Tulane has a must-win game at East Carolina tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. on ESPNews. The Pirates are 2-7 in the AAC with a sweep of USF and seven losses by a combined 153 points. They are really bad.
Lose that one, and Tulane is a virtual lock for another finish near the bottom of the AAC.
I talked to Dunleavy, Cam Reynolds and Ray Ona Embo yesterday.
DUNLEAVY
This team has gotten off to glacial starts offensively that have hurt it big time in conference play. What is the solution?
"I haven’t really focused on that. It’s really more about execution and just getting good shots. That’s really more where our focus has been. We’re trying to defend the way we need to defend."
What were the primary defensive issues against South Florida?
"They had 29 points in the first half, so that wasn’t really necessarily THE issue, but on our pick and roll coverages, we just didn’t communicate them. It’s funny. SMU runs a lot of the same stuff, so we just did these coverages. We didn’t rebound the ball a couple of times. There were about 20 points out there that I would call 90 percent plays. If you did that play over, 90 percent of the time or better you wouldn’t get hurt by it. Clearly one of them was the guy throwing the ball over his head (and making a miracle basket off an inbounds pass with 1 second left on the shot clock). That might be a 99 percent play. We had the 5-point swing when Ray was trying to be unselfish when he had a lay-up breakaway. That should have been 2 and they got a 3-point play at the other end. We got a rebound under the rim and dropped it out of bounds and they got a 3-point play. Naked lay-ups, there’s nobody else there but you. If we have those point, maybe we’re down 1 at the half instead of 9.
"But the big difference was they played harder than we played, and in the last 6 minutes we played harder and gave ourselves a chance to get back in it, and then obviously we had the big play at the end that could have got us."
The term "cylinder" when it referred to guarding someone has affected your team in the last two games with offensive fouls not being called. What's that about?
"It’s a new rule I’m really not sure of. In some ways guys can get hurt. In some cases you’re encroaching, but it’s also a chance to manipulate the rule. Against SMU (when Ona Embo appeared to draw an offensive foul but was called for a foul instead), Ray didn’t start out in the guy’s cylinder. He was pressuring him, and the guy put his leg that was not his pivot foot in between Ray’s legs. Then it became in the cylinder."
Blake Paul has never been a big offensive threat, but he has made just three baskets since a good conference opener against Temple. What is going on there?
"At times he’s just not aggressive when he gets catches. He shoots a high percentage but he’s not being aggressive enough in the paint. We’re telling him to shoot the ball and be more aggressive with it."
Cameron Reynolds continues to miss a high percentage of his shots but there does not seem to be a concrete reason for it. What is your take?
"I saw him in the gym right after the game here shooting and the ball was going in the basket. It’s really just a lot of times with shooters a little bit in your head with confidence. There’s not a guy you can name, Steph Curry included. You look at Klay Thompson, he’s got a quick release and is a big-time shooter and they were talking about last year what a shooting slump he was in. It happens to everybody. You’ve got to work your way out of it, and the best way to do it is see the ball go through the basket and get a lay-up or two and make some free throws, take good shots and try not to press."
Jordan Cornish's shots have not been close to going in for a while now. What is his issue?
"His shooting comes down to a little bit at times of fundamentals of drifting when he shoots instead of going straight up and being locked in and getting a good rhythm shot."
What do you want to see the most at ECU?
"Play hard and your intensity defensively and rebound the ball. Basically for us that’s the way we want to play. We have to get the ball in transition and be in attack mode, get to the free throw line and get quick, easy scores, but at the defensive end of the score, we have to get stops."
ONA EMBO
What do you need to do the most against ECU?
"We have to start strong, try to push the pace, get easy buckets and rebound the ball and get the ball in transition. Just play our game and move the ball and play defense. We can’t fall behind again and have to catch up at the end."
You guys had another slow start against USF. What is the issue there?
"We couldn’t get a bucket to go in. We only had 22 points in the first half. We just have to keep working and keep trying to push the pace."
You had a clear path to the basket and tried a back pass to Melvin Frazier for what could have been a dunk but ended in a turnover, leading to a 3-point play at the other end. What was your thought process?
"I just wanted to get everybody going. It was a five-point swing, so it was a bad play obviously. I just have to go and finish it."
You've actually shot well lately. How much more confident are you offensively than a year ago?
"I missed three 3s in the first half (against USF; it actually was two 3s). I don’t really feel that good about my shot right now, but I’m a lot more confident than lat year. It’s my sophomore year, so of course you get confidence."
Is it tough to wait almost a week after a performance like the one against USF?
"Everybody’s itching right now. Everybody wants to get back out on the court and get a W."
REYNOLDS
I hear you took the loss really hard and stayed in the locker room a long time before going back on the court and practicing your shot, but then you tweeted later than night the team was ready to get back to work. What was it like?
"It was one game, but we lost an opportunity to make some headway in conference. USF came out gunning and we came out sluggish. We can’t get it back, and so our attitude is we have to come back and get ready for this one. We need this one."
Will it be easy to bounce back from a loss like that?
"It should be. We had a good practice on Saturday and a good practice today. I think we’re moving past it. That’s the only thing we can do because we can’t harp on it. We have to keep playing."
The first half has been rough for you guys for several games now. What is the issue?
"As a first group, we’ve just got to come out harder. We can’t let them punch us in the mouth first. We’ve got to punch them and come out to a good start and try to find the inside shots first and not settle for outside shots."
What changed in the last six minutes against USF?
"Intensity. We were fighting for life. A lot of people came, so we should have played better for 34 minutes. We can play with anybody. We just have to come out from the beginning.
Lose that one, and Tulane is a virtual lock for another finish near the bottom of the AAC.
I talked to Dunleavy, Cam Reynolds and Ray Ona Embo yesterday.
DUNLEAVY
This team has gotten off to glacial starts offensively that have hurt it big time in conference play. What is the solution?
"I haven’t really focused on that. It’s really more about execution and just getting good shots. That’s really more where our focus has been. We’re trying to defend the way we need to defend."
What were the primary defensive issues against South Florida?
"They had 29 points in the first half, so that wasn’t really necessarily THE issue, but on our pick and roll coverages, we just didn’t communicate them. It’s funny. SMU runs a lot of the same stuff, so we just did these coverages. We didn’t rebound the ball a couple of times. There were about 20 points out there that I would call 90 percent plays. If you did that play over, 90 percent of the time or better you wouldn’t get hurt by it. Clearly one of them was the guy throwing the ball over his head (and making a miracle basket off an inbounds pass with 1 second left on the shot clock). That might be a 99 percent play. We had the 5-point swing when Ray was trying to be unselfish when he had a lay-up breakaway. That should have been 2 and they got a 3-point play at the other end. We got a rebound under the rim and dropped it out of bounds and they got a 3-point play. Naked lay-ups, there’s nobody else there but you. If we have those point, maybe we’re down 1 at the half instead of 9.
"But the big difference was they played harder than we played, and in the last 6 minutes we played harder and gave ourselves a chance to get back in it, and then obviously we had the big play at the end that could have got us."
The term "cylinder" when it referred to guarding someone has affected your team in the last two games with offensive fouls not being called. What's that about?
"It’s a new rule I’m really not sure of. In some ways guys can get hurt. In some cases you’re encroaching, but it’s also a chance to manipulate the rule. Against SMU (when Ona Embo appeared to draw an offensive foul but was called for a foul instead), Ray didn’t start out in the guy’s cylinder. He was pressuring him, and the guy put his leg that was not his pivot foot in between Ray’s legs. Then it became in the cylinder."
Blake Paul has never been a big offensive threat, but he has made just three baskets since a good conference opener against Temple. What is going on there?
"At times he’s just not aggressive when he gets catches. He shoots a high percentage but he’s not being aggressive enough in the paint. We’re telling him to shoot the ball and be more aggressive with it."
Cameron Reynolds continues to miss a high percentage of his shots but there does not seem to be a concrete reason for it. What is your take?
"I saw him in the gym right after the game here shooting and the ball was going in the basket. It’s really just a lot of times with shooters a little bit in your head with confidence. There’s not a guy you can name, Steph Curry included. You look at Klay Thompson, he’s got a quick release and is a big-time shooter and they were talking about last year what a shooting slump he was in. It happens to everybody. You’ve got to work your way out of it, and the best way to do it is see the ball go through the basket and get a lay-up or two and make some free throws, take good shots and try not to press."
Jordan Cornish's shots have not been close to going in for a while now. What is his issue?
"His shooting comes down to a little bit at times of fundamentals of drifting when he shoots instead of going straight up and being locked in and getting a good rhythm shot."
What do you want to see the most at ECU?
"Play hard and your intensity defensively and rebound the ball. Basically for us that’s the way we want to play. We have to get the ball in transition and be in attack mode, get to the free throw line and get quick, easy scores, but at the defensive end of the score, we have to get stops."
ONA EMBO
What do you need to do the most against ECU?
"We have to start strong, try to push the pace, get easy buckets and rebound the ball and get the ball in transition. Just play our game and move the ball and play defense. We can’t fall behind again and have to catch up at the end."
You guys had another slow start against USF. What is the issue there?
"We couldn’t get a bucket to go in. We only had 22 points in the first half. We just have to keep working and keep trying to push the pace."
You had a clear path to the basket and tried a back pass to Melvin Frazier for what could have been a dunk but ended in a turnover, leading to a 3-point play at the other end. What was your thought process?
"I just wanted to get everybody going. It was a five-point swing, so it was a bad play obviously. I just have to go and finish it."
You've actually shot well lately. How much more confident are you offensively than a year ago?
"I missed three 3s in the first half (against USF; it actually was two 3s). I don’t really feel that good about my shot right now, but I’m a lot more confident than lat year. It’s my sophomore year, so of course you get confidence."
Is it tough to wait almost a week after a performance like the one against USF?
"Everybody’s itching right now. Everybody wants to get back out on the court and get a W."
REYNOLDS
I hear you took the loss really hard and stayed in the locker room a long time before going back on the court and practicing your shot, but then you tweeted later than night the team was ready to get back to work. What was it like?
"It was one game, but we lost an opportunity to make some headway in conference. USF came out gunning and we came out sluggish. We can’t get it back, and so our attitude is we have to come back and get ready for this one. We need this one."
Will it be easy to bounce back from a loss like that?
"It should be. We had a good practice on Saturday and a good practice today. I think we’re moving past it. That’s the only thing we can do because we can’t harp on it. We have to keep playing."
The first half has been rough for you guys for several games now. What is the issue?
"As a first group, we’ve just got to come out harder. We can’t let them punch us in the mouth first. We’ve got to punch them and come out to a good start and try to find the inside shots first and not settle for outside shots."
What changed in the last six minutes against USF?
"Intensity. We were fighting for life. A lot of people came, so we should have played better for 34 minutes. We can play with anybody. We just have to come out from the beginning.
