The future of the Rainmen!

Ok, after having read just about everything on the Crook story, I am happy that there is something much deeper than just words with the coach that have brought us to the place we are at. One thing I dislike about this is the constant referencing of how they would discipline a child. This is a 27 year old man and should be treated as such. I want to reiterate that if for the long term stability of the club, they needed to do this, that is fine, but we need to find that voice for the Rainmen. All of the players are talented, but we need that rim-rocking, crowd raising player. Where is that going to come from?

One thing that did get fired up is the message board! Wow, Section 23 was rocking from the afternoon through the late evening. At least people are still excited about the club which is great. But the Rainmen need to find their "new" identity quickly. Hopefully Strickland can help with the grit and points downlow. I would love to see a starting 5 of SirVal, Twyman, Bailey, Sanders and Jeanty. That gives us good depth/ size downlow and then some amazing three point threats coming off the bench with Ramey and Dandridge. When Brian is healthy, he can slot in for Cordell. I hope that the players will step up their games now and push to see who can take the title of team leader. I honestly hope it is Bailey when Brian is out.

Crookshank Canned!

I am shocked. There are no words to describe the sinking feeling one gets. This is like when Brady got taken out.. a literal stomach punch. I am not debating that Eric was out of line, but wow, professional players say this all the time and get a slap on the wrist. Where is the player's union on this one? I am seriously debating getting a refund on my season tickets.

Rainmen lose tight game to Sasquatch

A tough 105-103 loss in this game. The end tale of the tape will show many missed free throws ended up costing us the game, coupled with some very poor three point shooting decisions. I had to think about this game for a while to give it a fair review. The play of Bailey and Brown was definitely a highlight for me (except the silly fouls when they were in the bonus in the third quarter). Brown was able to press up the court as was Twyman and it made it hard for the 'Squatch to get in rythm during the second half. SirVal had a couple good drives, a couple good passes and a couple threes. Bailey had a remarkable 8 blocks including passages of play where he blocked two consecutive by Montreal's top scorer. When he went out injured, I was worried as to where the energy would come from.

I still don't know why Crook was benched. I have no problem benching players, but usually a couple shifts is good. To sit down your star player for over 2 quarters is extreme and I hope Lewis had good reason. I am all for it if it keeps the team in line. In reality, we are missing a special piece of coaching. Overall the product is better than last year, but that is due to player abilities. I saw 2 plays run, a high screen (usual play) and then some high/ low screens. Even at higher levels, they run specific clearouts for specific players to hit the mismatches. For a few minutes Sanders was matched against a much smaller player and we could not take advantage. Whereas the Montreal players were constantly moving to support the ball and get open. In the fourth quarter, our intensity was high, stopping perimeter play, but our down low players could not stop the layups and second chance points.

Here is what I liked about the game: Full Court man to man press got them out their rythm
Play of Bailey and Sir Val was good and Cordell mostly came inside instead of focussing on jump shots. Jimmy was also solid. Sanders did as expected, Ramey was solid although he shot an airball.
Ran at least two plays including some screens off the ball
Less heave and hope three pointers
Defensive intensity
Shorter game intro...
Their coach was funny!

What I didn't like: Randy Gill- classic whiteboy syndrome, he was an assho....
What is going on with Kevin? In preseason (injured) he was getting to the hoop and took over the third quarter in one game.. we need that back at the point to open lanes for shooters
No adjustments for mismatches
No Eric
Tyrone trying to strip their 7 footer- play him straight up!

Random Rant:
Not starting our top lineup..Why is Dandridge still starting? The team needs to understand when the players are working to their best ability. Who shoots well coming off screens? Who needs to have a set shot? Can anyone work downlow? To me, it looks like Crook, Sanders, Silverhorn (or Cordell/Bailey if we want to go big), Jimmy and Kevin (when fit). I know it doesn't give you a pure shooting guard, but most of these players can hit that long 2...Zach does not shoot well from the cornersor middle but is light's out from the right and left of the key...I have not seen one player post up yet, not even our 7 footer, everyone wants to attack off the dribble..what a great pass to Ramey from Val for the alley oop...where was the interior D in the fourth...Why does Dandridge shoot at will..we missed Silverhorn...

Rick Lewis
I want to say that Lewis is a very well spoken man with a great ability to relate to people and create a connection. I would imagine this is why he has done so well til now as a coach. It must be hard to coach players that are trying to get a good statline in order to try and make it to the show. To think we can get players to give up for the greater good, may not be possible in this league. I don't believe that because we didn't see QC or MTL take really poor shots. Our team, while talented, is selfish. We seem to have a great team spirit (all credit to coach and owner) but are not basketball smart as a team. We need to really play to our players strengths. Lets get some movement to open lanes and get our feet moving instead of chucking up threes when noone is under the net to rebound. That part is frustrating to fans and players alike. I hope that by the second half of the season, Lewis will allow the team to evolve and get them playing better as a team, instead of just individuals.

Solid win for the Blues

2-0 over a solid but slumping Hull squad. it wasn't an amazing performance, but definitely good enough. Player ratings:

Howard-7- nothing to do at all

Jags-9

Lescott-9

Baines-8- got forward and whipped in dangerous crosses

Hibs-7-solid

Neville- 8- loved him, didn't put a foot wrong today and passes better than usual

Arteta- 7- didn't get too involved but solid

Ossie- 7 workrate

Pienaar-7 see above

Cahill-7- did well

Fellaini-8 would have been higher except the booking

Anichebe- 5- stay on your feet son!

Overall a good win, man of the match for me was Neville for playing above usual standard! The derbies should be interesting, we may see Castillo/Neville/ Arteta central with Anichebe up top.

Everton 2-0 and counting

What a game. Fractious at times.. Our defence has been resolute and this is the first game I have been really impressed by Neville this year. As mentioned earlier, I actually feel this is an old school game with the tackles going in. These two teams are fully committed. In this second half, Arteta is knocking the ball well, but our full backs have not joined in the play at all. Fellaini and Cahill have been the focal point and doing well holding the ball for Ossie and Pienaar to get in.

How many times does a player need to be praised, week after week, by announcers, until he is not an "unsung hero" anymore? I love Ossie, but they say that every week. He is an important player and I am sure first on Moyes' team sheet week after week.

Jags is down.. not good. Fellaini out for two derbys. I guess we are playing Victor up top. The difference in this half really has been our fullbacks not attacking at will anymore, probably by design.

Everton live!

Everton has started well in the 4-5-1 with Fellaini and Cahill running up front. Some fantastic passing movements reminding the squad of last year. The axis of Pienaar, Arteta, Fellaini and Osman have been running the show in the middle. Fellaini scored on a wonderful buildup with Baines, Arteta, Pienaar and Fellaini for a brilliant offside goal..finally a break. Then Osman flashes one through the box and Cahill was close. Our backline has been exceptional the last five games and has looked commanding so far, even Baines. As usual, doubts about Hibs persist, but today he has been sharp on the ball and not overextending.

Good to see that Barmby back at Goodison and getting booed by the fans. Deserves it as the last man to cross Stanley Park. The good news was he sucked with Liverpool and is ineffective today so far.

28- Fellaini misses a sitter on another buildup with Cahill and Ossie. The game has settled down a bit now and we are running the show. After watching everton play in the Cup winners cup last week, it is amazing the fouls they let go, or didn't card. It was a different time and players had better ability to care for themselves. We are kinda weak compared to them..

Rainmen win Home Opener

The Rainmen continued their hot start to the season with a 124-112 win over Quebec. Overall this was a very solid game for the Rainmen. We saw what Sanders brings to the squad including 10/10 shooting (most in the paint), defence and tenacity. I think he was the only player to hit the floor today (saving #9 on QC, the flop king). He made some sweet inside passes and set up Eric for some great finishes. Rob also seems to be the only one who isn't afraid to foul to stop a break by the other team. Jimmy Twyman gave us a great boost from the bench and his slashing to the hoop opened up a couple great 3 point looks as well.

I really liked the team today when we had Sanders, Crookshank, Twyman, Brown and Dandridge out there. Realistically, I think tonight the best players we could have runout together were Sanders, Crookshank, Twyman, Bailey and Silverhorn. The QC team didn't have a lot of speed and were focusing on threes and quick penetration. Dandridge and Brian were ok tonight but not great. Silverhorn is going to need to get going at the rim with more intensity. I find he hits seams well and can penetrate off the dribble but shies away from contact. We know he has the shooting game, but that finishing threat would really help round out the game. Bailey was playing well around the hoop and hustling. With him and Rob in the squad, we shouldn't get out hustled by any team.

Sir Val is obviously explosive and can score but shoots at will. I think this is a team philosophy, maybe like Dantoni's 7 seconds before a shot goes up. There were too many spot up shots without an attempt to pass at all. if you look at the total assists stats (11), that is terrible. The team looked like we were shoot first and run a play second. The high pick with Sanders and any guard was working well and creating opportunities, while any isolation play produced results with Rob and Eric especially. There were too many first look shots with no rebounder even in the key. This needs to be corrected.

So the negatives- too many needless turnovers at the top of the 3 point line, allowing about 20 reverses with no help in the game, ridiculous 3 pointers, no second option on a play/ movement.

Positive- help defence got better after a flat start, some good passing movement, intensity, coaching (getting the players who were performing out for the end of the game to close), great shooting and free throw shooting, ENTERTAINING!

The Halifax crowd was dead for the LONG opening sequence. Halifax has a rep for being a tough place to play and even the QC coach mentioned this after the game. Teams don't look forward to coming to a big, loud barn. So Halifax, it is time to cheer, yell, shout, taunt and have some fun. This is going to be an exciting year.

For other great pieces on this check out Section 23 by Chris Parsons and the Lucas Blog (linked above) on the Herald page.