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random thoughts from last night's game
Posted on: January 19, 2022 at 09:44:30 CT
FIJItiger MU
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That was easily the best game our program has played since last February. Played well really in all phases, and while Ole Miss was depleted we took advantage of that and really took it to them on the road which is a very difficult thing to maintain. Very impressive and enjoyable to watch.
Davis looked fantastic, that is exactly how we should be using him every game. He isn't going to convert at a perfect rate, but there shouldn't ever be games when he isn't taking those types of shots and we aren't moving to set him up with those types of opportunities. He looked like Mike Dixon out there at various points, even attacking the rim.
Refreshing to see us take more quality shots, but just like the prior Davis observation don't expect that to begin a trend. We did the same thing in the second half against Utah, probably outside of the Bama game our prior best half of basketball, and then immediately abandoned that approach until last night. Even in the postgame interviews Cuonzo isn't talking about it as a strategic adjustment or gameplan they had going in, he is simply observing what happened and describing it after the fact. And he makes mention several times that they still plan to take the prior approach as their overall strategy. Last night was an anomaly, just like the second half against Utah and the Alabama game. We won in spite of our coaching, not because of it. That is what very badly coached teams do, they at times break from their mold and have anomaly games but have no ability to maintain it or continue to apply the tactics that worked. If we suddenly play like that the remainder of the season I'll back off that stance, but I think we all know we won't.
I do think it is not a coincidence that most of that was accomplished after Gorden basically got benched. He started out the season with such great defensive energy and focus, but he has basically turned into Deuce Bello at this point. Other than an occassional 3 converted from a very bad outside shooter he seems to not have a defined role and he is so clumsy and turnover prone that his offensive limitations are too much to offset his now less impactful defense.
Coleman had like an 8 inch height advantage over the man he was matched up with. You don't see that kind of difference for most of the game very often.
Brazile gave us a good 16 minutes, but otherwise our freshman class just continues to be a complete nonfactor. Maybe down the road they contribute but like most of Cuonzo's prior classes they are giving us as close to nothing as can be.
18 assists last night. Every game other than last night and Bama we have had less than 15 assists. That is certainly, other than 3pt attempts, the barometer stat for how well MU played. Still had almost no fast break points.
Anyway, great win and a great performance. Definitely one of my favorite games of the Cuonzo era. Defensively I thought we played very well as well. But obviously the story of the game was simply not shooting 3 pters, we shall see if they can keep that up.
Davis looked fantastic, that is exactly how we should be using him every game. He isn't going to convert at a perfect rate, but there shouldn't ever be games when he isn't taking those types of shots and we aren't moving to set him up with those types of opportunities. He looked like Mike Dixon out there at various points, even attacking the rim.
Refreshing to see us take more quality shots, but just like the prior Davis observation don't expect that to begin a trend. We did the same thing in the second half against Utah, probably outside of the Bama game our prior best half of basketball, and then immediately abandoned that approach until last night. Even in the postgame interviews Cuonzo isn't talking about it as a strategic adjustment or gameplan they had going in, he is simply observing what happened and describing it after the fact. And he makes mention several times that they still plan to take the prior approach as their overall strategy. Last night was an anomaly, just like the second half against Utah and the Alabama game. We won in spite of our coaching, not because of it. That is what very badly coached teams do, they at times break from their mold and have anomaly games but have no ability to maintain it or continue to apply the tactics that worked. If we suddenly play like that the remainder of the season I'll back off that stance, but I think we all know we won't.
I do think it is not a coincidence that most of that was accomplished after Gorden basically got benched. He started out the season with such great defensive energy and focus, but he has basically turned into Deuce Bello at this point. Other than an occassional 3 converted from a very bad outside shooter he seems to not have a defined role and he is so clumsy and turnover prone that his offensive limitations are too much to offset his now less impactful defense.
Coleman had like an 8 inch height advantage over the man he was matched up with. You don't see that kind of difference for most of the game very often.
Brazile gave us a good 16 minutes, but otherwise our freshman class just continues to be a complete nonfactor. Maybe down the road they contribute but like most of Cuonzo's prior classes they are giving us as close to nothing as can be.
18 assists last night. Every game other than last night and Bama we have had less than 15 assists. That is certainly, other than 3pt attempts, the barometer stat for how well MU played. Still had almost no fast break points.
Anyway, great win and a great performance. Definitely one of my favorite games of the Cuonzo era. Defensively I thought we played very well as well. But obviously the story of the game was simply not shooting 3 pters, we shall see if they can keep that up.
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random thoughts from last night's game - FIJItiger MU - 1/19 09:44:30