... but, if the Rockets don't find a way to rebound and make free throws, it is gonna be a real long season.

Out-rebounded by 12 again, and an atrocious 12-27 from the line.

(11-30-2017 09:18 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  I'd give Boyd 2 or 3 game balls for this one. 18 points, 9 boards, 5 assists and 6 steals ... and 200% effort.

Yes, we need Boyd's energy to be contagious.

I'm not sure what happened to our defense in the first quarter. We gave up layup after layup. After that quarter, we shut them down. Too bad we couldn't score. Our starting lineup only has one shooter, so it's pretty tough for us to attack a zone.

(11-30-2017 09:20 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  ... but, if the Rockets don't find a way to rebound and make free throws, it is gonna be a real long season.

Out-rebounded by 12 again, and an atrocious 12-27 from the line.

Maine played that zone very well. Dared us to shoot over it while they packed it in around McIntyre and rebounded very well out of it. They didn't handle the press real well. That was one crazy game, though. My voice is shot.

(11-30-2017 07:32 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote:  UT clock operator causes a UT turnover, as the shot clock buzzer went off about 2 seconds after UT had the ball and was driving down the court, causing Santucci to stop playing and thus a pass not connecting. So, nothing much going right at all.

Refs ignored a tangled net three times, never checked to see if a team was shooting after five fouls )one of them always caught it but inevitably one ref took ythe ball to an inbounds position after every fifth foul before someone stopped him/ her). Strictly amateur hour out there.

Great comeback and good energy at the end ... but... the rebounding was awful. Maine had size about equal to the rockets with no leapers among their players. There is no way they should have had 16 offensive rebounds! Somebody is not blocking out. And the free throw shooting is a reminder of the poor performance throughout much of last season. It will be difficult to win consistently if they don't do these things better. And Santucci has got to make some shots. It will be hard to break the zone when the two point guards plus Mcintyre and St Fort can't make a 3 pointer. Actually three of those four don't even shoot 3 pointers. Seems to me maybe we should either start Woody or Cunningham.

Rebounding and free throw shooting must improve if we are looking at another NCAA tourney appearance...

This game will pay off big down the road. Coming back from that big a margin will carry over when a slow start happens again. (All teams have slow starts in games.) Credit has to given to Maine. They ran an offense that the team hadn't seen. A lot of motion and back cuts, plus they were on fire in the first quarter. The coaches made good adjustments between quarters, made it hard for Maine to get open looks the rest of the game. Defensively they played a very aggressive 1-3-1 zone. A defense that made it hard to get the ball inside and made it even harder to get offensive rebounds because they kept four players in rebounding position. In the past few games, the inside game has been good. That help the perimeter shooters get easier shoots and look much better than in this game. Free throw and perimeter shooting were off. Both have been good the past few games. The time to worry is if that becomes a trend over the next few games. A real growing and learning experience took place Thursday night.