SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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- We are likely to read the paper on Monday and find a Division 1 college basketball poll that says “#1 - Syracuse”. It doesn’t have a lot of meaning, (We're Syracuse- been there, done that), but it makes for a nice newspaper clipping.
- If we can get by North Carolina State next Saturday, (see “The Downside”), we’re liable to be looking at polls like that for a month, at least. And we’ll be the first college basketball highlight on “Sports Center” when we play. It can’t hurt the recruiting.
- One of the things you can say to describe this team is that Dion Waiters doesn’t even start. All he did in 21 minutes of play in this game is to score 19 points, grab 5 rebounds, steal the ball 6 times and dish out 3 assists. He also had a series of “Sports Center” dunks we’ll be seeing for a week. On one he flew to from the left side of the basket to the right to avoid a defender and reached back for a two-handed slam. On another a defender tried to jump into him and got T-bagged. He played with the crowd on a break-away and laid it in softly. (He may have been playing with the coach, too, from JB’s post game comments about not caring about dunk contests). But his most impressive play was an alley-oop in which he got screened from the basket by a leaping defender and just caught the ball and kissed it off the glass. It’s not about hang time, (ask Galileo). It’s about having the co-ordination and presence of mind to leap with one thing in mind, then change your mind and do something else instead and do it easily.
- That first dunk is probably the one you’ll see the most on the highlight reels but there are two things about that play you may not see or notice I found especially pleasing. When the ball was loose. Michael Carter Williams didn’t reach down for it or try to dribble it. He dived to the floor, secured position and the looked for a teammate to get it to. That’s how you win the battle for loose balls. We’ve had guys who played here for four years and never dived for a loose ball- and never got one. MCW had played 10 games and he understands how to get the ball. I was jumping up and down after Waiter’s dunk. When I settled back into the seat, I noticed Dion was already in defensive position at the top of the zone. In fact he was signaling the defense to his teammates. He let the fans do the celebrating. He was ready for the next play.
- It’s fun to watch players mature over their careers here. It’s even more fun when you watch them mature from game to game. Michael Carter-Williams “gets it”. He had 8 assists and no turnovers in 18 minutes of play. He not only knows what he should be doing, (see above), but he knows what everybody else on the court is doing, too. He passed the ball 20 feet from his position on the floor to get it back to Dion for his amazing dunk. He had that 40 foot pass to Triche for a lay-up vs. Marshall. And it isn’t even Christmas.
- Fab Melo showed a back-to-the-basket move for the first time. He didn’t score but he got to the rebound and put it in. He also had a quick baseline move with the same result. Like Waiters and Carter-Williams, his development is on fast forward.
- Kris Joseph shot poorly, (2 for 10) but played a great floor game with 8 rebounds, two steals and a block. And he got to the line for four foul shots and made them all.
- CJ Fair still didn’t rebound as well as he had been doing (3 on 19 minutes), but he shot the ball well and scored 8 points. I like that he showed a medium-range jumper. I don’t care about three pointers. If you’re open, shoot it and make the defense guard you.
- Our defense was again overwhelming, forcing 18 turnovers, including 11 steals, (6 by Waiters, who has the quickest hands I’ve ever seen), and making GW miss 28 of 44 shots- and they were forced as we were in the Colonial’s face all the time. I think they were glad when it was over.
- If we can get by North Carolina State next Saturday, (see “The Downside”), we’re liable to be looking at polls like that for a month, at least. And we’ll be the first college basketball highlight on “Sports Center” when we play. It can’t hurt the recruiting.
- One of the things you can say to describe this team is that Dion Waiters doesn’t even start. All he did in 21 minutes of play in this game is to score 19 points, grab 5 rebounds, steal the ball 6 times and dish out 3 assists. He also had a series of “Sports Center” dunks we’ll be seeing for a week. On one he flew to from the left side of the basket to the right to avoid a defender and reached back for a two-handed slam. On another a defender tried to jump into him and got T-bagged. He played with the crowd on a break-away and laid it in softly. (He may have been playing with the coach, too, from JB’s post game comments about not caring about dunk contests). But his most impressive play was an alley-oop in which he got screened from the basket by a leaping defender and just caught the ball and kissed it off the glass. It’s not about hang time, (ask Galileo). It’s about having the co-ordination and presence of mind to leap with one thing in mind, then change your mind and do something else instead and do it easily.
- That first dunk is probably the one you’ll see the most on the highlight reels but there are two things about that play you may not see or notice I found especially pleasing. When the ball was loose. Michael Carter Williams didn’t reach down for it or try to dribble it. He dived to the floor, secured position and the looked for a teammate to get it to. That’s how you win the battle for loose balls. We’ve had guys who played here for four years and never dived for a loose ball- and never got one. MCW had played 10 games and he understands how to get the ball. I was jumping up and down after Waiter’s dunk. When I settled back into the seat, I noticed Dion was already in defensive position at the top of the zone. In fact he was signaling the defense to his teammates. He let the fans do the celebrating. He was ready for the next play.
- It’s fun to watch players mature over their careers here. It’s even more fun when you watch them mature from game to game. Michael Carter-Williams “gets it”. He had 8 assists and no turnovers in 18 minutes of play. He not only knows what he should be doing, (see above), but he knows what everybody else on the court is doing, too. He passed the ball 20 feet from his position on the floor to get it back to Dion for his amazing dunk. He had that 40 foot pass to Triche for a lay-up vs. Marshall. And it isn’t even Christmas.
- Fab Melo showed a back-to-the-basket move for the first time. He didn’t score but he got to the rebound and put it in. He also had a quick baseline move with the same result. Like Waiters and Carter-Williams, his development is on fast forward.
- Kris Joseph shot poorly, (2 for 10) but played a great floor game with 8 rebounds, two steals and a block. And he got to the line for four foul shots and made them all.
- CJ Fair still didn’t rebound as well as he had been doing (3 on 19 minutes), but he shot the ball well and scored 8 points. I like that he showed a medium-range jumper. I don’t care about three pointers. If you’re open, shoot it and make the defense guard you.
- Our defense was again overwhelming, forcing 18 turnovers, including 11 steals, (6 by Waiters, who has the quickest hands I’ve ever seen), and making GW miss 28 of 44 shots- and they were forced as we were in the Colonial’s face all the time. I think they were glad when it was over.
