They played a great game. I know I, and many others, did not think we had that type of performance in us. I was wrong. They played with effort, hustled, had an idea of what they wanted to do on O (still needs improvement) and did a fantastic job on the defensive end. Specifically JG and TB play their butts off at the top of the zone, and the wings played better. Roberson, if he didn't leave his feet 3-4 times, played an excellent all-around game. AW had some defensive issues, but they were overcome by solid shooting and a fantastic job on the glass. Lydon finally attacked more in the 2nd half, and while I wish he was more aggressive instead of hesitating, he's definitely playing well.
This is a game to build off of. The lineup looks set in place and the guys should finally understand the effort needed on both ends. I don't think there was any question that having Howard sit was beneficial on this night. He's been so bad on both ends all year, and it was time for him to sit and hopefully learn something. We'll see how he handles it. As for Gillon, great game. He brought in on both ends, routinely shutting off the driving lanes after the first 5-7 minutes of the game and finding through screens. He still had 5 TO's, but I'll take that in 40 minutes, especially if he's going to have an efficient performance distributing and find Roberson/Lydon inside for easy buckets. If we had that PG play all year, we might have a few more W's. I don't expect his success to continue to that level, especially when we see L'ville, UVA and other really tough D's, but last night was great and if we get anything close to that, we should be thrilled.
I think we have a 6-man rotation now. The starting 5 and Roberson to fill in for TT when he gets in foul trouble. If we need more O, TT may play more, but Robey has earned his minutes back. He's playing hard, avoiding garbage fouls for the most part, converting inside and just being active. That's what he needs to continue to do.
Man, it was really nice to play well and basically dominate the game against a solid team. Miami is probably a tourney level team (might not make just because of how deep/tough our league is) and we just handled them quite well. They've been a tough opponent for us in the ACC, so that was extra encouraging. Of course, now we have Pitt coming in, so the good feelings may not last. Artis/Young are playing so well on top of how difficult they are on us, so it'll be a challenge. I, at least, feel pretty good about how we'll play the game. I just want that effort.
PS: we ran a play on the opening possession of the game for an easy AW jumper. Can we have more of that?!? There was definitely more ball movement, but we still stand around too much and after the initial screens and passes, everything breaks down. If we can continue getting movement and ball movement, the offense will come. But no more stagnant, pound the ball into the floor offense, please!!
