Originally posted by boatcapt
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1) Fatigue - Plagues many teams at this time in Feb - just look at D1. Especially a team that exerts as much effort/energy as WLU. Their legs appeared heavy and quickness wasn't there. The effort was there, but it was not effective due to fatigue. I base this on:
a) Every player was a step slow in guarding their man in the half court offense. Too many Concord players were winning the first step and getting to the rim. In addition, they were shooting lights out from 3 and the FT line. WLU did not even commit that many fouls because of separation between the defender in going to the goal. Personally I would have considered going to a zone to rest the players and hope they did not kill me from 3 pt range.
b) Lack of offensive boards and crashing boards when ball was shot.
c) Players getting behind WLU defense for over the top passes for layups.
d) Losing some 50-50 balls - that never happens with a rested WLU team
e) The long road trip also adds to the fatigue. Concord gave them their first loss last year at Athens (I was there) and they shot lights out then too.
2) Eventually, the sheer tenacity and effort took its toll on Concord, enabling WLU to come back from 22 down with 13 minutes left and 15 down with 7 minutes left to tie with 6 seconds left at 104.
Positives:
1) Did not give up and almost pulled out a victory when every concord player was having a career night. Mental toughness was impressive, as they were able to hit some 3s in the second half. The body just was just having trouble responding. Rest will fix it.
2) Monterosa took over the game and scored 21 pts. He and Hoehn led the comeback.
3) MEC teams know each other really well. Other teams in regional will not have this advantage.
Their fatigue will not be a factor in regional until the finals. But it will be an even playing field then.
However, it looks like IUP has the inside track at this time for hosting the regional. But a lot of basketball to be played.
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