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- Aug 26, 2011
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- Ollie is now a combined 0-7 against Pitino and Brown. That's not an indictment on him as a coach, because a lot of coaches struggle against those guys, and he's proven to be able to beat great coaches when it matters. But all seven match-ups against those two coaches have essentially followed the same script - at some point, he'll have to address that.
- On that note, UConn came storming out of the gates, so I don't want to hear about how Ollie didn't have the team ready to play. They were ready to play. We led 10-5 at the first media timeout, and once Brown had the chance to talk to his team and/or make adjustments, it was curtains. It's hard to pinpoint what those adjustments were without seeing the tape, but one thing that was noticeable was how aggressively SMU overplayed the perimeter. When you're being hounded 30 feet from the basketball, your guards kind of have to abandon script and read/react rather than continuing to run the offense. To some degree, our ball-handling deficiencies were exposed - SMU dared Samuel and Purvis to beat them off the dribble and they didn't do it.
- Brimah somehow manages to validate and invalidate his detractors in nearly every big game. On one hand, he’s played over 60 college games now – he’s still raw, but the fact that he’s still committing the same stupid fouls is concerning. He is very soft with the ball when he receives it in the post, and he’s moved easily for rebounding position on the glass. Then again, it’s telling that he managed to post a positive +/- in a game we lost by 18. The offense typically goes to hell with him on the bench.
- Hamilton is beginning to turn a corner. His handle has gotten a lot better, and when he’s determined enough nobody can keep him out of the lane. His one weakness offensively is his shooting stroke. He has good form, but it seems to come off the rim hard. When he masters that mid-range game, he’ll be an all-American.
- If you want to know what the biggest difference between these two teams is, it’s that SMU’s forwards can actually put the ball on the floor and pass. Their three front court players combined for seven assists tonight. Brimah, Nolan, and Facey have combined for seventeen on the season. I don’t care if your point guard is Steph Curry – it’s going to be tough to find room when the middle of the floor is vaporized by big men who can’t do much of anything. It doesn’t help matters that our shooting guard can’t pass and our point guard is an undersized two playing the one.
- I’ve been a defender of Nolan, but it didn’t look like he even belonged on the court tonight. Omar Calhoun isn’t a particularly useful player, either. I love what those two have contributed to the program, but Calhoun’s been a shell of himself ever since the hip surgery and Nolan is following the Tyler Olander career trajectory.
- I’ve been a defender of Nolan, but it didn’t look like he even belonged on the court tonight. Omar Calhoun isn’t a particularly useful player, either. I love what those two have contributed to the program, but Calhoun’s been a shell of himself ever since the hip surgery and Nolan is following the Tyler Olander career trajectory.
- Last thing: this is the third time this season I’ve felt we got short-changed on the whistles (Duke and Stanford were the other two). We deserved to lose all three games and I’m sure there have been games where the whistle has gone in our favor, but at some point you have to wonder if Ollie just isn’t getting respect from the officials for whatever reason. My favorite was when the official overturned the correct call and gave the ball to SMU. The moving screen on Brimah was also great – sometimes I think the refs are conspiring to make his life hell. Anyway, this team should be directing all their energy from this point forward to winning the AAC Tournament, if for no other reason than that Boatright deserves it. This team plays hard but I’m not sure they can’t play harder. Another big game coming up @ Memphis on Thursday.
