In order to win in the sport of basketball, you must do the little things. This includes making free throws when it counts. And keeping a precious handle of the ball. And not committing five-second violations or lazily jogging back on defense.
Tonight we did not do the little things and you can see why we lost. I know we're a young team but many of these careless errors were the fault of upperclassmen and a general lack of leadership. I can't say that guys like Jordan Weethee and Brian Brown aren't good players, because they are. But they simply aren't leaders. Not everyone is supposed to be a leader but someone has to do it. We're only two games in but what I've seen so far from the guys is not encouraging.
The game ball tonight has to go to Julian Eleby. Twenty points, the leading scorer, and an obvious career high for him. Only 6 of 16 shooting but 3 of 6 from long-range to go along with four rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Phil had a great game as well with 13 points, incredibly on 6 of 7 shooting. Perhaps he read my last blog post and set out to prove me wrong.
Jordan had a solid 8/4/2 line. Marshall chipped in 9, all from distance. Fred got his first two collegiate points. And QJ was QJ (though his shooting touch was a bit off).
I was disappointed with the performance of Brian. I noted before the season began that BB's biggest problem last season and throughout his career was inconsistency. Tonight he was 3 of 9 from the field and laid an egg in the three-point shooting department. A grand total of six points and zero assists is well short of what we need out of him. Same goes to Watson who contributed nearly nothing in 25 minutes.
As a team we shot 44% overall and 38% from behind the arc. Not shabby, but the defensive end is where our struggles lie. It's no wonder why Army (and The Citadel) shot 55% in these two games. We have no legitimate rim protector and essentially any opponent attack at the basket will result in either a foul or a made shot. You can catch a team when they are cold from deep (and we did tonight; Army connected on only 26% of their threes) but you can't fail to execute down low because teams, especially tall teams, will exploit that weakness 100% of the time. Duggar can teach players all about the art of rim protection but he can't teach them how to be tall. Expect this problem to continue throughout the season.
The opening weekend of college basketball is just about over and we sit here at 1-1. We could be 2-0. We should be 0-2. In any case, our guys have some work to do. Secure rebounds, take care of the ball, and make smart shots. We have a game on Tuesday against Johnson Univ. and an opportunity to get some reps and see some young players get playing time. On Saturday we have a tough UNC Wilmington team coming to Cameron, and if the last two games are any indication, we need to get our act together.
No comments:
Post a Comment