Thought that we didn't get a good whistle most of the game, e.g. Smith should have had an and one at the end of the first half, but make the correct no call on Eli guarding Cessoms at the end was one they could have bailed him out on. Phew.
I thought that we D'ed up well but for short stretches, didn't shut down their shooters, missed a few switches, etc., but overall we made it tougher for them to do what they like to do and made some critical stops along the way. I was disappointed in the offensive rebounds that we gave up; did a poor job of blocking out their guards.
Dickinson came up big, excuse the pun. Nice to have that when the offense struggles to make shots, and 15 or so turnovers could have been a killer. One thing that has improved immensely since last season is free throw shooting as a team. Williams' two misses in the last minute were bad, but he never should have had the ball. We have to be more aware of time and situation. Fortunately, they had to foul Livers at the end and he put them away.
We had other occasions where we lost sight of game situation. Up six, Smith took an unnecessary mid range pull up with time on the shot clock, then Franz jacked up a long three sort of as a trailer in transition. We should have been trying to work it in to Dickinson, who had a 90% chance of scoring or getting fouled. He did miss badly on a drop step to his right, his off hand, but he somehow gets to where he wants to go almost every time. Dickinson tired late in the game. I though it was a good move to go small with Williams on defense once we had the lead in the last couple minutes. Their big is not a threat, but you have to stay with the guards and wings. I might have gone to Johns instead. He can block a shot and rebound and is a solid free throw shooter.
PSU gets credit for their defense on Livers. He did not get clean looks. If you make him shoot on the move, his percentage goes down. He had one good look from the corner, but he was moving to the spot and was fading just a bit left on the release. Enough to miss. He was still locked in at the line. Franz's story was similar although he missed a couple of squared up threes. He also is locked in at the line. Our three wings, including Brown, were really good defensively except for being a little overaggressive, fouling shooters. Eli, too. He barely fouled Dread on the three. But he brought his arm down and grazed him just after the release. I'm sure that the coaches hammered on contesting the three point shots. Just have to play smart.
We won this game on inside scoring, free throw shooting and defense. That's not been our winning formula in past seasons. To my eye, PSU is a good, guard oriented team. If you allow them to get on a roll shooting threes, they will beat you. Our offense outside of Dickinson was sloppy and pedestrian. Eli had a tough game offensively and with his floor game. Smith was so so. Livers and Franz were held in check. Brown didn't have many looks. So I'm thankful that we did enough else well to avoid the upset.
I thought that we D'ed up well but for short stretches, didn't shut down their shooters, missed a few switches, etc., but overall we made it tougher for them to do what they like to do and made some critical stops along the way. I was disappointed in the offensive rebounds that we gave up; did a poor job of blocking out their guards.
Dickinson came up big, excuse the pun. Nice to have that when the offense struggles to make shots, and 15 or so turnovers could have been a killer. One thing that has improved immensely since last season is free throw shooting as a team. Williams' two misses in the last minute were bad, but he never should have had the ball. We have to be more aware of time and situation. Fortunately, they had to foul Livers at the end and he put them away.
We had other occasions where we lost sight of game situation. Up six, Smith took an unnecessary mid range pull up with time on the shot clock, then Franz jacked up a long three sort of as a trailer in transition. We should have been trying to work it in to Dickinson, who had a 90% chance of scoring or getting fouled. He did miss badly on a drop step to his right, his off hand, but he somehow gets to where he wants to go almost every time. Dickinson tired late in the game. I though it was a good move to go small with Williams on defense once we had the lead in the last couple minutes. Their big is not a threat, but you have to stay with the guards and wings. I might have gone to Johns instead. He can block a shot and rebound and is a solid free throw shooter.
PSU gets credit for their defense on Livers. He did not get clean looks. If you make him shoot on the move, his percentage goes down. He had one good look from the corner, but he was moving to the spot and was fading just a bit left on the release. Enough to miss. He was still locked in at the line. Franz's story was similar although he missed a couple of squared up threes. He also is locked in at the line. Our three wings, including Brown, were really good defensively except for being a little overaggressive, fouling shooters. Eli, too. He barely fouled Dread on the three. But he brought his arm down and grazed him just after the release. I'm sure that the coaches hammered on contesting the three point shots. Just have to play smart.
We won this game on inside scoring, free throw shooting and defense. That's not been our winning formula in past seasons. To my eye, PSU is a good, guard oriented team. If you allow them to get on a roll shooting threes, they will beat you. Our offense outside of Dickinson was sloppy and pedestrian. Eli had a tough game offensively and with his floor game. Smith was so so. Livers and Franz were held in check. Brown didn't have many looks. So I'm thankful that we did enough else well to avoid the upset.
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