Mildcat ThoughtZ™

[RichZ]

1. The gameplan early was just throw it to Donovan every possession, and let him be the playground bully. Seemed to work quite well for a while. So well we opened the 2nd half the same way.
2. When Clingan tired a bit and Samson came in, our tempo changed, and NH had trouble adjusting. In less than 4 minutes Samson got a hand (or at least a finger) on 3 or 4 NH passes to the interior and redirected them. Couple times it created a turnover, and even when it didn't, it broke up whatever they were trying to run and they had to back out and restart the offense.
3. Our three point shooting kind of sucked. (It actually got worse... I wrote that BEFORE Alex just started throwing up bad shots from deep one after another in the 2nd half.)
4. Donovan was getting hacked on the forearms and wrists every time he touched the ball. Not very many whistles for it.
5. About 3 minutes left in the first half, Donovan made a very sweet drop off to Karaban for a deuce. My choice for play of the game.
6. Halftime, one stat stood out. Three point percentages. Good guys, 25%. Other guys, 67%.
7. While we were giving them open threes, we were dominating on the nitty gritty stuff. Steals, turnovers and rebounds. Especially offensive rebounds.
8. I noted at the half, that it had been pretty well officiated, if you go by the comparative lack of whistles.
9. And then the 2nd half started. Was it even the same officiating crew? Whistlemania! Very one sided whistlemania. We were whistled 3 times in the first half. And 18 times in the 2nd half.
10. Alex did not have a good shooting game. Not even an OK one. 3 of 11 overall and 0 for 6 from three. He also had a bad shooting night a game or two back, and both times, he started to just chuck up hurried threes. That's not going to fly against decent teams.
11. Tristen finished the game 17, 10 and 7. Thirty cents shy of another triple double.

 

[willie99]

Karraban plays best against the best competition, not concerned about a poor shooting night

Hurley complained about officiating too. During the game, he even encouraged us to boo after they called a T on our bench. What they allowed NH to do to Clingan was criminal. And the foul on Newton that preceded the T looked over the top and dirty from my seat, but we don't get replays

 

[Edward Sargent]

Poor shooting robbed Newton of a 4th triple double

 

[Fan1978]

Karraban plays best against the best competition, not concerned about a poor shooting night

Hurley complained about officiating too. During the game, he even encouraged us to boo after they called a T on our bench. What they allowed NH to do to Clingan was criminal. And the foul on Newton that preceded the T looked over the top and dirty from my seat, but we don't get replays

What is going on with karaban left thumb. Heavy wrap for last several games

 

[Huskybass]

Love point #5, the pass from Clingan to Karaban epitomizes the style of play perfectly.

Clingan's recovery is going real well. He's starting to look much more fluid (smooth?). When he looks like a great basketball player, who happens to be real big, this team takes it to another level.

 

[husky429]

What is going on with karaban left thumb. Heavy wrap for last several games

Doesn't look like a heavy wrap to me. Looks like a bit of tape. Probably tweaked it a bit.

 

[HuskyHawk]

1. The gameplan early was just throw it to Donovan every possession, and let him be the playground bully. Seemed to work quite well for a while. So well we opened the 2nd half the same way.
2. When Clingan tired a bit and Samson came in, our tempo changed, and NH had trouble adjusting. In less than 4 minutes Samson got a hand (or at least a finger) on 3 or 4 NH passes to the interior and redirected them. Couple times it created a turnover, and even when it didn't, it broke up whatever they were trying to run and they had to back out and restart the offense.

I'm fine with this to get Donovan back to game shape and get him some reps post injury. He looked better scoring in the post, had some baby hooks and other shots that we hadn't seen much. But as a warmup for real games with real centers I don't like it. We aren't going to get 29 points from DC against real teams.

 

[Waquoit]

There's been some over-the-top grousing from the usual suspects but the boards kept an even keel for the most part. I'm pleasantly surprised. That 2nd half was nothing but extended garbage time. Nothing to be gleaned from it.

 

[mauconnfan]

The 29 FTs was a disgrace by the ref crew no doubt. But Dan Hurley didn’t need to make enemies or worst shall I say, in a game like that sorry it was stupid. But can’t take the passion and support he has for the kids I guess but timing is everything to me. UNH?

Anyway there’s a lot to look at in this game last night but none worth talking about. Leave it for Friday night/Saturday morning after Kansas because if some of that play last night stays at Allen Fieldhouse it will be less than pretty and we’ve seen that there a long time ago. I don’t want a repeat. Allowing open 3s even to a not so great shooting team will turn bad. Imagine 8-11 and being ahead by 15? Well allow that again and you’ll be down 15.

But again, UNH trap game maybe? Hope so but we will know more soon enough.

Go Huskies

 

[ctchamps]

I'm fine with this to get Donovan back to game shape and get him some reps post injury. He looked better scoring in the post, had some baby hooks and other shots that we hadn't seen much. But as a warmup for real games with real centers I don't like it. We aren't going to get 29 points from DC against real teams.

In a perfect universe Donovan doesn't miss a month before the season begins that necessitates the type of tune up we observed in the UNH game particularly with the next three out of four OOC games being so difficult. We have to trust that the other major moving parts of the team were minimally impacted. I believe they have shown enough in the first five games to warrant the decision.

Donovan is still quite young and he gets down on himself when not playing well. I feel it's one of the factors impacting his free throw shooting. He is just getting into game shape and needed an opportunity to observe his value. The bonus was the refs not calling all the fouls on Donovan that should have been called. There is a tendency for little people to pick on big people and some refs are the littlest people of all. This will happen in any game in which an opponent does not have a five that matches his size.

If Donovan gets hurt because of this failure it definitely impacts the season. So I agree with @mauconnfan that Hurley needs to back up his players although we disagree about the timing. A coach needs to set the tone immediately. Too much is riding on Donovan.

The consolation is many teams we will be playing have centers big enough that Donovan will get more calls. At least at Kansas he won't be just playing against Munchkins.

 

[Palatine]

The 29 FTs was a disgrace by the ref crew no doubt. But Dan Hurley didn’t need to make enemies or worst shall I say, in a game like that sorry it was stupid. But can’t take the passion and support he has for the kids I guess but timing is everything to me. UNH?

Anyway there’s a lot to look at in this game last night but none worth talking about. Leave it for Friday night/Saturday morning after Kansas because if some of that play last night stays at Allen Fieldhouse it will be less than pretty and we’ve seen that there a long time ago. I don’t want a repeat. Allowing open 3s even to a not so great shooting team will turn bad. Imagine 8-11 and being ahead by 15? Well allow that again and you’ll be down 15.

But again, UNH trap game maybe? Hope so but we will know more soon enough.

Go Huskies

Let Hurley be Hurley