...and what if they made biscuits and no one was there to eat em? That might've been the only thing that kept us from scoring 100, but hey, why be wasteful? 
Seriously though, I honestly felt bad for Mack, as his guys were obviously rusty from not having played, and it really showed in their lack of "shooting legs" as they were uncharacteristically brick-laying. That being said, that does nothing to take away from (easily) our best offensive execution in at least 2 years,
- It's always a good sign when I can tell what we've been working on in practice --- Big-to-Big action, baby!. Granted, it took a minute --- the first time Bacot got the ball on the block, he missed seeing a WIDE-open Brooks backside. Fortunately, we didn't miss many more of those. and y'see it's a team thing --- solid posting, sure cuts, decisive passes --- and buddy, that was some vintage Dean Smith Carolina T-Game basketball right there tonight! We hit the backside block-to-block passes, the Hi-Lo entries, give-and-goes, you name it. Hell, at one point I coulda swore I saw visions of Mitch Kupchak pointing to Bobby Jones for the Assist.
- Our perimeter guys were feeding properly as well. I can almost bet we worked on bounce-passes to Bigs. Y'see, those are fine but ya just can't throw a pass at the Big's ankles.,. the rule of thumb is the ball pass should BOUNCE up to knee height --- and it can be the difference between a basket and a TO. For those of you who notice such things, our guys were "sitting down" with the pass and the ball was coming up accordingly.
- speaking of Bigs, an underappreciated skill is cutting, and they did so tonight like they meant it. I can't remember how many times in practices I repeated the mantra "reward the big man!", meaning that if he works hard, get him the damned rock. Our bigguns worked there asses off tonight. That also includes running the floor, and they did that too. So yeah, we can still get better, but the passing, catching and finishing were all improved markedly.
- My friend @Tarheel75 and I have been harping all season about EFFORT and ENERGY, and for the first time in ages the first 5 came out like they meant it, instead of waiting for the bench to spark us, and the energy level was almost incessant throughout line changes. All game we were getting after loose balls, making the extra effort in defensive help, and getting tough rebounds. And if someone made a mistake?... they didn't sulk... and it felt like everyone had each others' backs. For example, when Caleb reverted to a first-day frosh and got his pocket picked consecutively, he bounced back and got right back into the flow.
- Speaking of all that --- and I'll readily apologize if it has sounded arrogant about it before--- but tonight illustrated what I've been preaching as to what this team potentially can be at its best --- an interchangeable 9-man rotation, that is quickly becoming 10 with big Kessler getting his legs under him. There is no one player who has to be on the floor for us to do what we do, and we have guys with complementary skills, strengths and experience levels. Literally everyone in that 10 contributed something valuable tonight in their own respective ways. Sharpe was in beast-mode and slowed things down for himself, but Mando and Garrison were solid as rocks, and Kessler more than made his presence felt. Caleb and RJ ran the show nicely. Leaky was quietly effective while Ant brought high energy, and Walton lit it up with 19 on 7/10 shooting while Plates put on as good a performance as you'll ever see for a guy who only took 1 shot, with 5 dimes, 3 boards, and yet another defensive clinic.
Bottom line guys? Yes they were rusty, but this is still a 20 point win even if they weren't.
Anyway, what's the mantra? PLAY HARD, PLAY SMART and PLAY TOGETHER. Check, check and check. Now... let's see if we can repeat that Weds when Wojo comes to town...
Seriously though, I honestly felt bad for Mack, as his guys were obviously rusty from not having played, and it really showed in their lack of "shooting legs" as they were uncharacteristically brick-laying. That being said, that does nothing to take away from (easily) our best offensive execution in at least 2 years,
- It's always a good sign when I can tell what we've been working on in practice --- Big-to-Big action, baby!. Granted, it took a minute --- the first time Bacot got the ball on the block, he missed seeing a WIDE-open Brooks backside. Fortunately, we didn't miss many more of those. and y'see it's a team thing --- solid posting, sure cuts, decisive passes --- and buddy, that was some vintage Dean Smith Carolina T-Game basketball right there tonight! We hit the backside block-to-block passes, the Hi-Lo entries, give-and-goes, you name it. Hell, at one point I coulda swore I saw visions of Mitch Kupchak pointing to Bobby Jones for the Assist.
- Our perimeter guys were feeding properly as well. I can almost bet we worked on bounce-passes to Bigs. Y'see, those are fine but ya just can't throw a pass at the Big's ankles.,. the rule of thumb is the ball pass should BOUNCE up to knee height --- and it can be the difference between a basket and a TO. For those of you who notice such things, our guys were "sitting down" with the pass and the ball was coming up accordingly.
- speaking of Bigs, an underappreciated skill is cutting, and they did so tonight like they meant it. I can't remember how many times in practices I repeated the mantra "reward the big man!", meaning that if he works hard, get him the damned rock. Our bigguns worked there asses off tonight. That also includes running the floor, and they did that too. So yeah, we can still get better, but the passing, catching and finishing were all improved markedly.
- My friend @Tarheel75 and I have been harping all season about EFFORT and ENERGY, and for the first time in ages the first 5 came out like they meant it, instead of waiting for the bench to spark us, and the energy level was almost incessant throughout line changes. All game we were getting after loose balls, making the extra effort in defensive help, and getting tough rebounds. And if someone made a mistake?... they didn't sulk... and it felt like everyone had each others' backs. For example, when Caleb reverted to a first-day frosh and got his pocket picked consecutively, he bounced back and got right back into the flow.
- Speaking of all that --- and I'll readily apologize if it has sounded arrogant about it before--- but tonight illustrated what I've been preaching as to what this team potentially can be at its best --- an interchangeable 9-man rotation, that is quickly becoming 10 with big Kessler getting his legs under him. There is no one player who has to be on the floor for us to do what we do, and we have guys with complementary skills, strengths and experience levels. Literally everyone in that 10 contributed something valuable tonight in their own respective ways. Sharpe was in beast-mode and slowed things down for himself, but Mando and Garrison were solid as rocks, and Kessler more than made his presence felt. Caleb and RJ ran the show nicely. Leaky was quietly effective while Ant brought high energy, and Walton lit it up with 19 on 7/10 shooting while Plates put on as good a performance as you'll ever see for a guy who only took 1 shot, with 5 dimes, 3 boards, and yet another defensive clinic.
Bottom line guys? Yes they were rusty, but this is still a 20 point win even if they weren't.
Anyway, what's the mantra? PLAY HARD, PLAY SMART and PLAY TOGETHER. Check, check and check. Now... let's see if we can repeat that Weds when Wojo comes to town...
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