...and why couldn't we do these things sooner?
But then... that's sorta been the theme to the whole season, huh? I'll save more of that for a wrap-up post and keep this short...
- I gave y'all a scouting report a couple days ago on Miss, and damned if it didn't play out to the tee. Their defensive philosophy is foul, and foul some more, because as Beard like to say, "they can't call them all". On that note, I also posted a warning earlier today about the zebra crapshoot in 1st weekend NCAAT games, and when you see Brian Dorsey wearing a striped shirt at a Carolina game, well... we just rolled boxcars. So, that means it's up to the things we CAN control --- coming outta the gate with effort, intensity and execution --- and hoo boy, was that a big ol' fat FAIL... 😖
- After the way we played Tuesday and knowing we were facing an uber-"physical" opponent, I was stunned at how friggin SLUGGISH we were on both ends, and that we were half-assing things on BOTH ends --- lazy cuts and screens and not finishing thru (what should've been expected) contact, and passivity, late rotations, and late (or no) close-outs on defense. We let them move the ball with little challenge like we were a fat guy in a HORSE game. And wouldn't ya know, they started off shooting outta their minds, which happens more often when you make it too easy.
- We actually got 22 and 10 out of the 5 position today. That's nice, EXCEPT it should've been more. For those here who criticize Hubert's game-planning (and I include myself in that from time to time), this was a case-in-point. They switch everything so it's easy to create up/down mismatches, yet it took us forever to start running Hi-Lo actions (which worked great), or use actual post entries. Not coincidentally, both of those were big parts of our comeback. It's great that we adjusted, but why not do that from the tip?
- Moments:
*Washington gets an actual straight post entry on the baseline 10 ft out and drains a picture-book turn-around jumper. That shot is unblockable and damn near automatic (mismatch or not), yet have we even seen us try to get him the rock there all season?
*Then later, in the teeth of the comeback coming out of a timeout, we call another straight post entry to Lubin above the block for an easy lay-in. Everything doesn't hafta be PnR to score inside.
*Early 2nd half, Eliot pops the ball loose and dives on it, while their guy dives on top of him, administering not one, but two elbows to the head in the melee. The call? Ole Miss ball...
- And finally, speaking of comeback, even down 20 I knew in my soul that we would (I was counting down out loud as we cut the lead). And it was chill-inducing at times, with the effort, the steals, the snap-ahead passes into transition and long-range dimes... but when you spot a team that much, every missed finish, every loose ball not grabbed, every time a guy puts his head down instead of dishing on a break, it delays the goal ---- and (arghh), after we nonetheless cut it to 2. Seth (of all people) inexplicably goes under a screen for Pedula (I winced as soon as I saw it, as I'm sure many of you did), and... It was tough seeing the look on his face afterward --- a kid who has defended so hard and so well --- as he knew he'd made a mistake.
But yeah, it ALL has to come together, and we came up short... but again, we should have never allowed ourselves to be in that position (yet again) in the first place...
Anyway, watching the recording as I type, during our late run, Van Gundy queried as to what would have happened if we had played with that sort of effort in the first 20 minutes? I'll answer that --- we'd be talking about Sunday's 2nd round game instead...
But then... that's sorta been the theme to the whole season, huh? I'll save more of that for a wrap-up post and keep this short...
- I gave y'all a scouting report a couple days ago on Miss, and damned if it didn't play out to the tee. Their defensive philosophy is foul, and foul some more, because as Beard like to say, "they can't call them all". On that note, I also posted a warning earlier today about the zebra crapshoot in 1st weekend NCAAT games, and when you see Brian Dorsey wearing a striped shirt at a Carolina game, well... we just rolled boxcars. So, that means it's up to the things we CAN control --- coming outta the gate with effort, intensity and execution --- and hoo boy, was that a big ol' fat FAIL... 😖
- After the way we played Tuesday and knowing we were facing an uber-"physical" opponent, I was stunned at how friggin SLUGGISH we were on both ends, and that we were half-assing things on BOTH ends --- lazy cuts and screens and not finishing thru (what should've been expected) contact, and passivity, late rotations, and late (or no) close-outs on defense. We let them move the ball with little challenge like we were a fat guy in a HORSE game. And wouldn't ya know, they started off shooting outta their minds, which happens more often when you make it too easy.
- We actually got 22 and 10 out of the 5 position today. That's nice, EXCEPT it should've been more. For those here who criticize Hubert's game-planning (and I include myself in that from time to time), this was a case-in-point. They switch everything so it's easy to create up/down mismatches, yet it took us forever to start running Hi-Lo actions (which worked great), or use actual post entries. Not coincidentally, both of those were big parts of our comeback. It's great that we adjusted, but why not do that from the tip?
- Moments:
*Washington gets an actual straight post entry on the baseline 10 ft out and drains a picture-book turn-around jumper. That shot is unblockable and damn near automatic (mismatch or not), yet have we even seen us try to get him the rock there all season?
*Then later, in the teeth of the comeback coming out of a timeout, we call another straight post entry to Lubin above the block for an easy lay-in. Everything doesn't hafta be PnR to score inside.
*Early 2nd half, Eliot pops the ball loose and dives on it, while their guy dives on top of him, administering not one, but two elbows to the head in the melee. The call? Ole Miss ball...
- And finally, speaking of comeback, even down 20 I knew in my soul that we would (I was counting down out loud as we cut the lead). And it was chill-inducing at times, with the effort, the steals, the snap-ahead passes into transition and long-range dimes... but when you spot a team that much, every missed finish, every loose ball not grabbed, every time a guy puts his head down instead of dishing on a break, it delays the goal ---- and (arghh), after we nonetheless cut it to 2. Seth (of all people) inexplicably goes under a screen for Pedula (I winced as soon as I saw it, as I'm sure many of you did), and... It was tough seeing the look on his face afterward --- a kid who has defended so hard and so well --- as he knew he'd made a mistake.
But yeah, it ALL has to come together, and we came up short... but again, we should have never allowed ourselves to be in that position (yet again) in the first place...
Anyway, watching the recording as I type, during our late run, Van Gundy queried as to what would have happened if we had played with that sort of effort in the first 20 minutes? I'll answer that --- we'd be talking about Sunday's 2nd round game instead...
