SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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- Down 7-25, we scored 20 unanswered points against the #8 tam in the country. Actually, after the -18 start, the rest of the game was 71-37 in favor of our guys. I recall that after the national championship season, CTO asked the board when each of us realized that that team was a potential national champion. I replied that it was when we had a 54-13 run vs. Georgia Tech. That was a popular answer. We might be asked the same question at the end of this year. And my answer would be the 71-37 stretch over Villanova.
- Matt Park, at one point in that run said that Villanova had “Ennis Envy”. And they have one! After the game Matt and Jim Satalin named him the game MVP afterward and said “who else?” He had 20 points,. 4 rebounds and strangely only 2 assists, (I realize we were going to the basket a lot but 2 assists?). But his big stat was 0 turnovers- none- in 37 minutes against Villanova’s aggressive pressure.
- But it was Trevor Cooney that sparked the comeback. He hit a trey to make it 10-25, and another to make it 20-25. We took the lead at 27-25. Nova tied it and Cooney nailed another to give us a lead we never surrendered. He also made a big three in the second half after the Wildcat had closed to 56-53 to start the run that clinched the game. His shooting also keyed the big run vs. High Point. He’s made exactly 5 treys in six of the last eight games. On the season he’s shooting and astonishing 41 of 81, (.506). And he makes then when they count. His presence also opens up the lanes Ennis likes to drive.
- We made 29 of 35 free throws. Even Jeremy Grant got into the act, sinking 7 for 8, including four in a row sandwiched around a d Nova three pointer that allowed us to go from 62-56 to 66-59 with 3:15 to go.
- CJ Fair battled double teams the whole game to score 17 points and pull down 6 rebounds.
- Nova came in +7 per game on the boards and forcing 18 turnovers a game. We were +5 in the boards and had only 12 turnovers to their 14.
- Villanova made their first 4 three pointers and were 6 for 27 the rest of the game, (22%). We helped them miss.
- The most interesting segment of the game came 6:17 into the game when Jim Boeheim began making a series of seemingly strange substitutions with his team down 5-16. It would seem to be a crisis point but in came the disappointing Tyler Roberson and the offensively challenge Michael Gbinije. Out came CJ Fair and Tyler Ennis. Out came defensive ace Baye Keita. In came the ineffectual DaJuan Coleman. Trevor Cooney came out for a brief time. Don’t you want your key players in there when the ship is sinking? Jim arranged these guys next to each other on the bench and walked up and down talking to them. I couldn’t tell what he was saying from the third deck but I did not get the impression that he was venting frustration or making an inspirational speech. He seemed to be simp0ly explaining what he wanted them to do. He wanted all his key people on the bench to get them all on the same page and get whatever adjustments he needed to make done. The top guys went back in and we started to shred their pressure defense and shut down their three point game. The comeback was more than a question of intensity. It was a chess match between JB and Jay Wright and our guy won. He’s not in the Hall of Fame for nothing.
12-0 with 21+ to go
Let’s Go Orange!
- Matt Park, at one point in that run said that Villanova had “Ennis Envy”. And they have one! After the game Matt and Jim Satalin named him the game MVP afterward and said “who else?” He had 20 points,. 4 rebounds and strangely only 2 assists, (I realize we were going to the basket a lot but 2 assists?). But his big stat was 0 turnovers- none- in 37 minutes against Villanova’s aggressive pressure.
- But it was Trevor Cooney that sparked the comeback. He hit a trey to make it 10-25, and another to make it 20-25. We took the lead at 27-25. Nova tied it and Cooney nailed another to give us a lead we never surrendered. He also made a big three in the second half after the Wildcat had closed to 56-53 to start the run that clinched the game. His shooting also keyed the big run vs. High Point. He’s made exactly 5 treys in six of the last eight games. On the season he’s shooting and astonishing 41 of 81, (.506). And he makes then when they count. His presence also opens up the lanes Ennis likes to drive.
- We made 29 of 35 free throws. Even Jeremy Grant got into the act, sinking 7 for 8, including four in a row sandwiched around a d Nova three pointer that allowed us to go from 62-56 to 66-59 with 3:15 to go.
- CJ Fair battled double teams the whole game to score 17 points and pull down 6 rebounds.
- Nova came in +7 per game on the boards and forcing 18 turnovers a game. We were +5 in the boards and had only 12 turnovers to their 14.
- Villanova made their first 4 three pointers and were 6 for 27 the rest of the game, (22%). We helped them miss.
- The most interesting segment of the game came 6:17 into the game when Jim Boeheim began making a series of seemingly strange substitutions with his team down 5-16. It would seem to be a crisis point but in came the disappointing Tyler Roberson and the offensively challenge Michael Gbinije. Out came CJ Fair and Tyler Ennis. Out came defensive ace Baye Keita. In came the ineffectual DaJuan Coleman. Trevor Cooney came out for a brief time. Don’t you want your key players in there when the ship is sinking? Jim arranged these guys next to each other on the bench and walked up and down talking to them. I couldn’t tell what he was saying from the third deck but I did not get the impression that he was venting frustration or making an inspirational speech. He seemed to be simp0ly explaining what he wanted them to do. He wanted all his key people on the bench to get them all on the same page and get whatever adjustments he needed to make done. The top guys went back in and we started to shred their pressure defense and shut down their three point game. The comeback was more than a question of intensity. It was a chess match between JB and Jay Wright and our guy won. He’s not in the Hall of Fame for nothing.
12-0 with 21+ to go
Let’s Go Orange!
