the game came down to 3 things: missed free throws, inability to stop collins (who regularly isnt a threat for ucf) and fear of tacko
at one point late in the 1st half, we were up 8 and had missed 7 free throws at that point…this game is completely different if we are making free throws …we also missed 3 more under 2minutes in 4 point game
Collins smith OWNED fabian white…from us up 33-31 to us down 33-39 was all smith then he pushed it to 45…scored on white, scored on white +and 1, drives on white to throw alley-oop…we then switched to cedrick defending him, where he scored 8 of their next 12pts (to be fair only 6 were on alley)…smith is 6’11 the 6/7 inches he had on alley and fabian probably played into that
corey played some elite defense on aubrey dawkins… aubrey was fighting for his life …and galen did great on bj taylor/allen when he was in the game
with 6 mins left in the game we had a LOT of good looks and missed a ton of shots we normally make …especially armoni
we had a open 3 by galen, with 1 minute left, we likely win if he makes it (we fouled on the rebounded and the free throws are what separated the game)
everyone was scared to go up with tacko, dejon flat out retreated 5 times after getting by a defender then seeing tacko as the help…armoni In the 1st 3 minutes of the game with a floater was the only Play all game where anyone on the roster even tried to shoot over tacko, or go at him to try and draw a foul
overall: less worried about this game…we wont see a 7’6 tacko regularly and i think minor adjustments (how to defend smith), making free throws and this game is less of an issue
We were beat by a well-coached team that knows us very well, had a good game plan, and had a lot of bounces go their way. The Dance will not have teams like this, they’ll have 5 days max to prep for us, completely different circumstances. Good write-up as usual Pesik.
should have been attacking Fall the whole game. go inside and dish outside or to a cutter. Fall traveled all the way to Elgin and back and wacked Brady at least 3 times with no call at all. WE need UCF to beat Cincy at their place.
Sad but true we are now on the path of no more wins. UCF killing stat - FTM 12 / FTA 24 in our house. Just terrible at home. Just think how bad we will be in Memphis and on the road. Enjoyed the ride but all I see is a loss to SMU, loss at Cincinnati and one and done in AAC and NCAA tournaments. Don’t waste your money going in person. Cheaper to stay at home and watch the losses on TV. I thought about season tickets for 2020, not.
Damn 74 , glad you got it figured out … don’t agree with anything you said … we will win next two , win tourney , then make a deep run … final four or bust … note: we have one bad half and still almost win …
Seriously? In March we don’t play well and drop only our second game of the season against a Tournament team, and it’s now, “Abandon all hope ye who enter here?” I was at the game and don’t get that vibe at all, nothing even close to it, actually.
Sam - I hope you are correct and I am wrong going forward . We were at the game and what I saw was we did not play our normal game. Seemed to be out of sync on offense with unforced shots, not working the ball for the open shot, defense was not on par and let the big freak be a big freak. I am just concerned this game could be a back breaker to our momentum.
I was proud of the team for trying to grind it out down to the last second. shots just didn’t fall.
Also, really proud of the fans and students who stuck around after the alma mater and applauded the team. Team still high fived the student section with energy and didn’t act deflated.
74 you are cracking me up. I think you are just putting us on. All season long this team has responded to adverse situations. No one on this board is half as upset as the team. Prediction to cheer you up. UCF beats cincy at home. We beat Cincy to finish the season and finish as conference champs. We then win the tourney and play at least two more weekends and maybe three.
I just posted on the football board how it’s nice not feel like the season is over after one loss. You seem to have the football mentality, but Pesik post is about how unlikely we are to face a team like UCF in the tournament.
We’ll destroy SMU, I feel sorry for them having to play us after this.
I was at the game yesterday. From what I can see, we need to play an up tempo game against UCP and any chance we have we need to run, not allowing Taco to get to the post. Taco is too slow moving can’t keep up wi the pace. And by pushing the pace we would also wear him out quicker.
I also thought we were out of sync to some extent. You have to decide whether that’s because the team has just fallen apart based on one game or if maybe there’s another reason. Were the guys too psyched with ESPN Gameday there? Could we have just had a bad shooting day? Could an agile 7’6 center have severely disrupted our offense? Could a 7’6 center and a 6’11 forward who played really well have presented matchup problems for us? I still feel that we can be a Sweet Sixteen team, maybe better depending on matchups and not shooting 50% from the line in any Tournament games.
Your saying what others are thinking. I fear this will be a rough week. Yeah, the team wins against SMU. Lose to Cincy to lose the regular season and top seed. I too fear a one and one at the AAC tournament. That will get UH a 6 seed in all likelihood, maybe a first round win but then bounced in the second game. I think the team was a bit exposed and other coaches have a blueprint of how to shut down the boys from H Town.
Another positive to look at. CKS is a top 10 coach in this game. Now he gets to actually make adjustments and these kids will listen and respond no doubt. You can tell from CKS pressers he is surprised how few losses we’ve had and there’s been a bit of “ain’t broke don’t fix it” going on which is what good coaches do. Now we get to adjust and respond. We will. I’m more confident in that than a lot of things. And CKS making adjustments in March with this team should worry the entire tournament field.