Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Hoops - Yin & Yang

Good......... Bad
Pretty....... Ugly
Night......... Day
Yin............. Yang

Polar opposites. Tonight was the whole shootin' match. You saw it all. You saw the deer-in-the-headlights defense and the relentless, attack, in-your-face defense. You saw the "do they know what they're doing" offense and the "well oiled machine" offense.

The punch-line - the Jackets beat historic nemesis NCST by a final of 74-65. To truly appreciate the flow of this game, you have to see it:

So what you have is NCST jumping out to a BIG lead (17-2 at one point). The Jackets looked helpless and lost. I was doing the old "here we go again" routine. Amazingly though they closed the gap, even though watching the 1st half you wouldn't get that sense at all. Javaris even ended the half with a 3/4 court swish to close the lead at the buzzer. It was sweet and his reaction was priceless (it was the classic "act like you been there" look). Actually, check it out for yourself

Then in the 2nd half the Jackets started chipping away........... then the truly amazing stretch. NCST was up 56-45 at the 14:17 mark........................ At the 3:00 mark, a full 11:17 minutes later, the Jackets were up 63-56. That's right - NCST didn't score during that entire stretch. It was an emotional frenzy of crazy, intense, wild defense that resulted in turnover after turnover, missed shot after missed shot. And interestingly, it was NCST that was run ragged during that stretch, while the entire Jacket team seem energized, refreshed and pumped.

From there the Jackets held on and brought home the victory. Here are some thoughts:

The Jackets get 28 points from the bench and NCST gets ZERO. It's no wonder we wore them slap out - their guys were gasping. Tonight it was guys like D'Andre Bell, Zach Peacock, Alade Aminu, Mario West that made the difference. Bell was ready even though he hadn't had his number called much. He responded. Peacock played smart solid minutes. Aminu played very well again offensively and ok defensively (he missed a couple of assignments that resulted in buckets). All in all, these guys were the MVP's tonight.

Coach Hewitt made the point that everyone wants to talk about JC when the team is playing poorly. Tonight everyone wants to talk about the bench. But JC truly ran the show tonight. Another nice outing with 21 pts (7-11, 1-2, 6-6), 3 boards, 1 block, 7 assists, 3 steals and 2 to's. That my friends, is a world class stat-line. But here's the thing. I don't particularly like the PG taking lots of shots. But the last two games he has really taken his offense with the flow of the game. The shots he has taken rarely seem forced and always seem to be the right decision. Whether it's pulling up on the break or dribble penetrating. In the 4-game loss streak, he just seemed to be forcing things. Not the last 2 games.

JC has upped his game twice in a row now. However, there's a chicken and egg argument here..............

The last two games our guys down low have been doing the things they should do. Solid post-defense, clogging the interior, helping double down low...................... and on the offensive end they are posting up well (and we're getting them the ball), and making good decisions with the ball (shoot or passing out). Our comeback tonight was NOT the result of longe range bombing. It was relentless pounding of the ball inside. We had our way underneath.

Coach Hewitt made a strong point about Javaris Crittenton. He said in his post-game comments that our 4-game losing streak had NOTHING to do with JC. He said that when the inside guys focus and do the things they are supposed to, it opens up the team game on the perimeter, and that allows JC to do what he can do. I guess I can buy that. I'll drink that Kool-Aid

One last thing on Aminu. Coach Hewitt said that his PT increase is a direct result of his hard work and effort - not Hewitt trying different line-ups to shake things up. He said Alade has been more focused, has practiced well and is showing real committment both on and off the court. His minutes are a result of him deciding to be player. Coach Hewitt also reminded us that Alade, based on his age, should really be just a freshman in college. He said that his maturity is starting to come now and it is showing on the court.

The turnover numbers are starting to steadily decline for the Jackets. Tonight - only 11, while they forced 18 from NCST on 11 steals. In fact there were only 2 true turnovers in the 2nd half (3 technically, but one was TY purposely running out the shot clock with 3 seconds to go).

The real key tonight was stamina. Coach Hewitt has a specific plan to run NCST ragged because they basically play 6-deep. He did what Roy Williams did NOT do - which was pressure Atsur much of the night. It was clear in the 2nd half that the strategy was working as shots were short, guys couldn't penetrate and they just ran out of steam. Outstanding coaching strategy. Have to give Hewitt props on that one.

Jeremis was feeling the love tonight. In his post-game interview with Wes he talked about his mates, saying that a couple of times during the run in the 2nd half, he looked at A-Mo and JC and just said "I love you man". He said he knows it sounds corny (he didn't use the word corny), but that it was true. So tonight he was feelin' the love.

The Thrillerdome was rockin' tonight - and made a difference during the run. Nice job by the fans!! The commentators at one point said "you can't even hear yourself think in here". Outstanding. We need the real Thrillerdome back again.


The end-result was outstanding, but there is something worth touching on............. I hate to say it, but I have to call it like I see it. Our best defensive and resulting offensive stretches came with Dickey on the bench. Frankly, it was the same thing during the Clemson game. Tonight Ra'Sean played a grand total of 3 minutes and went 0-2 from the field. That's it. While I am more happy with the team success, I can't help but be incredibly disappointed in the vanishing promise of Ra'Sean Dickey. He has all the tools in the world and quite frankly, I still believe that his potential is the greatest on this team. But it just hasn't happened. The focus has waivered. The defensive lapses always come back. The result now - he's just plain starting to fade into the background. Nothing but sad if you ask me. I hope it changes - for the Jackets, but mostly for him.

I'll say it again - nothing yet.......................... Build on Clemson and it will start to matter............ they did..................... build on NCST and it will start to matter even more................. time to build again...................... it only matters if they do something with it. Beat UConn. Go on the road and win..................... again................... and again. That's what it's going to take. Anything less that this team will be playing in the "Not Invited Tourney".