Nice job by Willard and the team. Very good win.
Was a pretty physical game and a very streaky one. You saw the good in us and the bad. A great burst in the second half when the team came out with a much improved level of tenacity. Obviously didn't like the near-collapse, but we responded well and fought hard.
Good character-building win, I hope.
This was a good win and a solid second half to build on. Some positives, and some cause for concern.
Positives:
- Ish can guard multiple positions and is emerging as one of our best defenders. He is logging excellent rebounding numbers and may be among the top 7 rebounders in the BE so far. Needs to develop a mid-range jumper and needs to shore up free throw shooting.
- Whitehead played with an intensity at both ends of the floor, which was one of the reasons we won this game. If we had better shooters, he would have had a few assists. Limited turnovers by the guards is a great sign.
- Carrington attacks the basket with a kamikaze-like intensity, but he also looks like he is getting more confident shooting from long range. He's typically an excellent free throw shooter but only shot 50 percent against Georgia. He plays so hard and attacks the basket so much, may have been tired. Needs a little more rest or Willard needs to draw up some better offensive plays so our guards don't have to work so hard on offense.
Delgado woke up in the second half - let's hope he brings the same intensity for two halves next game.
Desi looks comfortable - though he committed some silly fouls so far from the basket that limited his playing time. Need to call a few more plays for Desi. He's good in isolation - reminds me of Adrian Griffin - something good happens when he has the ball and he's a decent foul shooter.
Willard: Motivated the team to play much better defense in the second half.
Negatives:
Defense: First half was awful - Georgia shot 56 percent and got open shots throughout the paint. One of their forwards had a career game. One of their starting forwards was injured.
Outside shooting: 30 percent from 3 isn't going to get it done in Big East play. If a few more players can't find range from 3, we need one of the forwards or Anderson to step up with an inside the arc game - it's got to be Ish or Anderson - we can't survive with Whitehead and Carrington just driving into the zone to draw contact and get to the line. Either they will wear out or be so predictable and easy to defend. Singh needs to mature quickly as an outside shooter.
Movement without the ball: We will see loads of zone this year. The team needs to move without the ball and find gaps in the zone to get some easy shots. We work too hard on offense - kids often resort to desperation drives. We are not going to bust zones with our outstanding 3-point shooting - at least not yet. The good teams find easy ways to score at least some of the time.
