Definately the place to be for college hoops this weekend is Halton Arena. This game is once again HUGE!!!
Iāve heard two really good pts for the Niners-> rebound and perimeter defense. That being said should Plavich start? Should EJ and Nance start? I think in a game of this magnitude, early on you go with brute force, not finesseā -> I pick EJ, Nance and Curt out the gate and no shots outside the paint in the first 5 min - We play Cinciās game and roughāem up early. Then hitāem with Plav in transition. We go back and forth with this all afternoon.
Thatās nice in theory but I see no way that Plav doesnāt start. If he doesnāt, whoās starting at the 2, EJ? Just not sure he has the conistency in his outside shot to handle that roll out of the gate and I think heās more effective as a spark off the bench. The bottom line is that when Plav is āonā he can win games for you and you have to give him the benefit of the doubt at the start of every game until you determine if his shots are going to fall. Heās due for a huge game, especially at home, and this would be the perfect opportunity for that.
Iām okay with starting Nance over Iti though. We need some physical bodies in the paint for this one and Iti just gets pushed around too much. But his presence and ability to block/alter shots is much needed.
[i]Originally posted by NinerFan[/i]@Feb 4 2005, 07:49 AM
[b] Definately the place to be for college hoops this weekend is Halton Arena. This game is once again HUGE!!!
Iāve heard two really good pts for the Niners-> rebound and perimeter defense. That being said should Plavich start? Should EJ and Nance start? I think in a game of this magnitude, early on you go with brute force, not finesseā ā I pick EJ, Nance and Curt out the gate and no shots outside the paint in the first 5 min - We play Cinciās game and roughāem up early. Then hitāem with Plav in transition. We go back and forth with this all afternoon.
GO NINERS!!! [/b]
EJ = Brute Force? Baaaahahahahahahahahahahahaha. EJ is soft.
EJ might be soft, but heās still valuable. He presents mismatch problems for Cincinnati. However, heāll give up his fair share of points, so if heās not āonā weāre going to lose the +/- when heās in the game. EJās been coming on of late though, and you can tell how Lutz is mixing him into some of the set plays more. moss2k talked about that with Lutz after LL last night, saying he liked the wrinkle of āzipperā where EJ comes around the other side if they try to disrupt the action on Withersā side of the ball.
EJ is an excellent offensive weapon when he makes a quick decision, then executes it. When he turns the ball over or when he makes a bad shot selection itās usually because he hesitates and doesnāt fully committ to what heās doing. Prime example? End of the ECU game where he had the ball in outstanding position to shoot or drive, and tried to make the extra extra pass to Curtis.
My pt is that early on I think the Niners need to go with āShock and Aweā -> Curt, Nance, and EJ seem to fit that bill with Eddie and Mitch -> If Iti does start perhaps a few hard fouls early on may be useful.
I have a feeling this is going to be a rough game with lots of fouls, called and not called. I think sincy will hack any shooter that goes up on the inside and make us hit our FTs from the git-go. Plav will be lucky to get 2 good looks in this game. He will be pummeled on the outside and may get to the line to shoot 3 FTs on a couple of occasionsā¦and we all know how that could turn out. Coach needs to emphasize the pump fake for this game and get some cats in foul trouble.
I think we win, but I thought weād beat easy U, soooā¦