Demons in Chicago on New Year's Day ThoughtZ™

[RichZ]

1. AK started off strong.
2. Early in the game, I got the feeling that the Refs did not want to let us to play interior D.
3. The more I see of Reed, the more I like him.
4. Comedy of errors late in the first half. Even the refs joined the fun, giving DePaul the ball over what was clearly their turnover.
5. Last play of the 1st half was absolutely awesome.
6. Other than Solo, We did not shoot the ball very well, but in the first half, we more than made up for it on the boards. Shooting improved as the game wore on, but our defense kind of went south on us in the 2nd half. Obviously, Holtman made some adjustments at half time. Not sure we ever figured out a way to keep them out of the paint in the 2nd half.
7. Solo was on fire from 3 in the first half.
8. Halftime... Diarra had 8 assists in the first half, and as a team, we had 14 first half dimes. DePaul had 5.
9. Big first half edge in rebounds and 3 point shooting for the good guys.
10. 2nd half opened the same way as the game, with the refs not allowing us to play interior D at all.
11. Injury to Liam is worrisome, especially with the meat of the BE sched on the horizon. At least Marquette isn't until February.
12. When Liam went out, AK really stepped up his game.
13. This may have been the worst officiated game in the history of basketball. Or at least in recent memory. In the end, we shot 10 FT's to Depaul's 28.
14. Solo was instrumental in our win with 22 points and 6 boards. His 22 points came from 7 threes and 1 made FT. My guess is that DH will be on him for only making 1 of 3 FTs and not having any assists at all.
15. Alex was my pick for player of the game. Especially after Liam went down, he really ran the team. Ended with 18 pts, 7 boards & 3 dimes.
16. Diarra only played 25 minutes, and almost 19 of them were in the first half. Mahaney played the bulk of the 2nd half PG minutes, and didn't do horribly, although I got nervous every time he brought the ball up court. His jumper was still off though.

 

[Inyatkin]

The Solo Ball assists count has the makings of one of the worst Boneyard trends of all time

 

[ctchamps]

The Solo Ball assists count has the makings of one of the worst Boneyard trends of all time

He's being coached to play a certain way as are all of our players. Currently he's not being asked to distribute the ball. Last season they had him parked at different spots in the half court. He was low in the pecking order of scorers and was coached to spread the defense.

This season he's an integral part of the offense. They have him running around the court, setting picks for him to free him up. It appears they are now pushing Solo to drive to the basket and not worry about getting blocked. He did this more in this game than any I can recall. He failed at every attempt but it's obvious, at least to me, they never told him to stop. I believe once he gets proficient at this they'll work on his playmaking.

It's easy to criticize a player for certain stat deficiencies. It's harder to assess if this is something that is being coached or just a weakness in a players game.

Liam came into the program with more development in his game. So the coaches started him right from the beginning of the season as a three level scorer including driving to the basket and as a distributer. Originally Alex was a deep threat and a distributer. Last season they started encouraging him to drive more. They've upped this part of the game this season.

Some players are being asked to show their game incrementally. Others are given bigger roles. It's partially based on needs. Mostly based on assessment from practices and in game play.

 

[upstater]

The Solo Ball assists count has the makings of one of the worst Boneyard trends of all time

Especially since in retrospect he made some great passes that should have been assists.