My feed was AWFUL!!!! It was choppy and didn't keep up at all and IS a MAJOR problem.
Getting to the game...
Catawba exposed UNCW in the 1st half. The pressure wasn't as effective as it needed to be. Traps seemed to be late and on ball pressure wasn't as good as it needed to be. They were able to effectively create fast break chances by virtue of the fact that we weren't turning them over enough or creating enough havoc to cause weak passes. In the half court, UNCW didn't help good enough once the blow by happened. That's not the way it's supposed to go but when you are playing a quick, undersized team it's understandable to a certain degree.
The 2nd half was better defensively and it all starts at the point of attack. Talley buckled down and set the tone defensively a lot better. You have to put pressure on the opposing PG and he started doing that better. The rest of the team will follow the PG's lead once they see that kind of under control yet aggressive D. And, UNCW is in better condition now so the longer it went, the better.
Overall, UNCW had a tremendous advantage in the post tonight and will have that in most CAA games they play this year. That is their strength without a doubt. That size advantage was the difference in the end and their ability to control the glass. Yemi could have made a difference with his toughness in there, but other bigs stepped up huge like CJ Gettys....wow, he looked good tonight and vastly improved.
Individuals. Well, it's obvious who are star is and that's Williams, as it should be. Still, others stepped up with Yemi not in there. CJ Gettys played a tremendous game and is now a force to be reckoned with. He's our BIG fundamental. Great game by him. Ponder showed his experience by reading ball screens well and driving to the hole either for himself or others. Pugh is a scorer and demonstrated a very good ability to get the ball in the hole in a variety of ways. Talley is a good all around player (big upside as a true PG and on point defender) that has a chance to be very good at the point. Jackson has continued his improvement and is very good at going to the hole and finishing and is a plus defender...good CAA wing. Spruill had his awesome moments like the nice left handed dunk, but needs to embrace the finer points of the game like getting his feet/body ready on the pass earlier prior to the 3 ball release (same with Freddie and Dylan was rushing it too) and moving the ball prudently, if it's not there.
Adjustments...well they need to consider where there bread is buttered. UNCW has a solid to very good frontcourt, even without Yemi playing. On offense, they really have to play inside outside ball. All teams have to respect a frontline of this caliber therefore some timely ball reversals and 45 degree entrees would go a long way against a man or the traditional high post entree against the zone would go a long way. To be fair, they did that pretty well against that 1-3-1 in the 2nd half.
Not a warm and fuzzy but a start. And, the freshmen PG's/combos showed that they can get the ball in the hole and cause problem. More weapons this year offensively the way it appears but no true shooters. Gonna take a village but it's gonna be a fun ride and a less bumpy one than last year. Onto ODU....
(This post was last modified: 11-09-2014 07:45 PM by billthebighawksfan.)
I'll just add this as well. I'm a firm believer in the fact that 3 balls/elbow J's are made before the actual release occurs. Our players simply aren't "consistenly" doing their work early before the shot occurs and that's a problem. When you are anticipating a pass for a 3 ball or any jumper you have to do your work early. That simply means getting in an athletic position ready to catch, orient to the goal so that you can lead slightly with your shooting foot or step in to it (like a FT to put your shooting elbow over your lead knee but not quite as much as a FT so that you can get some lift on the J) and then release. Even off the dribble, good players can get this. This is something that needs to be preached to these kids. I know that it works because it worked with me, my sons and the kids I've teach on my teams over the years. This needs to be stressed with this team because they don't have pure shooters. Next year, forget about it...those cats can absolutely shot the rock because they've already demonstrated it. And, they know what I'm saying is absolutely on point. I'd have these cats form shooting starting at the goal and working either side of the rim on the baseline like the infamous Steve Nash workout video. Get the puppies set correctly, shooting elbow high and feeling soft wrist/cookie jar, holding full shooting arm extension with the off arm giving a "side high 5" and doing nothing. That gets things corrected in a NY minute, but what do I know. It's that simple, but very effective. Again...onto ODU!
(This post was last modified: 11-09-2014 07:39 PM by billthebighawksfan.)
