So much to dole out. I'll start here......
1. Good news, bad news.
The good news is that SHU has now won 9 games when trailing at the half. The bad news is that SHU has now won 9 games when trailing at the half.
Once again Willard commented in the post game how happy he was to be down by just (fill in the blank) points at intermission. That is a recipe for disaster in the Dance.
2. Why? Well at home at least blame it on the crowd. At least according to Kevin Willard who noted that the players want to get off to a quick start to appease the fans and are putting too much pressure on themselves.
3. The common refrain after the game was that Sandro's buzzer beater won the game. I beg to differ. 20-22 from the stripe won this game. That included 4 crucial foul shots, both trips coming off one and ones by Q.
4. Staying with that I asked Q about his improved free throw shooting this season (85.5%) and he said he personally lost multiple games in his 2 seasons at Sacred Heart because of poor performances at the charity stripe and then last season he didn't shoot much better (64.1%). He noted he was determined that wasn't going to happen again so he worked as hard on his foul shooting as he ever had before because he knew this season was going to be special and he didn't want to derail it by sacrificing free points.
5. Q2.
More responses from my one on one with McKnight.
A. My Knee? Don't even think about it any more. Feels fine.
B. Yeah, wasn't sure why I sat so much in the first half. After a while I was thinking on the bench that coach must have thought I had 2 fouls.
C. Yeah, I did foul Baldwin on that jumper at the shot clock buzzer. Caught his wrist.
D. The rest in both halves did help. But when I'm on the court you're going to get everything I have so it doesn't matter that much how long I'm not in the game.
6. Q3.
Did you ever see a show where there's a devil on one shoulder of a person an an angel on the other with opposing agendas?
Last night down the stretch....
The DEVIL
Missed two big layups.
Up three turned the ball over resulting in a 3 point tying play on the other end.
Bad alley oop turnover trying to get the ball to Gill
Fouled Baldwin on a shot clock buzzer beater as he was falling away taking a difficult shot.
The ANGEL
Big layup near the 4 minute mark.
Gigantic 3 with the game tied.
Hit consecutive one and ones in the last minute of the game.
Perfect lob pass with .6 seconds on the clock to Mamu while being guarded by a Butler big. But more than just the pass was the presence of mind to first fake a bounce pass in the opposite direction to get the big out of his face allowing the angle to make the pass to Sandro.
6. Q3.
Did you ever see a show where there's a devil on one shoulder of a person an an angel on the other with opposing agendas?
Last night down the stretch....
The DEVIL
Missed two big layups.
Up three turned the ball over resulting in a 3 point tying play on the other end.
Bad alley oop turnover trying to get the ball to Gill
Fouled Baldwin on a shot clock buzzer beater as he was falling away taking a difficult shot.
The ANGEL
Big layup near the 4 minute mark.
Gigantic 3 with the game tied.
Hit consecutive one and ones in the last minute of the game.
Perfect lob pass with .6 seconds on the clock to Mamu while being guarded by a Butler big. But more than just the pass was the presence of mind to first fake a bounce pass in the opposite direction to get the big out of his face allowing the angle to make the pass to Sandro.
7. Getting back to that play.
Halldan: Sandro, when was the last time you hit a buzzer beater.
Mamukelashvili: Wow, I guess back when I was in grammar school.
8. Even more on the buzzer beater. When asked Butler's LaVall Jordan noted in the timeout huddle that he told his team to watch out for Sandro to pick for Ro on an alley oop. But Willard set up a play where Ro was away form the basket clearing the middle and allowing Sandro to catch and shoot for the winner.
9. Powell and Q at odds?
You know what I think about that discussion but let me add this. Because the media initially surrounded Powell in the post game I got to him late and was able to sit at the table right next to him. Thus I heard this exchange. Q comes over and whispers in Powell's ear to tell everyone what he did. I'm sitting there wondering where this was going.
Powell then looks at the remaining reporters and says....during the timeout I went to the refs and told them to check the time on the replay. That's why they added .2 seconds on the clock.
This kid is more than just a BB player. He's got coaching chops for the distant future.
10. The next time Butler's Kamar Baldwin goes left will coincide with the next time coach K gets a bad whistle in Durham.
11. Rhoden had a difficult game opening the door for Willard to insert Cale into the lineup down the stretch. Why? Well let Kevin Willard explain.......
“I needed Myles Cale on the floor. I needed Myles Cale, I just needed him on the floor. This was a game where Jared’s been playing great, but he’s a sophomore. I thought they did a really good job of getting after Jared a little bit early and making it hard for him. I needed Myles Cale’s presence on the floor, defensively, offensively. It’s just what I needed. It goes with everybody, but he’s one of those guys when he’s on the floor, his box scores don’t show everything he does. He’s playing those minutes because he does everything right. He’s a guy that when he’s on the floor, he’s always in the right position, he’s doing the right play, he’s always making the right decision and when you have a guy like that on the floor, he complements Myles at times unbelievably well.”
12. Coach, work the ball inside! Coach, please work the ball inside!
My thoughts? Well maybe, but I have no doubt that Gill and Sandro agreed. And really so did Willard as he noted that was what he told the team at the halftime break.
13. Did I read this correctly? Second chance points. Butler 7. SHU 15.
14. Why? Maybe because Willard was so upset with his players that he spend an hour on rebounding and box out drills this past Monday in practice.
15. I am a strong advocate of fouling late up 3. But I'm still scratching my head that KW wanted his players to do that with so much time left on the clock.
Didn't matter as for some reason both Powell and Q were guarding the dribbler as he neared the halfcourt line allowing McDermott to flash to the top of the key unguarded for the game timing 3.
Bad execution and IMO also bad strategy.
16. Did Butler take one attempt in the half court offense in the game before the one second mark remained on the shot clock? Well maybe that's an exaggeration, but just a small one.
17. Absolutely loved what Butler did to end the first half. Thompson was racing up-court at the 1 minute mark and all of a sudden stopped and backed off. Why? To set up a 2 for 1 opportunity for his team. Great awareness and obviously great coaching by Jordan.
18. Staying with Jordan. That was as gut wrenching a loss as imaginable for the skidding Bulldogs. But I have yet to see a classier opposing coach in the post game presser handle media question.
If I didn't know better I would have thought that Butler had just won a tournament game, not lost a near must win. Jordan had to be sick to his stomach, but there wasn't one second that he showed it. Any wonder why his team plays so disciplined and composed?
19. 6 man rotation? Yeah that came directly from Willard, but there wasn't a chance in hell we were going to see that. Coach speak at its finest.
20. No TT again as word is he's suffering from the flu, but it was nice to see Brodie (in street clothes) on the bench.
21. The legend grow. Custer 25 - 0. Season complete.
22. Firm believer that when you're playing poorly you badly need THAT WIN to right the (Pirate) ship. That happened last night.
Red Storm beware.
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
1. Good news, bad news.
The good news is that SHU has now won 9 games when trailing at the half. The bad news is that SHU has now won 9 games when trailing at the half.
Once again Willard commented in the post game how happy he was to be down by just (fill in the blank) points at intermission. That is a recipe for disaster in the Dance.
2. Why? Well at home at least blame it on the crowd. At least according to Kevin Willard who noted that the players want to get off to a quick start to appease the fans and are putting too much pressure on themselves.
3. The common refrain after the game was that Sandro's buzzer beater won the game. I beg to differ. 20-22 from the stripe won this game. That included 4 crucial foul shots, both trips coming off one and ones by Q.
4. Staying with that I asked Q about his improved free throw shooting this season (85.5%) and he said he personally lost multiple games in his 2 seasons at Sacred Heart because of poor performances at the charity stripe and then last season he didn't shoot much better (64.1%). He noted he was determined that wasn't going to happen again so he worked as hard on his foul shooting as he ever had before because he knew this season was going to be special and he didn't want to derail it by sacrificing free points.
5. Q2.
More responses from my one on one with McKnight.
A. My Knee? Don't even think about it any more. Feels fine.
B. Yeah, wasn't sure why I sat so much in the first half. After a while I was thinking on the bench that coach must have thought I had 2 fouls.
C. Yeah, I did foul Baldwin on that jumper at the shot clock buzzer. Caught his wrist.
D. The rest in both halves did help. But when I'm on the court you're going to get everything I have so it doesn't matter that much how long I'm not in the game.
6. Q3.
Did you ever see a show where there's a devil on one shoulder of a person an an angel on the other with opposing agendas?
Last night down the stretch....
The DEVIL
Missed two big layups.
Up three turned the ball over resulting in a 3 point tying play on the other end.
Bad alley oop turnover trying to get the ball to Gill
Fouled Baldwin on a shot clock buzzer beater as he was falling away taking a difficult shot.
The ANGEL
Big layup near the 4 minute mark.
Gigantic 3 with the game tied.
Hit consecutive one and ones in the last minute of the game.
Perfect lob pass with .6 seconds on the clock to Mamu while being guarded by a Butler big. But more than just the pass was the presence of mind to first fake a bounce pass in the opposite direction to get the big out of his face allowing the angle to make the pass to Sandro.
6. Q3.
Did you ever see a show where there's a devil on one shoulder of a person an an angel on the other with opposing agendas?
Last night down the stretch....
The DEVIL
Missed two big layups.
Up three turned the ball over resulting in a 3 point tying play on the other end.
Bad alley oop turnover trying to get the ball to Gill
Fouled Baldwin on a shot clock buzzer beater as he was falling away taking a difficult shot.
The ANGEL
Big layup near the 4 minute mark.
Gigantic 3 with the game tied.
Hit consecutive one and ones in the last minute of the game.
Perfect lob pass with .6 seconds on the clock to Mamu while being guarded by a Butler big. But more than just the pass was the presence of mind to first fake a bounce pass in the opposite direction to get the big out of his face allowing the angle to make the pass to Sandro.
7. Getting back to that play.
Halldan: Sandro, when was the last time you hit a buzzer beater.
Mamukelashvili: Wow, I guess back when I was in grammar school.
8. Even more on the buzzer beater. When asked Butler's LaVall Jordan noted in the timeout huddle that he told his team to watch out for Sandro to pick for Ro on an alley oop. But Willard set up a play where Ro was away form the basket clearing the middle and allowing Sandro to catch and shoot for the winner.
9. Powell and Q at odds?
You know what I think about that discussion but let me add this. Because the media initially surrounded Powell in the post game I got to him late and was able to sit at the table right next to him. Thus I heard this exchange. Q comes over and whispers in Powell's ear to tell everyone what he did. I'm sitting there wondering where this was going.
Powell then looks at the remaining reporters and says....during the timeout I went to the refs and told them to check the time on the replay. That's why they added .2 seconds on the clock.
This kid is more than just a BB player. He's got coaching chops for the distant future.
10. The next time Butler's Kamar Baldwin goes left will coincide with the next time coach K gets a bad whistle in Durham.
11. Rhoden had a difficult game opening the door for Willard to insert Cale into the lineup down the stretch. Why? Well let Kevin Willard explain.......
“I needed Myles Cale on the floor. I needed Myles Cale, I just needed him on the floor. This was a game where Jared’s been playing great, but he’s a sophomore. I thought they did a really good job of getting after Jared a little bit early and making it hard for him. I needed Myles Cale’s presence on the floor, defensively, offensively. It’s just what I needed. It goes with everybody, but he’s one of those guys when he’s on the floor, his box scores don’t show everything he does. He’s playing those minutes because he does everything right. He’s a guy that when he’s on the floor, he’s always in the right position, he’s doing the right play, he’s always making the right decision and when you have a guy like that on the floor, he complements Myles at times unbelievably well.”
12. Coach, work the ball inside! Coach, please work the ball inside!
My thoughts? Well maybe, but I have no doubt that Gill and Sandro agreed. And really so did Willard as he noted that was what he told the team at the halftime break.
13. Did I read this correctly? Second chance points. Butler 7. SHU 15.
14. Why? Maybe because Willard was so upset with his players that he spend an hour on rebounding and box out drills this past Monday in practice.
15. I am a strong advocate of fouling late up 3. But I'm still scratching my head that KW wanted his players to do that with so much time left on the clock.
Didn't matter as for some reason both Powell and Q were guarding the dribbler as he neared the halfcourt line allowing McDermott to flash to the top of the key unguarded for the game timing 3.
Bad execution and IMO also bad strategy.
16. Did Butler take one attempt in the half court offense in the game before the one second mark remained on the shot clock? Well maybe that's an exaggeration, but just a small one.
17. Absolutely loved what Butler did to end the first half. Thompson was racing up-court at the 1 minute mark and all of a sudden stopped and backed off. Why? To set up a 2 for 1 opportunity for his team. Great awareness and obviously great coaching by Jordan.
18. Staying with Jordan. That was as gut wrenching a loss as imaginable for the skidding Bulldogs. But I have yet to see a classier opposing coach in the post game presser handle media question.
If I didn't know better I would have thought that Butler had just won a tournament game, not lost a near must win. Jordan had to be sick to his stomach, but there wasn't one second that he showed it. Any wonder why his team plays so disciplined and composed?
19. 6 man rotation? Yeah that came directly from Willard, but there wasn't a chance in hell we were going to see that. Coach speak at its finest.
20. No TT again as word is he's suffering from the flu, but it was nice to see Brodie (in street clothes) on the bench.
21. The legend grow. Custer 25 - 0. Season complete.
22. Firm believer that when you're playing poorly you badly need THAT WIN to right the (Pirate) ship. That happened last night.
Red Storm beware.
https://setonhall.rivals.com/
