So impressed with the freshmen Woods and Dorn. Used to be frosh would wet the hardwoods when passed the ball. These guys have BB IQ. Haven’t seen frosh like this since…?
But are we still excited?
At this point I may just post this in every post game thread.
clt endorses big mike and Braxton.
Yes I am still excited.
We spend so much time analyzing games to predict how the rest of the season will go that I think some of us don’t enjoy games like this (based on the tenor of the shoutbox near the end).
Very exciting game, I enjoyed it, especially how the young guys stepped up in the OT’s.
Good:
New guys played awesome! Everyone contributed.
Mike Thorne has turned into a beast.
Blakely looked a lot less lost, much more conforable.
We won!
Bad:
WHY DO WE HOLD THE BALL WITH 5 MINUTES LEFT! We gave them so much momentum, we should have won this game by 10 in regulation.
I kept waiting for Henry to take over, never happened, hope he plays like he can tomorrow.
Clayton has to convert on the easy ones and stay out of foul trouble, we need him out there.
I’m glad we won, a lot to work on though, if our coach would tell our players to play aggresive the entire 40 minutes it wouldn’t have been that close.
You are right 9erken. I get too worked up and can’t just sit back and enjoy. Gotta work on it. Thanks for pointing that out.
I am really proud of the team. They gutted it out. Real impressed with all the newbies.
So glad Blakely is contributing now. He is starting to justify that high ranking he had in HS. Seemed like PSU had him scouted out from the elon game cause they weren’t biting on his screens on the 3 line.
We NEED Clayton and Henry to get back to their normal games tomorrow. I predict they will. They have too much heart to go down like that again.
Also guys Clayton was hurt at the exhibition. He may still be carrying an injury. Let’s not jump on him too bad. Could be playing hurt.
My vote for MVP is Thorne.
At 6 or so minutes left up ~8pts, the play calling to slow down the tempo was really bad imo. I was yelling at them not to do it, but sure enough we ended up in OT and then 2OT. I think without that call, had we just kept playing as we had been, we would have won in regulation.
Lotsa positives out there tonight tho!
The role players were great tonight.
Blakley with the block to end the 1st OT
Benny’s desperate drive and dish.
While we gave up clutch threes, I felt like most of Penn’s State shot were either contested or shots they were not comfortable taking or would rather not take.
I’m pleased with the win even if I wasn’t particulary pleased with the last 8 minutes of regulation.
The 2nd OT was as good a five minutes as I’ve seen a Charlotte team play in a long time.
Penn’s state had better players, but we were a better team.
I’m pleased with the win.
The way things were going, we likely lose in regulation if we hadn’t held it.
Good to see the new players step up and gain valuable experience. It looks like we are still trying to learn how to play as a team. A win is a win, but milking the clock is not a good strategy for the type of team we have.
Wow, talk about a stressful game to watch. We are terrible at Milking the clock on offense with a lead. We have been for years. With Henry, Clayton and Twill on the bench I was very down heading into overtime. But our young guys stepped up and Damn Braxton was like Kobe in his prime out there. Braxton, Dorn, Woods… When’s the last time we have had a 1,2 and 3 like that out of the game and all underclassmen?
Henry really needs to limit his outside shots. Unlike previous years, we have legit shooters out there.
Thorne was a beast, I mean really took it to them. That was one hell of a performance for Braxton and Thorne.
Blakely played minutes and wasn’t a liability. I’m still eating crow on him and happy too.
The way things were going, we likely lose in regulation if we hadn’t held it.[/quote]
No way, we were up by 11 with 5:45 to go, then we decided to dribble on the top of the key for 24 seconds every possession from there on out, stopped our flow and were weren’t going the basket aggresively like what got us in that position. We have a team of a lot of great athletes slowing them down does not utilize that.
Let me start by saying I’m proud of the guys for gutting this one out. I thought we were done going into ot. Braxton is the real deal. Woods and dorn are great. Williams played better. The team shot fts better as a whole
But if you hate yourself enough, go back and watch the last 8 to 10 minutes of the second half. From that point on, our primary offensive set was holding the ball for 25 seconds on the perimeter until the late ball screen comes and then you hope someone makes a play. We just started playing not to lose and we almost lost because of it. Fucking maddening. Total bush league stuff
Defensively I’m not to mad (except please fight through ball screens when the ball handler has dropped 30 pts on you). They made some tough shots.
[quote=“casstommy, post:15, topic:29157”]Let me start by saying I’m proud of the guys for gutting this one out. I thought we were done going into ot. Braxton is the real deal. Woods and dorn are great. Williams played better. The team shot fts better as a whole
But if you hate yourself enough, go back and watch the last 8 to 10 minutes of the second half. From that point on, our primary offensive set was holding the ball for 25 seconds on the perimeter until the late ball screen comes and then you hope someone makes a play. We just started playing not to lose and we almost lost because of it. f***ing maddening. Total bush league stuff
Defensively I’m not to mad (except please fight through ball screens when the ball handler has dropped 30 pts on you). They made some tough shots.[/quote]
I agree on fighting through screens. Thorne looks to be in better shape but I still don’t want him switching off on ballscreens, especially soft screens like PSU was setting.
Incredible game!! I am so proud and impressed the the youngsters and end of the bench guys who really stepped up.
Thought on individual players:
B. O. - Total stud! He really seemed to defer with Henry in the game and then stepped up when he went out. He is automatic from the line and that is something we haven’t had from a primary ball handler since Diego, Dink and Henry. I would like to see him be more assertive throughout the game and I am so F@cking excited to have him for the next 3 years.
Mike Thorn - He has taken a huge leap forward! I love his aggressiveness and he seems to be in the best shape of his life! He did everything we need a big man to do and though his free throws were terrible when you just look at the box score I thought he actually looked good form wise and make some big ones when we had to have them.
Blakley - For all those worried about out depth with Bryan transferring, you can stop worrying. Blakley was solid and will provide us this all the depth we need.
Benny - I must say I have never been very impressed with Benny and would not have cared if he never came back after his injury. Well, I was wrong. He looks like a totally different player to me, much more confident and quicker. His shot was awesome from the FT line and 3 pt line and I was most impressed with his drive to the basket and dish to Dorin for the 3. That play was huge! He will really contributed this year and I certainly didn’t thing that heading into the season.
Torin- WOW!!! What a game for a freshman to have in only his second game! He is going to be a stud. He was so clutch in OT and I just love his confidence. The block he had that was called a bullshit foul was amazing. I will take him and Keyshawn over Lester all day!
Keyshawn - He was huge in regulation, hitting big shot after big shot when Henry couldn’t do jack. Like Dorin, he does not play like a freshman.
TWill - Thought he did a lot of good things while he was in there and of course he did some not so good things as well. The charge that fouled him out was bullshit, but he can’t put himself in that position especially at that point in the game. He is so versatile for us and needs to stay in the game and limit the dumb plays for us to go as far as we are capable of going.
Henry - Oh Henry, just a very frustrating player for me. He has the potential to be so good and when he is on his game he is one of the best guards in the country. Problem is all to often he is off his game and then we have problems. He simply could not finish around the basket and seemed to be sleep walking through the game half the time and the fouls, the so stupid fouls. Dude your a senior now, this is it - time to put it all together.
Willie - Possibly the absolute worst finisher around the basket I have ever seen. It just saddens me because the has great heart and plays hard but the dude is just terrible offensively. Free Throw? Forget about it. At least when Mike shoots it looks like there is a chance it might go in, Willie not so much. I hope somehow he finds a way to make a 2 footer or he might want to consider transferring his senior year because he will not be able to play ahead of Ebuka.
Add Sully to this team and there is really no excuse for this not to be a special season.
Should of never let them back in the game. Bright side, we just had a group of freshman, sophomores, and a junior win a 2OT game against a team with 5 seniors.
Thorne and Braxton.
That is all.
The other guys looked good too, but Thorne and Braxton carried the team.
Also just want to give a shout out to Blakley for being the most improved guy on the team. Last year he looked like he had no business having a D1 scholarship, but he looks 1000x better this year, even when he’s not draining 3’s.
Totally agree with the multiple comments regarding clock management. Most coaches do this and not just in bball but I never like it in any sport. Niners got out of their rhythm at that point and Penn St just took the game back. Need to keep the foot on the gas. With a 15 point lead don’t manage the clock until you hit 3 minutes to go. 10 point lead- 2 mins to go. 5 point lead- 1 minute.
Very pleased with the result. I thought we were toast in OT with the momentum PSU had coming in but the Niners prevailed with a lot of young talent on the floor. Clayton and Henry had off games and I don’t expect that to continue.
Pleased w the overall free throws and assist/turnover ratio right at 1.0. Too bad this tourney wasn’t during a non-football weekend as we’d have many more fans there.