, of having a steady handle and, and being under control and, and, um, Bergens behind him. It's funny, one thing I, I can't not see Zach Walden , um, when I look at Jamie Bergen's play, um, just cuz they both to me have a lot of those Oh, don't do that. Don't do that. Please don't do.

Dan C: Plays, um, but also have like, there's a complete toolbox of skill sets. So it's kind of nice to feel like, I feel like we've got a good situation at the one, a good situation at the five, and it's that positionless basketball at say, that's kind of given us problems right now. And, and that feels like you have a lot of different tools you can throw in that direction to to, to get creative and try to fix it.

Nate H: And I think that this, I thought the first half of that. Pen. It was like we were afraid to shoot. And again, in the last two games, it's like guys are willing to let it rip. And I think that's what's frustrating in the first half. It's like, Hey, you know, if we're gonna lose, fine, but go down swinging. And I'm thinking that I, I half hate that expression or that that cliche, you miss a hundred percent of the shots you don't take.

Nate H: Cause if it's a dumb shot, don't take it. You know? But you know, at least we're, yeah, Qury may taking a bomb, but I don't want him doing that all the time. But you know what, if it's there, I'd rather you do that than turn the ball over or something like that. So at least we've gotten out of that kind of being shy that we were against Penn.

Leon M: Yeah, there was way too many hesitations during that pen game. There was like, there was a couple times where I just wanted cold train to just take the shot and he'd like, look for the pass for some reason. Made no sense. And it seems like that's, he's got it out of his system, at least in this game.

Leon M: Hopefully that continues. You know, if you got the shot, just take it like I, nobody's gonna, nobody's gonna get on you until you miss probably 10 shots in a row. Right? , maybe at that point we'll start getting upset. But if it's cold train, if it's somebody that's a three point, if it's Imari taking three point shots, yes.

Leon M: I, I think after the first I would be upset. But otherwise, uh, take the shot if you have it. We, we need to kind of shoot ourselves out of this, uh, Some of the pain that we had, and I don't know how we held a team to 38 points. It, it seems insane to me. I think it, it was a little confluence of us kind of playing, uh, good.

Leon M: And also them just shooting horribly. But it's not like we played, I don't, did you guys think we played amazing defense? I know Amari did his usual cleanup, of course, and he was involved in a lot of plays, but it wasn't like we were playing stifling defense here.

Dan C: You know they have a sign in their locker room. Leon, you miss a hundred percent of the shots that you don't take over in the Arlington locker room. I mean, it looked like it, right? I mean it, they're terrible. There are teams that are deep. I think they went 10 deep. Like as far as guys who played like 20 minutes or more today.

Dan C: Um, and there are teams that are deep do that because they're deep and there are teams that do that because they don't have anybody who's worthy of more medicine than anybody else. And I, I feel like we, we found that one. Um, they just look really bad. It's all I got.

Bill M: I feel like the defense has been better overall than some of the past years. I mean, especially the early spike of years. Um, it just seems like we have some guys who are better defensively. Um, Bergens for instance, is really, uh, playing well defensively. Um, even just Justin Moore's not bad defensive. I mean, I feel like some of the new guys are good along with, you know, Amari back.

Bill M: Cleaning stuff up as he does, which just makes it easier for everyone else. So, you know, I do feel the defense is better, even though, like you said, the level of competition here wasn't, wasn't the best. Um, but in previous years we might have given up 70 or 80 points to, to this team. Uh, so I'm, I'm happy that we're at least, you know, playing good defense on teams that we should be.

Dan C: So stats lie early in the season, but right now as we sit today, uh, Drexel Dragons are seventh in the country, in field goal percentage defense. So I mean, you'll take that.

Bill M: Yeah,

Leon M: I'm, I'm bad getting hyped up, Dan. You shouldn't have done that.

Dan C: We haven't turned anybody all season long on, so there's, there's a plus and a minus, but yeah. Um, no, it's the shot set up and falling for the opponents. It's, um, just 36% from two, we'll call it the Amari factor. Um, possibly also the UT Arlington factor. I'll place 'em together. Um, but yeah, it, it's, it's the numbers at least they lie early on, but they're decent.

Nate H: I feel like we're, and I don't have a stat to back this up. Maybe, you know what? I feel like we are playing a slower pace and maybe limiting possessions. I dunno if that's accurate. I just feel that way and it goes back when I asked. It was Coach Jennings, you know, about what style did we wanna play and I, I, I still think of us as being a little bit offensively challenged, so trying to limit possessions is probably the right way to play.

Nate H: So I dunno if you know anything that backs that up, but that's a sense I have too. So if you shoot poorly and you don't have any opportunities to score, it's a bad combination for, what were they, the mavericks I guess. Was it a good night for

Dan C: It's about the same as last year to date, Nate, as far as tempo number of possessions per game.

Nate H: But anyway, so yeah, and I sense, I'm glad what, uh, one of us was sick. Uh, one of us was at a Temple Villanova women's game longer than we expected. One of us was taking care of a baby, two of us might have been taking care of a baby, so we got to wait an extra night and had some good news. Cuz like I said, I guess that's the point I was having.

Nate H: I just wanted to see us. I'm not calling us the ca champion even this year caliber, but at least seeing it get better game by game. And, and, and that's a nice thing with this tournament. I mean, they're right back at it tomorrow, the night after. So we get to see three straight games and you, you don't wanna have col ry and go, you know, score 22 points tonight and then score five points tomorrow.

Nate H: And same with Oden, you know, have one point tomorrow. See these guys, be consistent and see us looking for the same things night after night. So interested to see what happens tomorrow.

Dan C: Two things to leave you with Nate. One is, yeah, if you're a rebuilding team and you're a top half ca team at the same time, then you are probably doing something. Right. I mean, um, and we profile that way right now. Uh, the other one is just a note. Uh, float Gulf Coast won the night cap today. So we have what looks like a capable Gulf Coast team.

Dan C: Northern Kentucky was no joke, and they beat it by 20, um, they went out at USC earlier this year, so a pretty decent photo. Gulf Coast team, it looks like, uh, on, you know, in, in their not home court, but hometown, I guess. Uh, tomorrow, tomorrow night, afternoon.

Leon M: Tomorrow at seven 30 is the Florida Gulf Coast game, but it is a tournament that you seemed to play for every position. I meaning the first, the second, the third, you'll the fourth, fifth, all the way to the seventh. At least we won't be eight. We know that for a fact, right? So it's a positive way to look at things.

Leon M: So, uh, yeah, I think Florida Gulf Coast game tomorrow is gonna be a good challenge, but we'll see where we go from there.

Drexel WBB vs La Salle

Nate H: We'll move on and good, good lead in then so that the men play at. Seven 30. So the women play at six o'clock home game against Lehigh. So you know, you get home from work and watch the women's game and probably they'll be backed up. So I'm sure the men's game won't start on time. So, You know, nice night at Drexel basketball was the women's game.

Nate H: And then right afterwards, pull up the men's game and there you go. So you just, I just planned out your night for you. So, but let's, let's take a, a step back here. So the women, and hopefully I don't miss a division three game like I almost did with the men's game or the men's team, but, uh, the women's team played LaSalle.

Nate H: Uh, this was last Tuesday, and, uh, we lost 77, 74. I didn't see the game cuz of the time that it was going on. I tried to listen to it on the radio and I got, I think the end of the game more than anything else. It, it just kind of, from what I could hear, kind of like a, a rock fight. Uh, you know, we got down in the second quarter.

Nate H: I had it, uh, they were, it stopped me again. I'm going off the notes cuz I didn't, I didn't get to watch the game. But look, we got outscored something like 27 17 in the second quarter. Looked like Las Sal really shot. Well, uh, hit a bunch of threes to build that lead. And then, uh, we, we, on the other hand shot poorly, uh, cuz Shawn Washington got into foul trouble.

Nate H: I, I think I saw she only played 20 minutes. So, and 16 points for her is like nothing compared to what she typically does. So really needed other players to step up. And speaking of Kyla Lavell did, uh, she, she was 12 of 19 from the floor and had 31 points. Hannah Saman, head of Saman had a, had a good game too.

Nate H: She had 12 points to chip in. And, uh, but it just wasn't enough. Ultimately, uh, you, we didn't get enough maybe from some other players. And it seemed like one of those games where LaSalle kind of dangled the carrot, kept giving us some opportunities and we just couldn't kind of take advantage of it. So, uh, and from what I hear at LaSalle is, is picked pretty high in the eight 10, so maybe a bigger game ahead of time than what I thought.

Nate H: So, and a tough situation going over there was like a 12 o'clock start on a Tuesday. So, uh, not the the, the kind of game you're gonna real be real fired up to play, but, um, but anyway, um, so we, we, we dropped that one, so anybody catch it? Any thoughts on that LaSalle game at all?

Dan C: I caught a bit of it. Um, yeah, I mean obviously the thing that came through in the broadcast over and over again was Han being in foul trouble. Um, tough foul that some of those were, were a little soft. Um, Kylie Lavell pencil her in for CAA first team for the next three years. I'll just be done with that.

Dan C: She's gonna be elite in this conference for a long time, which is really cool to see. Um, I, I see, still see some, some great flashes outta Grace O'Neil. I know they're, they're getting behind her. Um, but yeah, uh, uh, you had the combination right of Keana sitting for half the game. Um, the team as a whole shooting 21% from three, just three or 14, while the other team shot almost 40%.

Dan C: Right. And, uh, it was still a one possession game at the end. So like, they're a good team. Top the bottom, they are, the girls can play. Um, the defense was little x DAC at times. Um, third, fourth quarters, Nate Lasal goes eight of 11 from three. That's a high percentage , it's like 77% from three. It's just, you know, you do that with Keisha on the bench too.

Dan C: It's, it's tough to, tough to answer for that. I, I challenge LaSalle to go out in an open gym and do that tomorrow. So, Sometimes you gotta tip your hat a little bit to that team's performance too. But, you know, Lasel has everything go, you lose Keana and you're still there on the road in a noon game. Like, it stinks cuz it's a, it's a bad outlier and you hate to see it.

Dan C: Um, but not, I'm still feeling pretty good about, uh, about who we've got on the floor for the dragons.

Nate H: And I'll use this opportunity to plug Philadelphia women's basketball cause it like LaSalle's, at least pretty good. Of course we're good. You know, Villanova's in the top 25. I, I went to the Villanova Temple Women's game last night. I didn't realize how many temple players went with the temple coach. And, and my son picked out the, um, Alia Nelson is a point guard from Towson now at, at Temple.

Nate H: But then I looked and the other top score, uh, Gary. I think for Temple, um, you know, she, she was a Temple or Towson transfer, so, which speaks really highly of the CAA that, you know, you took a lot of the Towson team from last year put 'em at Temple and, and that Temple team matched up with Villanova. So St.

Nate H: Joe's be, uh, Vanderbilt over the weekend. So, you know, I'm sitting there at the, at the Leah Course Center, you know, maybe five, 10 minutes before tip and there's like nobody there. So all I'm saying is, you know, not just supporting the Drexel team, but getting out and checking out some of these women's basketball games around the city.

Nate H: And of course Sydney's still in at Villanova. That's a lot of why we were there. So I, you know, It just always bugs me that you just, you can't get the support behind the women's teams, but it's cheap. Seven bucks to get in at the game at Temple, so, um, you get a chance to, to go see some city games that's worthwhile.

Nate H: So, uh, but, um, but we'll, we'll move on too. Uh, so we played on Saturday against, and, and this worked out well too. I didn't get to see this game, so I got to watch it last night. And, uh, so we played Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday, and we won this game, 66 to 61. Uh, it was just a pretty even game throughout.

Nate H: I mean, uh, you know, we, I think our largest lead was by seven in the third quarter. And actually the, uh, Hawks had a lead in the fourth quarter, so it just wouldn't go away. They hung in there. I thought they, they had a pretty good game plan for us. Uh, they pressed in the second half, they double teamed Washington.

Nate H: So I, I mean they, they, they came to play for sure. Uh, we had 15 turnovers, 10 of 'em in the second half when they were pressuring. So that's what kind of opened the door for, for the Hawks. But, uh, but you, this game, you know, Keana did what she does. So she had, uh, 12 points in the, uh, in the fourth quarter. A lot of 'em are for the free throw line, but like we talk about Amari, sometimes you can just make a living there.

Nate H: You just get to the line and, and that's how you, you kind of, that's what Mattie Seres did for Villanova yesterday. She, you know, just kind of carried them down the, from the free throw line and said she finished with 37 points. So, uh, Kyle Lavell, 11 points, it's, it's another kind of Dan, like you've been saying throughout this too, it's a good problem to have when a freshman player has 11 points and you're like, that wasn't her best game, but, you know, did enough for us.

Drexel vs UM Eastern Shores

Nate H: So, yeah, I mean, I know it's a game. You probably think that you should blow 'em out, but I thought, I thought the Maryland Eastern shore had a good game plan, played us hard. They did the same thing last year and like we typically run into, we just kind of gutted it out and found a way to win. That's what we do.

Nate H: Dan, any thoughts on, do you get a chance to see it Saturday?

Dan C: I, I offered my daughter the chance to, uh, to go to the parade with all the fire trucks or go see the big girls play basketball. And I apologize to the women on the team, but everybody between the age of six and 30 is a big girl to my daughter. Uh, and, and, uh, she chose the firer. So I was, I was actually jacked up to bring her to the DAC and bring her to this game.

Dan C: And, and, uh, we wanted to see the helping people. So I got nothing. I got nothing for you on, on this other than to tell you that. Last year at Maryland, Eastern Shore, they won 65, 60, and this year they won 66, 61. So almost, uh, almost identical scores back to back years, which you'll never see again. That's it.

Dan C: That's my tidbit.

Bill M: I actually went to the game and it was my first game at the DAC, um, this year. So, um, I mean, it was crazy to me that Keana had 37 when they were basically doubling her constantly to try to get the ball out of her hands, and she still managed to score 37 on them, uh, regardless of how much is from the line.

Bill M: And Kylie actually, I thought like the reason she didn't score much more was because they didn't give her the ball enough. I thought I, again, get her the ball closer to the hoop at times. I know she can shoot from outside as well, but she's six two. Uh, feed her inside a little bit. Uh, and uh, I think you see a little more scoring there, but I, my, my biggest take on the girl seems so far is that they need other people to step up a little bit more.

Bill M: There's times where like, if those two aren't doing anything, there can be a drought. Um, and I know when, you know, two players. Or averaging, is it close to 50 points together at this point? I mean, it's, you don't need too much else. Um, but it would be nice to have, you know, someone else be able to step up and score on double figures occasionally, or at least multiple people on, you know, different occasions.

Bill M: But, um, but yeah, it was a fun game and they pulled it out. I mean, that's what good teams do. But the DAC, I'll tell you what, like for my first game there, it's a completely different animal than it was before. I mean, the more so the lighting, even the video board, like the lighting just makes it look like a more professional arena.

Bill M: I mean, it did on flow, like it made it look that way. And then when you're in person there, it's, it's impressive. Um, and I think they did a good job with like the graphics and everything that they're showing. So I was, it was a fun experience, uh, being there for the first time and seeing it all.

Nate H: Can't say enough about everything that's been done so far. I mean it's, it's been a great start to the year and, and I think, and going back, you mentioned something about inside. I think that the real key for us is how can we get our post players going? I think the ability, is there Valentine Satin? I don't know that they're necessarily gonna combine to be anything like Test Brer was you think back anything about She was probably about the best post player I've seen in the, God, what, 20 years I've been following the women's program.

Nate H: So we're kind of spoiled there, but at least get them, you know, playing solid defense, hitting lay ups, you know, maybe, yeah, chipping in five, 10 points, something like that is really all we need. And, and I think that can make a big difference. So hopefully they progress as the season goes on, but um, but yeah, so nice win for them.

Nate H: And like I said, I think they have a nice schedule put together cuz Lehigh is typically a pretty good Patriot League team, so there'll be a decent test for them. And then, like I said, they have St. Joe's down the road who's, who's playing well. So it'll be a fun non-conference season for the women's program there too.

Nate H: So I wanted to touch on, and sorry Leon, we're probably not following your, your agenda too well. You mentioned Mariah Murray and then I, I searched that and saw the story fill in on that about what went on there.

Bill M: I mean, I, I posted, I found it. It was just, I was kind of curious of what was going on and there's, you know, sometimes it's hard to find news, but there happened to be an article, it seemed like she had a knee injury of some sort. They took a look at it, they thought it could be cancer. Um, she then I think, started taking steps to address that.

Bill M: Obviously she went home, um, I think left the team at that point. It turned out not to be cancer, but I think, you know, there's still the injury there as well. So I think that's the main reason that she left the team. Um, it seemed like she didn't really want to, but when you're in that situation, you know, you feel more comfortable at home with your family.

Bill M: Um, so yeah, that was, that was what I found. Just figured I'd share it as, uh, people were interested to see.

Nate H: Yeah, no, I, I didn't, kind of curious what, what the background was there and it's not one of those you're gonna go hunting around for information. You kind of, you never know what the circumstances are there. So, uh, you wish her well. Glad to hear from what it sounds like it's not anything malignant in her knee.

Nate H: And, and this the selfish Drexel basketball fan that I am, you know, seeing how good Kylie Lavell is. I'm happy to have her, you know, once this medical stuff clears out, hopefully she comes back and, and wants to play. Cuz I'm, I mean, yeah, kind of wonder how talented they were. Kind of like, you know, yeah, the two top players up there, best friends and all that sort of stuff.

Nate H: So do what you need to do to get healthy and then man yeah. Come be a dragon. Cuz we'd love to have northeastern, pa, pa back. Um, they've done well for us so far, so anything else we didn't touch on? I'm thinking of that agenda.

Bill M: The one thing I can think of really that we should just talk about a little bit is just that, uh, you know, our loan verbal commit signed so, More Simmons sign. So, you know, I think he's looks like a good get, I haven't watched him too much yet, but um, as the senior season progresses, I'll, you know, give some more detailed scatter reports on him so far.

Bill M: But he signed so good news there.

Leon M: Do you have a score for him, bill on Theu star system or

Bill M: What? No, I don't, I don't, I don't yet. I think I did. I saw him play once or twice already. Um, but it was, he was playing against Justin Moore at the time, so I really wasn't paying super close attention. Um, but I will eventually, as soon as the season starts up here, actually in a, I don't know, sometime in November, I think.

Bill M: So, um, I'll start watching as many games as come online.

Dan C: Verbal commits has him with offers from, uh, I mean Marquette's, the headliner, but, um, Penn, Richmond, Fairfield, GW Richmond, Mount St. Mary's, Albany, St. Joe's, uh, and Brian. And, and so it's a, it's a wide enough swath that tells you a, yeah, he's probably pretty good. And b, academically he's probably pretty solid too.

Dan C: So, uh, good head on his shoulders and a guy who should be at our level. From the sounds of it the very least. I'm excited to see what Phil sees.

Bill M: Yeah, I mean he's six six and he can shoot apparently. I mean that's, I don't know what else he brings to the table, but that alone, he would take

Dan C: Can we, I said, can we bring him in this year? We just, just promote him outta high school right now.

Bill M: early enrollment. Let's.

Nate H: And keep us posted to being, you know, his high school games. I wouldn't mind going to see him too. So Yeah, if he's playing especially out central PA way. And my family travels too, so that's good for everybody to have. If we're gonna go take a look at him, if there's a good game to go see, let us know.

Bill M: I can let you know. I mean, I watch mostly online just cuz I don't know, it's harder for me. I'm not in the area, so I don't really get to see the guys and it's just easier to watch 'em online. But, um, I'll keep you posted.

Nate H: I wanna throw in there too, it's a little aside. Uh, Dan, you mentioned that you missed the women's game Saturday. Uh, we, I didn't see it live cuz my high school Northwestern is winning the state soccer championship and I happened to watch Friday night and a Bluestein was doing the, the p a soccer games. I guess they had somebody else do it Saturday.

Nate H: He did a nice job and is, uh, Ross Tucker used to do the football games. Now he's like, I think the lead play Byplay guy for, or color guy for I think CBS Sports Radio. I hear him on the radio all the time, so I don't know what, uh, a's goals are in his career, but it's a good place to start with the state championships here.

Nate H: So, uh, congratulations. Did a nice job and, um, fortunately he missed the Tigers winning the state championship. Uh, but, uh, you know, either way it was, it was neat to hear his voice and see him on.

Dan C: High level, high school soccer is actually like, I I love it. I love it. Um, it's a good time. So I'm glad, glad you gave it the shout. I'll, uh, I'll, I'll do you one, one other shout off topic while we go there, but you sir, ran the Philadelphia Marathon, Nathan, and I saw, I did try to compare you with Hannah and I Hill.

Dan C: I couldn't find her time. I did see she was running it. I saw you asking about that. She didn't run it cuz they had it on Instagram of her running through Drexel. So, um, I'm, I'm not sure what happened with the chip, but um, Sebastian Latu, the only guy in the Philadelphia Union ring of Ring of Honor, ran it as well and he ran into 3 55.

Dan C: What was your time date?

Nate H: Uh, like three 50 something there. So,

Dan C: So you got 'em. You got 'em. The only Philadelphia Union Hall of Famer was taken down by Nate Hammerer Lee in the Philadelphia

Nate H: Like I said, you just get run, go out. That's where it starts. You say, Hey, like I'm just gonna go run five mile, or not even, I'm gonna go two miles and five miles and then we'll all do it next year and then we can all this can be a running podcast like I was saying. It'll be pretty cool so it goes through the off season.

Nate H: But I'm glad she's, because you take that for granted. Like there's people that don't finish those things. And when I saw she didn't have a time, I was like, man, I hope nothing happened. But the bigger issue with the cold is, you know, yeah, you're like trying to get your gloves on and start your timer and do all this other nonsense.

Nate H: And my, my bib almost blew off when the wind, so it's like, yeah, maybe something like that happened, but as long as she's okay and nothing happened, cuz you kind of take that for granted. So,

Leon M: You see, that's the kind of problems, that's the reason I don't do a marathon. You know, I'm always worried about my bib flying off. You know, that's not,

Nate H: Yeah.

Leon M: thing, stopping me.

Bill M: I, I worry about my own death running those, uh, those, so I'm gonna go ahead and avoid it. If we do do that, I'll probably be the guy that gets busted, like taking a cab at the end of the finish line and just smoking you all in times. But

Nate H: Pittsburgh was worse cause I almost drowned. And then after I almost drowned, I almost got struck by lightning, so the cold wasn't as big of a deal.

Leon M: you're really selling this. Nate

Nate H: But anyway, I'll see you guys out there next year. We're looking forward to that.

Dan C: If 10 of our listeners wanna join, bill Leon and I, we'll do it as a relay. Okay,

Nate H: yeah, so. Right, right. Anything else you guys wanna throw out there?

Dan C: good. I'm excited. I'm excited for tomorrow night now, photograph coast. It's a good game.

Nate H: Me too. We ended on a high note, so I'm glad we waited a day. So. All right. We'll see you guys probably around the same time next week. Thanks for listening.

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