First Half D & Momentum Swings......

[newmexicuse]

Got invited to a NYE party, so I did not get to see the game until this AM from DVR. Great way to start the new year !!!

The first half D was probably about the best I have ever seen from the Zone. Holding a team averaging 91 to 19 (I like the palindrome here) was simply awesome.

It is amazing how mo can change w one play. We appeared to be in total control early in the second half and then Frank make a fabulous pass to Chuk, who somehow doesn't finish, and next thing you know they get 12 straight.

We are looking lost & they are within three and making it a game. Next thing you know Oshae makes a beautiful drive to the rack, and just as suddenly he leads an 11-0 Cuse run & we are then in control until the end.

To me, Oshae was player of the game for making the plays to change the mo to turn back their run almost single handedly.

Great game from Matt, he was the wildcard with his boardwork, and making them pay at the rack every time they doubled away from him. I thought he was going to get an early hook when he took & missed that trey, but Jimmy stayed with him. great move Coach !!!

Ty and Frank, solid as usual, but a few too many TOs between them.

marek, was marek, so many tips and going to the floor plays that just don't show in the box.

We initially handled their press quite well, but it that came apart near the end. not sure if it was simply a bit of a loss of focus since the game was in hand by that point in time.

Jimmy certainly had them ready. The one move I questioned was with us +13 and a minute or so left in the first half, why he left Tyus on the floor with two fouls. A cheap third foul might have been a game changer.

 

[Consigliere]

Got to be honest. As much as I have enjoyed watching this team fight and scrap on every possession, for each loose ball and like every rebound is theirs my expectations have stayed relatively low. I saw a badly flawed team on offense and while the 11-2 OOC record was certainly an improvement over last year's debacle it was compiled against some good, not great teams by any stretch. Preseason my single goal was 17 regular season wins to keep the streak alive.

I saw Virginia Tech as a Top 6 ACC team pre-season. Saw the matchups going into last night as terribly skewed against us. I have watched Buzz's team dissect the zone effectively for years - while we managed to prevail in many of our games against Marquette and Va. Tech we needed a number of miracle finishes and big comebacks to do so. I was fully prepared to drive south on 81 last night 0-1 in conference. Then came the first half. Struggling to remember a better performance defensively but waited for the other shoe to drop. Turnovers in the last 30 seconds gave Tech opportunities but we dodged some bullets.

Then came the missed oop and the 12-0 Hokie run. Here it goes, I thought. This is where our faults come to light.

To see this team punch back with an 11-0 run of their own spoke volumes in my mind. The effort on the boards ratcheted up significantly. The defensive intensity was through the roof. Dolezaj and Moyer diving 10 feet across the floor for a loose ball showed a refuse to lose attitude.

As a result, I'm all in now. I'll still nervously track the 5 wins we need to get that goal of 17 behind us but given the level of effort and that mysterious chemistry component I am ready to level set my expectations. I see the substandard Assist / Turnover ratio as an opportunity, not a problem. Think we will continue to improve offensively as the freshmen become more engrained and the backcourt becomes more accustomed to their tendencies. Think that the cracks that some of our ACC brethren have shown will give us a chance to "steal" a couple of wins that may have looked unlikely pre-season. Think that the schedule and our home-and-home opponents provide a solid floor that we will be able to build on.

Net-net I think the return to relevance has arrived a year early. Barring injury or other unexpected blow to a no-margin-for-error rotation I expected a Top 25 finish, a breakthrough in the ACC Tourney and a Top 8 seed in the NCAAs where, depending on matchups, we could last to the second weekend.

Now go ahead and crush my dreams!

 

[bballbeadle]

Got to be honest. As much as I have enjoyed watching this team fight and scrap on every possession, for each loose ball and like every rebound is theirs my expectations have stayed relatively low. I saw a badly flawed team on offense and while the 11-2 OOC record was certainly an improvement over last year's debacle it was compiled against some good, not great teams by any stretch. Preseason my single goal was 17 regular season wins to keep the streak alive.

I saw Virginia Tech as a Top 6 ACC team pre-season. Saw the matchups going into last night as terribly skewed against us. I have watched Buzz's team dissect the zone effectively for years - while we managed to prevail in many of our games against Marquette and Va. Tech we needed a number of miracle finishes and big comebacks to do so. I was fully prepared to drive south on 81 last night 0-1 in conference. Then came the first half. Struggling to remember a better performance defensively but waited for the other shoe to drop. Turnovers in the last 30 seconds gave Tech opportunities but we dodged some bullets.

Then came the missed oop and the 12-0 Hokie run. Here it goes, I thought. This is where our faults come to light.

To see this team punch back with an 11-0 run of their own spoke volumes in my mind. The effort on the boards ratcheted up significantly. The defensive intensity was through the roof. Dolezaj and Moyer diving 10 feet across the floor for a loose ball showed a refuse to lose attitude.

As a result, I'm all in now. I'll still nervously track the 5 wins we need to get that goal of 17 behind us but given the level of effort and that mysterious chemistry component I am ready to level set my expectations. I see the substandard Assist / Turnover ratio as an opportunity, not a problem. Think we will continue to improve offensively as the freshmen become more engrained and the backcourt becomes more accustomed to their tendencies. Think that the cracks that some of our ACC brethren have shown will give us a chance to "steal" a couple of wins that may have looked unlikely pre-season. Think that the schedule and our home-and-home opponents provide a solid floor that we will be able to build on.

Net-net I think the return to relevance has arrived a year early. Barring injury or other unexpected blow to a no-margin-for-error rotation I expected a Top 25 finish, a breakthrough in the ACC Tourney and a Top 8 seed in the NCAAs where, depending on matchups, we could last to the second weekend.

Now go ahead and crush my dreams!

Great post! Now why would we crush your dreams? You’re just 2-3 games behind the rest of us, that’s all. It is “hard” to go all in on a team when it is certainly possible that you will look like a fool later on, but it’s not a coincidence that “fan” and “fool” both start with F! I would rather be an All In Fan and be disappointed than to be pessimistic and cynical and then be surprised. It makes the gestalt of the experience much better.