(Ironic we get a travel against Ole Miss to open the game.)
Gaines, Maten and Frazier took 106 of 200 minutes. Really impressed by that - they were scoring and we needed them too and the coach let them play. (I got a giggle at the poster who complained about Maten's lack of minutes - I guess he's supposed to play 40, but I restrained myself. You're welcome.)
I was equally impressed by not only the willingness but the persistent effort made by the rest of the players to get these scorers the ball. Many times I was wanting a shot taken but today's role players unhesitatingly and confidently moved the ball to the best spot for today's scorers. I thought Mann and Wilridge had their best floor games and Mann embraced his role today - 4 assists, 2 turnovers, played very good D and got to the foul line. EW can really get the ball into places most of our other players can't - 2 assists in 4 minutes - and while he didn't do it as much today, KPG has a nice knack for getting the ball into the post.
It may have been a one time thing, but I noticed Mann did not dribble the ball as quickly as he has in the past - he held the ball (actually in something resembling the triple threat position , in college basketball nearly unheard of it seems) and took a look, then made a decision to either pass, shoot or dribble. I think it helped us. I know others noticed because the wise man behind me yelled "stopped holding the ball!" - what, you want a dance show? Hold the ball until you got something good to do with it.
DO did not score (but he only took 1 shot, which may have reflected wisdom) and he rebounded ok (3) but his defense in general and his team defense in particular took a serious step forward. He got beat immediately when he got in by letting a smaller player push him deep - a regular occurrence in the past. And it happened once again but he rebounded from that and was much tougher one on one than previous games and much smarter helping than previous games. He was effective and he also got a block and steal by playing man first ball second down low. (The upperclassman guards will divert the offender to you, big guy, trust the process) Guy is going to be a monster. Edwards - what can you say. The guy is a testament to "Get out there and compete and you'll get better." He got chewed out by a senior and he responded. Good looking player. Ole Miss is a great example of a team that could be really good if they had serious post player - not enough beef - and a good example of teams we can beat - teams without serious beef that rely on perimeter play.
That may or may not reverse next year - I can guarantee it. No doubt.
Obviously the defense was good -what's new. And 22 points off turnovers, 2 for them. They sure made some threes but we kept forcing them to shots they did not prefer and over 40 minutes the plan worked once we got a chance to shoot a few free throws. We got in trouble once or twice chasing a loose ball and losing our man or assignments, but overall we were man first ball second and we are dadgum good when we are in position watching the other guy cross midcourt with the ball.
75% on free throws and the big guy hit them all. A good post player that makes his free throws is a wonderful thing. And we got the right guys to the line.
8 fast break points for Georgia none for them - we consistently get more points off fast breaks than our opponents - but we never run and our style is boring, I get that, really I do - you can't trust statistics - we know what we see. I get that 100% - our vision is clear. We've seen a lot of ball.
Got it.
I'll tell what exciting ball is - when the ball goes through the ring. Every time that happened everyone got real excited. No one gave a flying flip how the ball got through the ring, when you do it's exciting. People jump up and yell and the guys that make shots - they become our favorite players, not the guys that run down and shoot real fast. I know - I've taken notes on this. Ball goes in - place goes nuts. Ball don't go in - gets real quiet. It doesn't matter if we go one on one or pass it 8 times. In fact, I have noticed that when the ball goes in the ring and there is less than 5 seconds on the shot clock, everyone gets even MORE excited. So I think we should INTENTIONALLY run the clock as low as possible to get more excitement. NAW!! Just kidding, that would be just like trying to score real fast to make it more exciting - how dumb is that?
I've got the data - ball goes in, exciting. Ball don't - not exciting.
It's basketball.
Nothing else matters unless you basically have too much time on your hands and need something to complain about.
Don't we have enough to complain about?
Favored style of play is ball go in. There's a 30 second clock - if you are getting board with a 30 second clock you are 5 years old anyway.
Over 9800 attendance in our darkest hour.
Really guys, is it all that dark? Coach stay or coach go, I don't really care, but apparently the rest of the world doesn't think these days are so dark because folks are showing up to watch.
It was a smart looking box score and a darn fun game to watch. Ball went in.
Gaines, Maten and Frazier took 106 of 200 minutes. Really impressed by that - they were scoring and we needed them too and the coach let them play. (I got a giggle at the poster who complained about Maten's lack of minutes - I guess he's supposed to play 40, but I restrained myself. You're welcome.)
I was equally impressed by not only the willingness but the persistent effort made by the rest of the players to get these scorers the ball. Many times I was wanting a shot taken but today's role players unhesitatingly and confidently moved the ball to the best spot for today's scorers. I thought Mann and Wilridge had their best floor games and Mann embraced his role today - 4 assists, 2 turnovers, played very good D and got to the foul line. EW can really get the ball into places most of our other players can't - 2 assists in 4 minutes - and while he didn't do it as much today, KPG has a nice knack for getting the ball into the post.
It may have been a one time thing, but I noticed Mann did not dribble the ball as quickly as he has in the past - he held the ball (actually in something resembling the triple threat position , in college basketball nearly unheard of it seems) and took a look, then made a decision to either pass, shoot or dribble. I think it helped us. I know others noticed because the wise man behind me yelled "stopped holding the ball!" - what, you want a dance show? Hold the ball until you got something good to do with it.
DO did not score (but he only took 1 shot, which may have reflected wisdom) and he rebounded ok (3) but his defense in general and his team defense in particular took a serious step forward. He got beat immediately when he got in by letting a smaller player push him deep - a regular occurrence in the past. And it happened once again but he rebounded from that and was much tougher one on one than previous games and much smarter helping than previous games. He was effective and he also got a block and steal by playing man first ball second down low. (The upperclassman guards will divert the offender to you, big guy, trust the process) Guy is going to be a monster. Edwards - what can you say. The guy is a testament to "Get out there and compete and you'll get better." He got chewed out by a senior and he responded. Good looking player. Ole Miss is a great example of a team that could be really good if they had serious post player - not enough beef - and a good example of teams we can beat - teams without serious beef that rely on perimeter play.
That may or may not reverse next year - I can guarantee it. No doubt.
Obviously the defense was good -what's new. And 22 points off turnovers, 2 for them. They sure made some threes but we kept forcing them to shots they did not prefer and over 40 minutes the plan worked once we got a chance to shoot a few free throws. We got in trouble once or twice chasing a loose ball and losing our man or assignments, but overall we were man first ball second and we are dadgum good when we are in position watching the other guy cross midcourt with the ball.
75% on free throws and the big guy hit them all. A good post player that makes his free throws is a wonderful thing. And we got the right guys to the line.
8 fast break points for Georgia none for them - we consistently get more points off fast breaks than our opponents - but we never run and our style is boring, I get that, really I do - you can't trust statistics - we know what we see. I get that 100% - our vision is clear. We've seen a lot of ball.
Got it.
I'll tell what exciting ball is - when the ball goes through the ring. Every time that happened everyone got real excited. No one gave a flying flip how the ball got through the ring, when you do it's exciting. People jump up and yell and the guys that make shots - they become our favorite players, not the guys that run down and shoot real fast. I know - I've taken notes on this. Ball goes in - place goes nuts. Ball don't go in - gets real quiet. It doesn't matter if we go one on one or pass it 8 times. In fact, I have noticed that when the ball goes in the ring and there is less than 5 seconds on the shot clock, everyone gets even MORE excited. So I think we should INTENTIONALLY run the clock as low as possible to get more excitement. NAW!! Just kidding, that would be just like trying to score real fast to make it more exciting - how dumb is that?
I've got the data - ball goes in, exciting. Ball don't - not exciting.
It's basketball.
Nothing else matters unless you basically have too much time on your hands and need something to complain about.
Don't we have enough to complain about?
Favored style of play is ball go in. There's a 30 second clock - if you are getting board with a 30 second clock you are 5 years old anyway.
Over 9800 attendance in our darkest hour.
Really guys, is it all that dark? Coach stay or coach go, I don't really care, but apparently the rest of the world doesn't think these days are so dark because folks are showing up to watch.
It was a smart looking box score and a darn fun game to watch. Ball went in.
