Game 1 observations

thats great advice :confused:
Every single time we play zone, someone is always left wide open constantly. Every single year. Either our players cant figure it out, or Lutz can't coach it. But it never works.

Man to man ,we shut them down. Obviously man to man is a little more physically intensive, but we have the depth.

Box Score: http://charlotte49ers.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/110907aaa.html

Coley + Wilderness + Jones = 4/18 from the FT line. :mask:

Coleyā€™s line: 10 points, 9 boards, 4 blocks in 26 minutes.

I know it is only one game and it sounds silly, but I was more excited about this team than I have been in a few years. We have some great athletes and some guys that really want to get after it. I saw way more hustle and way fewer horrible long-range 3 point shots than Iā€™ve seen in 3 years. Our free throws shouldnā€™t shock anyoneā€¦weā€™ve ALWAYS been horrible at the foul line - it truly amazes me how bad we are in that category. I like Leemire, but his decision-making ability late in the game makes me extremely nervousā€¦he doesnā€™t even look for the open man. I was impressed with Mack, Wilderness and Coley. Jones will be fine - he just needs some time. Harris played ok. Just keep in mind that for a lot of these guys, it was their first D1 game (Coley, Wilderness, Jones, Mack, Harris). We have a lot of second year guys too (Dewurst, Anderson, Phaler).

Any win is a good one. So many good things to say and so many more games to play. However, as others have saidā€¦

**got to make more FTs

Its good and badā€¦would have been a blowout (at least 10 point win) with 60% FT BUT we will lose several games unless % goes up. Surely our FTs canā€™t get worse. Right?

Anyway, great win to start the season. GO NINERS! Have a good weekend of practice and take it to ASU on Monday!

Great turnout by Niner Nation tonight.

Every single time we play zone, someone is always left wide open constantly. Every single year. Either our players cant figure it out, or Lutz can't coach it. But it never works.

Man to man ,we shut them down. Obviously man to man is a little more physically intensive, but we have the depth.

We get beat generally b/c at times we do not rotate enough, but then again the way to beat a 2-3 zone to get the open shot is to reverse court. To beat it you actually pass, which is what they did, and either a guy is too slow, or is pulled out of place due to the amount of passes. It was about 50/50 tonight.

To continue on the defensive rant, when was the last time you saw a team held to 55 points by our defense? HPU is not offensively inept to the cue of 55 pts, so we were obviously getting done. Reid got his, I expected it, although I was suprised at his stature, good jumper, still will never make it to the next level due to a lack of a pull up jumper.

Most everybody has the first game jitters. Lee was steady after the first 5 until the last 5. Many of the other guys had some WTF moments (Dewhurst 1 on 2, Dewhurst getting stripped, a Dijuan pass that was easily stolen, Mackā€™s crappy entry pass at the beginning of the first half(If one more person tries a post entry from the top of the key Iā€™m going toā€¦), but as it was mentioned it is likely their first game, and at other points they more than made up for. I can forgive someoneā€™s mistake (bad shot or pass) aslong as they make up for it with a hustle play. How about Harris out running their guard to dive past him to get it, sure he went out of bounds but he fought for itā€¦ gotta love that.

Nothing to note that hasnā€™t already been said. It was enjoyable to be at a game for the first time in awhile.

Loudest Iā€™ve heard Halton (late in the game) in along, long time. The loud boos at the half reminded me of the pitch of boos during Lā€™ville and Cincy games. Who lost to Belmont hahahaha.

My thoughts: [LIST] [*]We won a game with defense [*]Arizona Reid can f--ing play. The stat line will look like we didn't guard him but Coley was all over him. The guy is just gonna get his, apparently.
[/LIST] Coley, Mack, and Wilderness are flat-out hustle guys. Whether its blocking shots (Coley on that big three by Reid I think?) or Mack (grabbing boards all night), and Wilderness' steal/dunk needs no mention. These 3 fuel the team in my opinion because of their high energy playing style.
[/list]Coley, Mack, and Wilderness are flat-out hustle guys. Whether its blocking shots (Coley on that big three by Reid I think?) or Mack (grabbing boards all night), and Wilderness' steal/dunk needs no mention. These 3 fuel the team in my opinion because of their high energy playing style.
Did you see that one play where the ball bounced around like 10 times around the baseline, and Mack fell out of bounds but was smart enough to bounce it off the opponent at the last second? Great basketball IQ.

My opinion -

They were able to hang with us because they are a more experienced team. If we have a little bit more experience on the team and made more free throws, we would blow them out easy.

Phil looks rusty, soft hand, probably just need a bit more time.
Harris is a very good pg in my opinion, he might had 4 turnovers, but for me, it looked like the catcher couldnā€™t handle the pass, he showed decent court vision.
Mack and Coley were awesome, they made me a bit more comfortable about getting JUCO guys.
Ian showed a lot of energy
Dewhurst was lost a few times, but overall I think he did very well.

Very pleased with everyone except Leemire, some of his decision making troubles me. Usually when you see him back off and start dribbling, you can expect him to take a 3ā€¦ I really hate that.

Looks like another opponentā€™s player racked up lots of points on us and Phil may have Curtā€™s desire but hopefully itā€™s just early. Iā€™ll take the win.

My obs:

-First, Chisox, I was wrong, Harris started and did well.
-The real loser (in a missing out sort of way) is anyone who didnā€™t get a chance to see or especially be at that game. The crowd was electric, probably more electric than I saw all of last year. Decent turnout for a 14-16 team last year playing a big south team on a friday, especially from the students.
-I saw more heart out of this team before the first media timeout than any single game all of last year.
-5 years from now weā€™ll be saying ā€œThis team needs a Wildernessā€ like we do now about Eddie.
-Eason is right, our zone is terrible, man to man is better. We have long athletes that allow us to trap well
-Coley, great game, still got to quit forcing it. he had a nasty block where it could have easily knocked the kids head off.
-Free throws, Lutz said we do better in practice so Iā€™ll just chalk it up as we won a game where we did poorly at the line, it happens.
-Phil Jones needs to touch the ball more often, im not saying finish, but it needs to go in to him. Lee will do as good as Phil can allow. With their center playing maybe 8 min, there was no sense in Phil not getting the ball.
-like NA said, AZ will get his, I thought coley did a VERY good job, he had 26 points, but only one other guy had double digits, and AZ took 23 shots to do it.
-bring us all back from the clouds, we beat a better Hofstra team in the opener last year.
-Fat ref with the flat top needs to be audited.
-I have my lutz live question.

We are bigger and more athletic than last year. Cooley has hops and Wilderness is agressive. Harris is quick but needs quite a bit of work. Big Phil needs to work on his hands. I thought Mack looked to be the most versatile player out of all the new guys. This team is going to need him to score some points.

FT shooting looks to be a big weak spot again this year. You won't win many close games when you miss 19 free throws.

.

Wilderness looked terrible on the line. His ball has a lot of spin with no air under it.

[QUOTE=eason49;267468]Very raw team. [/QUOTE]

I got a laugh out of this bit from the Observerā€¦

[QUOTE]As Mack left the floor, he ran through the wrong tunnel, heading toward High Pointā€™s locker room. He realized his error with a laugh, turned around and found his way.

[/QUOTE]

Gotta love the new guys!

[QUOTE=VA49er;267519]Looks like another opponentā€™s player racked up lots of points on us and Phil may have Curtā€™s desire but hopefully itā€™s just early. Iā€™ll take the win.[/QUOTE]

I know all about the Loughton effect VA, but this wasnā€™t it. He got a couple of cheap/easy looks early in the game as we tinkered with how to defend him, but once we started playing Coley and Wilderness on him, he had to earn everything he got. Coley absolutely smothered him.

The smjart thing they were doing late was forcing us to switch off him. Several times we ended up with Lee or Harris on him, which is a bad mismatch. But HPUā€™s players didnā€™t always get him the ball in those situations, which was stupifying. One time, Coley ended up on the PG at the top of the key, with Reid posted up on Lee (guaranteed points for Reid) and calling for the ball. Dumbass PG pulls up for a 3 instead and Coley simply snatched the shot from him. Was hilarious.

-It was nice to see some good defense tonight. We made plenty of mistakes, but hustle and desire kept them in the game

-Wilderness was great - he has so much energy and did a great job on defense. I think he scores more as the season progresses

-Dijuan did a good job, but still has a lot to learn. He is small, but so quick and not scared to pressure the ball at half-court - his single pressure slowed them down and times and disrupted their offense

-I thought the first half, everyone looked a little nervous and Lee having to sit for so long was a good test for Dijuan and hurt our offense and on the court presence

-Mack and Coley where both impressive

-Phil looked good at first and tends to fall off as the game goes on - I think I remember hearing a comment that his physical stamina is not where it needs to be so that limits him from playing long stretches

-The energy in the crowd and on the team was something I have not seen in a while

-Yes it was one game only, but I am excited

-Monday will be tough - short turnaround and I am sure they will bring loud fansā€¦I just hope we execute better on the half-court sets

[QUOTE=ninerID;267524]My obs:
-Fat ref with the flat top needs to be audited.[/quote]

TRUE STORY. He was horrible!@(Bill Walton voice)

[quote]-I have my lutz live question.[/QUOTE]

I do too: ā€œCoach, why did we get away from having our Fā€™s drive (& dish) the ball on iso plays and posting Jones up late in the game? That was our most successful halfcourt offense in the first half. And, if Jones cant catch bounce passes, why donā€™t we lob the ball in to him, especially against a small team like HPU?ā€

one additional observation, the high fives to the fans after the game (i think dijuan was the first to do it) was a really nice touch. It shows those guys have pride in their school, and not pride in their self (cough cough DA). I believe Mack and Coley also joined in. If you are a recruit in the stands, you have to notice that, and love it.

These guys want to win for this school, not for the name on the back. I know every kid wants to win, and nobody likes to lose, but the feel of team last night was just that, a team. And that includes the people in the stands as well.

My honest opinion, we can play a lot better than that, but if last nights team took the floor against last years team. Last nights team probably wins by 12.

freethrows!!! is this another year of terrible free throw shooting. hit your free throws and this game isnā€™t close.

so coach draws it up good and wants his player to take advantage of their ability to draw fouls. then the players cannot execute. we need to bring in a shrink (mental) and a free throw expert (mechanics) and get this fixed.

glad to see the defense is finally what won a game for us though. nice change from last year.

[QUOTE=metro;267460]I saw him miss badly up close 2 or 3 times. Brutal at the line. He does alot of standing around. 4 boards? I am not dogging him, he just has to take it up a notch. He needs to watch some Kenkay Jones tape. Phil lacks confidence to take it strong or go up and under. Hopefully that comes in time.[/QUOTE]

Jones definitely needs to be more assertive but remember it was his FIRST game and heā€™s a Fr/Soph. Letā€™s give him a little time. Good news right away is that Lutz said he can shoot fts and that the team made 18 for 20 in the early practice and generally shoots them fairly well, except for Coley.