** I’m going to write most of this entry this evening pretending the game ended at the under 8 timeout of the second half.
** That is because I honestly don’t know what the heck happened in the last 8 minutes. Allow me to suggest however, that we didn’t consciously stop playing.
** It appeared to me more like we completely ran out of gas. Bone dry.
** So we looked around for a ride and found ourselves all alone in the middle of desert heated by the Dukies sizzling 55% three point shooting and Coopers back to back posters.
** Had Beebah hit that wide open three at the 7 minute mark that would have cut the lead to 8, perhaps that would have somehow added a little more to the tank. But no.
** I say we ran out of gas because for most of those first 32 minutes, we were using all the energy we could to battle the Dukies.
** And we did battle. We just didn’t play very good basketball against a very good basketball team.
** I think what can be said is that for most of the game, the Panthers tried to replace composure with energy, attempting to make plays before the masterful Blue Devils size and talent could get to them.
** With that, they really never let this game come to them, they rushed too much and missed some plays they often make.
** This was certainly true of both Jaland and Ish. They were both really trying to bring it. They were likely even trying too hard. But as we know, the results were often kinda ugly.
** I’m not worried about Ish and Jaland though. I appreciate the relationship they have with their Coach. I know he’s going to work with them about decision making and trying to involve others.
** I’m not attempting to suggest that the Panthers really had much of a shot in this one after half time. But some of our defensive work in both halves gave us opportunities, even on fast breaks, which we rushed or didn’t convert.
** There’s no doubt that our Panthers were truly troubled by the size of the Dukies. I believe they tried to adjust in the second half and instead they just kept trying tougher and tougher shots instead of moving the basketball.
** My only wonder about this one is the overall offensive game plan. It was clear that Capel wanted to spread out and let Ish and Jaland play iso to create. Maybe he thought this was the best way to attack Duke’s size. From early on however, this didn’t look like a good plan.
** It’s telling that we didn’t have a single trip to the line in the second 20 minutes.
** Still I do believe it’s noteworthy that we are watching the continued progression of Cam Cohren. This was the kind of performance that will help the Panthers win plenty more games.
** His embarrassing move with 30 seconds left notwithstanding, Damien showed us he’s ready to help. This comes at a good time.
** I’ll close by reminding all Panther Hoop fans that perhaps they can take some solace in the thought that this 29 point defeat was not the worst of the evening. That honor goes to the 30 point boat race the #1 team in the county received from the teeth of the Florida Gators.
** At the 7 minute mark of that one, the same mark when we were shooting to cut the lead to single digits, the Vols were losing by 32.
** I hope both our Panthers and Panther fans can move on and pick things up back up with a full tank of gas against the Cardinals at noon on Saturday. I think we will!
