Amazing what shooting 55%/45% will do the for the psyche of the fanbase lol. Basically the same playbook and the Nova win, if we light it up then we can beat middle of the pack teams.
But however it happened, the crowd was good, atmosphere was fun during our big run. Not many turnovers was nice but we are still totally incapable of running a simple fast break. And Saunders seems to be a legit late game free throw shooter so thatâs nice.
State was eating up a pretty good piece of their 30 secs also.
Itâs a little more than that for me. NC State plays that pressure, overplay defensive style that has been tough for this yearâs team even when bad teams use it and we had a good plan for it, from press break to half-court. We committed hard to mismatch-ball with Saunders while still preserving some offensive flow too.
Agreed. We shouldâve beaten Memphis and Iâm really high on Pennyâs team this season (he has stud guards in Hunter and Haggerty, stone cold shooter in Rogers and quality bigs in Cisse and Dainja). If we just wouldâve taken care of ball a smidge better. Yeah I know if âIfâs and butâsâŚâ, but still we are improving.
Finally got to watch the second half last night. Takeaways:
Great to see the team bounce back when they start off cold from 3 in the first half then light it up in the second.
Great to see multiple shooters hitting again. This was my biggest source of optimism for this team. If we can put four or five shooters on the floor at all times, we ought to be able to spread the defense enough to let Saunders and Cofie work inside.
Loved Saunders work inside, but loved his free throw shooting even better. Weâve lost way too many games missing free throws in the final minutes the past few years.
Sooo much better breaking the press, and even better that we often punished the press by looking to score early when we had numbers.
Rohde played like I expected him to last year. He used his size very effectively to beat smaller, quicker guards defending him and his passing was brilliant. All that pointing must be paying off.
We still have flaws, particularly with guardsâ handles, but weâre making good adjustments to help cover those weaknesses.
Letâs go Hoos!
Using Cofie to take a pass and bring the ball across vs. the press is a winner. He looks comfortable handling the ball.
Itâs a shame that so many players are going to leave after this season, because I honestly think you can have a pretty good team next year building around Cofie, Saunders, Sharma, iMac and Gertrude.
I basically think the same thing about that group that I thought back when the two year plan was still a thing. That is, itâs a really really really solid three through six** and maybe if being generous (or if Cofie keeps developing well) a really good two through six. But we need a one and maybe a two. Easier said than done.
** in the option parlance, rather than the position parlance
Also, if you look at BHHâs +/- itâd still be nice to have a Center.
But hey - nice win yesterday. Ron did some stuff. Maybe he doesnât want to hang out at Stanâs (who does - that place stinks if we are being honest)
There are point guards and then there are pointing guards.
We donât have any of the former, but we sure have a really good one at the latter.
My favorite play of the game was when 10 Murray drove baseline right in front of Teddy Valentine - steps out of bounds and then kicks it out to McKneely for a wide open made 3 and then Teddy V turns to the State bench and explains why it wasnât out of bounds - must have been something like because Iâm Teddy V and I said so. The whole thing was hilarious.
Lol. I thought he was out of bounds in real time but wasnât sure. Final margin: Virginia by 3. Thanks, Teddy V!
Box score has him as -5? Or am I misunderstanding what youâre saying?
Itâs fine cause OâConnell continually got away with traveling.
Comparing 2H box score** for Styles v BHH.
I think they were positive or slightly negative in BHH minutes and very negative in Stylesâs.
Just started to rewatch 2H and now have to run for NY festivities, but Saunders is basically working on the matchup with Styles (plus their switches, which we attacked nicely)
** u can grab from stats monitor link I posted above
Yeah it was huge for ES they didnât have Middlebrooks⌠he got to work against smaller guys and a lot of times guards all game.
I think if teams start trying to guard Saunders with 5s and Cofie with 4s, that can be good for us. Opens up the pick and pop game for Saunders and gives us a chance to get opponent rim protection out of position.
Iâve been impressed with Saunders transforming his shot profile from being typical of a Jake Groves-like low usage stretch 4 to an inside-first bruiser with glimmers of being an efficient primary scoring option.
It could - but if Iâm playing us I make Cofie shoot it 10 times a game⌠make him prove he believes in himself that much.
Yep just need a good certain PG transfer
I think you and @DavetheWave are right here. But I think Cofie is capable of hitting those shots consistently. Heâs shown that heâs not just talented, but an extremely hard worker.
