Post#15 » by G R E Y » Fri Dec 6, 2019 10:10 am
So this was my new favourite win up to this point, and hopefully soon it will so remain. I believe we earned this win. That's all I'm saying about it here.
We showed good signs early of being locked in. We made a concerted effort to drive - DeMar, Rudy, and Dejounte stood out - as well as to pass inside to Jakob - always good signs. We missed a rotation and overloaded on one side that allowed a wide open dunk - Pop timeout. Hustle and accountability.
I loved that Pop went with Lonnie early in the first and kept going to him even if he hadn't scored and turned it over in the first half. He along with our young group of Dejounte, Patty, Trey, and Drew came in when we were down 8 and played through mistakes but provided terrific energy to outscore the opposing bench 14-0. A lot of our misses were back-or-rim which tends to indicate some pent up energy (front of rim misses, the opposite). But this was propelled by solid D as we deflected passes, contested 3s, dove for loose balls, and stepped in to take charges with Patty leading by sacrificing his body on their O fouls. Flat out effort and energy.
We moved the ball well, ran back in transition D, as well as executed D to O transition very well this game. Thirty-five assists, 10 steals, and 8 blocks were indicative of our execution on both ends. Resilience and movement were key.
As far as things to work on, for some reason the third quarter is giving us fits. We tend to make too many mistakes and the turnovers (20 in total) are part of what cause big deficits. We get behind and use energy catching up which at times meant we haven't had enough to finish games strong.
Also, we keep giving up second chances (and sometimes more) because we don't secure D boards (they had a 60-56 edge, but 18-12 on O boards). And my big pet peeve - missed bunnies - reared its head again on layups, baby Js in the key, and putback attempts. Fundamentals. Speaking of fundamentals, we made only 22-33 FTs so the focus at the line needs to be sharper. We did so well to create those chances; best to reward ourselves for them.
To our credit, we cut their 22-point lead down to 16 by connecting on our 3s at a decent rate (made 13 - five in the fourth Q - on above our average 30 attempts) and working hard to get points in the paint (66-44 for us, particularly strong in the second and fourth Qs) and working on D breaking down alley oop attempts, getting steals, and contesting well. It would have been 14 down by the end of the third Q, but they once again scored on their final shot (this was the over-and-back that wasn't called). End of Q protection was not our strong suit in the middle Qs, but we more than made up for it in the crucial late stages of the game.
As far as strategy, Sean talked about how we were disciplined in running out and contesting 3s on the side so as to make sure we wouldn't foul. I also noticed that we made a concerted effort for our bigs to try and get blocks from behind. Bryn was guarding Westbrook who posted him up and his physicality prevented a quick penetration which allowed Rudy to slide down and perfectly time a block; Jakob kept rolling back after drivers and and blocking shot after shot, none more crucial than the game saving one. Really good, smart awareness and execution.
Jakob is emerging as our primary defensive anchor, and his 15 rebounds (5 on O) set a new career high, to go along with his career-high tying 5 blocks and 5 assists. He holds on to the ball really well on D, and has keen awareness to make quick decisions with the ball like that block and down court pass to DeMar for a dunk. Holding the ball on O is a work in progress for him; at times it's like he's not really confident enough to own his O, hold on to the ball, and assert himself on that end. His shooting touch on those pop-a-shots in the key needs work, but his post up move looked really solid - great positioning and footwork and using his body to protect the ball as he laid it in off the glass. Fundamentals. I hope we find ways to use him more on O in addition to the dishes inside for the pop-a-shots. He is capable of doing more on O and I hope that just as he is owning his defensive presence, he grows on the other end as well. He has shown he can take a tongue lashing from Pop (like on one of the final plays I think in regulation when DeMar took too long and missed a contested J in part because he was waiting for Jakob to come and set a screen) and adjust really well, so the resilience and response are good signs.
Dejounte's defense was on point though he does need to work on not reaching in (frankly just about every defender does in this defensive assignment). His dishes inside to Jakob at times are too low making them harder to handle and Jakob then tends to rush his shots. DJ's handles do need to catch up to his lightning quick speed, and when they do, watch out. We had glimpses of how well he and Lonnie can look in transition together.
Derrick is smart, disciplined, and has great footwork and body balance to stay with drivers. I don't know how much that instinctual timing for great defense is nature / nurture, but like Jakob, Derrick is still more confident on the defensive end and asserts himself there more. He is really good at playing within himself on O, has a poise about him, but he does tend to have missed bunnies which is a pity because he is skilled at using his body to shield the ball to get to the basket just at times doesn't reward himself with the effort (oddly enough his off hand layups are consistent). He's being encouraged to take more 3s by coaches, but a more overall assertive O game will help take attention off teammates and keep defenses honest.
Full credit to DeMar for stepping in to take the charge at a crucial moment to seal the victory for us. Jakob said in the past he didn't see this side of his teammate, and if there was ever a time to assert it, that was it. It helped offset some of his tendencies late in games on O like holding on to the ball, taking outside shots or getting blocked on drives. It's nerve wracking because we know it's coming and know it's hit or miss, including FTs which, though he made 1-2 in the first attempts, to his credit he drove and got fouled again and made both - D and O plays late in the game was a team-wide effort.
One thing about DeMar is that he tends to adapt to the style around him, so when we were running in transition a lot more, he did his part and ran out to take passes, but also made quick passes ahead. I like him as a facilitator later in games more (team-high 9 assists), and feel he is less error prone in that role. Pop was encouraging our guys to pick up the pace and keep pushing down the court on O, so it's a big positive that this style of play is being stressed, but also a reminder that maybe guys are so used to a half-court style when DeMar has the ball in his hands they tend to not run as much.
In a way LMA's absence was a blessing in disguise because we had to move the ball more as that was the strength of the personnel who did play. With DeMar and LMA it's pick and pop, elbow Js, or left side post-ups. A bit more predictable, and it's what defenses prepare for more.
But with Lonnie in the line-up, we were suddenly a lot harder to predict and guard against. If there was an X-factor that swayed the result, it wasn't a missed call on a dunk but LWIV who took over with his deflections, steals, block, and rebounding on one end, and huge clutch 3s and fearless drives on the other. We were down 8 points with 1:15 left and he went on a 8-0 run to tie the game in regulation.
Much has been made of Lonnie's minutes, but this isn't the same player who was called out by Pop earlier in the season. This was the fully engaged version that didn't only try to rely on what he was already good at but showed that he could be relied on defensively even if his shot wasn't falling, that he would not coast on one end at times just because he knows he is so talented on the other. He was terrific off ball, ran to his spots, and knew just what to do with the ball, no hesitation. Pop said in a pre-game interview that he told Lonnie to start taking his minutes seriously now, and this was the best way to show that he is: from no points in the first half to being our leading scorer and single-handedly outscoring the opponent's entire bench. Holding Lonnie accountable and making him understand what it would take to get more minutes was the right call. What. A. Fierce. Response.
I now really understand why Pop doesn't play DeMarre too much. Solid enough defensively, but man does he ever do weird things like hold on to the ball dribbling away running who knows what, passing who knows where out of bounds, and driving into defenders for O fouls. It's like he has a totally different set of plays in his head while he's out there. Just bizarre. Still, in a game where every point counted, I appreciate his two FTs. Hopefully more practices this month will help him get on the same O page.
All our guys really hustled: Rudy kept driving and getting to the FT line, Patty took charges and had a bench-high 6 assists, Bryn was physical on D and his O game returned (team-high 5-6 from 3), Trey was a Swiss army stat knife and led the bench with 9 rebounds, Drew dove all over the place to get loose balls.
We rose to the occasion and above our errors and lesser tendencies to push through and gut out a win. And although it was a couple of central players who fueled it, really everyone fed off the energy and contributed. Good minutes management meant we had only two players over 40 minutes (compared to their five) so we trusted more of our guys to get it done. We responded to their big third Q with an even bigger fourth and carried that momentum on both ends through both OTs. At times we made it harder on ourselves than it needed to be with lost possessions, but we overcame those mental hurdles and stepped up in huge pressure situations. So proud of how we played, stayed together, and persevered. It's interesting how we looked the more spirited team as the game wore on. It's a heady experience, and a big boost for the team's confidence going forward. That's something nobody can take away, and is there for us to build on.
