Tribe, CAA sweep Richmond
Posted by TTHS on December 31st, 2006
The Tribe beat Richmond 61-53 on New Years eve, making Richmond basketball(women included) 0-2 against W&M on the year and the CAA 3-0 vs. the Spiders.
Another good shooting game for Kisielius. He was 4-6 from the field, scored 11, and has only missed 3 shots in his last 2 games. He also got 3 assists, 2 blocks, and 8 boards. Way to go Laimis!
Adam Payton was the high scorer, scoring 13 and getting 4 boards. He was 4-7 from the floor, and 4-6 from the stripe. AP just keeps on producing.
Nathan Mann was 1-8 from the field, and only scored 3, but also got 8 rebounds. Yes, Nathan Mann got 8 boards. He also had 4 assists compared to 1 TO. Even with the bad shooting, he had a solid game.
David Schneider. 9 points. 0 assists. 4 TO’s. David has seemed to be a different player lately, and apparently he isn’t allowed to shoot inside the 3 point line. 3-7 from the floor and from 3. I don’t know if this is just me, but he seems to not want to run the fast break and is usually the last one down the court. I remember one play when he and Mann were on a fast break, he passed it from midcourt to Nathan around the 3 point line, and went back seemingly to play D. He could be such a great player if he puts it all together.
Peter Stein and Alex Smith continue to produce. Smith scored 12 with 4 boards and Pete scored 4 with 8 boards. It is great to finally get some production out of the big men.
We dominated them on the boards, 40-26. We beat them in every shooting category, but the 14-25 from the foul line in troubling. This is the second straight game we haven’t been able to drain them from the stripe. Also for the second straight game, we got a huge lead and couldn’t put them away. Most of the game we were up double digits, but inside 5 minutes they can’t miss from 3 and we can’t make anything. Hopefully that is something this team will gain with confidence.
Also, it looked like the Tribe played a 1-3-1 zone, and it was very successful. We held the Spiders to one point in the last 15 minutes. Yes, one point in 15 minutes. Great coaching move by Shaver.
@ Mason on Wednesday night. I’ll write a preview and a Non-Conf recap tomorrow.
Go Tribe!
January 3rd, 2007 at 12:57 am
Many thanks for the great CAA preview and for the mid season awards. Super job.
The awards for Liamis and AP are right on target. Those two playing well together are the engine that makes the team go. To win, Liamis and AP MUST play well. Normally that means Liamis scoring about 20 points and AP scoring about 10 — plus all the other things they both do. Then with their performance as the foundation, other members of the team must step up and contribute.
How good can the team be? As Casey Stengel said, “90% of sports is half mental.” The team can be as good as they collectively decide to be.
Mason is a good challenge. Mason is a team that decided to be good last year and became what they decided.
Every Tribe member must resolve to contribute more starting now. Every player given even one minute of playing time must produce a concrete contribution for the minute of playing time. In any game, there are only 200 minutes of playing time. Nathan’s performance last game is a good example of contributing. His shot was not falling, but he found other ways to contribute — particularly by rebounding.
Kyle has stepped up his contribution. Alex has stepped up his contribution. Each player needs to resolve to contribute more each and every minute.
And that includes Liamis and AP. Yes, they are both contributing a good deal already, but to move the team to a higher level, they both must do more. Instead of playing superb defense in spurts, AP must play superbly each minute. Liamis should not fall in love with his shooting percentage. He would do his team much more good if he shot twice or three times as much even if his percentage declines. Liamis must also increase the number of times he leads the fast break. Keep pushing the ball Liamis. Don’t wait for the D to get set.
So Mason is a good challenge. It will be a battle more of mind than of bodies. Will the Tribe decide as they did against Cornell to ignore the obstacles and win? It is up to them. Will Liamis and AP increase their contribution and thus inspire their teammates to do the same? It all depends on how much Liamis and AP want to enlarge their view of the future.
Years ago before there was basketball, the Virginians who led the American revolution faced an impossible battle against the world’s most powerful military force. Against all odds and all common sense, they decided to win. In any age, deciding to win is a good habit to acquire.
Go Tribe!!