Rattlers @ Pilots Monday at 7pm

Florida A&M returns to the Chiles Center with 0-7 record, but UP is by far the least competitive team they will have faced this season after losses to teams like Seton Hall, Kansas St., and Tennessee.

Last season the Pilots prevailed 54-39, and were led by McSwiggan's and Shaver's combined 29 points, but this year's big men Hogland, Tryon, Diabate, and Akwuba combined for just 4 points...so it will be interesting to see if UP continues to go inside in tonight's game.

If the Pilots don't attempt to control the pace somewhat, this could be a fun race-horse game.

Pilots are favored by 11.5 with a 131.5 o/u.

As the commentators have mentioned, they are very lucky that FA&M isn't up by a sizeable lead. What was it, 25 potential points that were thrown away?

Jojo and Malcolm appear to be out, and it's really showing.

Nice to see White light up in the second half after a really cold first.

Ferebee went down and the team had to carry him off, but looks like he was at the end of the bench near the end of the game. Hope he's okay.

something something rebounds turnovers, felt like we kept it a lot closer than it should've been.

15 turnovers, and 14 missed free throws. And after doing a very good job in the first half, giving up 9 offensive rebounds and only getting 5. Thank goodness the 3 point shooting came back, 47% on 9-19. Yes, it was a closer game than it should of been. Pilots had a two possession lead with two minutes to go, and FA&M hit one 3Pt shot to get it to one possession, but they could not hit some key buckets to get any closer, and Pilots made barely enough of their FTs to hold on.

I don't think that Diabate can be given minutes in critical times. He made his first two FTs with clean swishes, then missed 8 of his next 10. Why would any team let him get a ball up at the hoop? Hope he figures it out.

Sound Voltex wrote:Ferebee went down and the team had to carry him off, but looks like he was at the end of the bench near the end of the game. Hope he's okay.

Yikes, and this is a team that was already down two starting guards with JoJo and Malcolm both out.

The Pilots tried playing with two bigs (Tryon plus either Hogland or Diabate) for the most of the first half and the start of the second, but went back to the standard four-guard lineup shortly after Florida A&M got out to the quick start after halftime - and promptly responded with a 12-0 run.

Let's hope the Pilots can return to full strength soon, because with JoJo, Malcolm, and Ferebee out and Miles Turner redshirting I believe that only leaves four guards available (Adams, Harewood, White, Taki).

Sound Voltex wrote:Ferebee went down and the team had to carry him off, but looks like he was at the end of the bench near the end of the game. Hope he's okay.

It didn't look good...

Yes, Quincy was on the end of the bench, but his face was full of pain, anguish and frustration with tears running down his cheeks under the towel over his head.  Not going to speculate, but the best the trainers could do until after the game was apply ice to his knee and await further evaluation.

Malcolm sustained his concussion in practice, and talking to a couple of the UP coaches, they have never seen so many injuries during practice in one season during their coaching careers.  Malcolm feels fine, and is in good spirits, but he's got to get through the NCAA concussion protocol before he can return to practice.

Concussion Diagnosis and Management Best Practices

The reason for JoJo's grounding is unknown to the general public, but it is apparently not academic or physical...

[quote="DoubleDipper"]

Sound Voltex wrote:
Malcolm sustained his concussion in practice, and talking to a couple of the UP coaches, they have never seen so many injuries during practice in one season during their coaching careers.  Malcolm feels fine, and is in good spirits, but he's got to get through the NCAA concussion protocol before he can return to practice.

Concussion Diagnosis and Management Best Practices

Is it just me, or do UP players take longer to get through concussion protocol than players on other teams? Don't get me wrong, I think it's important to take these things seriously, but do other schools still not take it as seriously?

For a team that gives each other so many concussions in practice, why are we so soft when we are rebounding and blocking out during games?

DoubleDipper wrote:The reason for JoJo's grounding is unknown to the general public, but it is apparently not academic or physical...

JoJo broke team rules. No specifics on which ones or how long he'll be out. Depending on which rules were broken maybe it's just one game...or maybe he'll have to take specific steps that take an undetermined amount of time before he returns. I have no idea about the teams internal processes for how such cases are handled.

The Rattlers’ 6-8/300 Evins Desir was very, very good Monday night, and it’s easy to see why the first-year transfer is the leading scorer on the team.  One would think a kid that big would just take up space and play limited minutes, but his shooting skill and conditioning allowed him to score 15 points, grab 8 rebounds and play 27 minutes before fouling out.  Theo and Hugh were forced to play too far from the basket against him and D didn’t have the height to get above him, but Jacob used his reach and positioning to at least keep him from scoring even more.  

I'm really impressed how Jacob has emerged as a very smart leader this season.  He plays under control (something D is just now getting better at) and uses his wingspan and positioning to grab rebounds and score...and he can shoot from outside the arc (7-15) and the free-throw line (16-21). Monday he came close to a double-double with 10 points and 8 rebounds.

“Next man up” is TP’s philosophy regarding injuries/suspensions but with UP going to the end of the bench looking for guards, it could be the Pilots are going to have go inside even more often in Hawaii and against GU and BYU to begin the WCC season.  Jacob looks like he can compete, but can the others step-up??

Jacob has great hands. When he gets his hands on the ball, it’s his.