The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

postgame:

(12-29-2023 11:03 PM)58-56 Wrote:  We defeated them.

Daniel Ortiz has played his way into the rotation. This was the most complete game from him that I recall.

Alejandro Vasquez has played his way into trillions status.

Halftime adjustments.

Was Pember's dad one of the referees? Haven't seen anyone get a Magic Shield like that who didn't play for Duke.

Although Ortiz shot poorly tonight, I agree with you. He was just more involved in the game, besides just shooting threes.

On the radio post game, AK said he challenged his team to show more passion on the court.

There were one or two calls that were just pathetic! I know refs can’t get all the calls right, but at least have a clue.

Team playing much better. We all knew they could be good. Fun to see this team come together. We need energy from the start. Hard to watch them play defense sometimes. I always really enjoy watching good defensive effort.

One of the biggest changes I've noticed is on defense. We're doing a better job (nowhere near perfect, I know) of staying in front of the action. We covered Pember like a blanket - literally - the second half so by the time he got open 3-point shots, he was frustrated and tight. We're still more of a bend-don't-break defensive unit, but I've seen a slight glimmer of hope there.

Seeing some assists and good passes too ... finally. Butta had two or three sneaky great passes for easy buckets.

I just wrote out my calendar for conference season, and we've got some great home games coming up. If the team from last night's second half shows up, there may just be joy in Bartow Arena once again.

This version will never be a great defensive team but just be descent on D and more efficient on O. I like the pass first version of EG letting the shot come to him instead of just jacking up a crazy shot early in the possession. We need our FT shooting to be in the high 70s for the season.

I don’t understand the defensive issues.

I thought that would be a strength of this team.

The first 3-4 games we showed stretches of ELITE defense.

I still don’t think AK coaches this team to play to its strengths. But what do I know…

The pass first version of EG is light years better than the sloppy, bad decision making, 3-14 shooting version of EG.

I’m super excited about Yax.

Hopefully we can see Coleman taking a bigger role in conference play too. This may be a 2 year project here—take some beatings in conference play now to contend for the league next year. Finishing Top 4 would be a positive step for this group. Then try to use all this close game experience to make a tournament run.

On a positive note, Andy has done better in one possession games than ever before this year.

(12-30-2023 12:59 PM)FNblazer Wrote:  Hopefully we can see Coleman taking a bigger role in conference play too. This may be a 2 year project here—take some beatings in conference play now to contend for the league next year. Finishing Top 4 would be a positive step for this group. Then try to use all this close game experience to make a tournament run.

On a positive note, Andy has done better in one possession games than ever before this year.

Coleman, like Yax, is looking more comfortable every time he’s out there. I think he will be a valuable piece for us moving forward. As will Ortiz. These two looked lost at times early on, so it’s good to see. If we can somehow finish top four, with our schedule, that would be incredible.