** Players gotta play. Coaches gotta coach.
** And when the players aren’t playing, sometimes coaches gotta coach more.
** The reality of this game is that it shouldn’t have taken two critical coaching moves by HCJC to spring the Panthers to victory this evening. The reality is that instead of being seven points down midway through the second half, we should have been at least seven points up. But so it was.
** The first coaching move was a simple one … a switch to our extended matchup zone, played obviously to get the ball out for the hands of NIU leading scorer Eugene German. The ¾ court press added to that cause.
** German’s last point came with 13:00 minutes to go. The rest of the team scored just seven more the rest of the way. That's some pretty special defense.
** The second move was more surprising, and maybe more impactful. That is … sitting Xavier Johnson on the bench for the final eight minutes of the game.
** It wasn’t that Xavier was playing particularly bad up until that point in the game. But it was also clear that he was starting to force himself into the lane in an attempt to bring some offense … at times, even any offense … to the Panthers.
** What this move did allow was for Trey to find his inner Allen Iverson, and use his speed to create offense and open looks for others.
** It also didn’t hurt that Trey also found his inner Steph Curry hitting some ridiculous deep threes when his team so desperately needed someone to hit something from beyond the arc.
** Maybe Capel’s best move of all was bringing Trey off the bench to start the game. I’m not sure if Capel was sending a message or just mixing things up. But Trey came off the bench with focus, scoring early with in-control drives into the paint.
** Players gotta play.
** My inner coach doesn’t always believe this though. And if I would have been coaching the Panthers, I would have been screaming for Ryan Murphy to pull the ball up with 36 second left in the game up seven, instead of throwing a ridiculously difficult ally oop pass to Justin Champaigne. But had Ryan pulled up instead, we would have missed out on one of the most difficult, if not the most impressive finishes in the history of the Pete.
** It gave the fans a satisfying end to a game that was far from satisfying for the first three quarters of the night.
** Of course I don’t know how many more ACC games the Panthers will win this year. But regardless of the final number, I do know that rarely are will going to look good in the process.
** We just aren’t good enough shooters, and I don’t think we are ever going to run fluid offense -- even when we keep turnovers to a minimum like we did today.
** But maybe we can play enough defense to make up the difference.
** Capel’s move to zone helped mask the one serious defensive deficiency the Panthers have demonstrated far too many times this year … that is, some uninspired close outs on shooters. Along the same lines, our guards, and Terrell Brown too, often offer poor hand discipline, and they just can’t get hands up on shooters quick enough.
** That being said, we were otherwise disruptive to create turnovers, drew three more charges, and simply shut down NIU, eventually making room for the 15-0 run to close the night.
** Maybe Coach Capel will find a new guy to bring off the bench in our next contest. Maybe Ryan is ripe for the pine. I don’t wish to single out Ryan for particularly bad basketball. But after hitting nine threes in the Panthers first three contests, Ryan is 8-40 from deep in his last eight.
** We shouldn’t have expected Ryan to shoot 40% from beyond the arc his year. But at least 30% would go a long way to help the Panthers.
** We don’t know just when Gerald Drumgoole might return this year. But there’s no doubt we need any player who has any kind of a chance to hit threes to join this team.
** Fortunately, Trey hit enough to make a difference this night. Unfortunately, history tells us we can’t count on it.
** Still, hopefully our strong finish will inspire a little confidence in our Panthers. Because if we expect a clear step forward this year, our players are going to need to play. Or should I say … play better -- because our coaches can’t shoot that ball for our players.
** And when the players aren’t playing, sometimes coaches gotta coach more.
** The reality of this game is that it shouldn’t have taken two critical coaching moves by HCJC to spring the Panthers to victory this evening. The reality is that instead of being seven points down midway through the second half, we should have been at least seven points up. But so it was.
** The first coaching move was a simple one … a switch to our extended matchup zone, played obviously to get the ball out for the hands of NIU leading scorer Eugene German. The ¾ court press added to that cause.
** German’s last point came with 13:00 minutes to go. The rest of the team scored just seven more the rest of the way. That's some pretty special defense.
** The second move was more surprising, and maybe more impactful. That is … sitting Xavier Johnson on the bench for the final eight minutes of the game.
** It wasn’t that Xavier was playing particularly bad up until that point in the game. But it was also clear that he was starting to force himself into the lane in an attempt to bring some offense … at times, even any offense … to the Panthers.
** What this move did allow was for Trey to find his inner Allen Iverson, and use his speed to create offense and open looks for others.
** It also didn’t hurt that Trey also found his inner Steph Curry hitting some ridiculous deep threes when his team so desperately needed someone to hit something from beyond the arc.
** Maybe Capel’s best move of all was bringing Trey off the bench to start the game. I’m not sure if Capel was sending a message or just mixing things up. But Trey came off the bench with focus, scoring early with in-control drives into the paint.
** Players gotta play.
** My inner coach doesn’t always believe this though. And if I would have been coaching the Panthers, I would have been screaming for Ryan Murphy to pull the ball up with 36 second left in the game up seven, instead of throwing a ridiculously difficult ally oop pass to Justin Champaigne. But had Ryan pulled up instead, we would have missed out on one of the most difficult, if not the most impressive finishes in the history of the Pete.
** It gave the fans a satisfying end to a game that was far from satisfying for the first three quarters of the night.
** Of course I don’t know how many more ACC games the Panthers will win this year. But regardless of the final number, I do know that rarely are will going to look good in the process.
** We just aren’t good enough shooters, and I don’t think we are ever going to run fluid offense -- even when we keep turnovers to a minimum like we did today.
** But maybe we can play enough defense to make up the difference.
** Capel’s move to zone helped mask the one serious defensive deficiency the Panthers have demonstrated far too many times this year … that is, some uninspired close outs on shooters. Along the same lines, our guards, and Terrell Brown too, often offer poor hand discipline, and they just can’t get hands up on shooters quick enough.
** That being said, we were otherwise disruptive to create turnovers, drew three more charges, and simply shut down NIU, eventually making room for the 15-0 run to close the night.
** Maybe Coach Capel will find a new guy to bring off the bench in our next contest. Maybe Ryan is ripe for the pine. I don’t wish to single out Ryan for particularly bad basketball. But after hitting nine threes in the Panthers first three contests, Ryan is 8-40 from deep in his last eight.
** We shouldn’t have expected Ryan to shoot 40% from beyond the arc his year. But at least 30% would go a long way to help the Panthers.
** We don’t know just when Gerald Drumgoole might return this year. But there’s no doubt we need any player who has any kind of a chance to hit threes to join this team.
** Fortunately, Trey hit enough to make a difference this night. Unfortunately, history tells us we can’t count on it.
** Still, hopefully our strong finish will inspire a little confidence in our Panthers. Because if we expect a clear step forward this year, our players are going to need to play. Or should I say … play better -- because our coaches can’t shoot that ball for our players.
