Some random observations

[aceboon]

The kid with the overbearing parents who flamed out at UNLV? Isn't he at SC now?

Yup, transferred out after he got the greenlight to gun throughout his freshman year.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Gampel was absolutely rocking tonight. Great atmosphere.

Olander had the best 0 points, 0 rebounds, 11 minutes foulout games I have ever seen. There were a couple of possessions that were literally textbook defense of a top low post threat like Young. Of the 5 fouls, 1 was a give up foul after Giffey got beat to the basket, and 2 were lazy stupid calls by old refs who call a foul on the defense no matter who initiates contact (more on this later). I had no problem with the one shot Olander took.

The game seemed way too fast for Brimah. He muffed a couple of passes, was barely getting in the way of Young, and practically crashed into Boatright on a fast break. He played better in the second half, but he still has a ways to go.

Daniels got stuffed, and then basically stopped taking it to the basket. We don't need Daniels bombing threes. Yes, he was 2 for 4, but one of those makes hit the rim, bounced about 5 feet up in the air, and then dropped in. Broken record, but Daniels is so good attacking the hoop, and so mediocre when he isn't, that i don't get why he chucks so many threes.

Calhoun is struggling. I don't think there is much else to do but let him play through it. I think part of the problem is that Calhoun's lack of a handle is becoming a bigger problem as defenders dare him to drive.

Giffey has to be more aggressive with the dribble. Defenders have to overplay him because of his outside shooting, so he will be able to get by his defender a lot. He has the complete game. There is no reason for him to not be scoring more. It is also time for Ollie to start running plays to get Giffey open for 3. Giffey has earned it.

Facey and Brimah can not be on the court at the same time. When I first saw that, it almost felt like a mistake. That was the kind of thing Blaney would do. Also, this isn't the night to get Facey playing time.

Ollie is doing a good job of getting Napier breaks during the game, pulling him out right before a TV timeout on 2 occasions that I could remember.

Boat is our most athletic player, but there is just something missing. There was a 2 on 1 break late in the 2nd half where Boat got fouled. If Boat wants to play in the League, that 2 on 1 is a dunk +1 by the wing, not Boat going to the line (and only hitting 1 of 2).

I was actually impressed with Brimah in the second half in that he stayed in the game and didn't pick up any more fouls. He very easily could have also fouled out leaving us with ?Kentan in the middle I guess.

 

[Kitaman]

Regarding OC; you may remember when he played for Christ the King HS his senior year and they played I think a team from Vegas on TV.
Anyway they had a white kid who was in Calhoun's face the entire game daring him to put it on the floor.
I believe Omar shot something like 5-24 and looked totally over matched. He still needs to work on his handle big time if he wants to get better and get more PT

Well if a 6'5" , 2oo+ lb man who bench presses hundreds of pounds that is in your face it can be intimidating. Good you moved on to keyboards (I guess), hung up the sneakers and left Vegas for South Tampa. However no need to gloat about what you did.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I watched the game Nothing vague about it. Play any HS and above sports in your life or just little league?
Obviously you didn't
It does prove a point
He can't put it on the floor. Still can't

Oh, sh it. It's STB. I should have known. The king of the internet tough guys is back. I didn't even notice.

What you do in the locker room at the South Tampa 24 Hour Fitness doesn't count as a "sport," Bill, although I'm sure you're an all-pro.

 

[uconngb]

Gampel was absolutely rocking tonight. Great atmosphere.

Olander had the best 0 points, 0 rebounds, 11 minutes foulout games I have ever seen. There were a couple of possessions that were literally textbook defense of a top low post threat like Young. Of the 5 fouls, 1 was a give up foul after Giffey got beat to the basket, and 2 were lazy stupid calls by old refs who call a foul on the defense no matter who initiates contact (more on this later). I had no problem with the one shot Olander took.

The game seemed way too fast for Brimah. He muffed a couple of passes, was barely getting in the way of Young, and practically crashed into Boatright on a fast break. He played better in the second half, but he still has a ways to go.

Daniels got stuffed, and then basically stopped taking it to the basket. We don't need Daniels bombing threes. Yes, he was 2 for 4, but one of those makes hit the rim, bounced about 5 feet up in the air, and then dropped in. Broken record, but Daniels is so good attacking the hoop, and so mediocre when he isn't, that i don't get why he chucks so many threes.

Calhoun is struggling. I don't think there is much else to do but let him play through it. I think part of the problem is that Calhoun's lack of a handle is becoming a bigger problem as defenders dare him to drive.

Giffey has to be more aggressive with the dribble. Defenders have to overplay him because of his outside shooting, so he will be able to get by his defender a lot. He has the complete game. There is no reason for him to not be scoring more. It is also time for Ollie to start running plays to get Giffey open for 3. Giffey has earned it.

Facey and Brimah can not be on the court at the same time. When I first saw that, it almost felt like a mistake. That was the kind of thing Blaney would do. Also, this isn't the night to get Facey playing time.

Ollie is doing a good job of getting Napier breaks during the game, pulling him out right before a TV timeout on 2 occasions that I could remember.

Boat is our most athletic player, but there is just something missing. There was a 2 on 1 break late in the 2nd half where Boat got fouled. If Boat wants to play in the League, that 2 on 1 is a dunk +1 by the wing, not Boat going to the line (and only hitting 1 of 2).

Agree with much of this, especially the Boat play. For some reason, we are having trouble converting 2:1 and 3:2 fast breaks....odd given Bazz and Boat's passing abilities.

That said, I could not disagree more with your TO assessment. Could we have been watching the same guy?? Somehow he has managed to become LESS athletic, guys were going by him like he was standing in concrete. I honestly did not see him make any contribution while he was in, and the +/- for him had to be decidedly negative. Inside play is what it is, we will lose a few games because of it, but if we have to have TO in the game, we should play zone.

 

[Gurleyman]

Agree with much of this, especially the Boat play. For some reason, we are having trouble converting 2:1 and 3:2 fast breaks....odd given Bazz and Boat's passing abilities.

That said, I could not disagree more with your TO assessment. Could we have been watching the same guy?? Somehow he has managed to become LESS athletic, guys were going by him like he was standing in concrete. I honestly did not see him make any contribution while he was in, and the +/- for him had to be decidedly negative. Inside play is what it is, we will lose a few games because of it, but if we have to have TO in the game, we should play zone.

Young was in a great rhythm against our other guys. TO took him out of it by getting a body on him and not just letting him sweep through the lane for hook shots whenever he wanted.

There were a couple plays when he stopped dribble penetration too - once he sort of bent over and slapped the floor while the guy was dribbling at him, which struck me as kind of bizarre, but maybe he slipped. Either way, he was in the right place and recovered to his man after the mass.
As for the Boat play, we blew one break in the second half by being too cute with our passing - I'm sure KO had something to say about that. Next time, Bazz didn't bother trying to be cute and went right to the rim and got 2. This time, Boat had a head of steam going and didn't slow down to wait for Kromah so that the defender could plant in the paint and try to draw a charge. Kromah has also frankly been prone to fumblitis on the break this year (he blew a breakaway all alone against BC). On a different day, maybe laying it off would have been the better choice, but another fast break with 0 points would have been even worse. Have no problem with just going strong and getting to the line.
There's also a cumulative effect of drawing a foul - bonus/double bonus, other guy in foul trouble, etc. Could have made the difference between 2 shots and a 1 and 1 if we held the lead late and Florida was forced to foul.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Agree with much of this, especially the Boat play. For some reason, we are having trouble converting 2:1 and 3:2 fast breaks....odd given Bazz and Boat's passing abilities.

That said, I could not disagree more with your TO assessment. Could we have been watching the same guy?? Somehow he has managed to become LESS athletic, guys were going by him like he was standing in concrete. I honestly did not see him make any contribution while he was in, and the +/- for him had to be decidedly negative. Inside play is what it is, we will lose a few games because of it, but if we have to have TO in the game, we should play zone.

Watch Olander away from the ball. Sometimes that is hard on TV, but live you get to see him doing a lot of good stuff. No one is confusing him with Emeka Okafor circa 2004, but Olander did good work last night.

Boatright practically crashed into Brimah on a break. In thinking about that play, it is mostly Boat's fault. Yes Brimah did run in front of Boat in the middle of the break, but the freshman big is just supposed to run. It is the junior guard that wants to play in the League's job to know where everyone is. I don't want it to sound like I am hammering on Boat, but those kind of plays are the difference between an NBA prospect and a fast guard that gives good dunk.

 

[mauconnfan]

Tyler and Patric Young is a perfect match up.......heck he threw a couple prayers in and also was the beneficiary of a couple touch fouls while Tyler was guarding him but Tyler was effective vs him. Hate to say the reason is Young doesn't do anything more than jump hook left, jump hook right. He's not going to spin and take him to the hole or face him and step by, so it was good for Tyler as he is our best muscle down there.

As far as away from the ball he's okay and yes does some good things the younger guys can learn from, but he's a really awful help defender. Reactions slow, if at all. I will say this though, even that has had a couple positive changes in the last couple games and he's helped off the ball with good timing........need him to be an impact when he plays and he was again the other night!