Letters from Katy: SFA dismantles Lamar on wild second day of action
After a long, tumultuous season, the Southland Conference's ticket to the Big Dance has come down to Sam Houston State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, New Orleans, and Stephen F. Austin.
Houston Baptist, after running through everything in their path for the better part of a month-and-a-half, made the short drive home after a one and done postseason showing. Raise your hand if you saw that coming, because clearly I didn't. In fact, I think I said something along the lines of "no chance."
Shows what I know. Continue reading at your own risk.
Defense wins the day, and the tournament, so far -
The four remaining teams have one major thing in common: they each have a spot in the top five of defenses in SLC play. Only Southeastern Louisiana in that top defensive group has not survived to the semifinals.
The league's top two offensive teams, UCA and Houston Baptist, are gone, winless in the postseason. Maybe that shouldn't be a total surprise.
After the first day of action, I brought up a conversation with former SFA head coach Danny Kaspar about basketball philosophy. Long story short, Kaspar, and other defensive minded coaches, believe that an offensive emphasis can be a hindrance on the inevitable night that shots aren't falling. In a tournament setting, that is amplified.
Houston Baptist, until it was mostly too late, got virtually nothing generated outside of their big center Josh Ibarra. At the end of the day, in a defensive struggle like their game was with Sam Houston State (and like so many games in a tournament setting are), the Bearkats style of play was favored.
Now, clearly, I didn't see it coming. To me, Houston Baptist over Sam Houston State was the lock of this entire tournament. But in retrospect, it makes sense. Danny Kaspar is a smarter man than I.
Leon Gilmore III tied a tournament shooting record, but his defense was the story of the game -
After the game, SFA head coach Kyle Keller lamented the decision to leave Leon Gilmore off the all-defensive team. In two battles with Lamar this season, the reason why is pretty obvious.
Leon Gilmore absolutely shut down the Cardinals' big man, and first team all-SLC selection. It isn't like Colton Weisbrod had a bad shooting night - he literally couldn't get off a shot. Gilmore's quickness was way too much, denying every entry pass, and out muscling a player who has made his reputation on physicality.
Especially in the first half, the Cardinals tried so desperately to get the ball inside. Over and over, it took too long to develop. Over and over, Leon Gilmore was just too much.
Weisbord was held without a shot in the first half, finally got on the board in the second, and with free throws in trash time, mustered seven points. That, of course, is after fouling out of the game with two points in their first meeting.
It would be one thing if this was simply a player whose number is owned by Gilmore. But this has been happening all season in Leon's one-on-one battles. He doesn't put up flashy block stats like Nicholls' Liam Thomas - he just literally shuts guys down.
That will be vital, once again, as SFA prepares to battle Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and superstar forward Rashawn Thomas today.
Ivan Canete doesn't have to knock down three-pointers to be a scoring contributor -
Aside from some late moments of greatness in a road victory at Central Arkansas, Ivan Canete has struggled in a huge way over the last month. The shots haven't been falling, confidence has looked shaken even defensively, and sometimes #11 has been a liability on the floor. That's assuming he can even stay on the floor, as fouls have taken their toll as well.
Not on Thursday.
Canete's shot is still not falling. It may not fall again until he can get an off-season to retool it a little bit. But he showed that his reputation as a sharp shooter doesn't do justice to everything else he's capable of.
They were maybe boring points, but Canete contributed 14 and was back to his steal-inducing ways. It was all point blank shots, the kind that are hard to miss (unless you're TJ Holyfield over the last week, for some odd reason), and hopefully enough to jump-start the Lumberjacks' early season scoring leader:
Good teams are really, really hard to beat three times -
The celebration for SFA was short-lived on Thursday. As soon as the trio of Keller, Canete, and Gilmore walked out of the press conference room, Corpus Christi was on their minds.
The Lumberjacks beat the Islanders twice in the regular season. Once easily, once in an ugly defensive battle. It is important to remember that was really a different Islanders team.
The Islanders were 2-4 after losing at home to the Lumberjacks on January 19th. Since a loss right after to Sam Houston State, the Islanders are 10-1.
With the demise of Houston Baptist, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is easily the hottest team left in the field. They're also a pretty good matchup for SFA.
Almost all of what the Islanders do offensively runs through the hands of Rashawn Thomas and Ehab Amin. SFA generally does a nice job shutting down key players. They will have to do it again if they expect a spot in the championship game on Saturday.
SFA is a different team, too. The Lumberjacks were struggling to put together three-straight for the first time all year at that point. Ty Charles was still coming off the bench. Different players were feeling it on the offensive end.
But tonight at 7:30PM, SFA will be gunning for the same outcome. There will be nothing easy about it.
McNeese could be the trap game for the Ladyjacks -
Lying in wait for the winner of Stephen F. Austin and McNeese is Lamar. If it's the Ladyjacks, the Cardinals will be looking to avenge a regular season loss and the dignity of their men's team.
SFA cannot look ahead.
The Ladyjacks rolled all over McNeese in an early January meeting in Lake Charles. SFA has seemingly regressed a bit since that point. The Cowgirls have gotten much better.
By the early fourth quarter of McNeese's opening-round game versus Nicholls, Ladyjacks head coach Mark Kellogg and assistant Jayci Stone were already watching film on a tablet computer courtside. The game had been over since halftime, with McNeese absolutely mauling the Colonels on the boards, ending with 61 rebounds to Nicholls' 23.
It would not be surprising to see a battle today, especially if SFA's interior players pick up early fouls. A combination of Adrienne Lewis and freshman Riley Harvey will be key to limiting Cowgirls' rebounding, regardless of what scoring Taylor Ross and Stevi Parker are able to produce.
There's a big game tonight in the men's semifinals. But don't overlook or assume an easy win in the women's quarterfinals this afternoon. There could be two very close games in Katy today.
Fast break points -
- As bad as Sam Houston State has been offensively over the last month, I would not want to be New Orleans. The Privateers are coming off a long layoff and will be playing a team who has won on back-to-back nights. Forget fresh legs. The Kats could pull off another upset yet.
- Under Armour needs to evaluate their shoe situation. How many times was that SFA/Lamar game delayed because a Lumberjacks player had to put a shoe back on?
- SFA fans still own the Merrell Center. It wasn't like the crowd was big or anything, and I wouldn't expect a really big one again tonight. But compared to what other teams were able to muster on Thursday, Katy was a home court advantage once again for the Lumberjacks.
- Regardless of who you root for, appreciate greatness. Tonight could be Rashawn Thomas' final collegiate game. That's a big deal for one of the league's very rare talents.
