Owls in desperation mode, visit rival FIU in Miami




What: FAU (5-13, 1-6) vs. FIU (5-15, 1-6)

When: Thursday, Jan. 26th @ 7:00 PM

Where:  Lime Court at FIU Arena

Series: FIU has the edge in the all-time series with a 22-16 advantage. FAU's win #16 over the Panthers came earlier this month.



TV: None

Live Video:  CUSA.tv

Radio: ESPN 106.3



FIU Team Site:  Here


FIU at a Glance:

Offense - 70.2 PPG, 45% FG, 33% 3PT

Defense - 72.5 PGA, 46% FGA, 37% 3PTA

Rebounding - 35.1 PG Team, 31.9 PG Opponents


Notables

After dropping 11 of their last 12, including 6 straight conference games, the Panthers made a major splash in CUSA with their upset over UAB. Eric Nottage scored a 2017 all-CUSA high 37 points (that is not a typo), after shooting 6-6 from the arch and 9-9 from the stripe. The 6-2 gaurd from Miami Booker T. Washington HS missed just one FG against one of the best defensive squads in the conference. That's SCARY impressive, especially considering Nottage is FIU's third best shooter. 

Center Michael Kessens had an unbelievable second half against the Owls at the Burrow, scoring 14 points and grabbing 8 rebounds, compared to going 3-10 FG and 3 boards in the first half. Kessens averages 9.4 RPG, but that has dropped to 7.9 RPG in conference play. Donte McGill also had a big night against the Blazers, netting 7-11 FG en-route to a 24 point performance.  




FAU at a Glance

Offense - 70.1 PPG, 42% FG, 33% 3PT

Defense - 72.5 PGA, 44% FGA, 36% 3PTA

Rebounding - 35.8 Team, 39.3 Opponents


Notables

It has gone from bad to worse. The Owls have lost four straight following their nine point win over this same FIU squad in early January. The most recent loss was the most disheartening; and 86-57 thumping by Middle Tennessee. The Blue Raiders shot 56.3 FG, raising FAU's FG against percentage substantially.

The only positive takeaway from the Middle Tennessee contest was Frank Booker finally putting on a clinic. He scored a career-high in an FAU uniform with 22 points. 

Gerdarius Troutman only recorded 8 minutes in the game, and did not see the court at all during the second half. Coach Curry said this was because Booker matched-up better against Middle Tennessee than Troutman. It will be interesting to see if this will effect Troutman's confidence, as he has been our best shooter since conference play. 

Ronald Delph, Jeantal Cylla, Adonis Filer, Nick Rutherford and Justin Massey are all overdue for a big game. With FIU struggling defensively all season, this could be the game for some of these players to gain some momentum going into a difficult road trip next week.

Coach Curry said that he will be changing the starting lineup tonight to provide an early spark. In the last two games, the Owls were down 4-18 and 2-17 early to UAB and Middle Tennessee respectively.


Latest Line

FIU -4.5

If Coach Curry is serious about a new starting lineup, I'd like to see wholesale changes.

PG - Filer

SG - Troutman

SF - Booker

PF - Cylla

C - Delph

From there. I'd like to see a rotation of Rutherford back at the 1, Filer in the 2 with Massey, and Troutman working the 3 every once in a while with Cylla, once Ingram comes in at the 4.

Fair enough. Do you believe the starting lineup is the problem, Jack?

Owl2Doc said

Fair enough. Do you believe the starting lineup is the problem, Jack?

Posted On: Jan 26th 2017, 12:38 PM #366233

I think its a symptom of the problem, which begins up top.

Going down by 15 in the opening minutes every game isn't good. That's on the lineup, yes.

But the constant substitutions, the lack of off the ball movement and picks whether on set plays or not, and set plays going to the wrong players, are other major issues.

This team has talent. I would say this team is most talented since Curry has taken over. But all of the problems I listed above stem from coaching.

This isn't an NBA team, where there's depth, freak athleticism so players can get open, and players can get hot without finding their momentum and confidence. This are amateurs. Talented, but still amateurs. They need to build their confidence, their chemistry, and need help getting open.

The secret is rebounding. You take care of that, everything else will fall in place.

Island_Owl88 said

The secret is rebounding. You take care of that, everything else will fall in place.

Posted On: Jan 26th 2017, 4:05 PM #366247

 

Delph and Pfister haven't been getting it done recently..

Coach Curry promised a new starting lineup, and he delivered:

Filer is replaced by Troutman and Delph is replaced with Pfister.

Coach Curry w/ BIG changes to lineup vs FIU:

G Nick Rutherford

G Gerdarious Troutman

F Jeantal Cylla

F Jailyn Ingram

C William Pfister

— FAU Owl's Nest (@TheOwlsNest_ITB) January 26, 2017

I hate to say must win at this point in the season, but:

Must win.

Go Owls!

Much better start for the Owls. I think this is due to a combination of the new starting lineup and the level of competition

NOW THAT'S A START! A 7-0 run for the Owls over the last minute, puts #FAU 9-4

Cylla with a SLAM early, and a BEAUTIFUL 3 from Troutman = 😃

— FAU Owl's Nest (@TheOwlsNest_ITB) January 27, 2017

I've never been more thankful for FAU's CUSA.tv feed. EVERYTHING about this FIU broadcast SCREAMS amateur. The camera work, the play by play, and producer switches, even the score bug broke 30 seconds in.