Obviously there were a lot of great things to take out of today's win. On the surface it's easy to point out the road win and the fact that it's the first time we've won 2 consecutive conference road games in 9 years. It was against a tournament quality team that was desperate for a win. We finally closed out the first half strong on the road. There was a lot to like.
It took watching the game however, to appreciate the command we had of our offense in the 2nd half. We took 3-4 really bad shots (Niang with a contested 3, Nader with a contested fadeaway, and McKay with a horrendous hook in the pain), but otherwise moved the ball exceptionally well. We drove the lane when the opportunity presented itself;if it was clear to the basket we took the layup/dunk, but if it collapsed we did an excellent job of kicking the ball outside. Niang played within himself and made several good decisions. In particular BDJ was very poised, especially when considering his penchant for poor choices (often in the 2nd half). Outside of Nader who rushed a few shots in the few minutes he played, I thought this was the best composure this team has displayed all year.
Outsiders will point to our 3 point shooting percentage as a big reason we won the game. While the stats indicate it was good, it was more of a product of taking QUALITY, open/in-rhythm 3s rather than the chucking variety this team has the propensity of taking. This offense works extremely well when the team forgoes shots early in the shot clock and focuses on running the offense. If often starts with Monte, but today the entire team executed extremely well.
After a nice run into halftime, the keys were offensive execution, defensive intensity (which has killed us in 2nd half road games), rebounding, and FT shooting. While the team continued it's futility at the line, they played nearly flawless in every other phase of the game. The only negatives in that half? FT shooting (typical), Taylor's penetration (Morris did a poor job of keeping in front of him), and Yancey's 3 point shooting (nothing we could really do about that).
We still need to clean up our end of game execution. The FT shooting is ridiculous and Fred made some pretty big substitution errors down the stretch. With that said it was probably the best example of fundamental basketball that we've seen from this team. Overall it was a job well done.
It took watching the game however, to appreciate the command we had of our offense in the 2nd half. We took 3-4 really bad shots (Niang with a contested 3, Nader with a contested fadeaway, and McKay with a horrendous hook in the pain), but otherwise moved the ball exceptionally well. We drove the lane when the opportunity presented itself;if it was clear to the basket we took the layup/dunk, but if it collapsed we did an excellent job of kicking the ball outside. Niang played within himself and made several good decisions. In particular BDJ was very poised, especially when considering his penchant for poor choices (often in the 2nd half). Outside of Nader who rushed a few shots in the few minutes he played, I thought this was the best composure this team has displayed all year.
Outsiders will point to our 3 point shooting percentage as a big reason we won the game. While the stats indicate it was good, it was more of a product of taking QUALITY, open/in-rhythm 3s rather than the chucking variety this team has the propensity of taking. This offense works extremely well when the team forgoes shots early in the shot clock and focuses on running the offense. If often starts with Monte, but today the entire team executed extremely well.
After a nice run into halftime, the keys were offensive execution, defensive intensity (which has killed us in 2nd half road games), rebounding, and FT shooting. While the team continued it's futility at the line, they played nearly flawless in every other phase of the game. The only negatives in that half? FT shooting (typical), Taylor's penetration (Morris did a poor job of keeping in front of him), and Yancey's 3 point shooting (nothing we could really do about that).
We still need to clean up our end of game execution. The FT shooting is ridiculous and Fred made some pretty big substitution errors down the stretch. With that said it was probably the best example of fundamental basketball that we've seen from this team. Overall it was a job well done.
