...and once again, wow, what a defensive effort.
- I'm gonna start there. Defense. Some on here didn't seem to appreciate the defensive outing against UVA, well... whatever. Tonight we were helping, challenging and recovering. There was a good reason they were missing those 3s early. I'm just gonna say it: Anyone who doesn't appreciate our defensive performance tonight should think twice before posting on a basketball board. So there's that...
- Speaking of help, when Nate was guarding Mitchell, Louisville followed the scouting reports and ran isolations, driving right at him. It worked a couple of times, but we adjusted and did a nice job of helping (until we were just letting him go at the end) and shut that down in crunch time.
- Stilman White = Ace-in-the-Hole
- 24 points on our Secondary Break, which is impressive considering we blew 8 transition opportunities.
- The zebras? Well, we've actually gotten a few decent games from the members of that particular crew, although I was wondering if they'd totally swallowed their whistles (unless of course it was Hicks) in the first half. To say it was a "loose" whistle was an understatement, which normally favors a team like Louisville, but hey, at least it was called evenly enough... and the Cards helped us out by apparently feeling guilty at the line (4/13). We were just ok at the line (21/29) with the number of FTs inflated by their late intentional fouling, but at least we cracked 70% for a change.
- To say Louisville is "physical" is like saying a skunk smells, and I emphasized this week how vital it is to finish thru contact ---and boy howdy, there was a lotta contact --- and we didn't do the best job at that. Tony in particular struggled with it --- and I call those freshman moments because next season as he fills out and gets stronger he'll be completing those tough buckets.
- Speaking of physical, #10 for Louisville? Good grief. On one sequence in the first half --- on their offensive end, no less --- he committed easily 4 uncalled fouls. Dude looked like a broken windmill running amok. He fouled people in front of him, beside him and behind him. Ond of my buddies started laughing and said "that guy could've fouled out in one possession".
- one of the few negatives was our propensity for self-inflicted bad possessions. We had several in the first half, and when it looked like we had settled in we had a bad stretch in the second half of several empty possessions that allowed them back into the game, and later when we were on the verge of running them outta the gym, we went brain-dead again a couple of times. And we missed several wing post entries and/or waited too long and then telegraphed.
- Speaking of which, there's an old mantra "Play fast but don't play in a hurry". When we obeyed that, we were hard to deal with. A while back Justin went thru a spell of trying to do too much. I'm told that was addressed in practice and Buckets has since relaxed, let the game come to him more, and has thus been on a tear since. Tonight there were spells when JJ was jazzed up and forced a couple of shots and passes --- one caused a run-out and anothere a fast break --- but you could see him gather himself after a blow on the bench and he was back to his deadly self. Another 20+ pt game for Buckets, and scored in a variety of ways!
- Theo also came out of the gate in a manic state and had some bad TOs, but he settled in as well and contibuted a nice 13 and 6. Tell ya what --- Theo's stroke looks so much better than last season.
- JB had a couple of 3 balls go in and out on him, but dog showed a full offensive arsenal with some tough-ass finishes on drives thru contact and over the trees.
- Once again, howz about big Kennedy Meeks? Dude was damned good on both ends. Double-Double 14 and 10 helped like a champ on D, but was just a hoss inside. Often with Louisville's athletic Bigs hanging on him, Kennedy used that big ol' behind and cleaned the glass!
- Speaking of boards, doubling up a bunch like Louisville on the Offensive Glass (16-8) is damned impressive.
- Finally, speaking of defense --- and we were watching that part very closely and critiquing it tonight --- my dog Joel Berry had as good a defensive outing as I have ever seen from a Carolina PG, and trust me, I don't say that lightly. I'm going to go back and rewatch, but in real time JB was a walking clinic.
So... dook goes down on a heart-breaker (awww), Nova goes down, and we throttle Michael Corleone and his bully boys. Don't get no better'n that!...
- I'm gonna start there. Defense. Some on here didn't seem to appreciate the defensive outing against UVA, well... whatever. Tonight we were helping, challenging and recovering. There was a good reason they were missing those 3s early. I'm just gonna say it: Anyone who doesn't appreciate our defensive performance tonight should think twice before posting on a basketball board. So there's that...
- Speaking of help, when Nate was guarding Mitchell, Louisville followed the scouting reports and ran isolations, driving right at him. It worked a couple of times, but we adjusted and did a nice job of helping (until we were just letting him go at the end) and shut that down in crunch time.
- Stilman White = Ace-in-the-Hole
- 24 points on our Secondary Break, which is impressive considering we blew 8 transition opportunities.
- The zebras? Well, we've actually gotten a few decent games from the members of that particular crew, although I was wondering if they'd totally swallowed their whistles (unless of course it was Hicks) in the first half. To say it was a "loose" whistle was an understatement, which normally favors a team like Louisville, but hey, at least it was called evenly enough... and the Cards helped us out by apparently feeling guilty at the line (4/13). We were just ok at the line (21/29) with the number of FTs inflated by their late intentional fouling, but at least we cracked 70% for a change.
- To say Louisville is "physical" is like saying a skunk smells, and I emphasized this week how vital it is to finish thru contact ---and boy howdy, there was a lotta contact --- and we didn't do the best job at that. Tony in particular struggled with it --- and I call those freshman moments because next season as he fills out and gets stronger he'll be completing those tough buckets.
- Speaking of physical, #10 for Louisville? Good grief. On one sequence in the first half --- on their offensive end, no less --- he committed easily 4 uncalled fouls. Dude looked like a broken windmill running amok. He fouled people in front of him, beside him and behind him. Ond of my buddies started laughing and said "that guy could've fouled out in one possession".
- one of the few negatives was our propensity for self-inflicted bad possessions. We had several in the first half, and when it looked like we had settled in we had a bad stretch in the second half of several empty possessions that allowed them back into the game, and later when we were on the verge of running them outta the gym, we went brain-dead again a couple of times. And we missed several wing post entries and/or waited too long and then telegraphed.
- Speaking of which, there's an old mantra "Play fast but don't play in a hurry". When we obeyed that, we were hard to deal with. A while back Justin went thru a spell of trying to do too much. I'm told that was addressed in practice and Buckets has since relaxed, let the game come to him more, and has thus been on a tear since. Tonight there were spells when JJ was jazzed up and forced a couple of shots and passes --- one caused a run-out and anothere a fast break --- but you could see him gather himself after a blow on the bench and he was back to his deadly self. Another 20+ pt game for Buckets, and scored in a variety of ways!
- Theo also came out of the gate in a manic state and had some bad TOs, but he settled in as well and contibuted a nice 13 and 6. Tell ya what --- Theo's stroke looks so much better than last season.
- JB had a couple of 3 balls go in and out on him, but dog showed a full offensive arsenal with some tough-ass finishes on drives thru contact and over the trees.
- Once again, howz about big Kennedy Meeks? Dude was damned good on both ends. Double-Double 14 and 10 helped like a champ on D, but was just a hoss inside. Often with Louisville's athletic Bigs hanging on him, Kennedy used that big ol' behind and cleaned the glass!
- Speaking of boards, doubling up a bunch like Louisville on the Offensive Glass (16-8) is damned impressive.
- Finally, speaking of defense --- and we were watching that part very closely and critiquing it tonight --- my dog Joel Berry had as good a defensive outing as I have ever seen from a Carolina PG, and trust me, I don't say that lightly. I'm going to go back and rewatch, but in real time JB was a walking clinic.
So... dook goes down on a heart-breaker (awww), Nova goes down, and we throttle Michael Corleone and his bully boys. Don't get no better'n that!...
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