gary-7 said:

...and it was nice to take a breath and not have to rely on buzzer heroics, so, I'll give this thing one more try:

- We showed a refreshing commitment to get into transition, and Drake's coast-to-coast forced an early Cal timeout. In general we were looking to run as a default and Eliot's pitch-aheads kept constant pressure on Cal's retreating defenders.

- Bad news about that was Cal has size inside and is notorious for offensive rebounding and they hurt us there when we either neglected to block out, or we fought our own guys for rebounds that were then lost --- happened like 4 times --- somebody needs to be yelling "SAME!". Good news was, after allowing 7 ORs in the first half, we tightened down in the 2nd half, allowing only 4 more, and cleaning the defensive glass with the chances afforded by our defense for a big final margin

- Back to transition, there were SO many times that pointed up the negative impact of not running the Secondary correctly, where a rim-run or block-dive would've given us easy ops. I just don't get not doing that.

- Really good to see JWash shoot the face-up. Now, take some of those open 3s! Lubin also was much more aggressive tonight, I suppose he was inspired going up against his old teammate (and there was some talking going on between them). Withers also gave good energy off the bench and Brown got a little run.

- We looked a bit clunky in half-court sets for a couple of reasons that I could see: First, Cal had clearly scouted the NCState film (especially in two-man game stuff) and committed to anticipating the pass, and second, our guys were not at all crisp or decisive in cuts and/or rolls. As a result of these factors, on a few occasions both EC and RJ ended passing to where they thought someone was gonna be, or forced to guys who were covered.

- I liked the 2nd half intensity and effort to extend the lead without any long lull. That showed itself early in the half when Eliot's dumbass frustration foul sent him to the bench with 3. After we let them pull it to 6, we stayed aggressive and guys started hitting shots. Speaking of that, Ian has assumed the get-us-a-bucket role that RJ was always counted on for --- kid has an uncanny knack for willing that ball into the basket.

- On a night with few whistles, good to see us get back to good FT shooting --- 12/13

- Seth is starting to look more like himself and Lubin had probably his best game here,

- OK... as I've been trying to get across, (despite tired narratives to the contrary) we are becoming a much-improved defensive team. We showed it tonight, and particularly the number we did on the ACC's leading scorer. And if you watched, it wasn't any one defender --- he had to deal with being passed off and confronted with a phalanx of our guys 1-thru-4. As we know, we're still vulnerable to bruisers in the post, but the best way to deal with them is snap-help to force dribble pickups outside the block (note going forward...)

- One last head-scratcher is about what we're doing with Tyson. So, he gets in a few minutes the first half, gets wide open in the corner in transition but RJ has his head down and misses him, then he breaks open for a run-out but Ian tries to dribble behind his back instead of looking ahead. Then just like that, Cade gets taken out. My point is, we're never gonna see what the kid can contribute without opportunities.

- Finally, this is a team that still has room and potential for quick growth. If everything starts clicking, we are capable of making a night like this a biscuit game. One thing that can still improve is guys recognizing on the fly how we're being played. Example tonight was that it was pretty obvious early that Eliot was Item #1 on their scouting sheet after what he did to State, and if they decide to overplay the pass, well then, take it to the rack. JWash still needs to get even more aggressive offensively. At some point, RJ will find his stroke, so meanwhile, keep playing within the flow and don't force... etc etc...

Anyway, this was a TCB game, and we did just that and got another conference W. The same and more needs to be our goal Saturday. We've found the right starting lineup and our 6th man, but also a lot of guys who can be a part of this. Most impressively, the team is developing an identity on the defensive end, and that is becoming obvious to commentators (if not to all of our fans ), as well as on the stat sheets. And that starts with the perimeter guys meshing. RJ has quickness and experience, both freshmen are improving by the game in the crucial off-ball phase, Seth has returned as a holy terror, and EC has turned himself into an actual plus-defender. Moreover, we are getting better at fundamental 4-man shell force-and-help principles, while getting some rim-protection on the back end. The key moving forward is to, well, keep moving forward...

Click to expand...