...and this was a story of self-inflicted survival, or maybe I should say survival of the self-inflicted.
- On one hand you hafta credit State with making some tough shots. Of their 3-pt makes only 2 were on over-helps. Sometime they just make shots. That being said, we did a better job of taking away their outside opportunities in the second half all together. After a hot start they finished 7/13, the most important number there being holding down the number of makes.
- Good grief, this game was stressful to watch in that I can't remember a worse case of self-inflicted badness being careless with the rock
. I mean, passes to no one, not securing rebounds, stepping over the end-line ---- we turned it over just about every way imaginable, plus when you're playing against a Pitino-style five-guys-fouling-five-guys team you HAVE TO BE STRONG WITH THE BALL!
- Speaking of which, CATCH THE DAMN BALL! I know our frosh Bigs are still young, but it's friggin February --- just sticking out a hand to catch an interior pass ain't gonna get it done. After 2 total TOs vs dook we had 11 in the first half alone, and again they were mostly self-inflicted. Much of the first half was a story of us turning them over, and then turning ourselves over.
- Now the good news: We were doing an awful lot right on offense --- in fact the TOs and 15 Blown Assists in the first half alone is what held us to a paltry 35 points. We at least cleaned up the Assist-blowing in the second half and stronger finishing helped us to hang 61 on them.
- Speaking of offense, the transition game was in high gear (which is remarkable given we left the ball behind more than once). I had us for 20 Fast Break and 29 Secondary Break pts. That's Carolina basketball. I also liked how we attacked their pressure. That discourages a lotta nonsense.
- We also by and large did a good job defending high ball-screens. The hedges were more under control, we were tagging the roller while mostly not losing reach of our men. Credit to State for making an adjustment once we took away their perimeter action by attacking more off the dribble. It took us a while to adjust back, and even once we did they still made some tough shots.
- Good to see some bench contribution, and all five starters in double-figures is a good thing. Good job by Cam of making himself an offensive factor despite being cold from deep. State was making a concerted effort to shut off Cam and Kenny's looks, so hey, find a way to adjust. BTW: Good on KW to show ice-water confidence with those big late 3s, and to Roy for calling a set play for him in crunch time.
- Good to see Theo redeem himself for early malfunctions by getting back to his game and making some sweet finishing moves in the paint down the stretch.
- apparently State took exception to JB's off-hand remark that he didn't consider them a "rival". Johnson in particular got mouthy early to the point Les Jones stepped in. Of course that just got JB into the glare and he made Markell's life miserable, and on the other end made a point of taking him to the rack in one-man Fast Breaks.
- And speaking of taking exception --- LUKE either got pissed off at his own early ball-looseness or some of the uncalled "physical" junk, but whatever #32 went OFF, scoring in all manners and distances. I'll tell ya, once Luke started moving without the ball it really was a Larry Bird show out there and Yurtseven didn't know whether to sh** or go blind. 33 and 17. Dayumm! Oh, and I love seeing him throw it down.
- Finally, I never thought I'd see a game where Les Jones was the best zebra. Those other two guys were just useless. State having only 3 Team Fouls inside the Under-4 was a joke. That being said the good news was it forced them to use clock giving fouls to get us into the bonus late. BTW: Good job by Cam and Theo of converting big late FTs.
Anyway, whatever the circumstance, that was a damned good win coming 2 days after dook and under the most hostlile of environments. For all our self-inflicted nonsense that showed a lotta grit and character, which of course is exactly what the doctor (and Roy) orders this time o' year!...
- On one hand you hafta credit State with making some tough shots. Of their 3-pt makes only 2 were on over-helps. Sometime they just make shots. That being said, we did a better job of taking away their outside opportunities in the second half all together. After a hot start they finished 7/13, the most important number there being holding down the number of makes.
- Good grief, this game was stressful to watch in that I can't remember a worse case of self-inflicted badness being careless with the rock
. I mean, passes to no one, not securing rebounds, stepping over the end-line ---- we turned it over just about every way imaginable, plus when you're playing against a Pitino-style five-guys-fouling-five-guys team you HAVE TO BE STRONG WITH THE BALL!- Speaking of which, CATCH THE DAMN BALL! I know our frosh Bigs are still young, but it's friggin February --- just sticking out a hand to catch an interior pass ain't gonna get it done. After 2 total TOs vs dook we had 11 in the first half alone, and again they were mostly self-inflicted. Much of the first half was a story of us turning them over, and then turning ourselves over.
- Now the good news: We were doing an awful lot right on offense --- in fact the TOs and 15 Blown Assists in the first half alone is what held us to a paltry 35 points. We at least cleaned up the Assist-blowing in the second half and stronger finishing helped us to hang 61 on them.
- Speaking of offense, the transition game was in high gear (which is remarkable given we left the ball behind more than once). I had us for 20 Fast Break and 29 Secondary Break pts. That's Carolina basketball. I also liked how we attacked their pressure. That discourages a lotta nonsense.
- We also by and large did a good job defending high ball-screens. The hedges were more under control, we were tagging the roller while mostly not losing reach of our men. Credit to State for making an adjustment once we took away their perimeter action by attacking more off the dribble. It took us a while to adjust back, and even once we did they still made some tough shots.
- Good to see some bench contribution, and all five starters in double-figures is a good thing. Good job by Cam of making himself an offensive factor despite being cold from deep. State was making a concerted effort to shut off Cam and Kenny's looks, so hey, find a way to adjust. BTW: Good on KW to show ice-water confidence with those big late 3s, and to Roy for calling a set play for him in crunch time.
- Good to see Theo redeem himself for early malfunctions by getting back to his game and making some sweet finishing moves in the paint down the stretch.
- apparently State took exception to JB's off-hand remark that he didn't consider them a "rival". Johnson in particular got mouthy early to the point Les Jones stepped in. Of course that just got JB into the glare and he made Markell's life miserable, and on the other end made a point of taking him to the rack in one-man Fast Breaks.
- And speaking of taking exception --- LUKE either got pissed off at his own early ball-looseness or some of the uncalled "physical" junk, but whatever #32 went OFF, scoring in all manners and distances. I'll tell ya, once Luke started moving without the ball it really was a Larry Bird show out there and Yurtseven didn't know whether to sh** or go blind. 33 and 17. Dayumm! Oh, and I love seeing him throw it down.
- Finally, I never thought I'd see a game where Les Jones was the best zebra. Those other two guys were just useless. State having only 3 Team Fouls inside the Under-4 was a joke. That being said the good news was it forced them to use clock giving fouls to get us into the bonus late. BTW: Good job by Cam and Theo of converting big late FTs.
Anyway, whatever the circumstance, that was a damned good win coming 2 days after dook and under the most hostlile of environments. For all our self-inflicted nonsense that showed a lotta grit and character, which of course is exactly what the doctor (and Roy) orders this time o' year!...
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