Silent G abused Thornton al night

[mark79]

Pardon if this has already been discussed, but one great key to our win against Duke was Silent G's flat out manhandling of Thornton all night but especially in the second half. He was able to penetrate at will because of his greater strength. Good things have happened all year for us offensively when we are able to penetrate. Either of three things: penetrator finishes and if he misses Roberson cleans it up 2) drop off to a cutting Roberson or Lydon (so effective against Duke) 3) kick out to Cooney or Richardson for the three. Lots of options there.

We just need (like it is easy!!) either Silent G, Richardson or Cooney to be able to get that kind of penetration. Can they do it against Virginia? We can bet that Bennett will be preparing as hard as possible to prevent that.

 

[pearl31]

yeah except for the couple of 3s he made Thornton did not look good at all. What a huge drop off for them going from Tyus Jones to Thornton at point

 

[CuseFaninVT]

yeah except for the couple of 3s he made Thornton did not look good at all. What a huge drop off for them going from Tyus Jones to Thornton at point

Like going from Tyler Ennis to Kaleb Joseph.

 

[Eric15]

G beating the pressure and attacking the basket with driving layups was the difference between winning and losing -- he did that 3 or 4 times at very critical junctures of the game.

 

[CorduroyG]

G looked like an nba player on some of those drives, especially driving left and laying them high off the glass. he makes those shots look easy but theyre not. and hes lightning fast.

 

[Dave85]

Pardon if this has already been discussed, but one great key to our win against Duke was Silent G's flat out manhandling of Thornton all night but especially in the second half. He was able to penetrate at will because of his greater strength. Good things have happened all year for us offensively when we are able to penetrate. Either of three things: penetrator finishes and if he misses Roberson cleans it up 2) drop off to a cutting Roberson or Lydon (so effective against Duke) 3) kick out to Cooney or Richardson for the three. Lots of options there.

We just need (like it is easy!!) either Silent G, Richardson or Cooney to be able to get that kind of penetration. Can they do it against Virginia? We can bet that Bennett will be preparing as hard as possible to prevent that.

G is probably our best player as everyone has predicted. But yes, he played terrific.

I also thought Richardson getting 14 points in a hugely stressful away game is HUGE in the sense of his player development. After the Duke game, other games will come much easier for him. I thought MR's contribution is was really awesome also.

 

[Coach Orange]

Credit Coach B. Because Duke was overplaying the passing lanes (as they always do), he adjusted the offense from the set plays that require running players off of down screens to a spread, 5-out ball-screen attack. It worked because Duke's help defenders didn't want to leave Mal, Lydon, or Trevor to close down the dribble drive. In turn, it allowed Roberson to roll to the hoop without a clogged lane, and it isolated one-on-one match-ups that Duke couldn't handle.

That said, offensive success still comes down to players being able to execute fundamental skills, such as dribbling by a defender that is pressuring the ball. G executed remarkably well the other night. Duke ignored the first rule of defense--stop the ball--most of the night, which helped.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Credit Coach B. Because Duke was overplaying the passing lanes (as they always do), he adjusted the offense from the set plays that require running players off of down screens to a spread, 5-out ball-screen attack. It worked because Duke's help defenders didn't want to leave Mal, Lydon, or Trevor to close down the dribble drive. In turn, it allowed Roberson to roll to the hoop without a clogged lane, and it isolated one-on-one match-ups that Duke couldn't handle.

That said, offensive success still comes down to players being able to execute fundamental skills, such as dribbling by a defender that is pressuring the ball. G executed remarkably well the other night. Duke ignored the first rule of defense--stop the ball--most of the night, which helped.

I also saw that on one of the picks and roll from G to Roberson that Roberson's defender (I believe it was Plumlee at the time) did not hedge out fully like UNC's bigs did. That allowed G to see the pass and make it and Plumlee was caught in the defender no man land (not in position to defend either player) and was abused.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Duke isn't a good defensive team. Or at least K was stubborn to abandon the ball-denial strategy. Truthfully, though, our guards were struggling mightily with this type of on-ball pressure in the 1st half. It took some adjustments to spread the floor before we got into any rhythm. But let's also remember Roberson bailed us out on many, many occasions. Virginia is going to pack it in and deny that kind of penetration so hopefully G doesn't draw 5 charges in the first 10 minutes. And Robe isn't going to snare 20 rebounds. We'll need a different approach and we'll need to hit those 3s when we have any decent look. No stupid turnovers. White knuckle time. First team to 40 wins.

 

[CuseTG2003]

yeah except for the couple of 3s he made Thornton did not look good at all. What a huge drop off for them going from Tyus Jones to Thornton at point

Thornton looked like KJ last year. In over his head. Those 3s were big though.

 

[jncuse]

G treated Thornton like an old school jobber on Superstars of Wrestling.

 

[Rage4CUSE]

Like going from Tyler Ennis to Kaleb Joseph.

You hit the nail on the head perfectly. Luckily for Duke they have better talent around Thornton so they have a shot at almost all games. And the fact that Duke has that home court advantage, so most home games are in their pocket before the game is even played.