And the Dam Breaks and recruits came and we got a talented team. But, we did not play sharpe tonight.
However, Chief is not sold on our starting lineup. Jackson and Sanogo need more time. Polley had a really hard time getting in the flow tonight. Maybe rusty from his injury but a veteran needs to know how to do things that will get you going.
How do we go over 7 minutes without a hoop or a meaningful change in strategy? I don’t understand our game plan. We keep making the same type of dumb foul over and over again.When will we start playing defense with our feet and keep the offensive player between our knees.
Sanogo continues to impress. His hands are like a vacuum sucking up the ball. Adama also uses his broad shoulders to create space on his soft baby hook.
Bouknight can make it look easy and when he hits the 3 he’s nearly impossible to defend. Quite frankly though, he needs to guard against being too non-chalant on his drives. Keep his eyes on the basket/blackboard. Have an offense when his outside shot is not falling.
On defense. Chief noticed we picked up a few feet outside the 3 line, thus Hartford seldom had an open, comfortable 3 look. The refs kept Hartford in the game - half their points came from the line.
Chief is old school, why do we double team 25 feet away from the basket, when we don’t need to in order to stop anyone - then we foul the guy who was an open man trying to recover. Our defensive switches creates mismatches that benefit the other team.
Martin hasn’t really blended in yet. He looks like an imposing specimen but quite frankly didn’t play with the energy AJ Jackson does.
Starting to see Coles as a guy we go to if Bouknight goes cold. I was surprised even given some foolish plays and fouls how come Jackson did not play more? On a night like tonight all depth is that everyone is equally cold.
Quite frankly, Chief thinks we need to establish an identity as an offensive rebounding team that crashes the boards, especially if we don’t shoot great. We need to do that, but also have to have a rotation back to the opponents basket.
Josh DNP.
We have a lot to clean up in practice.
I cannot understand the bucket full of files committed 30 ft plus from the hoop. Bouknight and Cole are going to be our offensive leaders so they cannot take themselves off the floor early on. The referees were consistent. They were calling the hand check files and we didn't adjust.
Polley is going to have games like the other night and he's going to have games like tonight. He just doesn't have the foot speed to play smaller players that far from the basket.
Whalley and Sanogo really make a nice two-headed monster at the five spot. A DNP for Carlton in a game where Akok is not in uniform is telling. As long as our top two centers stay out of foul trouble, we may see a series of DNPs for Carlton.
Gaffney was a real bright spot tonight. There was a time in the second half with both Bouknight and Cole on the bench with four fouls that his offense was essential to holding off Hartford's charge.
Jackson picked up a few silly fouls early, took a very ill advised three-pointer, and then Hurley parked him on the bench. The adjustment to the college game come to different speeds for different freshmen. He did have some nagging injuries which have slowed him. He's going to be a huge contributor this year.
I thought Martin played pretty well. He was somewhat deferential at first but kind of settled in. I think he'll be a very steady contributor. At the risk of drawing some criticism here, I see a lot of Donny Marshall in him.
As good as Bouknight was in the first half, he was as bad in the second half. I think he knows that he is the offensive focal point and tonight he felt the need to try put the team on the back early in the second half and get team going. He forced a couple shots and then committed some silly files after forcing some shots. With that being said, it's going to be so much fun to watch him all season.
All in all, If you told me before the game they were going to hold Harford to 57 points, I would have gladly signed for it. Considering the lack of practice time that they have had, this is a nice 2-0 start. I look forward to next week.