Curt finally brought the energy to a game…Ed was Ed…and BP was great. But what did we do differently. Our offense got much better looks than we had been getting and I don’t think it was the competition. We have looked bad in our offensive sets against the likes of Georgia St. and UNC A. Nice to see us turning the corner.
cough Mitch “ZOOOOM” Baldwin cough
Uh could it be baldwin???
Mitch has only missed a game and a half…Im saying thats the best the offense looked all year.
it appeared to me that our spacing seemed better this game than anyother game all year
I like that NBA pick and roll we are running with Eddie and Iti from the wing, we ran it about 5 times in row at one point and seemed like we either scored or went to the FT line.
Is that new ?
Withers and Iti finally blocked out! And, Mitchell, of course.
We played basketball today the way it was meant to be played.
It was for once beautiful to watch our team execute on offense.
We also had stretches of very nice defense.
We beat Marquette at home folks. Albeit not as good of a team as most might think, it’s still a hell of a victory.
[i]Originally posted by amnesiac[/i]@Jan 22 2005, 07:17 PM [b] I like that NBA pick and roll we are running with Eddie and Iti from the wing, we ran it about 5 times in row at one point and seemed like we either scored or went to the FT line.Is that new ? [/b]
If I’m not mistaken, Demon and Cam ran the hell out of that play also.
Mitch had nothing to do with it. Marquette has players that we aren’t intimdated of.
I think the biggest thing was the passing. Too often this year our guys have gone one on one with no passing, no rotation, no movement. Against Marquette we rotated the ball, set screens, kept the flow of the offense moving and in turn when you look at the numbers we had 13 assists and only 10 turnovers. The good thing about those 13 assists is that they were by players other than our primary ball handler. The other good thing is that we had a ton of easy buckets which we got fouled on. Our assists would’ve been pushing the 20’s had this been a home game and had we finished some of our gimmes.
[i]Originally posted by NinerLoudNProud[/i]@Jan 22 2005, 11:43 PM [b] Mitch had nothing to do with it. Marquette has players that we aren't intimdated of. [/b]I think Mitch has a lot to do with it. People who say he can't run out half court offense are clueless. If you want to see the difference, watch a tape of the Cincinnati game. That was a point guard debacle.
I know some fans have delusions of a point guard that just beats his defender eveytime down the floor and dishes off for layups but that is living in a fantasy world.
Mitch is a good point guard for this team because he doesn’t turn the ball over, he can handle any pressure or trap, is a great free throw shooter and can hit the open jump shot.
[i]Originally posted by 49erpi[/i]@Jan 23 2005, 02:41 PM [b] Mitch is a good point guard for this team because he doesn't turn the ball over, he can handle any pressure or trap, is a great free throw shooter and can hit the open jump shot. [/b]Truer words have never been written.
Lutz made an interesting comment in the post-game. We went one on one in a good way…he said. It was within our offense (unlike Cinci).
-We found favorable mathups, primarily Eddie late in the game.
-We worked the Pick and roll
-Got it inside some and kicked back out, ie wide open Plavich.
-Mitch penetrate and kick out.
-Mitch agressive in the first half, halfcourt drive lay-up, pull-up jumper.
-Some decent interior passing.
-Plavich pump-faking, driving and converting
-Curtis and Iti on the offensive boards.
One key was what I’ve said in another thread here: Curt needs to play mostly down low where he gets lots of RBs and close shots. Coach Crean agrees with me. His quotes in The O today pretty much says the same thing. Down low, Curt is a monster and most effective.
Golden Eagles coach Tom Crean called it Withers’ most complete game of the season.
“He’s a battler. He’s tough. He goes about his business. He doesn’t say a word,” Crean said. "I thought because he was around the rim and attacking and rebounding the way he was, he was back to playing like the Curtis Withers of old.
“I think the perimeter Curtis Withers is pretty good, but the best thing Charlotte needs is for him to be battling down low. I thought that’s exactly what they got from him today.”
Gotta say 1 thing about plavich too…I thought til recently that it didn’t matter if he squared up or not…he’s either gonna make those bombs if he’s hot or not. But I noticed in the last 3-4 games,that when he gets a good screen and can face the basket not shooting oof his back foot…he’s much more accurate. Thats another reason that we need to set GOOD STRONG screens for him.And the better Curtis is down low…than we can murder teams with the inside-outside game.
That’s my guy. He’s shooting 100% from half-court. Get him open and make them pay.
[b] "I think the perimeter Curtis Withers is pretty good, but the best thing Charlotte needs is for him to be battling down low. I thought that's exactly what they got from him today."[/b]
Thank you Tom Crean. This is the same thing that myself and several others have been screaming all year. I hope Bobby feels the same way now.
You know, I was wondering if Crean read the scouting report on us, BP was open an awful lot that game. Not that I mind, it just makes you wonder why he didn’t stick a better defender on Brendan.
Then again, I noticed them doubling Brendan on some plays, which opened up the rest of our game. Overall, the best team game we’ve played all year.
[i]Originally posted by 49erpi[/i]@Jan 23 2005, 10:47 PM [b][b] "I think the perimeter Curtis Withers is pretty good, but the best thing Charlotte needs is for him to be battling down low. I thought that's exactly what they got from him today."[/b]Thank you Tom Crean. This is the same thing that myself and several others have been screaming all year. I hope Bobby feels the same way now. [/b]
Same goes for Curtis. He made it clear after the Cinic game he wasn’t happy with his effort to this point and wanted to do more of the little things to help his team. I think he was talking about hitting the boards and getting the easy put-backs instead of trying to hit the big threes.