...oddly, I had a good feeling about this one all day --- disquietingly good --- that we would take them to the woodshed. We did... well sorta. One factor (see below) kept it from being a rout.
stats
- so much for getting out-rebounded by these guys in the past. Not tonight. 38-26. Kennedy (11) and Luke (12) in particular were hosses on the defensive boards.
- Speaking of Luke. Howz about a big double-double in the Sweet 16? 16 and 12. Naww, he can't play at this level
.
- The bad news on rebounding was allowing long rebounds to go unclaimed. Nate inexplicably just stood and watched the ball hit the floor twice late when the other guys had sealed with blockouts.
- Speaking of Assists, despite the bad conversion #s (15 Blown total that didn't lead to FTs), we still managed 22 Dimes on 31 made FGs. JJ, Nate and Theo all made nice entries, especially vs their Zone.
- Boy oh boy, we've been waiting to see JB and JJ sharp at the same time, and when they were cooking in the first half it was unstoppable. 26 for Little Dog and 24 for Buckets --- 50 out of our 92.
keys
- FTs: And here's the mitigating factor mentioned in the intro that kept this from being a blowout --- missing f***ing FTs!!! Good grief. We finished 21/33 (63.6%), but that # was padded by making the last several when they were fouling intentionally. Hell, we missed 9 in the second half alone. We've just gotta do better than that. When they pulled uncomfortably close late, I looked at my buddy and said, if we lose this one, there's the culprit. missed FTs.
- Transition: I loved how we set tempo early, with 28 Secondary Break pts in the first half. Unfortunately, we allowed them to slow us down in the second half and we only scored 6 more. Much of the issue there was failing to convert. Berry alone had 10 Assists Blown, and 8 of those were in transition.
- Defensive intensity: Very good for the most part, but we lost help communication late, especially when we went Ultra-Small. We started leaving open shooters and allowing handlers to slip screens. Again that is a pure communication issue from behind. JB let the guys know it a couple of times. When we were locked in though, Butler had a hard time scoring.
- JB aggression: Check. He came out smokin' from deep, and attacked the basket like we've come to expect. Converted some dog-ass tough takes thru contact, and seemingly every one was big. Late when they were denying JJ, Joel just took over. That last answer 3 after they'd cut it to 11 was a statement, and I loved that hesitation cut wrinkle off the high screen for a big lay-up shortly thereafter. And that late spin move in the paint was a dagger.
stuff
Speaking of JB, damn that ankle took a pounding tonight. He actually first started favoring it some after that late first-half drive and score where he came down awkwardly. Looked like he was ok in the second, then damn, it seemed like every time I looked up he was catching a trip, or that awful looking late slip where it just went out from under him. PLEASE don't let it tighten up on him again.
- Adam Lucas correctly said in his preview that how the game was called would be important (guess I'm not the only one, huh?) because of the way Butler plays. On one hand, the officiating was just, well, odd. Almost the opposite of typical in that they called ticky-tack stuff inside, while allowing a lot both ways outside. The good news is (although Isaiah might beg to differ) that it was even enough to keep the important things in check. We got our FTs. Now we gotta make em!
- Finally a big shout-out and major props to Chrabasz (spelling?) for Butler. Dude was a throw-back and absolutely gave us fits. Poor guy was gassed late and finally started short-arming some shots. For a while there I didn't think he would ever miss!
Arrright... we all know this side of the bracket is gonna be a friggin' gauntlet from here on out. We're gonna have to earn it. Please be well, JB!
stats
- so much for getting out-rebounded by these guys in the past. Not tonight. 38-26. Kennedy (11) and Luke (12) in particular were hosses on the defensive boards.
- Speaking of Luke. Howz about a big double-double in the Sweet 16? 16 and 12. Naww, he can't play at this level
.- The bad news on rebounding was allowing long rebounds to go unclaimed. Nate inexplicably just stood and watched the ball hit the floor twice late when the other guys had sealed with blockouts.
- Speaking of Assists, despite the bad conversion #s (15 Blown total that didn't lead to FTs), we still managed 22 Dimes on 31 made FGs. JJ, Nate and Theo all made nice entries, especially vs their Zone.
- Boy oh boy, we've been waiting to see JB and JJ sharp at the same time, and when they were cooking in the first half it was unstoppable. 26 for Little Dog and 24 for Buckets --- 50 out of our 92.
keys
- FTs: And here's the mitigating factor mentioned in the intro that kept this from being a blowout --- missing f***ing FTs!!! Good grief. We finished 21/33 (63.6%), but that # was padded by making the last several when they were fouling intentionally. Hell, we missed 9 in the second half alone. We've just gotta do better than that. When they pulled uncomfortably close late, I looked at my buddy and said, if we lose this one, there's the culprit. missed FTs.
- Transition: I loved how we set tempo early, with 28 Secondary Break pts in the first half. Unfortunately, we allowed them to slow us down in the second half and we only scored 6 more. Much of the issue there was failing to convert. Berry alone had 10 Assists Blown, and 8 of those were in transition.
- Defensive intensity: Very good for the most part, but we lost help communication late, especially when we went Ultra-Small. We started leaving open shooters and allowing handlers to slip screens. Again that is a pure communication issue from behind. JB let the guys know it a couple of times. When we were locked in though, Butler had a hard time scoring.
- JB aggression: Check. He came out smokin' from deep, and attacked the basket like we've come to expect. Converted some dog-ass tough takes thru contact, and seemingly every one was big. Late when they were denying JJ, Joel just took over. That last answer 3 after they'd cut it to 11 was a statement, and I loved that hesitation cut wrinkle off the high screen for a big lay-up shortly thereafter. And that late spin move in the paint was a dagger.
stuff
Speaking of JB, damn that ankle took a pounding tonight. He actually first started favoring it some after that late first-half drive and score where he came down awkwardly. Looked like he was ok in the second, then damn, it seemed like every time I looked up he was catching a trip, or that awful looking late slip where it just went out from under him. PLEASE don't let it tighten up on him again
.- Adam Lucas correctly said in his preview that how the game was called would be important (guess I'm not the only one, huh?) because of the way Butler plays. On one hand, the officiating was just, well, odd. Almost the opposite of typical in that they called ticky-tack stuff inside, while allowing a lot both ways outside. The good news is (although Isaiah might beg to differ) that it was even enough to keep the important things in check. We got our FTs. Now we gotta make em!
- Finally a big shout-out and major props to Chrabasz (spelling?) for Butler. Dude was a throw-back and absolutely gave us fits. Poor guy was gassed late and finally started short-arming some shots. For a while there I didn't think he would ever miss!
Arrright... we all know this side of the bracket is gonna be a friggin' gauntlet from here on out. We're gonna have to earn it. Please be well, JB!
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