...and State-hate is good hate 
.
- Let's hammer home the most important fact, i.e., that the game-plan was exactly as it should have been: Pound it inside to Bacot. No-brainer, and it diid the job. State's starting Big must've had 15 fouls --- not sure how many actully got called, but Mando did make the most of his FT trips, which continues to be a positive for this team.
- On that note, Manek had 5 dimes today, 4 of which came on our designed Hi-Lo action, that was executed and timed to perfection. Moreover, pretty much every time Brady touched the ball he had a mismatch, and he had the savvy to take advantage,
- In maybe the best news of the day, it appears Leaky is ok, and I'll tell ya, we need him vs Cuse to run the pivot role in our Zone Offense. One negative today was we were very slack running our Zone-O continuity, even after they showed us several consecutive possessions of their 1-2-2.
- In Leaky's absence the good news was Puff's coming-out party. Of course it was good to see him knocking down some 3s, but even better was demonstrating some solid fundamentals, especially some sweet entry passes.
- Speaking of fundamentals, another thing that Puff did well --- that was sorely missing from our Guards --- was blocking out on the boards. We need to get that cleaned up. And honestly, the only thing that made the final score even look competitive was a fit of low-IQ unforced TOs interspersed during the day, that seemed to invariably result in a 3 the other way.
- The second half devolved into a half-court rock-fight, following some very good transition game in the first. I will say that when we ran the floor correctly and pitched ahead there were some pretty breaks. We just need to be more consistent in getting to our spots and lanes.
- it was encouraging to see that we subbed more strategically earlier around the Under timeouts.
- On that note, State's default defense (when they're not running that Diamond press) is their equivalent of our 24 --- OB deny followed by a "warm" full-court pcikup. However, if they can successfully force the ball into the hands of a "non-ballhandler", they're taught to face-deny the Guards and then attack the dribbler once he crosses half-court. That happened late in the first half to Kerwin. Unfortunately, after doing a good job of calmly advancing the ball into the frontcourt ahead of the count, instead of giving up the ball, he tried an ill-advised reverse-spin-dribble right into a jump-double, and one of those aforementioned TOs ensued. That is likely one of the reasons we didn't see him again in the second half. I felt bad for the kid, as he's found himself on a far shorter leash this season, but we need KW to play within himself, and for that matter, ALL the subs to value the rock better than they've done thus far.
- And finally, it was encouraging for the future to see more than a token mix of 30 and 40 defenses. As I've posted previously, we've gotten better and better at the base 20 part of of our repertoire, so the next logical step in the reinstall of Caroilina basketball is getting the hang of being multiple.
Anyway, dominant (for the most part) win at a hosile venue vs a reviled opponent. Now, let's have a good Senior Night and then go spoil some fun (and ESPN's day) in HIS... whattaya say?...
. - Let's hammer home the most important fact, i.e., that the game-plan was exactly as it should have been: Pound it inside to Bacot. No-brainer, and it diid the job. State's starting Big must've had 15 fouls --- not sure how many actully got called, but Mando did make the most of his FT trips, which continues to be a positive for this team.
- On that note, Manek had 5 dimes today, 4 of which came on our designed Hi-Lo action, that was executed and timed to perfection. Moreover, pretty much every time Brady touched the ball he had a mismatch, and he had the savvy to take advantage,
- In maybe the best news of the day, it appears Leaky is ok, and I'll tell ya, we need him vs Cuse to run the pivot role in our Zone Offense. One negative today was we were very slack running our Zone-O continuity, even after they showed us several consecutive possessions of their 1-2-2.
- In Leaky's absence the good news was Puff's coming-out party. Of course it was good to see him knocking down some 3s, but even better was demonstrating some solid fundamentals, especially some sweet entry passes.
- Speaking of fundamentals, another thing that Puff did well --- that was sorely missing from our Guards --- was blocking out on the boards. We need to get that cleaned up. And honestly, the only thing that made the final score even look competitive was a fit of low-IQ unforced TOs interspersed during the day, that seemed to invariably result in a 3 the other way.
- The second half devolved into a half-court rock-fight, following some very good transition game in the first. I will say that when we ran the floor correctly and pitched ahead there were some pretty breaks. We just need to be more consistent in getting to our spots and lanes.
- it was encouraging to see that we subbed more strategically earlier around the Under timeouts.
- On that note, State's default defense (when they're not running that Diamond press) is their equivalent of our 24 --- OB deny followed by a "warm" full-court pcikup. However, if they can successfully force the ball into the hands of a "non-ballhandler", they're taught to face-deny the Guards and then attack the dribbler once he crosses half-court. That happened late in the first half to Kerwin. Unfortunately, after doing a good job of calmly advancing the ball into the frontcourt ahead of the count, instead of giving up the ball, he tried an ill-advised reverse-spin-dribble right into a jump-double, and one of those aforementioned TOs ensued. That is likely one of the reasons we didn't see him again in the second half. I felt bad for the kid, as he's found himself on a far shorter leash this season, but we need KW to play within himself, and for that matter, ALL the subs to value the rock better than they've done thus far.
- And finally, it was encouraging for the future to see more than a token mix of 30 and 40 defenses. As I've posted previously, we've gotten better and better at the base 20 part of of our repertoire, so the next logical step in the reinstall of Caroilina basketball is getting the hang of being multiple.
Anyway, dominant (for the most part) win at a hosile venue vs a reviled opponent. Now, let's have a good Senior Night and then go spoil some fun (and ESPN's day) in HIS... whattaya say?...
