Much to the dismay of Coral Cat, TheC was not arrested in Uncasville, CT yesterday afternoon as he took in the Cats at Mohegan Sun Arena in the Hall of Fame TipOff Classic. These are some of his.... ok... wait... this third person thing is stupid. Here are some of my impressions from finally getting to see this team in person.
1. The day started off nicely with a meetup with BosCat and SDakaGordie and his wife to watch the first half of the NU-Purdue game. Simpson-Elmwood joined us to say hello as well as he was there with his family all decked out in purple! Gordie was kind enough to buy me a beer, which means I will be taking his side from now on in the great PWB-Gordie debates!
2. Man, today's team is much more athletic than when I went to school. Everyone was dunking in the layup line, throwing alley-oops off the backboard and otherwise putting on a bit of a show.
3. What you appreciate much more in person is how hard our guys play on defense. I was a bit surprised at first, but really impressed with the effort and communication. Watching the way they seem to instinctively switch or not switch depending on the movement of the opponent's offense was artistic. The guys were in the ball handler's grill and reacted quickly to the drive or shot.
4. Matt Nicholson is a big man in the middle. He really clogged up the paint and protected the guys on the perimeter if they got beat off the dribble. Preston didn't quite have the same effect when he was in. The unfortunate part is that Matt was almost non-existent on the offensive end. However, there was one glimmer of hope midway through the second half where the Cats actually dumped the ball inside to him and he actually made a move, put the ball on the floor and made a layup!! That should have been there all day and I hope they keep working that into the offense.
5. The Cats jumped all over Rhode Island early and with 7:52 left in the first half, were leading 22-2! I texted my kids as it was so incredible. Then, RI exploded on a 15-4 run and suddenly there was a bit of a sinking feeling as the lead was only 7 at the break. Fortunately, this disappointment was balanced by the football Cats finishing up their win to clinch a bowl as SimpsonElmwood and I shared a high-five.
6. Brooks is fun to watch. He is just in such control. He is not shy about finding his shot, but doesn't badly force things. The thing that surprised me in person was how athletic he was. His rebounding was impressive and he really has some hops to get up there for those boards.
7. Clayton was impressive as a freshman. He seemed to get the defensive rotations well and played a nice, composed point guard. He wasn't that aggressive looking for his shot, but did have one pretty drive to the basket for a layup.
8. The Cats were teetering between opening the game up and having Rhode Island put on some serious pressure for much of the second half. The mostly pro-Rhode Island crowd got pretty loud whenever the lead went into single digits and they thought a run might be coming. However, midway through the second half, the Cats seemed to figure something out. They had Martinelli post up his shorter man deep in the middle of the paint and dumped the ball into him. He easily overpowered his man for a layup. I think this happened twice in a row before Rhode Island made a switch. Then, the Cats smartly ran the exact same play for Barnhizer who also got an easy bucket. The lead went back into double digits and pretty much stayed there.
9. I'm still a huge Ty Berry fan. While he missed a few open 3's, he also made a few that were big including the capper near the end. His energy on defense included some tipped balls and a great steal and coast-to-coast layup. He ended up our third leading scorer, which would be huge if he can do that consistently.
10. In 2017, the Cats were coming off a surprise NCAA tournament appearance. They returned a lot of players and big things were expected. They came to Mohegan Sun for the Hall of Fame classic and TheC attended the Saturday game, which the Cats won. Excited by the chance to see them play, I came back for the Sunday game where they proceeded to get battered by Texas Tech and looked terrible doing so. That was the first sign that something wasn't quite right with that team. The body language was horrible. In 2023, the Cats are once again coming off a surprise tournament appearance and once again are back in Connecticut for the Hall of Fame classic. Once again, TheC attended the Saturday game to cheer them on. However, in an attempt to break the pattern, I have decided not to attend today's championship in order to shake things up a little. Let's hope the Cats go on to victory and you can all buy me a beer (except Gordie, who I owe!!).
1. The day started off nicely with a meetup with BosCat and SDakaGordie and his wife to watch the first half of the NU-Purdue game. Simpson-Elmwood joined us to say hello as well as he was there with his family all decked out in purple! Gordie was kind enough to buy me a beer, which means I will be taking his side from now on in the great PWB-Gordie debates!
2. Man, today's team is much more athletic than when I went to school. Everyone was dunking in the layup line, throwing alley-oops off the backboard and otherwise putting on a bit of a show.
3. What you appreciate much more in person is how hard our guys play on defense. I was a bit surprised at first, but really impressed with the effort and communication. Watching the way they seem to instinctively switch or not switch depending on the movement of the opponent's offense was artistic. The guys were in the ball handler's grill and reacted quickly to the drive or shot.
4. Matt Nicholson is a big man in the middle. He really clogged up the paint and protected the guys on the perimeter if they got beat off the dribble. Preston didn't quite have the same effect when he was in. The unfortunate part is that Matt was almost non-existent on the offensive end. However, there was one glimmer of hope midway through the second half where the Cats actually dumped the ball inside to him and he actually made a move, put the ball on the floor and made a layup!! That should have been there all day and I hope they keep working that into the offense.
5. The Cats jumped all over Rhode Island early and with 7:52 left in the first half, were leading 22-2! I texted my kids as it was so incredible. Then, RI exploded on a 15-4 run and suddenly there was a bit of a sinking feeling as the lead was only 7 at the break. Fortunately, this disappointment was balanced by the football Cats finishing up their win to clinch a bowl as SimpsonElmwood and I shared a high-five.
6. Brooks is fun to watch. He is just in such control. He is not shy about finding his shot, but doesn't badly force things. The thing that surprised me in person was how athletic he was. His rebounding was impressive and he really has some hops to get up there for those boards.
7. Clayton was impressive as a freshman. He seemed to get the defensive rotations well and played a nice, composed point guard. He wasn't that aggressive looking for his shot, but did have one pretty drive to the basket for a layup.
8. The Cats were teetering between opening the game up and having Rhode Island put on some serious pressure for much of the second half. The mostly pro-Rhode Island crowd got pretty loud whenever the lead went into single digits and they thought a run might be coming. However, midway through the second half, the Cats seemed to figure something out. They had Martinelli post up his shorter man deep in the middle of the paint and dumped the ball into him. He easily overpowered his man for a layup. I think this happened twice in a row before Rhode Island made a switch. Then, the Cats smartly ran the exact same play for Barnhizer who also got an easy bucket. The lead went back into double digits and pretty much stayed there.
9. I'm still a huge Ty Berry fan. While he missed a few open 3's, he also made a few that were big including the capper near the end. His energy on defense included some tipped balls and a great steal and coast-to-coast layup. He ended up our third leading scorer, which would be huge if he can do that consistently.
10. In 2017, the Cats were coming off a surprise NCAA tournament appearance. They returned a lot of players and big things were expected. They came to Mohegan Sun for the Hall of Fame classic and TheC attended the Saturday game, which the Cats won. Excited by the chance to see them play, I came back for the Sunday game where they proceeded to get battered by Texas Tech and looked terrible doing so. That was the first sign that something wasn't quite right with that team. The body language was horrible. In 2023, the Cats are once again coming off a surprise tournament appearance and once again are back in Connecticut for the Hall of Fame classic. Once again, TheC attended the Saturday game to cheer them on. However, in an attempt to break the pattern, I have decided not to attend today's championship in order to shake things up a little. Let's hope the Cats go on to victory and you can all buy me a beer (except Gordie, who I owe!!).
