LAST NIGHTS GAME:
our most complete game next to the vermont game. tied for fastest tempo all year
on offense- really good job not turning it over. every thing else was efficient except for not drawing fouls (not sure why we arent getting them called but guards gotta slash more, we're getting better)
on defense- we are at our best when we are cleaning up the boards. everything else falls into place. insanely good at not giving assists/easy buckets. we are still struggling at forcing turnovers but our style of play = force it in the paint, make them make shots over johni/dylan/chaney. even tho it was a foul fest we held UNC under their typical freethrow rate which is crazy.
insanely good job on their guards. just look at davis/cadeau/tremble offensive rating. 120 is typicall "good" and we held them to average/below average. one of the best trios we'll see all year (up there with the memphis guys we'll see soon)
on offense. outstanding from broome/chaney/cbm/kelly. cmo gave us good efficient minutes. petti + cardwell were good. denver struggled on offense mainly cause he wasnt getting foul calls under the basket, everything else was fine
on pegues- he has 2 types of possessions on offense = 1.) get to the halfway line and turn his back to the basket + pick up dribble 2.) hand it to cbm and let him iso/pretty much hands duties off to cbm. if you dont get the ball movng at point in our system, you wont get it back and we stall. he had 1 good play where we got a pindown screen for chaney under the basket and he found him for an easy basket. our offense works when their defense isnt set + having to chase around. hes playing too slow and letting them set + hes hesitant to shoot. until he fixes it we might have to bench him vs duke and work im back in later. he just stops our flow and is scared to push pace
MEMPHIS IN THE FINALS
on offense
strengths- they go fast, shoot 3s effectively (but not frequenty) and they draw fouls. a lot like UNC guards but maybe turn it over more on offense
weaknesses- getting blocked at the rim, inefficient from 2, turnovers
so we should be chasing them off the 3pt line and forcing them inside. just dont get into foul trouble in the paint
on defense
strengths- force bad shots, force turnoveres
weaknesses- they foul a lot, theyre not great on the boards, dont guard the 3point line well (probably due to lack of length in the back court)
the players
haggerty is probably the best player we've faced all season (and then we get flagg next week). him vs denver will be a fun matchup to watch. if he can guard haggerty like he did rj davis, it would help us a lot
the backcourt of haggerty/hunter/rogers is really good. all of them 3 point snipers. haggerty very good at attacking the rim. main weakness is turnovers (which is something we havent been great at)
their frontcourt is very aggresive and foul prone
dainja vs johni will be a very fun matchup. dainja was really good in postseason play for illinois. he can take it up to another level.
id really like our guards to take it at their bigs and get them in foul trouble early. our advantage is down low in multiple ways. their frontcourt is very talented and physical, will be tougher for johni to take over this one imo
1 other thing that might help us. memphis is last in bench minutes. we'll get to see if the "bench strategy/fresh legs" really comes into play here. they really only play 7-8 guys and dont rotate much. fouls definately could be a factor if we can draw them
HOW GOOD IS THIS START
look at the "q1a" column. we are 3-0 and those 3 wins will stick all season (its top 15 home, top 25 neutral, top 50 away). projected 9-4 is insane if that holds
last season, pre ncaa tournament
there were 32 teams with 3 q1a wins, 4 didnt make the tourny. there were 12 teams with 5 q1a wins. only 2 didnt make the sweet 16
most q1a games played last year (includes tourny games) 1. uconn 14 (12-2) 2. purdue 14 (12-2) a handful of teams at 12 played best being tennessee 12 (7-5). bamas final four team played 12 (3-9) and ncstate final four team played 12 (5-7)
we've already matched the # of q1a wins bama had all of last year...
we got 3 wins and about 10 more of these things to go (maybe another against memphis as theyre right on the bubble) so long path ahead but an insanely good start
ill be off the computer for a while today, gotta go cook some THANKSGIVING STUFF 🤌
@Russ47 @fntiger @AUgncEngineer @Boisgreat @Bob Mapplethorpe @bprockman_100 @stutsman23 @Big Blue @gatorz1209
