...and little did Dana Altman know we would unleash our secret weapon --- the missed FT!
stuff
- I'm gonna keep this mostly to the keys, since I'll be on the road tomorrow, but seriously? What a way to pull one out. Credit part of that to one of Dean Smith's old inventions --- the tip-out. He always preached that if you can only get a hand on an offensive miss, tip it out instead of going over someone's back, and on FTs he always stationed a Guard at the top of the key for the very purpose of being the recipient. Somewhere Dean was smiling at Theo's effort and doing what he was taught by Roy.
- And Kennedy's last Offenive Rebound? Son, that was just "want-to". He said in that first-person article he would do whatever it took to win. Well, he did. Who'd a-thunk back when he was battling injuries last season we'd ever see that lightning quick move to get inside position from the big fella?
- Speaking of Kennedy, what can you say other than MVP? 25 and 14 with 3 Steals... and not the least bit cowed by Oregon's shot-blockers.
- Buckets was Buckets and made some big vintage runners and actually made his FTs
- Important contribution from Nate to spark our run to reclaim the lead in the first half, and a sneaky-important minute from Stilman to break the press and then force a TO on the other end. Theo was an undersized beast on the boards, especially considering foul trouble forced us to go "small" for long stretches, and made some hellacious passes under much duress.
- Gawd we had some miserable shooting stretches --- at one point in the first half we were 6/23. Yikes. Oregon was rattled early and we did not take advantage. 36.8% for a game will getcha beat.
Keys
- Defensive intensity: We played some tough D and forced them to play one-on-one (they only had 7 Assists total), held them under 40% shooting, and I love how Roy had JB sneak in for some delayed doubles on their Big which caused a couple of TOs. At one point well into the game they had only 1 more FG than TO.
- Transition: Our defense got us some transition ops but their best defense for that was to just foul us when we got out on the Break. Sometimes it got called... often it didn't. We did manage 30 pts on the Secondary but came up empty in transition more than I would like to see.
- FTs: After making all our first-half FTs, good googly-moogly, we missed figgin' 8 in the second half alone
. Meanwhile on the other end, FTs literally kept them in the game down the stretch. When you shoot 28 and you make damned near 90% that tends to happen.
- JB aggression: Guys, as I feared, Joel was nowhere near 100% --- not even in the same zip code. I had a moment of hope when he splashed that first 3, but then I watched him struggle to back-pedal or slide on D for the first couple of possessions. That part loosened up for him, but the JB burst and explosion was just not there and he didn't have his legs inder him. But damned if he didn't still get after it --- kept driving the ball whilst getting mugged and took one helluva pounding tonight. That was important though, because it still created points on put-backs and FTs. Amazingly Dog played 35 minutes and did not come off the floor except for a minute blow in the second half. #Warrior My next fear is how he'll feel tomorrow...
Welp... somehow the guys reached inside and found a way to win. Considering they matched us on the glass tonight, which usually spells trouble, that is impressive. These guys have character. Kennedy was key, and he'll have to be again Monday against Gonzaga's behemoth. Gonzaga is solid and good, and will be quite a challenge, especially with our PG being walking wounded. I just don't think we can afford another sub-40% shooting night. And considering what we're likely to face, we'd better make our FTs when we get 'em. They may be a precious commodity...
stuff
- I'm gonna keep this mostly to the keys, since I'll be on the road tomorrow, but seriously? What a way to pull one out. Credit part of that to one of Dean Smith's old inventions --- the tip-out. He always preached that if you can only get a hand on an offensive miss, tip it out instead of going over someone's back, and on FTs he always stationed a Guard at the top of the key for the very purpose of being the recipient. Somewhere Dean was smiling at Theo's effort and doing what he was taught by Roy.
- And Kennedy's last Offenive Rebound? Son, that was just "want-to". He said in that first-person article he would do whatever it took to win. Well, he did. Who'd a-thunk back when he was battling injuries last season we'd ever see that lightning quick move to get inside position from the big fella?
- Speaking of Kennedy, what can you say other than MVP? 25 and 14 with 3 Steals... and not the least bit cowed by Oregon's shot-blockers.
- Buckets was Buckets and made some big vintage runners and actually made his FTs
- Important contribution from Nate to spark our run to reclaim the lead in the first half, and a sneaky-important minute from Stilman to break the press and then force a TO on the other end. Theo was an undersized beast on the boards, especially considering foul trouble forced us to go "small" for long stretches, and made some hellacious passes under much duress.
- Gawd we had some miserable shooting stretches --- at one point in the first half we were 6/23. Yikes. Oregon was rattled early and we did not take advantage. 36.8% for a game will getcha beat.
Keys
- Defensive intensity: We played some tough D and forced them to play one-on-one (they only had 7 Assists total), held them under 40% shooting, and I love how Roy had JB sneak in for some delayed doubles on their Big which caused a couple of TOs. At one point well into the game they had only 1 more FG than TO.
- Transition: Our defense got us some transition ops but their best defense for that was to just foul us when we got out on the Break. Sometimes it got called... often it didn't. We did manage 30 pts on the Secondary but came up empty in transition more than I would like to see.
- FTs: After making all our first-half FTs, good googly-moogly, we missed figgin' 8 in the second half alone
. Meanwhile on the other end, FTs literally kept them in the game down the stretch. When you shoot 28 and you make damned near 90% that tends to happen.- JB aggression: Guys, as I feared, Joel was nowhere near 100% --- not even in the same zip code. I had a moment of hope when he splashed that first 3, but then I watched him struggle to back-pedal or slide on D for the first couple of possessions. That part loosened up for him, but the JB burst and explosion was just not there and he didn't have his legs inder him. But damned if he didn't still get after it --- kept driving the ball whilst getting mugged and took one helluva pounding tonight. That was important though, because it still created points on put-backs and FTs. Amazingly Dog played 35 minutes and did not come off the floor except for a minute blow in the second half. #Warrior My next fear is how he'll feel tomorrow...
Welp... somehow the guys reached inside and found a way to win. Considering they matched us on the glass tonight, which usually spells trouble, that is impressive. These guys have character. Kennedy was key, and he'll have to be again Monday against Gonzaga's behemoth. Gonzaga is solid and good, and will be quite a challenge, especially with our PG being walking wounded. I just don't think we can afford another sub-40% shooting night. And considering what we're likely to face, we'd better make our FTs when we get 'em. They may be a precious commodity...
