Some of what I saw Saturday at the charity game....
* Let's get Richmond out of the way first.
No platitudes I can mention here would do justice to what I saw yesterday. Forget the stat line, and yes I understand the competition. But you seldom see a player at this level dominate a game the way Richmond dominated Saturday.
He could have scored most every time he had the ball, but instead he was focused on running the offense and getting his teammates involved. Sure he had 6 assists. Each and every one leading to an easy basket. But he also dropped dimes that were not converted. And quickly passed upcourt after misses by NJIT that led to easy baskets after a second pass by a teammate.
I really like his stat line. But what impressed me the most was his command. Never once did he look out of control. And the icing on the cake came after the final buzzer when a very low key Grant Billmeier said something like this in the post game....Kooks is one of the nicest kids I have ever met.
Nuff said
* What happens when one team doesn't respect the other? Well that's easy..... a 25 point + underdog leads most of the game until near the 5 minute mark.
Sha said it when asked in the post game his view on what he saw. And surprisingly he seemed almost calm answering succinctly, yet in an even tone of voice, and yes even with a smile.
I think Sha was so upset with the team that he was drained. His final words were both reassuring yet ominous.
We have a very long way to go, but we'll get there.
* A tale of two halfs.
First 20 minutes...the Billmeier's carved up the Hall's defense. Constant motion. Tremendous ball movement. Totally unselfish ball with the result being a 5 point halftime lead built upon 7 of 14 from the arc. And as Jerry said to me almost every single attempt was wide open.
THEN
The second 20 minutes. One would have to assume the players came out for the second stanza ears bleeding from the dress down they got from their coach. Jerry and I discussed what we saw at halftime and my thought was simple. Stop penetration (and stay on your defensive assignment) and you will stop NJIT.
The Pirates did and the result in the final 20 minutes....NJIT 9-31 (29%) from 2 and 1-14 (7%) from the arc...................
