Woffy @ Furman Feb. 6th

[apaladin]

Pretty good summary FA. We definitely got outhustled, made a lot silly/sloppy turnovers and missed a LOT of close in shots. Just didn’t see any excitement going on. I never thought Mike Bothwell was capable having this bad of a game. His only 2 points was goal tending call. You are correct we played scared.

[Affirm]

Woffy is so in our heads in every sport it is sad.

3 & 0 are the comparative numbers of times since 2013 for WC & for FU each to have won SoCon men’s basketball tournaments.
7 & 3 are the comparative numbers of times since 2003 for WC & for FU each to have won SoCon FB championships including shared and/or sole.
Someone may correct me if I’m incorrect.
Also, I really wish someone would research and reply with our head-to-head records against them for the last 5 years, the last 10 years, the last 15, the last 20; and the last 24 years (they joined SoCon in 1997 I think), in football and in men’s basketball. Or whatever period(s) of years you would be able to look up.
If we are inferior to them, that’s one thing.
If we are equal or better to them, but it just feels like we are not, then we need to be reminded. Or I, at least, would like to know.

[Furmanoid]

Good point. I just remember them as the NAIA school that could shock us in football, but wasn’t even good enough to be on the schedule in basketball. Now they are just better than us. That’s why I’ve had a hard time buying into the idea that this is the golden era of FU basketball. And I’m gonna say it, we look poorly coached.

But we don’t stink, so that’s better than most of the last 40 years. Good enough I guess.

[apaladin]

Here you go Affirm— warning before you go any further it ain’t pretty!!
Basketball- only went back 15 games
Record 4-11
Last 10 games:
3-7
Last 6 games:
1-5
2 of our 4 wins the past 7 seasons were by 1 point including the last one.
Football- last 10 seasons:
Record 4-7
Last 6 games 1-5
Football domination didn’t start until 2015.
Last 12 games football and basketball combined 2-10. Very ugly.

[furpop16]

Another would’ve could’ve should’ve. It pains me to have to continue to congratulate Wofford fans on beating us time and time again in football and basketball. I agree that the starting line up needs some shuffling beginning with Hein getting more playing time. Also who is the out spoken, emotional leader of this team? I know that it was clearly Jordan last year but he seems to have left a void that hasn’t been filled.

My wife said while watching the game that we missed Jordan”s leadership tonight. My reply? We still lost to Wofford 2 out of 3 last year. They want it more than us whenever we match up and I don’t understand why.

Coach said in the post-game "this is on me" and "I've got to figure a few things out." Thinking over the players since he's taken the helm: Croone-Ferrara-Wideman, Acox, "The Four", Rafferty-Brown, Lyons, - the group he has on the floor right now is likely the best assemblage of talent he's had at any time- and now going into the clutch likely the biggest challenge he has faced during his tenure. When he knows he has all the pieces but they're just not Finishing (per apaladin's thoughts elsewhere). Thankfully we're still in this thing - and we still control our destiny - but now we're going to see how coach responds. My money's on him ... the rest of this month is going to be REALLY exciting.

[Roundball]

Are we mentally and physically tough enough to win the SoCon? Asking for a friend.

[Affirm]

Here you go Affirm— warning before you go any further it ain’t pretty!!
Basketball- only went back 15 games
Record 4-11
Last 10 games:
3-7
Last 6 games:
1-5
2 of our 4 wins the past 7 seasons were by 1 point including the last one.
Football- last 10 seasons:
Record 4-7
Last 6 games 1-5
Football domination didn’t start until 2015.
Last 12 games football and basketball combined 2-10. Very ugly.

We have to say hats off to them.

They have taken our place.

It’s good to have them as a rival.

May they stay good, just not as good as they have been against us in basketball the last 15 games and in football the last 10 seasons.

(I mentioned in another recent post that they seem to have the inside track on getting “ ‘convenient’ money games” against UofSC in FB more easily or more often than we do.)

Again, good to have them as a rival.

Go Wofford. Stay good.
Go Furman MORE. At least keep up.

[MidlandsPaladin]

Here you go Affirm— warning before you go any further it ain’t pretty!!
Basketball- only went back 15 games
Record 4-11
Last 10 games:
3-7
Last 6 games:
1-5
2 of our 4 wins the past 7 seasons were by 1 point including the last one.
Football- last 10 seasons:
Record 4-7
Last 6 games 1-5
Football domination didn’t start until 2015.
Last 12 games football and basketball combined 2-10. Very ugly.

Just for giggles and kicks, let.’s throw in soccer, a sport where we once dominated all of the SoCon - not just Wofford. A 5-9 record against the Terriers since 2012.

And before our baseball program was cut you could say that Wofford had caught us, if not passed us there too.

Even more painful to see all of this in black and white. Things are even worse than I thought.

[Fuonetime]

Thank Goodness this is Super Bowl Sunday and i can hopefully forget about toilet bowl Saturday. High points of the season were close losses to Cincy and Bama. Ever since we got into conference play we have overall been mediocre. The best i can say about our status right now is Underachieving. On paper we should be very good. On court we are disappointing. Opponents seem to have figured us out. Tension exists between giving playing time to a number of players or limiting it to your top 7. Hopefully, we can turn it around and soon.

[Furmanoid]

So we are 8-6 against DI if you count SC State. But the good thing is, we are good enough to run the table and beat Wofford twice. Even though that might say more about the SoCon than it would about us, I could get sort of fake excited about it. But we need to drastically alter our approach because this lazy, sloppy style with preprogrammed momentum killing substitution and all that crap ain’t getting it done. We may have more talent than our opponents but just barely more.

We also need to quickly establish grad programs in whatever Mounce and Hunter want or it may be back to the pit of despair.

[FurmAlum]

Even though my summary was pretty scathing, I still think this team is capable of winning the SoCon Tourney. We're not the first team to go thru a mid-season slump or be considered underacheiving.

I'm sure Coach R doesn't need any advice from fans but what is a fan forum for so here go's.

Frazier needs more playing time. I thought they had some good defensive frenzy when he was in there yesterday.

Offense needs to have more patience. Teams have figured out our offense. We need to stop trying to force passes to cutters who aren't open. And our shot selection is questionable. Too many 3's launched without working to get a better shot. Teams are sagging to stop backdoor cuts and low post moves and letting us shoot the 3's. Because they think we're not that good of a 3 point shooting team???

Would like to see all players drive to basket more. That's why we never shoot any free throws esp in first half.

Would like to see Pugh more. He must be deep in coach's doghouse as we have not seen him at all the last two games.

Slaw is an enigma. Very athletic and agile but weak on offense around the basket. Needs to be encouraged to be more active on offensive boards. For a big man his rebounding is below average. I'm sure he's trying his best but just hasn't found his game yet on a consistent basis. When he gets a rebound close to basket, go back up with the ball and try to score!!! or get fouled. Needs to be challenged.

[Sad Din]

Said it earlier, but worst thing that can happen to THIS team is get early success and be in the lead. Once they figure "we got this" its over.

Case in point, Dins make a few bunch of early Tres and they become a 3pt shooting team. Thats not Dins MO. Thats Woffy's MO

For the game, Woffy despite being guard oriented got pretty even # of 2pt and 3pt shots. They outscored Dins in points in the pt and went to the line more. There are a couple players that try to work the paint but they try to go too fast and its creates TOs.

In contrast, Dins did not go to the line and shot 50% more 3pt in the second half. Some of this was due to being behind but still

With the Dins height advantage, they should have been pounding the pt which worked when Hein was in there (except for a few silly TOs)

IMHO, Dins settled for easy 3pt shots, did not work the paint, and when they were not falling were doomed

Have to also point out that we run man to man the entire game. Dont think we've seen a zone all year. With the seasoned starting 5 and 1 week between games why isnt there a zone defense? At least to change the pace of the game. Also, we dont ever seem to press much until the end of game in desperation mode

Love love love Coach but the response to the last few losses have been "Its on me and we have to figure it out".

Sorry aint working

[apaladin]

IMHO the whole team is weak around the bssket. We miss a lot of 5 footers and closer.

[Furmanoid]

IMHO the whole team is weak around the bssket. We miss a lot of 5 footers and closer.

Agree big time. Hope we start really looking at that when evaluating who we recruit if we aren’t going to have somebody work with them on that stuff once we have them. Hein is pretty solid, but most everybody else is pretty shaky in the paint: we miss a lot and we get the ball stolen a lot. Just don’t seem to have quick hands. Size doesn’t mean as much if you don’t have the skills and those skills don’t get you noticed in AAU like 3’s and wide open dunks. Maybe we can hire Jonathan Moore to come show them how it’s done.

[Roundball]

IMHO the whole team is weak around the bssket. We miss a lot of 5 footers and closer.

Agree big time. Hope we start really looking at that when evaluating who we recruit if we aren’t going to have somebody work with them on that stuff once we have them. Hein is pretty solid, but most everybody else is pretty shaky in the paint: we miss a lot and we get the ball stolen a lot. Just don’t seem to have quick hands. Size doesn’t mean as much if you don’t have the skills and those skills don’t get you noticed in AAU like 3’s and wide open dunks. Maybe we can hire Jonathan Moore to come show them how it’s done.

"Maybe we can hire Jonathan Moore to come show them how it’s done." Or, Matt Rafferty.