Nic Moore needs to stay out of early foul trouble

[Stallion]

I don't believe Larry has played a single player all year after getting 2 fouls in the first half except for one set play by Nic Moore for about a :20 second period. It wasn't going to happen. SMU was still right in game at half and Nic still had 3 to give in second half at home. In fact, there was no way in hell that he was coming back in. We got outscored in 2nd half by 11 too when Russ Smith really did his damage. Louisville earned the win

[gostangs]

you don't sit him and watch all those points go away. i know that is coaching 101 - but in this case he should have rolled the dice.

THey outscored us in second half for sure - but Nic sat a ton of the second half also. I am just agreeing with Ohio, and said so during the game that i thought we should be risking it and playing him with the fouls. Still think i was right.

Not taking anything away from UL. 57% 3's is amazing. We won't see that again (I hope)

[Stallion]

I agree to the extent I would have brought him back at 8-9 minutes whenever SMU cut lead to 1

[OhioBrownFan]

you don't sit him and watch all those points go away. i know that is coaching 101 - but in this case he should have rolled the dice.

THey outscored us in second half for sure - but Nic sat a ton of the second half also. I am just agreeing with Ohio, and said so during the game that i thought we should be risking it and playing him with the fouls. Still think i was right.

Not taking anything away from UL. 57% 3's is amazing. We won't see that again (I hope)

I guess my thought process would be, especially in the 2nd half, if he fouls out and we lose, does it matter? I'm just not a fan of the strategy Brown used tonight when you're playing a better team that you'd likely lose to even with him, virtually no shot without him.

[SMU 86]

Got to get ready for Memphis.

[deucetz]

Seems like Brown has had a hard time adjusting sometimes. He want's to win the right way, even if it means not giving his team the best chance at times.

I have felt that sometimes he has held the offense back, so that the team stuck to its defensive roots.

Our offense doesn't work against elite guards and big men.

[The Falcon]

I certainly can't question a hall-of-fame coach because I have coached YMCA & church leagues.

One question. Why wouldn't you play him on offense and remove him on defense when possible?
A lot of coaches do that at the end of a game.

I think his ankle was injured too badly and LB was trying to rest him as much as he could even
knowing that by doing that it lowered our chances of winning.

I hope he will be ready by Saturday and for the tournament.

[GiddyUp]

I missed the bad ankle threads earlier today. Sure hope he is ok for a long conf tourney, etc. We can't win w/out him. I saw him turn it at UCF pretty badly.

[Rebel10]

One question. Why wouldn't you play him on offense and remove him on defense when possible?
A lot of coaches do that at the end of a game.

He did do that towards the end of the game.

[ponyte]

From the seats I was in, Nic's foul trouble was key to Louisville's win. When Nic went out the first half, we promptly committed 6 straight turnovers. And let Louisville back in the game. We never could get anything going the second half with Nic on the bench.

Nic handles the ball well but also forces the guy against him to play much harder (and longer) on D. I think the break in D for Louisville guards helped them in the second half as well.

[78pony]

Agree ponyte.

[friarwolf]

Better teams have the book on Nic. Bump him, trash talk him, and the street comes out in the form of over aggression which leads to stupid fouls. He is a sophomore - albeit an older one - but he has to learn to ignore that crap. He hurt the team badly last night - not sure we would have won with the way Louisville shot the ball - but we would have least had a chance........

Just shows to be an elite team, we need at least 2 elite ball handlers and at least 2 more legit 3 point shooters.............

[EconPony'10]

It almost seemed like the moment was too big for Nic. Got too excited and emotional while the Louisville guards got in his head. Nick should've been put in IMO during the stretch in the middle of the first half where they went on a 18-2 run and we only attempted like 2 shots. That was one of the toughest things to watch. We literally only attempted like 2 shots in 6-7 minutes.

[SMU 86]

Just shows to be an elite team, we need at least 2 elite ball handlers and at least 2 more legit 3 point shooters.............

At least.

[SMUSooner]

Frustrating but at the same time we all know this is the easiest way to beat us. We all know it, every coach and every PG we play knows it as well and we'll have to deal with it until EM comes next year.