** I would be remiss if I did not start this edition with a most enthusiastic congrats to the Football Team for a tremendous accomplishment today. Just an amazing turn around along with a giant leap forward.
** It wasn’t a tremendous accomplishment on the hardwood today. But it was noteworthy.
** I’m always one who believes in the math of Ken Pomeroy. And I wasn’t expecting a much of a challenge from a team ranked around #320 or so. But North Alabama provided such a challenge.
** But my “eye test” told me the Lions seemed much tougher than their ranking might suggest. They had some bulk and some quickness and toughness that gave our Panthers all they could handle, all afternoon long.
** So, am I concerned that this game came down to a Jared Wilson Frame block of a three point attempt to tie the game in the final seconds? Well, no.
** I was never under that belief that the previous four wins by our young Panther ballers proved anything remarkably good about them. So accordingly, this much tighter game proved nothing bad.
** In fact, just after halftime, I had the fine pleasure of speaking with @hoopsguy72 and we both agreed this young team was due for an adversarial type outing. All that was important was that they survive it. And they did.
** There were legitimate reasons why the Panthers found themselves in a halftime hole. First off, they weren’t shooting the ball very well. JWF started the game looking locked in as he’s been all year. But the shots just didn’t fall for him afterward.
** But more than that, the Panthers weren’t driving the lane with the success we’ve seen in the previous four contests. They were often thwarted by the size and strength of the Lions in the paint.
** Beyond that, I saw a bigger issue, which was that the Panthers were often looking only to drive for the potential finish instead of using the drive to create offense.
** Perhaps it was a certain kind of selfishness in their play that we haven’t seen yet. It’s the kind of play that will make for some great film room study.
** I can’t say that this issue was necessarily rectified in the second half. But with the Lions continuing to pile up fouls, and the Panthers continuing to get to the line, the drives to the lane proved to be the difference.
** That is, once again, Xavier Johnson proved to be the difference.
** Over the last few days, there’s been a whole bunch of hyperbolic speech being thrown in X’s direction. I’m never a big fan of such hype after five games, regardless of how good anyone has played.
** Truth be told, Xavier didn’t really even play a great game today. But he did play a winning game rooted in toughness and fearlessness.
** And no matter how tough North Alabama made the path to the basket, X was never intimidated. In fact, more than once he even showed some nifty ball work (behind the back), or footwork (a reverse pivot) to get the ball in the hole.
** Malik Ellison also made getting to the hole his duty. In the second half, along with Xavier, he led the Panthers to this win with his best performance yet.
** The third Panther star was young Au’Diese Toney, who battled the bulk of the Lions well, even though he too had some struggles getting to the hole against their size.
** Does Toney have an easier to spell nickname?
** Also noteworthy in this game were the parallel paths of Kene and Terrell and five. Kene continues to please, making the best of every ounce of talent he has. Not really a good game today, but a good enough one
** Terrell, on the other hand, had his roughest outing of this young season. So far, we’ve all seen some of the skills which Terrell possesses. But it’s now two coaching staffs who are trying to unlock the keys to Brown’s motor. Today, his motor was stuck in the off position.
** Based on the level of our opponents, I truly expected the Panthers to be 5-0 at this point. Overall though, I believe our young team has been more impressive in these 5 wins than I may have otherwise expected them to be.
** The freshmen are certainly better thus far than I expected them to be.
** And if we can still continue to improve over the course of the year in a similar way to the football team, conversations about this team in February and March might be much more interesting than almost anyone would have expected even just a month ago.
** It wasn’t a tremendous accomplishment on the hardwood today. But it was noteworthy.
** I’m always one who believes in the math of Ken Pomeroy. And I wasn’t expecting a much of a challenge from a team ranked around #320 or so. But North Alabama provided such a challenge.
** But my “eye test” told me the Lions seemed much tougher than their ranking might suggest. They had some bulk and some quickness and toughness that gave our Panthers all they could handle, all afternoon long.
** So, am I concerned that this game came down to a Jared Wilson Frame block of a three point attempt to tie the game in the final seconds? Well, no.
** I was never under that belief that the previous four wins by our young Panther ballers proved anything remarkably good about them. So accordingly, this much tighter game proved nothing bad.
** In fact, just after halftime, I had the fine pleasure of speaking with @hoopsguy72 and we both agreed this young team was due for an adversarial type outing. All that was important was that they survive it. And they did.
** There were legitimate reasons why the Panthers found themselves in a halftime hole. First off, they weren’t shooting the ball very well. JWF started the game looking locked in as he’s been all year. But the shots just didn’t fall for him afterward.
** But more than that, the Panthers weren’t driving the lane with the success we’ve seen in the previous four contests. They were often thwarted by the size and strength of the Lions in the paint.
** Beyond that, I saw a bigger issue, which was that the Panthers were often looking only to drive for the potential finish instead of using the drive to create offense.
** Perhaps it was a certain kind of selfishness in their play that we haven’t seen yet. It’s the kind of play that will make for some great film room study.
** I can’t say that this issue was necessarily rectified in the second half. But with the Lions continuing to pile up fouls, and the Panthers continuing to get to the line, the drives to the lane proved to be the difference.
** That is, once again, Xavier Johnson proved to be the difference.
** Over the last few days, there’s been a whole bunch of hyperbolic speech being thrown in X’s direction. I’m never a big fan of such hype after five games, regardless of how good anyone has played.
** Truth be told, Xavier didn’t really even play a great game today. But he did play a winning game rooted in toughness and fearlessness.
** And no matter how tough North Alabama made the path to the basket, X was never intimidated. In fact, more than once he even showed some nifty ball work (behind the back), or footwork (a reverse pivot) to get the ball in the hole.
** Malik Ellison also made getting to the hole his duty. In the second half, along with Xavier, he led the Panthers to this win with his best performance yet.
** The third Panther star was young Au’Diese Toney, who battled the bulk of the Lions well, even though he too had some struggles getting to the hole against their size.
** Does Toney have an easier to spell nickname?
** Also noteworthy in this game were the parallel paths of Kene and Terrell and five. Kene continues to please, making the best of every ounce of talent he has. Not really a good game today, but a good enough one
** Terrell, on the other hand, had his roughest outing of this young season. So far, we’ve all seen some of the skills which Terrell possesses. But it’s now two coaching staffs who are trying to unlock the keys to Brown’s motor. Today, his motor was stuck in the off position.
** Based on the level of our opponents, I truly expected the Panthers to be 5-0 at this point. Overall though, I believe our young team has been more impressive in these 5 wins than I may have otherwise expected them to be.
** The freshmen are certainly better thus far than I expected them to be.
** And if we can still continue to improve over the course of the year in a similar way to the football team, conversations about this team in February and March might be much more interesting than almost anyone would have expected even just a month ago.
