1. Spectacular work on the boards, especially on the defensive end. Florida missed a lot of shots--36 to be exact--and got the ball back only 5 times. If you're not going to get offensive rebounds, and you're not going to get to the line (Florida had exactly 2 free throws in the entire game), you beater hit a lot of shots, or you're going to get shut down. And it's hard to hit a ton of shots on us when we contest as much as we do. The Gators got some early, open 3s, but after that, nothing was easy for Florida. Great defensive effort.
2. In that regard, Charles Matthews completely shut down Florida's leading scorer, Kevaughn Allen, until we had a double digit lead. Florida pretty much shut down Iggy as well, but we have more weapons.
3. While we missed a lot of very makable shots, I thought we ran our offense, against both man and zone, as well as we have in a long time. We attacked the 1-2-2 3/4 court trap much better than we have. We moved the ball better--it didn't stick like it has at times. Florida is a very good defensive team, and for the most part, we got what we wanted.
4. JB showed a lot of confidence in Zavier Simpson. X got his third foul with almost 10 minutes left--I expected him to sit until the TV timeout, as he hadn't yet had a breather--but he kept playing. No "auto bench." I was glad to see him ride with X--I wouldn't necessarily have done the same with Iggy or Poole, but X knew how to do what he needed to do.
5. Eli Brooks. has had a resurgence over the last several games, and he was excellent today. Having him actually do plus things allows us to play Poole less minutes, which is a good thing for his consistency and focus. You watch guys transform their games and you realize that giving up on a Beilein player, at least the guys he's shown confidence in, and had as part of the regular rotation, is often a losing proposition,
6. Further to that point, I can't say enough good things about Jon Teske and X. After their freshman seasons, many were questioning the recruiting class of '16, and with some reason--we got very few contributions from anyone in the class that year, and, as it turned out, Ibi Watson and Austin Davis never gave us significant contributions. Jon and X though--fantastic development. Iggy, JP and Isaiah Livers supply the sizzle, but X, Big Jon and Charles are the backbone of this team.
7. Jordan Poole's stat line wasn't eye-popping--he had 19 points, but it took him 15 shots and 4 free throws to get there. However, he hit shots at crucial times, and played very well defensively.
8. When Livers plays with the energy he gave us in the second half and runs the floor in transition like he did, there's an extra dimension to our game.
9. On to Anaheim. Go Blue!
2. In that regard, Charles Matthews completely shut down Florida's leading scorer, Kevaughn Allen, until we had a double digit lead. Florida pretty much shut down Iggy as well, but we have more weapons.
3. While we missed a lot of very makable shots, I thought we ran our offense, against both man and zone, as well as we have in a long time. We attacked the 1-2-2 3/4 court trap much better than we have. We moved the ball better--it didn't stick like it has at times. Florida is a very good defensive team, and for the most part, we got what we wanted.
4. JB showed a lot of confidence in Zavier Simpson. X got his third foul with almost 10 minutes left--I expected him to sit until the TV timeout, as he hadn't yet had a breather--but he kept playing. No "auto bench." I was glad to see him ride with X--I wouldn't necessarily have done the same with Iggy or Poole, but X knew how to do what he needed to do.
5. Eli Brooks. has had a resurgence over the last several games, and he was excellent today. Having him actually do plus things allows us to play Poole less minutes, which is a good thing for his consistency and focus. You watch guys transform their games and you realize that giving up on a Beilein player, at least the guys he's shown confidence in, and had as part of the regular rotation, is often a losing proposition,
6. Further to that point, I can't say enough good things about Jon Teske and X. After their freshman seasons, many were questioning the recruiting class of '16, and with some reason--we got very few contributions from anyone in the class that year, and, as it turned out, Ibi Watson and Austin Davis never gave us significant contributions. Jon and X though--fantastic development. Iggy, JP and Isaiah Livers supply the sizzle, but X, Big Jon and Charles are the backbone of this team.
7. Jordan Poole's stat line wasn't eye-popping--he had 19 points, but it took him 15 shots and 4 free throws to get there. However, he hit shots at crucial times, and played very well defensively.
8. When Livers plays with the energy he gave us in the second half and runs the floor in transition like he did, there's an extra dimension to our game.
9. On to Anaheim. Go Blue!
