It was ugly but sometimes it will be. Lots for Capel to clean up but this was one of those "stolen" games where nothing seemed to go right: foul trouble, 1/16 from 3, 21 turnovers (!!!) and we got the W because we did the little things. Capel needs to impress that upon his guys: "look what can happen when you fight every possession, when you grab an extra board, when you hit your FTs." Sadly, with our offense, I think most of our wins will look like this. If we don't get to the line a lot, we are going to get crushed. If you aren't ready for that, hop off the train now.
Up
- Champagnie. Man, am I glad we have this kid. He is not perfect - I still catch him collapsing on drives and leaving shooters wide open for 3 (that they tend to make), I also saw him fail to switch to Hamilton's man when Hamilton went out for the high-screen that led to an easy dunk, and of course the sloppy awareness/dribbling that led to a steal and KSU dunk to put them up - but he is really good. Nose for the basketball. Crashes the boards. Nice dunk. Great block in a 1 point game. Game-securing rebound and hit both FTs as a cherry on top. Scary moment where I thought he sprained his ankle (I had a similar injury in college and was on crutches for a few days) but he came back. He's going to be a contributor for a long time.
- Hamilton. Nonstop hustle. Almost went back-to-back games with a double-double. Kept us hanging around with some timely work around the basket. Good footwork and post moves. Impact contributor already. Should be starting ahead of Brown.
- Johnson. Hero of the game (see below for caveat). Scored the final 4 go-ahead points on a nice take to the hoop with 11 seconds left and then taking a key charge at the other end, plus 2 FTs to put us up 3. We don't win without him.
Down
- Johnson. Sometimes you have to be the hero because you've made the game unnecessarily close. Johnson had an astounding 8 (!!!) turnovers and 5 fouls in 23 minutes. At times he looked totally clueless with the ball. He's still forcing forcing it into traffic in the lane and not passing enough. He's still taking 3 pointers early in the shot clock that are leading to long rebounds and breakaways the other way. Had back to back turnovers that let KSU back in it when we were up 6. Unacceptable.
- McGowens. 3 points, 7 turnovers, 7 fouls in his last 47 minutes. He was a lost cause out there tonight. Not gonna lie it was ugly in the first half with Johnson in foul trouble and McGowens turning it over all the time. You see how thin we are when these guys are both off. I really wish Capel had recruited a grad transfer guard.
- Brown. 8 points and 4 boards in 27 minutes but 4 were FTs. Had the ball stolen in the post or paint several times. Had a nice dunk but man it's just amazing to see someone with that much size be more or less useless around the basket. I have a better post game than he does. I'd send him to the bench in favor of Hamilton for the time being.
Up
- Champagnie. Man, am I glad we have this kid. He is not perfect - I still catch him collapsing on drives and leaving shooters wide open for 3 (that they tend to make), I also saw him fail to switch to Hamilton's man when Hamilton went out for the high-screen that led to an easy dunk, and of course the sloppy awareness/dribbling that led to a steal and KSU dunk to put them up - but he is really good. Nose for the basketball. Crashes the boards. Nice dunk. Great block in a 1 point game. Game-securing rebound and hit both FTs as a cherry on top. Scary moment where I thought he sprained his ankle (I had a similar injury in college and was on crutches for a few days) but he came back. He's going to be a contributor for a long time.
- Hamilton. Nonstop hustle. Almost went back-to-back games with a double-double. Kept us hanging around with some timely work around the basket. Good footwork and post moves. Impact contributor already. Should be starting ahead of Brown.
- Johnson. Hero of the game (see below for caveat). Scored the final 4 go-ahead points on a nice take to the hoop with 11 seconds left and then taking a key charge at the other end, plus 2 FTs to put us up 3. We don't win without him.
Down
- Johnson. Sometimes you have to be the hero because you've made the game unnecessarily close. Johnson had an astounding 8 (!!!) turnovers and 5 fouls in 23 minutes. At times he looked totally clueless with the ball. He's still forcing forcing it into traffic in the lane and not passing enough. He's still taking 3 pointers early in the shot clock that are leading to long rebounds and breakaways the other way. Had back to back turnovers that let KSU back in it when we were up 6. Unacceptable.
- McGowens. 3 points, 7 turnovers, 7 fouls in his last 47 minutes. He was a lost cause out there tonight. Not gonna lie it was ugly in the first half with Johnson in foul trouble and McGowens turning it over all the time. You see how thin we are when these guys are both off. I really wish Capel had recruited a grad transfer guard.
- Brown. 8 points and 4 boards in 27 minutes but 4 were FTs. Had the ball stolen in the post or paint several times. Had a nice dunk but man it's just amazing to see someone with that much size be more or less useless around the basket. I have a better post game than he does. I'd send him to the bench in favor of Hamilton for the time being.
