Entering each new year, you never know for sure what you are going to get. On paper, it sure feels like this team is in for another rough season. Last night was the first time I got to see the team play and there was some good, but still a lot of bad.
The Good
- This team plays with some fire. For all that bothers me about Collins, he is a fiery guy and this year's team seems to reflect that. Whether that is false bravado and will crumble as we move into BIG play remains to be seen.
- We actually play pretty good defense. Granted, there were a lot of silly fouls in the first half last night, but that was mostly cleaned up in the second half. I don't think we won that game last night because Georgetown missed a bunch of wide open shots. We made them work for their scores.
- Buie and Audige, as infuriating as they are, can take over games. But they have to make their shots. It's a double-edged sword. In the first half, they were killing us. In the second half, they were saving us and carried us to victory. More on them down below....
- Nicholson was a difference maker. I felt like G'Town's size and athleticism in the paint intimidated us in the beginning. It certainly impacted Beran. I think his first 5 shots got blocked! But then Matt came in and suddenly we were the imposing presence in the paint. He was getting rebounds on both ends. He was blocking shots. If he could just develop a couple moves and add a 15 foot jump shot, we might have something.
- Despite the shaky start, we actually played pretty poised in the second half despite a quick, athletic G-Town team trying to pressure the ball.
The Bad
- We still miss a lot of shots. Open shots. Two foot open shots. No way we compete in the BIG if we don't make shots.
- I don't get why Verhoeven plays so many minutes over MN. My alarm went off this morning and I quickly checked my phone to see that Verhoeven had just committed another foul. He doesn't score. He really doesn't protect the rim. People on here speculated that MN clogs the paint and Collins want the offense to be more wide open. But there is no question Matt made a difference in the first half. I would argue he saved the game in that first half. I can't believe we didn't use him more in the second. But, we also dominated the second half, so it's hard to get too upset.
- Robbie was humbled against bigger, more athletic opponents. As I said above, he couldn't do anything at the rim. To his credit, he still stepped up and hit his outside shots with confidence, so I actually see that as a promising sign going forward. But he was ineffective getting to the basket and better teams are going to take away his 3 point shot if he can't threaten them with a dribble drive AND SCORE.
- My biggest concern is that the second half offense mostly evolved, once again, around Buie or Audige dribbling the ball around for 15 seconds and then trying to go 1 on 5. They were making shots in the second half and so it all looked ok. But it is terrible offense. Even the NBA doesn't play that style anymore. Go watch the Boston Celtics. They are a treat to watch on offense. Even with two high volume scorers like Tatum and Brown, they are so effective because they move the ball around with the pass. Some possessions see all five guys touching the ball before Tatum splashes a 3. I worry against better teams, that dribble heavy game is going to bog us down as better defenders shut down Boo and Chase, leading to desperation step back 3's.
