Tweet
Will the UNLV game prove to be an aberration or the beginning of a season of superlative play?
My guess is a little bit of both. I just find it hard to believe that we shoot the ball that well in very many, if any, remaining games.
OTOH, the guys may have figured out what it takes to play winning basketball.
Points of Promise:
1. Joe has found his stroke. Sure don't expect him to shoot like that all the time but he certainly has given opponents something else to think about with his 11-13 3-pt shooting over the last two games. 3G has always said he kills it in practice. Hopefully, we will continue to see solid shooting from Joe.
2. Carl seems to be finding his way offensively after struggling in PR (5-18 FG). In that last 3 games Carl is a sizzling 18-23 (78.3%) from the field.
3. Toure and David seem to be two talented seniors who are finally comfortable in their skins and willing and able to do many things to help this team win.
4. Garrett still struggling some with fouls but how many MVC teams will be able to match up with Garrett/EO and Carl. And it's not like we are playing poorly when we go small. Garrett will have his ups and downs but he is also drawing a lot of attention from opposing defenses which opens up the floor to our other very capable weapons.
5. When this team puts their minds to it they can plays some very nice defense which will allow them to win some games when the shots may not be falling so readily. Tekele Cotton has been a big surprise in this regard and he certainly doesn't hurt us on the offensive end either. I would have be very comfortable with Tekele getting more minutes than he did against UNLV. He should be a very effective player in MVC play.
6. 6 turnovers (1 an offensive foul) in a fairly fast-paced high possession game is simply outstanding. If we can keep turnovers to twice that amount in most games we're in good shape.
Some things to work on:
1. The free throw shooting needs to become more consistent. No reason we can not be a very solid free throw shooting team.
2. We need to make sure we don't fall too much in love with the three-ball. We need Ben to find his stroke a little and we really don't need Garrett shooting 3 treys a game. However, we do need to keep taking good shots in rhythm and knock'em down when we get 'em. We have a good power game and we have some guys that can take it to the basket. Hopefully, we will be able to keep a good balanced attack utilizing all of our weapons.
We have two upcoming games Tulsa and Utah State (especially Tulsa on the road) to prove we have found our way and can take our show on the road effectively (Tulsa). Assuming we can do that then we have two games (Newman & Chicago State) to prove we can keep our play at a high level even against lesser tests and, hopefully, we can satisfy Locker Room Show caller #1 and develop our depth a little bit more.
I'm looking forward to seeing how the Shocks respond to the outstanding performance vs UNLV. Let's not waste it guys.
:poster_shocks:
My guess is a little bit of both. I just find it hard to believe that we shoot the ball that well in very many, if any, remaining games.
OTOH, the guys may have figured out what it takes to play winning basketball.
Points of Promise:
1. Joe has found his stroke. Sure don't expect him to shoot like that all the time but he certainly has given opponents something else to think about with his 11-13 3-pt shooting over the last two games. 3G has always said he kills it in practice. Hopefully, we will continue to see solid shooting from Joe.
2. Carl seems to be finding his way offensively after struggling in PR (5-18 FG). In that last 3 games Carl is a sizzling 18-23 (78.3%) from the field.
3. Toure and David seem to be two talented seniors who are finally comfortable in their skins and willing and able to do many things to help this team win.
4. Garrett still struggling some with fouls but how many MVC teams will be able to match up with Garrett/EO and Carl. And it's not like we are playing poorly when we go small. Garrett will have his ups and downs but he is also drawing a lot of attention from opposing defenses which opens up the floor to our other very capable weapons.
5. When this team puts their minds to it they can plays some very nice defense which will allow them to win some games when the shots may not be falling so readily. Tekele Cotton has been a big surprise in this regard and he certainly doesn't hurt us on the offensive end either. I would have be very comfortable with Tekele getting more minutes than he did against UNLV. He should be a very effective player in MVC play.
6. 6 turnovers (1 an offensive foul) in a fairly fast-paced high possession game is simply outstanding. If we can keep turnovers to twice that amount in most games we're in good shape.
Some things to work on:
1. The free throw shooting needs to become more consistent. No reason we can not be a very solid free throw shooting team.
2. We need to make sure we don't fall too much in love with the three-ball. We need Ben to find his stroke a little and we really don't need Garrett shooting 3 treys a game. However, we do need to keep taking good shots in rhythm and knock'em down when we get 'em. We have a good power game and we have some guys that can take it to the basket. Hopefully, we will be able to keep a good balanced attack utilizing all of our weapons.
We have two upcoming games Tulsa and Utah State (especially Tulsa on the road) to prove we have found our way and can take our show on the road effectively (Tulsa). Assuming we can do that then we have two games (Newman & Chicago State) to prove we can keep our play at a high level even against lesser tests and, hopefully, we can satisfy Locker Room Show caller #1 and develop our depth a little bit more.
I'm looking forward to seeing how the Shocks respond to the outstanding performance vs UNLV. Let's not waste it guys.
:poster_shocks:
Comment