Mustang ThoughtZ™

[RichZ]

1. Nice to see the other team illustrate the futility of trying to win a college basketball game with atrocious three point shooting for once. Not sure even we have matched 13% level futility.
2. As bad as SMU was from three, we were equally inept on the boards, getting trounced 41 to 26, and as a team, could only come up with 6 offensive boards in the entire game. Thank God for CV, Sid & Carlton, because no-one else on this team seems capable of getting more than the occasional board.
3. Sid's got some sky walker ability, and combined with his long arms, he makes some of his blocks look effortless. With decent rebounding effort, he can help us win without scoring a lot of points. A couple of his blocks brought back fleeting Donyell-esque thoughts. If only he could shoot like Donyell!
4. Only 10 turnovers, while SMU was credited with 8 steals shows an improvement in the careless/stupid mistake area. We did have a bit of trouble maintaining possession when they went to a zone though. Not sure why they ditched the zone so quickly.
5. Jalen and Alterique owned this game the way we expected them to own 'em all coming into the season. Kind of reminded me of Bazz and Boat together, when it was tough for the other guys because we basically had two lead guards who could both score, handle and dish.
6. Offensively we played better than any time this season with the exception of the cuse game, except for that whole get our own rebounds thing.
7. The offensive efficiency we displayed against SMU seems to have changed the narrative in the Boneyard big-time. Just the other day, the air here was filled with dispair, now suddenly, there is hope! Yet I still have serious concerns. Did "we" hold them to 13% on three point attempts, or did they just have a historically bad night from 3? Sure seemed like it didn't matter whether they were covered or not, they just couldn't make the ball go through the hoop from distance. Kinda like us the last few games, but even more so. And rebounding like we displayed last night won't go unpunished against very many teams. A good shooting night and managing not to turn it over too much overcame those flaws last night, but will we be able to replicate the offensive effort night in and night out?
8. Seems like Hurley may have found a happy medium between the annoyingly deliberate pace he tried a few games ago and the helter skelter, run-on-every-possession pace of earlier this season. We didn't wear ourselves down, and we didn't turn the ball over as much, but we pushed them harder/faster than they were comfortable with.

 

[August_West]

Excellent Blog.


as to point 7. "Beware of Fools gold."

Im ecstatic for the win, but SMU was pretty damn terrible. It happens.

Its always been If Jalen and Alterique can both have a good game at the same time we become much tougher to beat. If one of them is way off, we are usually in big trouble. And make no mistake it will happen a bunch of times this year still. And there will be other nights where they are both on and we look good. Is what it is.

 

[intlzncster]

Nice post. Not impressed with your turnaround time though Rich. @August_West

 

[August_West]

noted.

 

[intlzncster]

As bad as SMU was from three, we were equally inept on the boards, getting trounced 41 to 26, and as a team, could only come up with 6 offensive boards in the entire game. Thank God for CV, Sid & Carlton, because no-one else on this team seems capable of getting more than the occasional board.

We all know our inside 'presence' (if you want to call it that) is lacking, both in strength, intensity, and toughness. A string bean like Sid might be our toughest inside guy right now. In this case, struggling on the boards is exacerbated by them missing a ton of 3's. Those long rebounds often lead to the other team grabbing the ball (if our guys are boxing out inside).

Sid's got some sky walker ability, and combined with his long arms, he makes some of his blocks look effortless. With decent rebounding effort, he can help us win without scoring a lot of points. A couple of his blocks brought back fleeting Donyell-esque thoughts. If only he could shoot like Donyell!

Give him time. 1. he ain't an AA. 2. he's played like 3 games in his college career. People seem to forget or overlook (not saying you Rich) that he's played only 142 minutes of college ball. That equates to 3.5 full games collegiate games, minutes-wise.

Only 10 turnovers, while SMU was credited with 8 steals shows an improvement in the careless/stupid mistake area. We did have a bit of trouble maintaining possession when they went to a zone though. Not sure why they ditched the zone so quickly.

Single most important part of the game. I don't care if we get stripped. It does not matter how you turn it over, only how often. If we keep it to 10, that's all that matters.

The offensive efficiency we displayed against SMU seems to have changed the narrative in the Boneyard big-time. Just the other day, the air here was filled with dispair, now suddenly, there is hope! Yet I still have serious concerns. Did "we" hold them to 13% on three point attempts, or did they just have a historically bad night from 3? Sure seemed like it didn't matter whether they were covered or not, they just couldn't make the ball go through the hoop from distance. Kinda like us the last few games, but even more so. And rebounding like we displayed last night won't go unpunished against very many teams. A good shooting night and managing not to turn it over too much overcame those flaws last night, but will we be able to replicate the offensive effort night in and night out?

Fear not. When we lose our next game. Despare will be back in full force.

A good shooting night and managing not to turn it over too much overcame those flaws last night, but will we be able to replicate the offensive effort night in and night out?

We will need to keep the turnovers the same, and play (better) solid D. Whatever happens with the offense, happens.

Seems like Hurley may have found a happy medium between the annoyingly deliberate pace he tried a few games ago and the helter skelter, run-on-every-possession pace of earlier this season. We didn't wear ourselves down, and we didn't turn the ball over as much, but we pushed them harder/faster than they were comfortable with.

Hurley is still learning this team, and these guys. People overlook the fact that he hasn't had these guys for years. He doesn't know them inside and out. He hasn't molded them to his ways. It's going to take experimenting. He's slowly working it out.

 

[cohenzone]

While the O boards number isn’t impressive, some of that was the product of an above average shooting %.

 

[RichZ]

While the O boards number isn’t impressive, some of that was the product of an above average shooting %.

Our shooting was good, not otherworldly. We left 18 defensive boards for them. So we got 25% of the caroms off our own basket. Don't know what we average this year, but I just spot checked a couple games, and Vs. Syracuse, we got just under 40%, 37% vs Iowa. VS UCF, it was 42.5. So yeah, 25% is awful. Then again, UCF got no offensive boards and still managed to beat us.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

UCF wasn’t going for offensive boards against us. Their whole gameplan revolved around keeping us out of the fast break. That and I’m not sure they missed any shots.

 

[RichZ]

Nice post. Not impressed with your turnaround time though Rich. @August_West

Quality takes time.<G>

 

[intlzncster]

Quality takes time.<G>

A+ thread title tho. A follow on result of the competition, but still, a mitigating factor.