Henny & Coke
2nd String
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 889
- Like
- 3,049
- MCW starts the game with a turnover, and, if your a more pessimistic person you may have said to yourself "here we go, here comes the multiple turnover game"...and yet, he comes right back down the court to pin the layup attempt against the glass...and completely redeems himself! And that would also be the last turnover MCW would make on the day. Excellent concentration to bounce back from an early poor decision. Sometimes those things can lead to the start of a poor overall performance if you let them get to you.
- Brandon Triche ball handling more & it seems to be helping both him (he has the time to dribble around, probing the defense, looking for a crease to drive to hoop) & MCW (play off the ball a little more & look for his drives/shots).
- Baye Keita really, really playing well, especially on the defensive end. This development is huge & big factor in why our defense is playing so fantastic right now, IMO. He covers so much ground out there, and, even though he could still learn some things about boxing-out for rebounds, he is playing really well right now - limiting other team's inside offense & blocking (or changing) shots.
- Team as a whole seems to be playing smart basketball, not turning it over a ton, and generally playing under control.
- Great to see CJ Fair play some fantastic defense...getting a charge call on one possession, and forcing player to step out-of-bounce on another.
- Head's up play by Fair on offense as he gets his defender into the air, and leans into him for the foul call & two shots.
- So many turnovers being forced by our guards up-top tipping passes. Unreal. Just so active on defense right now.
- SU jumps out to 21-10 lead (5:40 left 1st half), then lets Marquette get back into game and suddenly it's close...21-18 (3:18 left 1st half). Although SU doesn't score during this period, it's not due to lack of bad shot selection, IMO. They are taking good shots, just not falling.
- Mayo 3pt attempt blocked by James Southerland. Gotta love when your team is even blocking 3pt attempts regularly, lol.
- Really, really love how well our guards rebound. I mean, just think about this: our leading rebounder this game was our point guard, MCW, who had 8 rebounds! And our 2nd leading rebounder, Brandon Triche with 6 (tied for 2nd with Fair). Love it. What other team has their PG lead the team in rebounds in a game?
- SU could have had at least 6-8 more points in 1st half, but some good shots were just not falling. Thinking about a few MCW drives to hoop, a RAK shot from close in, a Triche shot close to the hoop, and a few others.
- Beautiful play by MCW to set-up Southerland perfectly behind his screen to get that 3pt shot right before the half. That was a huge shot by Southerland. Just huge.
- What was up with that Cooney mis-handle of the MCW pass right before halftime? Seemed like a normal pass...Cooney maybe just took his eyes off it? Thankfully it didn't hurt us.
- MCW abusing Vander Blue on offense (in 1st half, at least), seemingly blowing-by him on way to the rim whenever he likes. But again, a few bad bounces/rolls help Marquette limit the damage a bit.
- Also: Not all assists are equal in my mind. There is def a difference between simply being the player that swings the ball over to the shooter, who knocks down the shot...and then a situation where the passer has "created" a good situation for the receiver of the pass to score.
The reason I love watching MCW play so much has alot to due with this point. IMO, he is excellent at the second scenario. So many times he intentionally dribbles one way to draw defenders with him, creating an open player to pass the ball to. Or he will set up a 3pt shooter with the ball exactly where the shooter likes to shoot (or, screening so the shooter has open shot). In these situations, MCW should almost get the assist and 1 of the 2 points scored (since he pretty much "manufactured" those points). It's really beautiful to watch. Such "heads-up" basketball. Lately, he & CJ Fair have a good relationship going in this regard, thinking especially of the MCW bounce-pass between 2 defenders to Fair for the dunk/layup in 1st half.
- Davante Gardner's 1-handed rebound was incredible. That's a "man" play.
- Seeing our guards continue to be aggressive & drive the lane = me happy.
- Big 3pt shot from Triche in the 1st half.
- What great experience for a guy like Keita to be playing in big games like these. I thought he actually defended Jared Sullinger very well in last year's Tournament, making him catch ball far from basket & standing his ground, not letting Sully back him down. Except that Sully made the tough shots anyway. Nothing more you can really doin that instance. But Keita playing equally well defensively this year too.
- Great block by Christmas - He got way up there to get that ball. What ability that kid has.
- How many times have we watched opposing teams simply pass the ball around the perimiter on offense for 20 seconds, not getting anywhere? Fantastic defense.
- That rebound by Southerland and subsequent lazy pass to MCW still makes me mad, even re-watching it. Gotta have our seniors be more aware going forward.
- Followed-up by a Brandon Triche rebound & turnover, as Southerland bumps into him on way up court & ball is stolen. Wow. Just a terrible sequence of plays for (mainly) Southerland & Triche here, allowing Marquette to benefit from 2 (basically) unforced turnovers. Score was 25-21 at the time, and thankfully Marquette was unable to take advantage of either...not scoring on either possession. Can't have that going forward. Thankfully we have limited these mistakes lately.
- How awesome is it hearing the "Let's Go Orange" chants on TV? Pretty damn awesome. Our fans are the best.
- MCW defensive rebound, dribbles up court, nice pass to Triche as he's running to hoop, Triche lays it in (goaltend call)...beautiful sequence. Our guards getting it done right there.
- On of the more encouraging things to me about our chances going forward: We are dominating teams. And doing so without relying on something like Southerland nailing a bunch of threes, or even important guys like Triche & Fair shooting above their averages every game...or, really, anyone going off for some remarkable performance that will (most likely) not be repeated. So imagine if Southerland does get hot from outside, or Fair from inside/outside, etc. Still alot of room for better offensive results, which is encouraging.
- Everytime I see the replay of the Marquette player getting the offensive rebound off foul shot when we had 4 players there (to Marquette's 1 player) I still shake my head. Hate seeing that.
- Nothing more pretty than a MCW blow-by for layup. No, he isn't lightening quick...but he does manage to turn-the-corner (even if only by a half-step advantage on the defender) & then his length just makes it impossible for defender to guard after that.
- Great effort by Fair to save ball from out-of-bounds after he forced a steal, leading to Southerland jam. And also leading to a run for SU, leading to a big win.
- RAK with a big one-handed offensive rebound of his own, coming at a critical time, with little over 3 mins left.
- Love that teams can't even get quick shot attempts at the end of games lately. That's how good our defense is right now. Team's can't even get bad shots!
- Southerland may not have been red-hot in his 3pt shooting, but the ones he did hit were very timely.
- Triche goes to the line & hits 2 free throws under 2 mins. Good to see.
- MCW & Triche play catch for awhile on offense with a min left as crowd stands & cheers. Awesome scene.
- And then: MCW puts the icing on the cake with a Dion Waiters-esque step-back three pointer. Crowd loving it.
- Gardner trying to steal ball from Southerland with 5 seconds remaining of a blowout = douche.
- Wow, we really just held an Elite 8 team to 39 points in an entire game. Unreal.
- So sweet to watch our players enjoy the moment & celebrate with each other. Gotta be a great feeling, to see all your hard work pay off in such a way. Well deserved.
- Hilarious seeing DaJuan pretend to drop the trophy. Love that kid. Such a nice guy too if you ever meet him in person. So many likable kids on this team, even if it's not in as outgoing a way as a Scoop or Kris.
- When Verne Lundquist/Billy Packard (edit: mean Bill Raftery) were interviewing the team, they should have got them to do the "Cuse is in tha house, oh my gawd, oh my gawd" dance! That would have been hilarious.
- One of best parts of winning Elite 8 game & playing in Final Four is the coverage the team gets for the next week. Great for the program. Just really sucks when you have a good/great year, but lose in the Elite 8, and all of a sudden your year's over just like that, and everyone seemingly forgets about you & instead moves on to covering the Final Four teams. So glad to not have that happen again this year.
- To wrap-up, it's all about getting hot/playing your best basketball at the right time (end of year)...for as many times as it seems like SU peaks early in the season, this year's squad is peaking at exactly the right time. One more weekend of play, hope it continues. Thankfully, good defensive play is something that can absolutely carry-over from game-to-game.
- Brandon Triche ball handling more & it seems to be helping both him (he has the time to dribble around, probing the defense, looking for a crease to drive to hoop) & MCW (play off the ball a little more & look for his drives/shots).
- Baye Keita really, really playing well, especially on the defensive end. This development is huge & big factor in why our defense is playing so fantastic right now, IMO. He covers so much ground out there, and, even though he could still learn some things about boxing-out for rebounds, he is playing really well right now - limiting other team's inside offense & blocking (or changing) shots.
- Team as a whole seems to be playing smart basketball, not turning it over a ton, and generally playing under control.
- Great to see CJ Fair play some fantastic defense...getting a charge call on one possession, and forcing player to step out-of-bounce on another.
- Head's up play by Fair on offense as he gets his defender into the air, and leans into him for the foul call & two shots.
- So many turnovers being forced by our guards up-top tipping passes. Unreal. Just so active on defense right now.
- SU jumps out to 21-10 lead (5:40 left 1st half), then lets Marquette get back into game and suddenly it's close...21-18 (3:18 left 1st half). Although SU doesn't score during this period, it's not due to lack of bad shot selection, IMO. They are taking good shots, just not falling.
- Mayo 3pt attempt blocked by James Southerland. Gotta love when your team is even blocking 3pt attempts regularly, lol.
- Really, really love how well our guards rebound. I mean, just think about this: our leading rebounder this game was our point guard, MCW, who had 8 rebounds! And our 2nd leading rebounder, Brandon Triche with 6 (tied for 2nd with Fair). Love it. What other team has their PG lead the team in rebounds in a game?
- SU could have had at least 6-8 more points in 1st half, but some good shots were just not falling. Thinking about a few MCW drives to hoop, a RAK shot from close in, a Triche shot close to the hoop, and a few others.
- Beautiful play by MCW to set-up Southerland perfectly behind his screen to get that 3pt shot right before the half. That was a huge shot by Southerland. Just huge.
- What was up with that Cooney mis-handle of the MCW pass right before halftime? Seemed like a normal pass...Cooney maybe just took his eyes off it? Thankfully it didn't hurt us.
- MCW abusing Vander Blue on offense (in 1st half, at least), seemingly blowing-by him on way to the rim whenever he likes. But again, a few bad bounces/rolls help Marquette limit the damage a bit.
- Also: Not all assists are equal in my mind. There is def a difference between simply being the player that swings the ball over to the shooter, who knocks down the shot...and then a situation where the passer has "created" a good situation for the receiver of the pass to score.
The reason I love watching MCW play so much has alot to due with this point. IMO, he is excellent at the second scenario. So many times he intentionally dribbles one way to draw defenders with him, creating an open player to pass the ball to. Or he will set up a 3pt shooter with the ball exactly where the shooter likes to shoot (or, screening so the shooter has open shot). In these situations, MCW should almost get the assist and 1 of the 2 points scored (since he pretty much "manufactured" those points). It's really beautiful to watch. Such "heads-up" basketball. Lately, he & CJ Fair have a good relationship going in this regard, thinking especially of the MCW bounce-pass between 2 defenders to Fair for the dunk/layup in 1st half.
- Davante Gardner's 1-handed rebound was incredible. That's a "man" play.
- Seeing our guards continue to be aggressive & drive the lane = me happy.
- Big 3pt shot from Triche in the 1st half.
- What great experience for a guy like Keita to be playing in big games like these. I thought he actually defended Jared Sullinger very well in last year's Tournament, making him catch ball far from basket & standing his ground, not letting Sully back him down. Except that Sully made the tough shots anyway. Nothing more you can really doin that instance. But Keita playing equally well defensively this year too.
- Great block by Christmas - He got way up there to get that ball. What ability that kid has.
- How many times have we watched opposing teams simply pass the ball around the perimiter on offense for 20 seconds, not getting anywhere? Fantastic defense.
- That rebound by Southerland and subsequent lazy pass to MCW still makes me mad, even re-watching it. Gotta have our seniors be more aware going forward.
- Followed-up by a Brandon Triche rebound & turnover, as Southerland bumps into him on way up court & ball is stolen. Wow. Just a terrible sequence of plays for (mainly) Southerland & Triche here, allowing Marquette to benefit from 2 (basically) unforced turnovers. Score was 25-21 at the time, and thankfully Marquette was unable to take advantage of either...not scoring on either possession. Can't have that going forward. Thankfully we have limited these mistakes lately.
- How awesome is it hearing the "Let's Go Orange" chants on TV? Pretty damn awesome. Our fans are the best.
- MCW defensive rebound, dribbles up court, nice pass to Triche as he's running to hoop, Triche lays it in (goaltend call)...beautiful sequence. Our guards getting it done right there.
- On of the more encouraging things to me about our chances going forward: We are dominating teams. And doing so without relying on something like Southerland nailing a bunch of threes, or even important guys like Triche & Fair shooting above their averages every game...or, really, anyone going off for some remarkable performance that will (most likely) not be repeated. So imagine if Southerland does get hot from outside, or Fair from inside/outside, etc. Still alot of room for better offensive results, which is encouraging.
- Everytime I see the replay of the Marquette player getting the offensive rebound off foul shot when we had 4 players there (to Marquette's 1 player) I still shake my head. Hate seeing that.
- Nothing more pretty than a MCW blow-by for layup. No, he isn't lightening quick...but he does manage to turn-the-corner (even if only by a half-step advantage on the defender) & then his length just makes it impossible for defender to guard after that.
- Great effort by Fair to save ball from out-of-bounds after he forced a steal, leading to Southerland jam. And also leading to a run for SU, leading to a big win.
- RAK with a big one-handed offensive rebound of his own, coming at a critical time, with little over 3 mins left.
- Love that teams can't even get quick shot attempts at the end of games lately. That's how good our defense is right now. Team's can't even get bad shots!
- Southerland may not have been red-hot in his 3pt shooting, but the ones he did hit were very timely.
- Triche goes to the line & hits 2 free throws under 2 mins. Good to see.
- MCW & Triche play catch for awhile on offense with a min left as crowd stands & cheers. Awesome scene.
- And then: MCW puts the icing on the cake with a Dion Waiters-esque step-back three pointer. Crowd loving it.
- Gardner trying to steal ball from Southerland with 5 seconds remaining of a blowout = douche.
- Wow, we really just held an Elite 8 team to 39 points in an entire game. Unreal.
- So sweet to watch our players enjoy the moment & celebrate with each other. Gotta be a great feeling, to see all your hard work pay off in such a way. Well deserved.
- Hilarious seeing DaJuan pretend to drop the trophy. Love that kid. Such a nice guy too if you ever meet him in person. So many likable kids on this team, even if it's not in as outgoing a way as a Scoop or Kris.
- When Verne Lundquist/Billy Packard (edit: mean Bill Raftery) were interviewing the team, they should have got them to do the "Cuse is in tha house, oh my gawd, oh my gawd" dance! That would have been hilarious.
- One of best parts of winning Elite 8 game & playing in Final Four is the coverage the team gets for the next week. Great for the program. Just really sucks when you have a good/great year, but lose in the Elite 8, and all of a sudden your year's over just like that, and everyone seemingly forgets about you & instead moves on to covering the Final Four teams. So glad to not have that happen again this year.
- To wrap-up, it's all about getting hot/playing your best basketball at the right time (end of year)...for as many times as it seems like SU peaks early in the season, this year's squad is peaking at exactly the right time. One more weekend of play, hope it continues. Thankfully, good defensive play is something that can absolutely carry-over from game-to-game.
