This one stings. Really wanted a win in the A-10 tournament for Shevon and Marko. Nothing but respect for those guys and they way they always battled and held their heads high, even through some awful times.
As far as last night, I'm not sure what we could have done differently. Our best perimeter defender was clearly hobbled. Our second best perimeter defender isn't really even that good at defending the perimeter and is a massive liability on offense. Jaire, Deandre, and Otis are all minus defenders. "Denying the ball" to the hot hand sounds great, but which ace defensive stopper of ours is actually going to be able to execute that strategy?
With limitations like this, it seems reasonable to sag, deny the paint, and encourage them to take long jumpers, understanding that you're in trouble if they get hot. Unfortunately, St. Louis got hot. We also didn't even do a great job of limiting dribble penetration since Shevon and Marko kept getting pulled out of the key by St. Louis's four guard lineup.
St. Louis smartly zoned us the entire game. Again, we took mostly open looks from three, but only hit 8-26. We're having a much different conversation today if we hit even an average number of our open threes. Good 3-point shooting papers over a lot of other deficiencies.
Paulsen did a great job coaching through a very limited roster this year. Our only advantage in most games (including last night) was our ability to crash the boards. Unfortunately that's not enough when almost every other team you play is going to be able to shoot better, defend better, and win the turnover battle.
Everyone stop arguing. Better times are ahead.
