OK, basketball IQ? Not so much. We did not look prepared for the zone. Smith getting two early foiled didn't help, and it exposed a weakness in that Zeb is not ready to play significant minutes, especially at PG. He was no threat to score from outside and his on ball defense was bad. That long stretch in the first half hurt.
But I'm not blaming Zeb. Franz was really out of it for most of the game. So many bad turnovers, so sloppy, still ice cold from outside, forcing his drives into the zone. Late in the game and OT, he played some fine defense, which we sorely needed. Brown came back down to earth on his shooting and had some mental errors. His help D that left a shooter open was highlighted. His attempt to one on three with a two point lead late in the game was not smart. I like the looks of his threes so I wouldn't discourage him from taking them after one bad night.
I didn't like Davis tonight either. His inability to finish against much smaller guys was frustrating to watch. I expected more on the offensive glass, too. BTW, did Oakland get every loose ball? I have to give some credit to Oakland at this point. Smaller but quicker and determined almost won out. Moore is impressive. I think he ran out of gas late in the game and OT. We did more switching in the second half and that wore him down.
Williams had a nice little run in the second half to get us going. A couple of put backs, and he worked well with Dickinson, his old AAU teammate. 1-5 on FTs, but he got to the line by being active around the basket. That hook and hold double foul call was creative by the refs. Johns was solid at both ends while he was in there, too. We're stocked at the 4.
Dickinson obviously saved our bacon tonight. Yes, he had a size advantage, but he capitalizes on it big time. Normally, you don't get paint points against a zone, but, if you're going to press the shooters, there will be room for a good big like Dickinson to operate. He didn't dink around, just went right to the hoop. He'll also hit cutters, as he did with Livers, and kick it out. We obliged Oakland with cold outside shooting and a raft of turnovers, but they had no answer for Dickinson. Livers is our most consistent guy on threes, and he is a good on ball defender. Not sure what passed off Juwan when he got into it with Livers, but I was actually glad to see some fire.
I like Robbie Hummel's commentary. Gotta be weird not actually being at the venue.
While we sputtered tonight, one thing that you hope for is to get different looks from your non-conference opponents. I feel that we learned more from this kind of game than from a 30 point blow out.
But I'm not blaming Zeb. Franz was really out of it for most of the game. So many bad turnovers, so sloppy, still ice cold from outside, forcing his drives into the zone. Late in the game and OT, he played some fine defense, which we sorely needed. Brown came back down to earth on his shooting and had some mental errors. His help D that left a shooter open was highlighted. His attempt to one on three with a two point lead late in the game was not smart. I like the looks of his threes so I wouldn't discourage him from taking them after one bad night.
I didn't like Davis tonight either. His inability to finish against much smaller guys was frustrating to watch. I expected more on the offensive glass, too. BTW, did Oakland get every loose ball? I have to give some credit to Oakland at this point. Smaller but quicker and determined almost won out. Moore is impressive. I think he ran out of gas late in the game and OT. We did more switching in the second half and that wore him down.
Williams had a nice little run in the second half to get us going. A couple of put backs, and he worked well with Dickinson, his old AAU teammate. 1-5 on FTs, but he got to the line by being active around the basket. That hook and hold double foul call was creative by the refs. Johns was solid at both ends while he was in there, too. We're stocked at the 4.
Dickinson obviously saved our bacon tonight. Yes, he had a size advantage, but he capitalizes on it big time. Normally, you don't get paint points against a zone, but, if you're going to press the shooters, there will be room for a good big like Dickinson to operate. He didn't dink around, just went right to the hoop. He'll also hit cutters, as he did with Livers, and kick it out. We obliged Oakland with cold outside shooting and a raft of turnovers, but they had no answer for Dickinson. Livers is our most consistent guy on threes, and he is a good on ball defender. Not sure what passed off Juwan when he got into it with Livers, but I was actually glad to see some fire.
I like Robbie Hummel's commentary. Gotta be weird not actually being at the venue.
While we sputtered tonight, one thing that you hope for is to get different looks from your non-conference opponents. I feel that we learned more from this kind of game than from a 30 point blow out.
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