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Sunday, November 12, 2006
(Note: Postgame audio and other links at the end of the full post
After Bucknell's 55-49 season opening loss at Albany, Bison coach Pat Flannery insisted his glass was half full.
“The thing I'm taking from this is we had every opportunity to win the ball game against a quality team in their place, playing on the road. That is a plus for me,” Flannery said.
That is one way of looking at it.
Another view might well be that this Bucknell team, at least right now, at this point of the season, is nowhere near the caliber of the squad that found a way to win under similar circumstances a year ago.
In that game, Kevin Bettencourt hit a game-winning three-pointer with less than two seconds to play to give the Bison a victory in a game where they struggled mightily on offense for long stretches.
That team had a knack for winning close games. They almost seemed more comfortable in games that came down to a few possessions at the end. In contests decided by six or fewer points last season, the Bison were 7-1. It was a knack that started to develop the year before, when Bucknell won seven of nine under similar circumstances, including the historic upset of Kansas in the NCAA Tournament.
But losing a close game that goes down to the wire is not in and of itself reason for great concern. Doing so in a game were you led by as many as 15 points is another story. Blowing that kind of a lead, and the way the lead disappeared, that is reason for concern.
Bucknell's lead was 34-19 when Jason Vegotsky hit a three-pointer with 3:26 to go in the first half. It was 34-22 3:26 later after three missed shots and three turnovers. At the time it didn't appear problematic. But by midway through the second half, it became obvious that end of the first half momentum swing was like an object in the side view mirror. It was much bigger than it appeared.
“The end of the first half, we had a chance to chop them up a little and we let them get some momentum,” Flannery said.
“We got a little too complacent. We weren't doing things we were used to doing. We were doing uncharacteristic things,” Vegotsky said.
In retrospect, that last 3:26 of the first half was the start of a cold spell of epic proportions. Albany started the second half with a three-point play by Jamar Wilson, cutting their deficit to single figures. Abe Badmus answered with a layup to push the margin back to 11 (36-25) with 18:55 to play. Little did anyone suspect it would be almost 13 minutes before the Bison would make another field goal.
“As we let them creep back into it, we missed some shots,” said Flannery.
A classic understatement. From the 3:26 mark of the first half, until John Griffin, a bright spot on a dismal offensive night, hit a three-pointer with 4:56 left in the game, the Bison went 1 for 18 from the floor. Nine turnovers in that span added to the misery.
Griffin's trey pulled the Bison back within 1 of the Great Danes. He followed it with another 26 seconds later, giving the Bison back the lead at 46-44. But Bucknell would get just one more field goal, a Chris McNaughton layup off a Griffin feed, the rest of the game, and after Vegotsky hit the back end of a two shot foul with 2:25 to play, putting Bucknell ahead 49-48, the Bison would not score. The Bison were just 4 for 21 (19 percent) from the field in the second half.
“Little things just weren't going our way at the end,” Vegotsky said.
That was due, in large part, the Albany, which out-hustled and outsmarted the Bison most of the second half and especially down the stretch. The Danes had 13 turnovers in the first half. They gave the ball away just once in the second. Although the two teams were nearly even on the boards (36-35 Albany), those numbers might be suspect. Eleven of Albany's rebounds were at its offensive end. It seemed for long stretches as though they chased down every loose ball.
Bucknell, on the other hand, turned it over three times in the last 3:26 of the first half and 10 more times in the second, finishing with 20. Nine of those came between Abe Badmus and Donald Brown, two seniors Flannery is counting on to carry a large part of the load this season.
None of those turnovers were any bigger than the one Brown made with 45 seconds left, when he telegraphed a pass that was picked off by Albany's Brian Lillis, just seven seconds after he had given Albany the lead for good with a pair of free throws.
Between them, Brown and Badmus went 2 for 12 from the floor, good for 4 combined points.
“We need to make sure we get them to shoot the basketball,” Flannery said. “I'm talking about two captains that are seniors.”
McNaughton, who is expected to carry a large share of the scoring load this season, was bullied and pushed around down low by constant double- and triple-teams, finishing the night with 6 points on 3 for 10 shooting. If McNaughton had managed to even approach his career field goal percentage of 60.8 percent, Bucknell might have won.
But McNaughton didn't score enough, nor did Brown and Badmus. That left it to Griffin to carry the scoring load, which he did in optimal fashion. Griffin slid over to run the point early in the first half after Badmus picked up his second personal early in the game. Griffin responded by going 4 of 8 from the field, all three-pointers, and 7 for 7 from the foul line, finishing with a game, and career, high 19 points. Griffin also had 4 assists to 1 turnover and two steals.
“(Griffin) is the one kid playing with confidence,” Flannery said.
Vegotsky was also in double figures for Bucknell with 13 points.
The loss left Flannery scratching his head and wondering where the points might come from when the Bison host Wake Forest Tuesday in their home opener.
“We knew we were going to have to find scoring . . . We're going to find out who is going to make plays for us.”
Postgame audio with Pat Flannery, Jason Vegotsky and Chris McNaughton
Game blog
(Albany Times-Union)
(Albany Times-Union)
After Bucknell's 55-49 season opening loss at Albany, Bison coach Pat Flannery insisted his glass was half full.
“The thing I'm taking from this is we had every opportunity to win the ball game against a quality team in their place, playing on the road. That is a plus for me,” Flannery said.
That is one way of looking at it.
Another view might well be that this Bucknell team, at least right now, at this point of the season, is nowhere near the caliber of the squad that found a way to win under similar circumstances a year ago.
In that game, Kevin Bettencourt hit a game-winning three-pointer with less than two seconds to play to give the Bison a victory in a game where they struggled mightily on offense for long stretches.
That team had a knack for winning close games. They almost seemed more comfortable in games that came down to a few possessions at the end. In contests decided by six or fewer points last season, the Bison were 7-1. It was a knack that started to develop the year before, when Bucknell won seven of nine under similar circumstances, including the historic upset of Kansas in the NCAA Tournament.
But losing a close game that goes down to the wire is not in and of itself reason for great concern. Doing so in a game were you led by as many as 15 points is another story. Blowing that kind of a lead, and the way the lead disappeared, that is reason for concern.
Bucknell's lead was 34-19 when Jason Vegotsky hit a three-pointer with 3:26 to go in the first half. It was 34-22 3:26 later after three missed shots and three turnovers. At the time it didn't appear problematic. But by midway through the second half, it became obvious that end of the first half momentum swing was like an object in the side view mirror. It was much bigger than it appeared.
“The end of the first half, we had a chance to chop them up a little and we let them get some momentum,” Flannery said.
“We got a little too complacent. We weren't doing things we were used to doing. We were doing uncharacteristic things,” Vegotsky said.
In retrospect, that last 3:26 of the first half was the start of a cold spell of epic proportions. Albany started the second half with a three-point play by Jamar Wilson, cutting their deficit to single figures. Abe Badmus answered with a layup to push the margin back to 11 (36-25) with 18:55 to play. Little did anyone suspect it would be almost 13 minutes before the Bison would make another field goal.
“As we let them creep back into it, we missed some shots,” said Flannery.
A classic understatement. From the 3:26 mark of the first half, until John Griffin, a bright spot on a dismal offensive night, hit a three-pointer with 4:56 left in the game, the Bison went 1 for 18 from the floor. Nine turnovers in that span added to the misery.
Griffin's trey pulled the Bison back within 1 of the Great Danes. He followed it with another 26 seconds later, giving the Bison back the lead at 46-44. But Bucknell would get just one more field goal, a Chris McNaughton layup off a Griffin feed, the rest of the game, and after Vegotsky hit the back end of a two shot foul with 2:25 to play, putting Bucknell ahead 49-48, the Bison would not score. The Bison were just 4 for 21 (19 percent) from the field in the second half.
“Little things just weren't going our way at the end,” Vegotsky said.
That was due, in large part, the Albany, which out-hustled and outsmarted the Bison most of the second half and especially down the stretch. The Danes had 13 turnovers in the first half. They gave the ball away just once in the second. Although the two teams were nearly even on the boards (36-35 Albany), those numbers might be suspect. Eleven of Albany's rebounds were at its offensive end. It seemed for long stretches as though they chased down every loose ball.
Bucknell, on the other hand, turned it over three times in the last 3:26 of the first half and 10 more times in the second, finishing with 20. Nine of those came between Abe Badmus and Donald Brown, two seniors Flannery is counting on to carry a large part of the load this season.
None of those turnovers were any bigger than the one Brown made with 45 seconds left, when he telegraphed a pass that was picked off by Albany's Brian Lillis, just seven seconds after he had given Albany the lead for good with a pair of free throws.
Between them, Brown and Badmus went 2 for 12 from the floor, good for 4 combined points.
“We need to make sure we get them to shoot the basketball,” Flannery said. “I'm talking about two captains that are seniors.”
McNaughton, who is expected to carry a large share of the scoring load this season, was bullied and pushed around down low by constant double- and triple-teams, finishing the night with 6 points on 3 for 10 shooting. If McNaughton had managed to even approach his career field goal percentage of 60.8 percent, Bucknell might have won.
But McNaughton didn't score enough, nor did Brown and Badmus. That left it to Griffin to carry the scoring load, which he did in optimal fashion. Griffin slid over to run the point early in the first half after Badmus picked up his second personal early in the game. Griffin responded by going 4 of 8 from the field, all three-pointers, and 7 for 7 from the foul line, finishing with a game, and career, high 19 points. Griffin also had 4 assists to 1 turnover and two steals.
“(Griffin) is the one kid playing with confidence,” Flannery said.
Vegotsky was also in double figures for Bucknell with 13 points.
The loss left Flannery scratching his head and wondering where the points might come from when the Bison host Wake Forest Tuesday in their home opener.
“We knew we were going to have to find scoring . . . We're going to find out who is going to make plays for us.”
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