19-0, but

[swish7]

Good win, but Miami had an 18-5 run to end the 1st and a 10-2 run to start the 2nd. Enough of this. It is going to bite us in the butt at the wrong time. We were getting destroyed by a HS Hi-Lo offense. When teams start coming back on us when we have these huge leads, I keep thinking we'll let them get 8-9, then we'll get 8-9, and it will be over, but it seems inevitable, that 18 becomes 12, 12 becomes 9, becomes 5, becomes 4, 2, -1, etc.

We're 19-0, and it sounds silly to say this, but given how the last 5ish games have gone, how much better are we getting? I feel like we are getting more mature, and better at controlling things. At the same time, a lot of our achilles' have been exposed. There are a few big name teams in that 15-20 range that are getting better as teams, and starting to look like they also could be in the group of teams who could win it all.

Christmas is getting better. He looks really good. Maybe Keita too. That's great. Grant and Fair looked human today. Cooney was sorta invisible, which isn't bad, if his shot was off. Ennis looked good, but lofted up some garbage a time or two. There are a couple moments each game when he gets the ball at the arc, and I just want him to shoot it. He doesn't, and within a few seconds the opponent has us blanketed. Nice to see Gbinje get some run. I guess we're not going to develop a 3rd center.

Maybe I should just be happy that we beat these Carl Krauser look alikes? I don't know. Can we just have an easy win, please?

I hope thoughts like this end up loooking really silly in March.

 

[DoctorBombay]

The last few weeks have seen teams like Ohio St, Wisconsin, UK, KU, Duke, Oklahoma St, et al- all losing to lesser teams while struggling.
We have had the luxury of basically playing like crap, & STILL winning. That's the mark of a great team.
If we weather this lull and then turn it back on come March, w/ just a coupla losses, we'll be in GREAT shape. Id rather struggle to "get better" while still winning...which is basically what we've been doing.

 

[Marsh01]

Im not worried. If anything i am more confident because we are finishing games as well as i have ever seen any of our teams finish games.

 

[Cuse315Pat]

Im not worried. If anything i am more confident because we are finishing games as well as i have ever seen any of our teams finish games.

I think this has given us the most experience in the country when it comes to late game situations. By far. Also, I think the biggest problem with Miami's runs was us missing free throws. We had a stretch where Grant missed two straight, Rak missed two, then Keita missed two. Meanwhile, Miami was knockin down some tough shots. We looked like North Carolina from the FT line in the first half.

 

[Marsh01]

I think this has given us the most experience in the country when it comes to late game situations. By far. Also, I think the biggest problem with Miami's runs was us missing free throws. We had a stretch where Grant missed two straight, Rak missed two, then Keita missed two. Meanwhile, Miami was knockin down some tough shots. We looked like North Carolina from the FT line in the first half.

Good points. Also miami had to make 9 three pointers to even compete today.

 

[Fly Rodder]

"Basketball is a game of runs" - James Arthur Boeheim

 

[Coach Orange]

One point FWIW: we're only playing six and a half players right now, and we saw why in the first half. As a result, we have to expect and accept that there will be points in games where we have lulls.

That said, so far we seem to execute best on both ends when it matters most. Exhibit A: that "HS high-low offense" didn't score much down the stretch against us, while we scored several points in the last several minutes. Such execution is the mark of a solid team.

Enjoy what we're watching--it's special to this point in the season. Lots of basketball to be played yet--who knows where our bench will be come March…?

 

[Cuse315Pat]

One point FWIW: we're only playing six and a half players right now, and we saw why in the first half. As a result, we have to expect and accept that there will be points in games where we have lulls.

That said, so far we seem to execute best on both ends when it matters most. Exhibit A: that "HS high-low offense" didn't score much down the stretch against us, while we scored several points in the last several minutes. Such execution is the mark of a solid team.

Enjoy what we're watching--it's special to this point in the season. Lots of basketball to be played yet--who knows where our bench will be come March…?

Well.. 7 and a half if you include Roberson as that half. G didn't really get much time tonight, Keita came up pretty big on the offensive glass for us though.

 

[Coach Orange]

Well.. 7 and a half if you include Roberson as that half. G didn't really get much time tonight, Keita came up pretty big on the offensive glass for us though.

Your point is taken, but I'm not sure how much you count G as true "depth." He has had his moments this year, but his inconsistent efforts don't add much productivity at times. That's why it is six and a half--Keita is "6," and then G and Roberson are "a half" right now.

That said, I'm not bashing either kid. They need to develop as the year goes along. I bet one, if not both of them, offers consistently productive minutes come March.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Going to be very interesting when Fair/Grant pick up 2 fouls early.

 

[Cuse315Pat]

Your point is taken, but I'm not sure how much you count G as true "depth." He has had his moments this year, but his inconsistent efforts don't add much productivity at times. That's why it is six and a half--Keita is "6," and then G and Roberson are "a half" right now.

That said, I'm not bashing either kid. They need to develop as the year goes along. I bet one, if not both of them, offers consistently productive minutes come March.

True. I've noticed G will disappear on the offensive end, but he seems to always bring in some defensive effort. He's really gotta find a rhythm when Cooney/Ennis need a break

 

[PeteCalvin]

Good win, but Miami had an 18-5 run to end the 1st and a 10-2 run to start the 2nd. Enough of this. It is going to bite us in the butt at the wrong time. We were getting destroyed by a HS Hi-Lo offense. When teams start coming back on us when we have these huge leads, I keep thinking we'll let them get 8-9, then we'll get 8-9, and it will be over, but it seems inevitable, that 18 becomes 12, 12 becomes 9, becomes 5, becomes 4, 2, -1, etc.

We're 19-0, and it sounds silly to say this, but given how the last 5ish games have gone, how much better are we getting? I feel like we are getting more mature, and better at controlling things. At the same time, a lot of our achilles' have been exposed. There are a few big name teams in that 15-20 range that are getting better as teams, and starting to look like they also could be in the group of teams who could win it all.

Christmas is getting better. He looks really good. Maybe Keita too. That's great. Grant and Fair looked human today. Cooney was sorta invisible, which isn't bad, if his shot was off. Ennis looked good, but lofted up some garbage a time or two. There are a couple moments each game when he gets the ball at the arc, and I just want him to shoot it. He doesn't, and within a few seconds the opponent has us blanketed. Nice to see Gbinje get some run. I guess we're not going to develop a 3rd center.

Maybe I should just be happy that we beat these Carl Krauser look alikes? I don't know. Can we just have an easy win, please?

I hope thoughts like this end up loooking really silly in March.

I kept saying to my friend that we would find a way to blow that lead at go in at half barely clinging to the lead. It's beyond ridiculous at this point. At 6:00 mins to go a switch went off and we stopped playing smart and scoring. I think we had 4 straight turnovers.

 

[swish7]

Going to be very interesting when Fair/Grant pick up 2 fouls early.

Oh, don't wory about that. We've played all these tight games, so.. if we have to win the NC with 4 players on the floor, well that's just what JAB will do. That, or I will stick my head in the head sand hole when the time comes.

 

[AlaskaSU]

The last few weeks have seen teams like Ohio St, Wisconsin, UK, KU, Duke, Oklahoma St, et al- all losing to lesser teams while struggling.
We have had the luxury of basically playing like crap, & STILL winning. That's the mark of a great team.
If we weather this lull and then turn it back on come March, w/ just a coupla losses, we'll be in GREAT shape. Id rather struggle to "get better" while still winning...which is basically what we've been doing.

The mark of a great team is winning by landslides. Take two teams: Team A always squeaks by, Team B always destroys their opposition - which is the great team? We are a very good defensive team and an offensive team that is not dominant. As Grant gets more and more involved, Cooney become more able to create his own shot, and if XMAS becomes more creative on offense we will become a dominant offensive team. The potential is there but we have work to do before we become a complete team that is not bothered by lesser teams.

 

[Antiprodigy]

G is really good against m2m teams. He does not do well against zone teams. Miami is a zone team, hence his limited usefulness. It was a given that he was not going to get much run today.

 

[DoctorBombay]

The mark of a great team is winning by landslides. Take two teams: Team A always squeaks by, Team B always destroys their opposition - which is the great team? We are a very good defensive team and an offensive team that is not dominant. As Grant gets more and more involved, Cooney become more able to create his own shot, and if XMAS becomes more creative on offense we will become a dominant offensive team. The potential is there but we have work to do before we become a complete team that is not bothered by lesser teams.

Agreed- but we've played better offensively & are certainly capable of it. I see our resiliency during this lull as a positive, because I expect us to regain our offensive stride in time. Meanwhile, why not keep winning?

 

[pearl31]

Cooney was sorta invisible, which isn't bad, if his shot was off.

Not to jump on you, but 3-6 from three is invisible and shot was off??

 

[pearl31]

Oh, don't wory about that. We've played all these tight games, so.. if we have to win the NC with 4 players on the floor, well that's just what JAB will do. That, or I will stick my head in the head sand hole when the time comes.

huh?

 

[Rocco]

Im not worried. If anything i am more confident because we are finishing games as well as i have ever seen any of our teams finish games.

Amen man. That's ALL that matters. When we stop finishing games, that's when we need to get worried. I really don't care if they outscore us in the middle 30 minutes of the game as long as we outscore them in the final 5 minutes.

A win is a win.

 

[SaltLakeOrange]

G is really good against m2m teams. He does not do well against zone teams. Miami is a zone team, hence his limited usefulness. It was a given that he was not going to get much run today.

This may not be a popular opinion, but MG is a liability on offense.

If he's at the two, M2M teams play off him causing the lane to get closed off, taking away chances for JG and CJ. Against zone teams, he hasn't shown the ability to make a jump shot.

When he's at the point, our offensive flow suffers as he's no where near as good at running the team than Ennis. He forces things and takes bad shots leading to run outs.

 

[Orangeman]

Zero easy shots.

We need to look to run, say, once per half.

Fast-break offense is a mind-set, not just getting steals up top.

Maybe lack do depth is the problem now, but that could be the issue here

 

[themorey]

The mark of the JB zone is to adapt to whatever success the other team is having. He dares them to shoot 3's and if someone catches at the top of the key he has to prove he can make a couple J's. Once he does the D adjusts with the C coming up to guard the ball. When that happens our wings have to crash down to the paint to stop the hi-low pass. The D struggled against that for awhile but eventually cleaned it up. If not for the hot 3 point shooting by Miami it would have been a blow out.

 

[SoBristol]

At this point in the season, you can start to sum up the identity of this team.
4 scoring options -- with solid, smart play from Ennis & Fair as the hallmark of the team.
No bench, other than Keita.
A half-court team, with very little inclination to run and little ability to score quickly in transition. The exception will be Ennis finding Cooney for an open 3 before a defense is set up. As a rule, Ennis prefers to take his time and set up a half court offense.
As good as any in finishing a game in the last 5 minutes.
Not a dominating team -- Miami looked like the better team for long stretches of the game.
Not much room to get better, with the exception of Grant, and he could be the key to how far this team will go in tournament play.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

What 3rd center do you suggest we develope. The injured guy or the guy who has redshirted all year?
If we went 40-0 with a season scoring differential of +40, people would bitch.
The best attribute of this team is not that they are superior to other teams, but that they know how to win. That is a skill.

 

[alibrat66]

"Basketball is a game of runs" - James Arthur Boeheim

Diarrhea is also a game of runs...