It really felt good rising up and blowing Davidson off the court but... thinking about things a bit..
It was really like the Duquense Dukes all over again.
Both teams were guard intensive teams, with their guards doing most of their scoring, and in both cases they had one guard that would do it all while the other, was an outstanding 3ball shooter but could not take it to the hoop.
So, James Robinson has excellent defensive technique but not outstanding athleticism so Dixon but James on the 3ball shooter and.... James took the guy out of the game. Micah Mason for the Dukes and then Sullivan for Davidson. Mason was 4-11 shooting and 2-6 from 3ball land for just 11 points, while Sullivan was just 2-13 and 2-8 from 3ball land for just 8 points. So, ya gotta give Robinson credit for this (Len Elmore thought it was Chris Jones... good grief) and Dixon for setting up this strategy in both games.
Otherwise, we just kept their 'do it all' guards and the rest of their team from dominating... had a length and size advantage over both of them.... and took it to them offensively... scoring 96 against the Dukes and 94 against Davidson.
The caveat?? We are not gonna get the favorable matchups against most teams like we did against the Dukes and Davidson. Purdue, for example, was HUGE (bigs at 300 and 260) and we had a real tough time against them... where it was US that ran out of gas and not the other team.
The OTHER thing... after the game Dixon commented about having had four days to prepare for this game and... we have done well when he has gotten more time before (Gonzaga) but most of the time he is not gonna be able to have that level of preparation.
However... the thing that *I* am pleased with (other than getting the 25 point W) is Sterling Smith and the bench played much better than they have been playing. Smith was 4-5 from 3 ball land for 12 points and was the main man covering Gibbs. Jones, taking it aggressively to the hoop whenever he got a chance, was excellent off the bench. Jeter, Slim and Nelson-Ododa also were pluses off the bench.
To me, this is critical as we were starting to look like a 4 man team and you are not gonna go very far with just 4 players that are worth their salt in the rotation.
So, like a lot of posters on this board, I am optimistic looking down the road here... particularly looking at the game at ND and, possibly, the one at Ville.
But... next up... WC... and then Cuse comes to town.
It was really like the Duquense Dukes all over again.
Both teams were guard intensive teams, with their guards doing most of their scoring, and in both cases they had one guard that would do it all while the other, was an outstanding 3ball shooter but could not take it to the hoop.
So, James Robinson has excellent defensive technique but not outstanding athleticism so Dixon but James on the 3ball shooter and.... James took the guy out of the game. Micah Mason for the Dukes and then Sullivan for Davidson. Mason was 4-11 shooting and 2-6 from 3ball land for just 11 points, while Sullivan was just 2-13 and 2-8 from 3ball land for just 8 points. So, ya gotta give Robinson credit for this (Len Elmore thought it was Chris Jones... good grief) and Dixon for setting up this strategy in both games.
Otherwise, we just kept their 'do it all' guards and the rest of their team from dominating... had a length and size advantage over both of them.... and took it to them offensively... scoring 96 against the Dukes and 94 against Davidson.
The caveat?? We are not gonna get the favorable matchups against most teams like we did against the Dukes and Davidson. Purdue, for example, was HUGE (bigs at 300 and 260) and we had a real tough time against them... where it was US that ran out of gas and not the other team.
The OTHER thing... after the game Dixon commented about having had four days to prepare for this game and... we have done well when he has gotten more time before (Gonzaga) but most of the time he is not gonna be able to have that level of preparation.
However... the thing that *I* am pleased with (other than getting the 25 point W) is Sterling Smith and the bench played much better than they have been playing. Smith was 4-5 from 3 ball land for 12 points and was the main man covering Gibbs. Jones, taking it aggressively to the hoop whenever he got a chance, was excellent off the bench. Jeter, Slim and Nelson-Ododa also were pluses off the bench.
To me, this is critical as we were starting to look like a 4 man team and you are not gonna go very far with just 4 players that are worth their salt in the rotation.
So, like a lot of posters on this board, I am optimistic looking down the road here... particularly looking at the game at ND and, possibly, the one at Ville.
But... next up... WC... and then Cuse comes to town.
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