.
..and another undefeated goes down.
It's late so I'll make this brief:
- The positive that was pretty consistent was way better 20 defense. We switched less and more importantly, we did so more judiciously, avoiding the fatal up-downs that were so damaging last time out.
- with only a few exceptions, the TEAM footwork was WAY better -- help and active hands followed moving feet. On an individual level, Cormac had his best defensive game as a Heel, which means his ankles must be intact. We did however get some guys gassed with resulting lapses due to some odd sub patterns.
- the down side was foolishess of fouling 3-pt shooters at a time when they were otherwise cold
- Moment: Early second half, they're in 2-on-2 spread break and us with no help in sight. EC does what I've yelled so many times --- stopped the ball in open court, forcing an early lateral pass and then Cormac stoned his guy for several dribbles as the cavalry arrived and we get the rock back with no blood. That's how it's done.
- the active feet and hands fueled the transition game, at least early on
- #10 for OK sure as hell got his money's worth. He set more illegal screens than the 5 fouls he picked up for sure...
- Another key moment: only up 6 late and yet another half-court set breaks down and Ingram banks an 18 ft leaner. Dagger
- speaking of sets breaking down, we are just disjointed when Cadeau is on the bench for any length of time (which he was tonight) and we run out of slick set plays and it falls on RJ for hero-ball. That is just not sustainable.
- Finally, we seem SO close to really clicking at times --- a fumble here, not finishing an Assist there, not rolling to the rack when yer supposed to (um, JWash, c'mon, but hey, ya got it right on the second try). After xmas we need to keep up this defensive effort while getting into a conference rhythm with a hopefully less clunky rotation. There's a lotta ceiling left if we can...
Anyway, great way to guard our second home, and cap off a REALLY tough pre-conf schedule!...