The Basketball Tournament

gordonmann · July 22, 2022, 01:38:46 PM

Here's a short preview of tonight's game that also links to Titan's interview.

https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2022/07/we-are-d3-tbt-preview

Gordon College alum Eric Demers won the regional three-point contest so he'll advance to the TBT finals held in Dayton.

Greek Tragedy · July 23, 2022, 08:15:19 AM

https://fibalivestats.dcd.shared.geniussports.com/u/TBT/2103317/bs.html

WeAreD3 gets smoked.

Robinson had 11 on 4-17 shooting.
Demers had 5 on 2-13 shooting.
Rosembaum had 10 on 2-2 with 2 3s and 4-5 from the line.

Fravert led with 7 boards.

gordonmann · July 23, 2022, 11:39:18 AM

Yeah, it was 13-0 before D3 got on the board and never got much closer than that.

Game recap here.

https://www.d3hoops.com/notables/2022/07/we-are-d3-falls-in-tbt

CNU85 · July 25, 2022, 10:43:23 AM

As a d3 fan, this was a bit embarrassing. Consecutive in bounds passes stolen. Too much dribbling. No movement on offense. Someone should rethink D3 presence in TBT. The talent is there in D3 to win a few games, but they were woefully unprepared for this slaughter. Something has to change.

SpringSt7 · July 25, 2022, 11:11:56 AM

I guess my question would be what exactly are they trying to accomplish in terms of roster construction. The team has probably skewed a little bit too young to really have any chance of competing. I understand that winning any games at all would be hard but they would have a much greater chance if they focused on guys who were older and still playing professionally. Brian Cameron, Jarred Houston, and Bobby Hawkinson are terrific players but at 22/23 years old they are going to have a really hard time against guys who are not only better but also older.

I understand that there are obvious hurdles to getting guys to play in this thing and I'm sure they are trying their absolute best to guy the best players, but if they aren't going to be at the Flannery/Ross/Francis/Turell etc level of college accomplishments, they'd probably be better finding more guys like Arik Smith and DaQuan Brooks who were really good college players, but not legendary college players. They are guys that have continued to improve and grow as pros.

WUPHF · July 25, 2022, 11:27:40 AM

Interesting points...

I am not sure how to build a roster. Rucker was probably the third most productive player on the roster last season at 23 with limited play overseas. He had a quiet game on Friday.

I also do not understand a lot of the coaching decisions from this season and last. I could not coach to save my life, but for example, Adam Fravert sat until the second quarter and played 15 minutes or so for the game. Personnel-wise, was that the best decision?

The team clearly needs more than a week to come together and play to their full potential.

CNU85 · July 25, 2022, 11:54:58 AM

Quote from: SpringSt7 on July 25, 2022, 11:11:56 AM
I guess my question would be what exactly are they trying to accomplish in terms of roster construction. The team has probably skewed a little bit too young to really have any chance of competing. I understand that winning any games at all would be hard but they would have a much greater chance if they focused on guys who were older and still playing professionally. Brian Cameron, Jarred Houston, and Bobby Hawkinson are terrific players but at 22/23 years old they are going to have a really hard time against guys who are not only better but also older.

I understand that there are obvious hurdles to getting guys to play in this thing and I'm sure they are trying their absolute best to guy the best players, but if they aren't going to be at the Flannery/Ross/Francis/Turell etc level of college accomplishments, they'd probably be better finding more guys like Arik Smith and DaQuan Brooks who were really good college players, but not legendary college players. They are guys that have continued to improve and grow as pros.

Excellent points. What are they trying to accomplish? And it is indeed difficult to piece together a roster for this tournament.

And talk about ruthless and harsh! I just went to the TBT website. If you lost, you're not listed among the teams. If you go to the bracket and click on a losing team, the page has been removed and the dreaded 404 Not Found comes up!

Greek Tragedy · July 25, 2022, 11:59:49 AM

Yeah, you want to represent well, but it's tough to find the right guys. It's not always finding the best 12 guys for the team. There's got to be a balance. I haven't watched any of it, so I can't really say what went wrong, but I can imagine just a bunch of individuals looking for their own shots...and that's not entirely their fault. You also have to remember who they are going up against. This year's opponents had members of Wichita's Final Four team(?) WeAreD3 was the lowest seed in the region, so obviously their opponents will be really good.

Maybe you guys are on to sometime. Just recruit a team full of former D3 players currently playing overseas.

stlawus · July 25, 2022, 01:58:39 PM

I've read before from the D3 intelligentsia that d3 players are "more skilled" than D1 players, and that D1 players make up for poor skills with better athleticism. While I am obviously a d3 fan, a part of me was completely fine with that TBT result as it hopefully will ground some people and give them a reality check. You don't need to run down D1 and make absolute nonsense claims in order to promote D3.

CNU85 · July 25, 2022, 03:23:15 PM

Quote from: stlawus on July 25, 2022, 01:58:39 PM
I've read before from the D3 intelligentsia that d3 players are "more skilled" than D1 players, and that D1 players make up for poor skills with better athleticism. While I am obviously a d3 fan, a part of me was completely fine with that TBT result as it hopefully will ground some people and give them a reality check. You don't need to run down D1 and make absolute nonsense claims in order to promote D3.

What did I miss? Who made nonsense claims?

WUPHF · July 25, 2022, 10:14:24 PM

From the annual meeting of the D3 intellgentsia...

Ralph Turner · July 25, 2022, 11:51:27 PM

Please forgive my ignorance...

I do not recognize the painting or the artist.
Please help me.

CNU85 · July 26, 2022, 09:38:17 AM

The guy in the red at the table has gas!

WUPHF · July 26, 2022, 10:29:37 AM

There are thousands of paintings that can be best described as Parisian salon so I picked one. Paris, of course, is where the notion of an intelligentsia was formulated. Not the best joke, but hey...

Gregory Sager · July 26, 2022, 10:59:01 AM

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on July 25, 2022, 11:59:49 AM
Yeah, you want to represent well, but it's tough to find the right guys. It's not always finding the best 12 guys for the team. There's got to be a balance. I haven't watched any of it, so I can't really say what went wrong, but I can imagine just a bunch of individuals looking for their own shots...and that's not entirely their fault. You also have to remember who they are going up against.

... and what the score was. The Wichita State alumni ran out to a big lead right out of the gate, and that makes it doubly hard for a team that has barely practiced together at all and which really has no on-court identity to get back into the game through a methodical application of halfcourt sets that will allow them to chip away at that big deficit. Nine times out of ten with an all-star team you're going to get chucking and other seemingly selfish play in that situation, but it's usually out of desperation rather than ego.

Quote from: Greek Tragedy on July 25, 2022, 11:59:49 AM
Maybe you guys are on to sometime. Just recruit a team full of former D3 players currently playing overseas.

Easier said than done. The bottom line isn't simply ability, it's also availability -- and overseas pros present their own set of problems in that regard.

Quote from: CNU85 on July 25, 2022, 03:23:15 PM
Quote from: stlawus on July 25, 2022, 01:58:39 PM
I've read before from the D3 intelligentsia that d3 players are "more skilled" than D1 players, and that D1 players make up for poor skills with better athleticism. While I am obviously a d3 fan, a part of me was completely fine with that TBT result as it hopefully will ground some people and give them a reality check. You don't need to run down D1 and make absolute nonsense claims in order to promote D3.

What did I miss? Who made nonsense claims?

I second that question. What member or members of the so-called "D3 intelligentsia" (breeches-bedecked Parisians or not) made those claims?

AfterShock is not just a team of former D1 players, it is a team of former D1 players from the same school, Wichita State. There are presumably a lot of guys who previously played together as Shockers teammates among them, and a common familiarity with WSU's offensive and defensive sets. In a limited-practice, single-elimination tournament context, that goes a long way toward providing the sort of instant cohesion that a bunch of D3 all-stars from around the country will obviously lack.