1) Welcome back BMac!!! What a way to bounce out of a slump. Am I correct in thinking he was 2-8 in 1H, and 8-8 in 2H, for 19 of his 23 points? He just took that game over on offense. They overplayed the high screens a bunch, but he adjusted - he would stop and wait until the big turned away to recover, then attack right then before the guard got in front of him. Once he got his confidence back it was all him. Went into the lane, took contact, finished. Then a huge 3 to put us up 6 on what was probably our best team possession of the game. He and the crowd fed off each other.
2) A close second - many have already said it, but despite my constant praise of it, tonight I was somehow even more impressed by Sanjay's defense. He mostly guarded the big Greek 44 or their wings in 1H, and largely shut them down. In early 2H Pardon was giving good effort but just kept getting a little out of position against (John) Collins, who is a heck of a player btw. Enter Sanjay - he comes in, giving up 4 inches, and absolutely shuts him down. Think they tried to get him the ball 3 times, Sanjay stole it twice and the guy missed one shot. (John) Collins goes out, Sanjay gets switched onto their PG in 1 on 1, and then promptly blocks him. And then had another steal against a wing guy a couple possessions later, plus 2 other 1 on 1 stops. Guarded their biggest guy, their smallest guy, and everyone in between. The only time out of about 8-10 possessions in 2H they went at him that they scored was that step back 20 footer in the corner by a guard (Crawford?). Not bad results. A couple nice passes too. He is far from the best scorer, but Sanjay is the heart and soul of this team. Glad he got the two closing baskets to seal it.
(The rest of these will be way shorter)
3) Skelly- didn't shoot great, but showed some impressive ability driving to the rim and finishing. Was far from perfect on D, but gave great effort and fight. Next time just grab those rebounds away. Again good passing, and solid all around play, he was a key role player tonight. 11 pts, 6 rebs, 4 assts, 2 steals, 2 blocks.
4) Vic and Scottie didn't shoot well tonight, but that's okay - that's why this is a team, it's nice we can go to other options this year. They didn't get tentative, instead kept attacking which is good. And they both played solid defense after a couple cheap early fouls. Vic had one great steal on an attempted backdoor pass.
-- Ash gave good defensive effort and spelled the other guys. Not Isiah's best game, but that's okay he'll be back.
-- Nice crowd there tonight, I was impressed. That said, while the student section was numerous, they were sorta quiet for patches of the game. It's sorta like they responded well when the team made good plays, but didn't cheer them on during the other in between periods... maybe they are still lethargic from TG turkey. Nice showing by the band. And good to get a win tonight though in a fun game, hopefully that attracts them all back for B1G season, the team will need them!
Lastly -- Dererk hope you are okay!!
Fun game to watch, great play and coaching down the stretch. Go Cats!
2) A close second - many have already said it, but despite my constant praise of it, tonight I was somehow even more impressed by Sanjay's defense. He mostly guarded the big Greek 44 or their wings in 1H, and largely shut them down. In early 2H Pardon was giving good effort but just kept getting a little out of position against (John) Collins, who is a heck of a player btw. Enter Sanjay - he comes in, giving up 4 inches, and absolutely shuts him down. Think they tried to get him the ball 3 times, Sanjay stole it twice and the guy missed one shot. (John) Collins goes out, Sanjay gets switched onto their PG in 1 on 1, and then promptly blocks him. And then had another steal against a wing guy a couple possessions later, plus 2 other 1 on 1 stops. Guarded their biggest guy, their smallest guy, and everyone in between. The only time out of about 8-10 possessions in 2H they went at him that they scored was that step back 20 footer in the corner by a guard (Crawford?). Not bad results. A couple nice passes too. He is far from the best scorer, but Sanjay is the heart and soul of this team. Glad he got the two closing baskets to seal it.
(The rest of these will be way shorter)
3) Skelly- didn't shoot great, but showed some impressive ability driving to the rim and finishing. Was far from perfect on D, but gave great effort and fight. Next time just grab those rebounds away. Again good passing, and solid all around play, he was a key role player tonight. 11 pts, 6 rebs, 4 assts, 2 steals, 2 blocks.
4) Vic and Scottie didn't shoot well tonight, but that's okay - that's why this is a team, it's nice we can go to other options this year. They didn't get tentative, instead kept attacking which is good. And they both played solid defense after a couple cheap early fouls. Vic had one great steal on an attempted backdoor pass.
-- Ash gave good defensive effort and spelled the other guys. Not Isiah's best game, but that's okay he'll be back.
-- Nice crowd there tonight, I was impressed. That said, while the student section was numerous, they were sorta quiet for patches of the game. It's sorta like they responded well when the team made good plays, but didn't cheer them on during the other in between periods... maybe they are still lethargic from TG turkey. Nice showing by the band. And good to get a win tonight though in a fun game, hopefully that attracts them all back for B1G season, the team will need them!
Lastly -- Dererk hope you are okay!!
Fun game to watch, great play and coaching down the stretch. Go Cats!
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