Bulldog ThoughtZ™ #2

[RichZ]

1. Johnson scored our first 4 points, but there was more than a couple buckets to his start. He started off with a turnover 13 seconds into the game, but after that, his involvement was blistering. There's an extract from the play-by-play of his early involvement down under the main body of this msg.
2. Speaking of centers, Our two combined for 28 points, a dozen boards and 6 blocks in the game.
3. Karaban's 3 wasn't falling (2 of 6 from deep) but he made up for that in so many ways... 7 boards, 6 dimes, a steal and three blocks to go with his 19 points!
4. At the half, Butler had shot 9 freebies to our 2. What a surprise.
5. Fortunately, we had 7 blocks, 11 dimes and 3 steals to their 1, 5 & 2. at the half.
6. Came out sluggish in the 2nd half, lead shrunk, and we couldn't seem to get it back to double digits.
7. Finally managed to regain a double digit lead at 12:46, but it started shrinking again, and was down to 1 at 4:16
8. And we trailing for the first time at 3:49
9. Johnson fouls out with a minute to go in OT and we have a 5 point lead.
10. Lead down to 2 with 46 sec left.
11. Reed makes it 4 with 16 sec left
12. Down to 2 at 10.7
13. Butler ball .7 sec
14. The most excruciating win in memory.
15. Solo Ball went off for 23 points and 6 boards, but he had a tough time getting open through much of the 2nd half, because he was the only one hitting threes for us, and he had two men on him the moment he got the ball in the 2nd half. We REALLY need Liam back. Right now, Solo's the only consistent 3 point threat on on the team.
16. As a team, we had 20 assists to their 8.
17. Odd stat of the day, both teams each had 13 offensive and 25 defensive boards.

And here's Samson's opening 2:15...
19:47 Samson Johnson Turnover.
19:32 Samson Johnson Block.
19:19 Samson Johnson Defensive Rebound.
18:34 Samson Johnson Offensive Rebound.
18:34 Samson Johnson Two Point tip-in. (missed the FT)
18:19 Samson Johnson Block.
17:45 Samson Johnson Layup.

 

[boog204]

1. Solo Ball went off for 23 points and 6 boards, but he had a tough time getting open through much of the 2nd half, because he was the only one hitting threes for us, and he had two men on him the moment he got the ball in the 2nd half. We REALLY need Liam back. Right now, Solo's the only consistent 3 point threat on on the team.

Man, people really think AK is shooting poorly. He's 45-109 from 3 on the year for an outstanding 41%. Last five games during his "slump" he's 9-25 which is still a very respectable 36%. Go back to his awful Gonzaga 0-7 game and he's 20-48 since then which is right at his season %. Dude can shoot. He and Solo need to get more open looks. Give credit to AK for being what he is, not what we want him to be.

 

[AllHusky]

Still feel the combination of the concussion and feeling the weight of the program on his shoulders is bugging Alex. Really think when McNeeley gets back to where he was when he got hurt, it is going to make a huge difference in Alex's game. Missed last nights game, but it sounds like he played pretty darn good on offense above and beyond the points. Defense??

 

[El Obrero]

Man, people really think AK is shooting poorly. He's 45-109 from 3 on the year for an outstanding 41%. Last five games during his "slump" he's 9-25 which is still a very respectable 36%. Go back to his awful Gonzaga 0-7 game and he's 20-48 since then which is right at his season %. Dude can shoot. He and Solo need to get more open looks. Give credit to AK for being what he is, not what we want him to be.

Yeah, but he must be shooting 20 percent from ten feet in. And three point shooters are more than their percentage. AK has been an offensive liability fairly consistently in three of the past four games, and IMO directly responsible for the two losses.

 

[RichZ]

Still feel the combination of the concussion and feeling the weight of the program on his shoulders is bugging Alex. Really think when McNeeley gets back to where he was when he got hurt, it is going to make a huge difference in Alex's game. Missed last nights game, but it sounds like he played pretty darn good on offense above and beyond the points. Defense??

He played great, but he knew his 3 pointer wasn't quite on (hit 2 of 6, and that was basically while he was pretty much left uncovered beyond the arc) so he found other ways to contribute. Rebounding, blocking shots and distributing the ball. Plus, he often covered the paint when Samson or Tarris was covering someone too far from the hoop. And he did shoot 6 for 11 on 2 pointers.

 

[RichZ]

Man, people really think AK is shooting poorly. He's 45-109 from 3 on the year for an outstanding 41%. Last five games during his "slump" he's 9-25 which is still a very respectable 36%. Go back to his awful Gonzaga 0-7 game and he's 20-48 since then which is right at his season %. Dude can shoot. He and Solo need to get more open looks. Give credit to AK for being what he is, not what we want him to be.

He shot the three well in one game of the last 5. That was against G-town, where he went 4 for 6. The other 4 games in his last 5, he shot the 3 at 26% (5 of 19).

 

[HooperScooper]

Yeah, but he must be shooting 20 percent from ten feet in. And three point shooters are more than their percentage. AK has been an offensive liability fairly consistently in three of the past four games, and IMO directly responsible for the two losses.

That seems pretty harsh. Georgetown and Butler games? Check the stats because I think you're being unreasonable.

By the way, he did have 2 really nice drives to the basket against Butler that he converted, including a spinning layup. Those were nice to see.

 

[aceboon]

Still feel the combination of the concussion and feeling the weight of the program on his shoulders is bugging Alex. Really think when McNeeley gets back to where he was when he got hurt, it is going to make a huge difference in Alex's game. Missed last nights game, but it sounds like he played pretty darn good on offense above and beyond the points. Defense??

What do you expect AK to be, a consistent 25 point scorer? Alex this year is better than last year, he's just now the #1 option so more attention is on him while more offense is flowing through him, and the team can't afford an off night from him like last year when he could be invisible on offense but they could still win by 20+. The concussion isn't bothering him when he immediately plays great vs Texas but is bothering him vs Gonzaga? His off nights are just more noticeable now that we don't have DC/Cam/Tristen/Castle to disguise it.

 

[caw]

Man, people really think AK is shooting poorly. He's 45-109 from 3 on the year for an outstanding 41%. Last five games during his "slump" he's 9-25 which is still a very respectable 36%. Go back to his awful Gonzaga 0-7 game and he's 20-48 since then which is right at his season %. Dude can shoot. He and Solo need to get more open looks. Give credit to AK for being what he is, not what we want him to be.

How dare he miss 64 shots from three!

 

[jdb50]

Still feel the combination of the concussion and feeling the weight of the program on his shoulders is bugging Alex. Really think when McNeeley gets back to where he was when he got hurt, it is going to make a huge difference in Alex's game. Missed last nights game, but it sounds like he played pretty darn good on offense above and beyond the points. Defense??

Alex played his butt off last night. Considering he had a bad ankle injured 3 days ago he was huge getting a key rebound late . Trying to block shots including on Telforts last shot which thankfully we did not get a phantom foul call from the refs. He had a 5 point run late that gave us the chance to win. He played like a veteran and is trying to keep things going till Liam gets back.

 

[boog204]

He shot the three well in one game of the last 5. That was against G-town, where he went 4 for 6. The other 4 games in his last 5, he shot the 3 at 26% (5 of 19).

Okay. What are you looking for here? If we throw out a good shooting game from anyone it throws off the %. Solo had a three game stretch where he was 4-17. Jaylin is 4-14 his last five games and people are making threads about how he's showing that he's a shooter and figuring out the offense.

AK has had, each year, 4 or 5 game stretches where he didn't shoot it well. Then 4 or 5 game stretches where he was fire. I mean he was 8-28 in the tourney last year. 7-22 the previous year. We know he can shoot it. I like that he's going to the floater/pull up a bit more rather than purely head down driving and getting stripped. I think Alex has tried to take on the role of being the alpha since Liam has been out and it's just not his game. Once Liam returns, I think AK will be getting better shots and not trying to force the offense. That's just not his skillset.

 

[boog204]

What do you expect AK to be, a consistent 25 point scorer?

Yes, many fans do. And it's a ridiculous expectation. Nothing that we have seen from AK's stellar play the last two years would indicate he would become a huge scorer or an all-american. AK was an outstanding third or fourth guy on great teams. He was incredibly efficient, did all of the little things to breed success, and will be go down as one of our all-time great winners here. But all the people who thought he would be a first-team all-american Adam Morrison or whoever else he was compared to just didn't see the big picture. AK is great at what he does/is. Shouldn't that be enough?

 

[AllHusky]

What do you expect AK to be, a consistent 25 point scorer? Alex this year is better than last year, he's just now the #1 option so more attention is on him while more offense is flowing through him, and the team can't afford an off night from him like last year when he could be invisible on offense but they could still win by 20+. The concussion isn't bothering him when he immediately plays great vs Texas but is bothering him vs Gonzaga? His off nights are just more noticeable now that we don't have DC/Cam/Tristen/Castle to disguise it.

No, His 15ppg average is just fine. If he hits his average each game for the last 5 or 6 we have 2 less losses. I'm still hung up on my perceptions from an interview he did in Maui. I've mentioned it a few times, I believe he is the one that expects 25ppg, or to be the "the guy". Don't know how many times the writeup after a game last year included the line "and Karaban quietly put up 19 points." Certainly the return and hopefully reemergence of McNeeley will allow Alex to again be the quiet assassin on offense, continue to rebound and play good defense.

Yes, his stats are better than last years, he's averaging .44 pts/min in 33 min versus .42 pts/min in 31 last year. Just look at when he scored those points in the last 5 or 6 games.

We need 15ppg from McNeeley, AK, and Ball plus 18 from the 5 and we roll! Hass and Jaylin will give you 10-20 combined I'd wager. Thats 73-83ppg. As pointed out elsewhwere, score in the 60's we are going to struggle.