Tough loss, especially with the close game that didn't go our way. Broken record time: I think the pieces are there and the team is close to putting together some good games. Oates played out of his mind, which made up for an injured Spears and a banged up Rice. I like the new starting line up too.
Only saw bits and pieces so I am not doing a lengthy game recap, but feel free to leave your thoughts. Friday I'll break down the promising second half of the schedule.
Food for thought considering how young the team is...
-- 2006-2007: 6-2 in games decided by five points or less. 1-1 in OT games
-- 2007-2008 (partial season): 4-2 in games decided by five points or less. 0-2 in OT games
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5 comments:
Before we go sucking each others popsicle sticks here, lets ponder this: Oates had scored all of his points by the first 5-7 minutes of the second half. THen he disappeared on both the offensive and defensive ends. It looked like he knew he was having a perfect night and didnt want to ruin it by taking any more long range shots. His late game effort was on par with his first 20 games of the season - shoddy.
I cannot wait until the frosh are a year older and the stiffs have graduated.
that's pretty weak, dports.
Oates was begging for the ball out on the perimeter like he always does... he never shies away from an open shot. The problem was, Gary Williams had seen enough, and made the adjustment. He demanded that his player go out and guard Oates further out. That took away his 3 point option... he actually drove to the basket once, but of course lost the ball... we know the inside game is not his "strength", but he managed a couple buckets inside too.
He also had blocked shots and steals, and seemed to be all over the court. Yeah, he still made a couple of plays we are used to seeing (bringing the ball up the court once and losing it/telegraphing a bad pass), but overall, he played pretty well in my opinion. The team didn't play great defense as a unit, but I wouldn't single out Oates.
You want to graduate this stiff, but he stepped in when we needed another starter, and scored a career high in points when our scorer was absent for most of the game. At one point he even looked to be talking to Southern and giving advice after a foul. Any leadership and help he can give to Josh as he grows is icing on the cake.
Other people might agree with you, but I do not.
For once a game that was bearable to watch.
I am not usually one to blame refs on the outcome of a game, but they were horrible. The game came down to BC's usual lack of perimeter defense and as well as somebody to stop Gist down low--perhaps Spears' presence may have helped. A lot of people think that BC matches up well against Duke, but after watching last night's Duke-UNC game, I don't know about that--especially with Duke's game revolving around the 3 and BC's inability/refusal to guard the 3.
I'll take Oates' performance any day. Williams made adjustments that thwarted any more Oates 3PT attempts. I am definitely not one of Oates' biggest fans, but I will gladly give him a break for this game.
Southern grabbed some big boards and seems to be a very good FT shooter--impressive for a big guy and a freshman. He needs to fake out, double pump on his inside shots, however.
Rice needs to show up for the whole game as a scorer. He had a few nice passes.
Sanders had a few key turnovers. Once again I will accept this as a freshman mistake. That made 3PT on the Skinner timeout late in the game was devastating.
Raji: I would like to see more of this kid's energy. Hopefully he can shore up his 3-pt stroke soon in practice.
Roche: Nice that he was not in the starting lineup. Keep it that way, Al.
Paris: A few sloppy passes and that horrible 10-second violation. I'll still take him over Roche in the starting lineup.
If Oates makes those shots and forces the opposing coach to send his big man out to the perimeter to guard him, good. That gives our scorers more room to operate inside.
Kudos to Oates for last night.
You can debate Oates' value to this team till the cows come home. The fact is that he can't defend another ACC player at all. He certainly has the ability to hit an occasional jumper and maybe even get hot, but that's it. No inside game, no defense - at all. He plays hard and seems like a good kid, but he's outmatched almost everywhere on the court. Anytime he chips in 20, you have to give him credit. I hope it happens every night.
Ironic that Coach NoTimeOuts called a time out at bad time late in the game.
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