** My first take on this game certainly isn’t going to make anyone else feel any better about the loss.
** But there’s a part of me that somehow feels grateful for this game. The stress in the final minutes was absolutely excruciating. Xavier’s missed last shot was heartbreaking. So why am I grateful?
** I am grateful because we are now playing games this year that really matter, and that our losses carry subsequent consequences. It’s been a while since this was the case.
** And I’m afraid this game might have indeed have consequences.
** I don’t believe this game speaks volumes about the capabilities of our Panthers. I still believe in our players. I still believe in our team. I still believe this team can be headed for the postseason.
** But this seems like this is the kind of loss that really hurts postseason prospects. This feels like the kind of loss you wish you could have back.
** There’s no doubt we made enough mistakes to earn this loss. Generally speaking, we lost our focus for too long in the second half, and we responded to our deficit too often with panic instead of resolve.
** However, even though I don’t believe we played poorly, we just did not play well enough against a player who was playing out of his mind.
** At halftime in a game thread tonight, I stated I wasn’t worried for the second half because Wake hit 8 threes in the first half and they wouldn’t repeat this in the second half. Well, turns out I was right since Wake only hit 7 threes after the break. C'mon! 15? Really?
** Although our Panthers have played good offensive basketball as of late, it’s been our defense that has made us a good team. We’ve been holding teams under 40% from the floor, and even much less than that from three.
** So it stands to reason that we are going to have a tough game against any team who shoots 46% from the floor, and 47% from three. Teams who hit 15 threes usually win. To me, it’s really as simple as that.
** And early on, I don’t believe we defended the three point line poorly. Instead I saw Wake make some tough, well defended shots.
** What our Panthers didn’t do particularly well was adjust. I will put some of this on our coach too. I think he struggled to figure out the right defense and/or the right matchups.
** Another area of weakness was our need to force shots instead of letting them come within the offense. That’s been an area of strength as of late. Further disappointment also came from our inability to get the ball into Justin’s hands when we needed points. And when Justin finally got the ball, he too rushed a shot or two.
** It’s too bad that this loss overshadows a brilliant offensive game by our developing center AKC. He also played excellent defense, in the first half especially. This may have been the first game this year when the drop off to Terrell Brown was extremely dramatic. I will have to go and look at the plus/minus stats to be sure, but I suspect that number will be telling.
** Every season is a journey, and this one is certainly an unexpected setback along the way. In fact, I completely expected a win tonight. And to be completely honest, I really didn’t think we might actually lose until that damn Ismael’s three pointer (his 7th) around the five minute mark. And then he hit ANOTHER one!
** But I was proud that we outscored Wake 10-1 in the final stretch. It’s just too bad that Xavier couldn’t make the winning play this time.
** But I’m looking forward to our next game and continuing to build our tournament resume. Because that’s what we are playing for this year. And for that, like I said, I’m grateful.
** But there’s a part of me that somehow feels grateful for this game. The stress in the final minutes was absolutely excruciating. Xavier’s missed last shot was heartbreaking. So why am I grateful?
** I am grateful because we are now playing games this year that really matter, and that our losses carry subsequent consequences. It’s been a while since this was the case.
** And I’m afraid this game might have indeed have consequences.
** I don’t believe this game speaks volumes about the capabilities of our Panthers. I still believe in our players. I still believe in our team. I still believe this team can be headed for the postseason.
** But this seems like this is the kind of loss that really hurts postseason prospects. This feels like the kind of loss you wish you could have back.
** There’s no doubt we made enough mistakes to earn this loss. Generally speaking, we lost our focus for too long in the second half, and we responded to our deficit too often with panic instead of resolve.
** However, even though I don’t believe we played poorly, we just did not play well enough against a player who was playing out of his mind.
** At halftime in a game thread tonight, I stated I wasn’t worried for the second half because Wake hit 8 threes in the first half and they wouldn’t repeat this in the second half. Well, turns out I was right since Wake only hit 7 threes after the break. C'mon! 15? Really?
** Although our Panthers have played good offensive basketball as of late, it’s been our defense that has made us a good team. We’ve been holding teams under 40% from the floor, and even much less than that from three.
** So it stands to reason that we are going to have a tough game against any team who shoots 46% from the floor, and 47% from three. Teams who hit 15 threes usually win. To me, it’s really as simple as that.
** And early on, I don’t believe we defended the three point line poorly. Instead I saw Wake make some tough, well defended shots.
** What our Panthers didn’t do particularly well was adjust. I will put some of this on our coach too. I think he struggled to figure out the right defense and/or the right matchups.
** Another area of weakness was our need to force shots instead of letting them come within the offense. That’s been an area of strength as of late. Further disappointment also came from our inability to get the ball into Justin’s hands when we needed points. And when Justin finally got the ball, he too rushed a shot or two.
** It’s too bad that this loss overshadows a brilliant offensive game by our developing center AKC. He also played excellent defense, in the first half especially. This may have been the first game this year when the drop off to Terrell Brown was extremely dramatic. I will have to go and look at the plus/minus stats to be sure, but I suspect that number will be telling.
** Every season is a journey, and this one is certainly an unexpected setback along the way. In fact, I completely expected a win tonight. And to be completely honest, I really didn’t think we might actually lose until that damn Ismael’s three pointer (his 7th) around the five minute mark. And then he hit ANOTHER one!
** But I was proud that we outscored Wake 10-1 in the final stretch. It’s just too bad that Xavier couldn’t make the winning play this time.
** But I’m looking forward to our next game and continuing to build our tournament resume. Because that’s what we are playing for this year. And for that, like I said, I’m grateful.
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