...and a nice show for the home folks.
- So... another squad with perimiter length, and as I expected their big Guards started off trying to post up our backcourt. KW's guy got a couple doing that but not without picking up a charge along the way, and JB was having none of it. Tulane also came in with some gaudy shooting numbers and a 6-1 record vs mid-level teams, but they hadn't seen Carolina-brand defense. Granted they missed a few open deep looks, but nothing came easy for them in the first half. We lost our focus a bit in the second half with a big working lead, and Tulane started knocking down some inside-out 3s to keep the margin from increasing markedly, but I really liked our first-half focus.
- Remarkably, we scored 52 in the first half with only 9 Fast Break and 13 Secondary Break pts --- much like last game, it was a story of tremendous execution in our half-court Passing Game and set plays. In the second half our transition game took over (see below). Included in those modest 1st half transition numbers was a beautiful Kenny Williams coast-to-coast to beat the buzzer.
- Speaking of KW, watching him closely today I think it's safe to say Roy is green-lighting him and he's looking for his shot. In fact, he got a bit too frisky at one point, getting away with a double-dribble that came from eschewing the extra pass to a wide-open JB. That notwithstanding, it's good to see Kenny feelin' it these days!
- One concern was that the Core Four scored 43 of the 52 pts in the first half. Yes, they were very good but the bench not so much. Fortunately the reserves stepped up in the second half and showed some encouraging moments. After once again incurring Roy's wrath in the first half, Jalek seemed to get comfortable with some productive extended second half minutes. I was very happy to see that.
- Also happy to see Huff do well. Bless his heart, big fella has a case of Joel James hands catching passes, but when he did get the ball he had some nice finishes, as well as strong board work. Huff also had a nice Blocked Shot in Help (despite being held). Our young Bigs held their own today combining for 24 and 14.
- Also, we didn't go Small once --- mostly Hybrid --- and even went Traditional for a spell in the second half.
- Another concern was 16/29 FT shooting --- and the frosh Bigs were te main culprits. They've been pretty solid at the line most of the early season, but today's 2/10 ain't gonna cut it. It was a decently called game, and we got a fair number of attempts --- which believe me, I'll take anytime with a crew that includes Tim Nestor and Les Jones --- just can't afford to leave those points at the stripe as we go forward!
- Back to the good: I know it's a recurring theme, but Andrew PLatek can flat play the game of basketball. He didn't get much run in the first half, but with Kenny getting in quick foul trouble in the second, AP took over the 2-spot and showed what was up. Obviously it was great to see that first 3-ball splash down, but he does so many things right on both ends. And let me tell ya, our transition game kicked into gear when he came in. The JB/AP backcourt led us to a quick 19 pts in just over 6 minutes (over 3 PPM!), including 3 Fast Break and 11 Secondary Break pts.
- Another double-double for Luke with 22 and 10, but I was more impressed by his floor game and defense today. Nice interior passing and some good defense as well including 4 Blocks.
- And finally, it's such a pleasure for this ol' coach to watch Joel Berry, game in and game out. He plays the PG position in a manner that brings the old "coach-on-the-floor" cliche to life. Even though he got a bit frisky with a couple of pitch-aheads in transition today, I don't know that I've even seen a PG with better floor command. He knows what to do and when to do it... when to pick things up or restore order. His second half take for an And-1 at the basket was vintage JB, as was making a point of forcefully placing the ball on the floor after the finish. Love my Dog. And he's just so damned good on defense --- man-up and Help --- and the stat-keeper even shorted him a second Blocked Shot today. C'mon man... when your (maybe) 6'0 PG rejects em, ya gotta give a brother proper credit!
OK, another solid win with good energy. Take care of business and keep getting better.
- So... another squad with perimiter length, and as I expected their big Guards started off trying to post up our backcourt. KW's guy got a couple doing that but not without picking up a charge along the way, and JB was having none of it. Tulane also came in with some gaudy shooting numbers and a 6-1 record vs mid-level teams, but they hadn't seen Carolina-brand defense. Granted they missed a few open deep looks, but nothing came easy for them in the first half. We lost our focus a bit in the second half with a big working lead, and Tulane started knocking down some inside-out 3s to keep the margin from increasing markedly, but I really liked our first-half focus.
- Remarkably, we scored 52 in the first half with only 9 Fast Break and 13 Secondary Break pts --- much like last game, it was a story of tremendous execution in our half-court Passing Game and set plays. In the second half our transition game took over (see below). Included in those modest 1st half transition numbers was a beautiful Kenny Williams coast-to-coast to beat the buzzer.
- Speaking of KW, watching him closely today I think it's safe to say Roy is green-lighting him and he's looking for his shot. In fact, he got a bit too frisky at one point, getting away with a double-dribble that came from eschewing the extra pass to a wide-open JB. That notwithstanding, it's good to see Kenny feelin' it these days!
- One concern was that the Core Four scored 43 of the 52 pts in the first half. Yes, they were very good but the bench not so much. Fortunately the reserves stepped up in the second half and showed some encouraging moments. After once again incurring Roy's wrath in the first half, Jalek seemed to get comfortable with some productive extended second half minutes. I was very happy to see that.
- Also happy to see Huff do well. Bless his heart, big fella has a case of Joel James hands catching passes, but when he did get the ball he had some nice finishes, as well as strong board work. Huff also had a nice Blocked Shot in Help (despite being held). Our young Bigs held their own today combining for 24 and 14.
- Also, we didn't go Small once --- mostly Hybrid --- and even went Traditional for a spell in the second half.
- Another concern was 16/29 FT shooting --- and the frosh Bigs were te main culprits. They've been pretty solid at the line most of the early season, but today's 2/10 ain't gonna cut it. It was a decently called game, and we got a fair number of attempts --- which believe me, I'll take anytime with a crew that includes Tim Nestor and Les Jones --- just can't afford to leave those points at the stripe as we go forward!
- Back to the good: I know it's a recurring theme, but Andrew PLatek can flat play the game of basketball. He didn't get much run in the first half, but with Kenny getting in quick foul trouble in the second, AP took over the 2-spot and showed what was up. Obviously it was great to see that first 3-ball splash down, but he does so many things right on both ends. And let me tell ya, our transition game kicked into gear when he came in. The JB/AP backcourt led us to a quick 19 pts in just over 6 minutes (over 3 PPM!), including 3 Fast Break and 11 Secondary Break pts.
- Another double-double for Luke with 22 and 10, but I was more impressed by his floor game and defense today. Nice interior passing and some good defense as well including 4 Blocks.
- And finally, it's such a pleasure for this ol' coach to watch Joel Berry, game in and game out. He plays the PG position in a manner that brings the old "coach-on-the-floor" cliche to life. Even though he got a bit frisky with a couple of pitch-aheads in transition today, I don't know that I've even seen a PG with better floor command. He knows what to do and when to do it... when to pick things up or restore order. His second half take for an And-1 at the basket was vintage JB, as was making a point of forcefully placing the ball on the floor after the finish. Love my Dog. And he's just so damned good on defense --- man-up and Help --- and the stat-keeper even shorted him a second Blocked Shot today. C'mon man... when your (maybe) 6'0 PG rejects em, ya gotta give a brother proper credit!
OK, another solid win with good energy. Take care of business and keep getting better.
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