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Stephen F. Austin Basketball

What We Learned: SFA's rough night in Lake Charles

January 3, 2017
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There wasn't a lot of sound to be heard at the conclusion of Stephen F. Austin's first conference loss in 27-games on Monday night. Most of the seats in Burton Coliseum were tarped over, but it didn't matter because even the available sections were hardly burdened by the 531 fans in attendance.

I stood next to the media table talking briefly with Lumberjack Sports Network color analyst Tyler DePascal when a young staffer wearing a McNeese shirt approached. "Is this kind of shooting normal for y'all?" he asked, seemingly dumbfounded. "No," Tyler responded matter-of-factly. "Not since I've been here at least."

Yes, 28% shooting from the floor left everyone, even opponents, mostly speechless. Muffled sounds of SFA personnel quietly loading equipment was the only thing breaking silence in the building. A quick glance at any face in purple made it clear that no Lumberjacks, aside from the white-hot women's team, were having a good day.

Here are some things we learned:

SFA's defense is good, but not good enough for this -

For all the offensive issues that the Lumberjacks have had this season, shooting really hadn't been terrible for the most part. SFA averaged 46% from the floor entering the opening Diamond Head Classic game versus Tulsa.

Since that evening? Even with a decent offensive showing in a loss to Utah, the Lumberjacks are averaging just 36% from the floor. When this team left for Hawaii, they evidently forgot how to put the ball through the basket.

Defensively, SFA has been phenomenal the past few weeks. It has kept them in games they had no business being in - and even won a couple for them (Southern Miss, Houston Baptist). It isn't good enough to make up for the paltry shooting, though. Call it a slump, call it whatever you wish, it needs a solution quickly.

McNeese didn't pass the smell test of legitimate DI basketball, to be honest. That is not a good team in Lake Charles. Until 10 minutes were left in the game, I believed SFA would win by double digits just by watching the physical mismatch.

Want to know how you let a visibly inferior basketball team beat you? Shoot 28% from the floor. That's exactly what happened last night and it's exactly what will continue to happen through conference play if the Jacks cannot find their shot again.

Offensive ball movement was visibly improved -

How ridiculous does this sound after a dismal performance like Monday night? Well, it's true. Offensively, especially early in the game against McNeese, this was probably the best ball movement I've seen all season from SFA. Passes were crisp, good shots were being passed up for better shots, and the beauty of the hi-lo scheme was finally showing up just a bit.

The. Shots. Just. Wouldn't. Go. In.

It's hard to put my finger on why. No doubt, once the Lumberjacks got down big in the second half, there were plenty of wild and ill-advised attempts that kept things from improving. But that wasn't what got them in the situation to begin with.

I like to think I know a little bit of basketball - but I'm not even going to pretend to grasp the cause of this inability to score points. Fortunately, the coaching staff is far smarter than I. If anyone can put their finger on this before the weekend showdown with Abilene Christian, I imagine it will be Kyle Keller.

The Lumberjacks will thrive (or die) with TJ Holyfield -

Part of what makes the hi-lo scheme exciting in theory is the prototypical game of TJ Holyfield to run it. I said last week that Ty Charles is the best player on the team - and I mean that, even if he hasn't shown it yet - but this offensive scheme made famous by Bill Self at Kansas requires a nifty and quick forward to handle the scoring load.

In Kansas, people were used to watching Perry Ellis dominate in that role the last few years. At SFA, although the scheme certainly has its own twist, the burden falls on TJ Holyfield. He's the key to this entire thing.

Holyfield followed up one of his best games of the season against HBU with probably his worst in Lake Charles. His lack of aggression was glaring against inferior post talent at McNeese and as the Jacks rode him to a win on Saturday, the loss on Monday also centered on #22.

TJ has the potential to absolutely thrive in this system. If he can be coached out of his passive offensive tendencies, he has the physical ability to put the team on his back. Lumberjacks fans should be hoping that happens sooner, rather than later.

The Southland Conference race is wide open -

The bad news is, the Lumberjacks still haven't won a true road game all season. The good news? Everything they're after is still in front of them

Would SFA be considered the favorite at this point? I've called them that multiple times this season but I think its probably safe to say the betting odds no longer favor purple. Who cares?

They're 1-1 in a league where the other two top preseason teams are 0-2. This race is open for anyone to take if they get hot. Why not us?

2016-17 is clearly about rebuilding for SFA. This is a season of slow, methodical program construction. This is also the Southland Conference, a league that may be enjoying its best RPI in sometime, but perennially weak enough for a rebuilding program to find success.

Are you buying in? -

I don't want to overuse the word "rebuild." Clearly, we know that's what is going on this season, though. As I've watched the progress, gotten to know this staff, and seen what the coaches are all about, I bought in pretty early. I believe in the process, even through disappointment. Am I alone? There is time for that rebuild to progress far enough to make a nice little run this season, but we know the reality is it may not happen.

After a tough loss like what we witnessed last night, are you buying what this team is selling? If not, why? Discuss below.

What We Learned: SFA's rough night in Lake Charles

7,387 Views | 10 Replies | Last: 7 yr ago by Clynch18
nacluth
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I bought in after I saw this group play as a team in the HBU game. Even after the slow start last night, I thought offense will come around. Then it did - for five glorious minutes. We built a quick nine point lead, and it looked like we would destroy McNeese with confidence. Boy was I wrong. That 12 minute scoring drought was about the most unnerving thing I've seen from this squad. Wide open, point blank, in stride...nothing could go in.

It did not look like a coaching problem. It looked like we were better - that we could make stops and get open looks. It also looked like we would have paid good money to field Branch or Ross or Harris to come from the girls squad because they know how to sink a bucket. But, by far was the frustrating lack of shot attempts by TJ. Why was Huntley bricking all the shots? It should have been TJ. I would get mad at BU for riding Walkup when the team couldn't get anything going, but I guess he at least went and put it on our best player. Maybe TJ doesn't believe he's our best player, but someone needs to tell him he's got a job to do when the going gets hard. This team is swinging on his fortune. I hope that is not too much pressure.
SFA88
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In a nutshell, we learned that SFA continues to be bad on the road. They were 1-6 away from WRJ going into the McNeese game. Even if we remove the losses to power 5 schools they were 1-3. Their only road win is against a poor Southern Miss. team. McNeese lost to D3 Louisiana College by 10 points at home. As you mentioned, McNeese doesn't look like a legitimate D1 basketball team and I very much expected SFA to beat them even in Lake Charles but it turns out, SFA could not do what D3 Louisiana College could do.

You already know I'm not buying into this team this year. There are just too many changes in one year. It is not normal to see a team with a bunch of young new players and all new coaches do well in the first year. Can SFA turn it around in a weak SLC? Sure. But, I don't think they will. I still think you will owe me that drink (I've decided on a glass of 18 year old Sherry Oak Macallan) ;-)
sfaguy
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SFA88 said:

In a nutshell, we learned that SFA continues to be bad on the road. They were 1-6 away from WRJ going into the McNeese game. Even if we remove the losses to power 5 schools they were 1-3. Their only road win is against a poor Southern Miss. team. McNeese lost to D3 Louisiana College by 10 points at home. As you mentioned, McNeese doesn't look like a legitimate D1 basketball team and I very much expected SFA to beat them even in Lake Charles but it turns out, SFA could not do what D3 Louisiana College could do.

You already know I'm not buying into this team this year. There are just too many changes in one year. It is not normal to see a team with a bunch of young new players and all new coaches do well in the first year. Can SFA turn it around in a weak SLC? Sure. But, I don't think they will. I still think you will owe me that drink (I've decided on a glass of 18 year old Sherry Oak Macallan) ;-)
Even the Southern Miss game wasn't a true road game since it was on a neutral court. I'd put more into the whole road versus home thing if we didn't have such a hard time scoring against HBU at home two days before too, but right now I'm just missing Demetrious Floyd and Jared Johnson.
INiedrauer
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Staff
I owe plenty of people plenty of drinks after the way things have gone lately...
PurpleOut
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Staff
Bad shooting nights happen, even more so away from home. So yeah, while concerning, nothing is lost yet. I too bought in very quickly because I believe in the staff. We're only 2 games into the conference season, plenty of time to turn it around. The goals to win the conference and conference title remain the same.
sfa17
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One of our problem this season is that we have way too many inconsistent players. Last year if Walkup was having a bad night we could count on meech to put in 20 point or clide, Johnson, Tj to do the same. We don't have that this season. All the players on the team can go cold at same time in the same game. This a rebuilding year . One of the first time that I'm truly glad to be part of southland bc we can still win it all due to the quality of the league.
sfaguy
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I'm not ready to blame the players. Having a hard time scoring while learning a new system doesn't make you an "inconsistent player."
SFA Jack Fanatic
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I agree with Nacluth. TJ needs to quit being reluctant to take the reins of this team. He needs to be our Tom Walkup of 2016-17. Someone needs to sit him down and tell him that he is "The Man", at least until Ty gets healthy and comes around to being the Ty we all know he can be when 100%. Shoot the dang ball, TJ! Crash the boards, TJ! Be the player you showed us you can be during the Big Dance last year, TJ! Be "The Man", TJ!
fortWorthJack
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You guys talk alot about the low 20% shooting performance, but in actuality their shot selection was awkward and they look lost minus the first 5 minutes of the game. They drive loaded lanes and shoot too many floaters that were just poor shots. If you want to avoid these "poor" shooting games, learn how to run offense that actually gets you good shot selection or shoot the open shot. I don't blame Keller for wanting to establish an inside-outside game, but the shot selection is killing this team. McNeese just stood in and around the paint tall and straight and we went to them like moths to a flame. I would just run a very tight zone and watch SFA commit suicide.
Clynch18
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The truth of the matter is this, there's simply too many new pieces to this puzzle and a new system to expect anything but small samples of maturation & moments of frustration. It's natural.
This is cyclical, successful programs eventually experience a down time or a period of cycling in new talent. What occurred in previous seasons is not up for debate. This type of season with a lack of alpha player leadership & consistency was eventually going to happen. I've seen it happen too often in all true team sports.
The encouraging fact is this team will be much improved by mid-February. They may have 10 or 11 losses, but will be salty and experienced in time for March. My challenge for all SFA fans & students is to enjoy this ride as this team grows up. It's frustrating, but I hate to be cliche, it's a process.
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