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Message: [QUOTE="ThabeetDown, post: 4851688, member: 4336"] Rewatching the game since I had to watch it on my phone w/ no audio last night... [LIST] [*]First off, Fanta and Bill Raftery have unreal chemistry together. Need them doing every big game together. Send Donny Marshall to ESPN+ or wherever the AAC is on. [*]Thought Newton set the tone early first 10 min -- was good to see since he really hasn't been the same in BE play. [*]Pretty much as soon as Clingan came in and we went on a run, the game was over. Newton started the run and then Cam took it up a notch. Feel like its a zero surprise at this point that Cam is the energy behind any big run/momentum swing. It's not a matter of "if" it's a matter of "when" with Cam and these momentum swing/high energy impact moments. Kinda what Andre did for us last year, but not with shooting more defensive plays and pushing the ball with assists. [*]Creighton, again, just suffers from a lack of depth. Kind of crazy how they really only go 6 deep. Even crazier they went on a deep March run last year. Can't see them winning more than 1 NCCA Tourney game this year. [*]Castle obviously awful night shooting, but I take two positives. 1) The staff clearly told him to take those open 3s when Ds sag off. Good. I like this. This is what happened with Andre last year, and it worked itself out, even though somehow Andre appears to be a better shooter, but you're talking Freshman vs Junior. I think the Andre blueprint is what needs to be unlocked for Castle when he struggles. The coaches need to put him in positions to succeed, and they have, but need to adjust when he's not shooting well. 2) I liked his aggressiveness going up against Kalk. Humbled by the best defender in the conference, nothing wrong with that. [*]REBOUNDING AND BOXING OUT. Clearly an emphasis after the horrendous performance last couple of games on the glass. Kalk and Scheierman are two guys capable of grabbing double-digit boards on a given night and glad we were able to limit them and dominate, especially on the offensive glass. The guards got 12/18 o-boards. Even Samson had a few nice box outs of Kalk, something he especially has struggled with in his increased playing time. Newton/Diarra 4 each! [*]McDermott saying "we're winning this game" down 23-19 made me chuckle. Buddy, do I have some sand I can sell you in the desert. [*]Speaking of Samson, while he still struggled a lot on D, I was really happy to see his effort vs Kalk. A lot of his struggles on D are positioning, which can be coached up over time. I think when he gets back into his backup role like earlier in the season is playing 10-15 min a game, things will be so so so much better for him. [*]The fact our KenPom D rating went up 12 spots speaks for itself. Should be back to being a sub-20 D in no time with Clingan back. Like the rebounding, we REALLY needed a defensive game like this to get back on track. Don't even care if the offense "struggled." We played Creighton's game and beat them at it. That's what this team can do. Beat you any which way. I want no complaining about the offense. What I didn't like was only 5 assists on 13 baskets in the 1H, that is not what we do. Went 8/12 2H so righted that ship in a sense. Our season average is 62% so, a more ideal 2H. [*]The stop at 3 min into the 2H right after we just went up 13 was huge/awesome. Really impressed with Samson's D on Kalk (both in the paint and perimeter) and then our guards being able to switch. Really set the tone for the majority of the half. [*]Since only Samson was really in foul trouble, actually incredible to see Hurley's rotation perfectly executed: [LIST] [*]Newton/AK/Cam/Castle 33 min each [*]Samson 23 [*]Diarra 17, Clingan 16 [*]Stewart 7, Solo 3 [/LIST] [*]Stewart essentially taking Solo's min is an interesting development, especially it seemed like Solo was starting to find his game until being sent back to the bench. I expect a big jump next year for Solo when he will presumably be starting. He only has 1 point total his last 4 games in very limited minutes. [/LIST] [/QUOTE]

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