Redemption Begins Tonite!!! - R-Kansas Game Thread

[slugboy]

The answer is simple. R-Kansas doesn't run a sophisticated offense, Gardner-Webb did.

 

[kg01]

Wha? You're confusing me now.

R-Kansas had no clue how to attack our defense, GW did. Thusly (is that a word?) they were able to score at a better clip than the razorbax.

 

[Jazzchaz]

The answer is simple. R-Kansas doesn't run a sophisticated offense, Gardner-Webb did.

Gardner-Webb looked like a pretty good team to me and got a few lucky breaks.....which seem to happen more often when you don't play your best. A coach can warn kids over and over but they often don't take a 'lesser' opponent seriously. Banks, Wright, and Heywood, were sleepwalking on defense in the first half.
Perhaps if the lineups and minutes from the R-Kansas game had been used in the G-W game, we would have seen a different result.
I sit in the front row corner by the cheerleaders(I know, lucky me) and their cocky freshman #5 decided he was going to slam the ball in the hoop over Jose. The 'don't even think about it' look in Jose's eyes was priceless. He put his hand on the kid's shoulder and sat him down on the floor....a very good foul! :-D
One thing I haven't seen mentioned was the last play of the G-W game. They lobbed the ball to the unguarded basket for a dunk and their bench razzed our players. It made me a little mad for a second but quickly realized only a team that thought they were a lesser opponent (and Georgia U) would have done that.....and I hope the memory of it remains in our players heads for the rest of the season!

 

[RamblinCharger]

Well this is frustrating. If we beat SJ after we're up like 12, and beat GW, we're probably an NIT team. Could still get there, but I need to take this one game at a time and stop worrying about post season play. I'll give Pastner credit when it's due since I bash him so much. The guys played hard and he played the right lineup. Let's beat the Mutts Saturday and try not to lose to any more low major schools before ACC play. 9-4 is about where many thought we would be anyway, but dang it's frustrating that we should have had a real shot at 11-2.

 

[jeffgt14]

They didn't know how to attack our defense because they were doing the typical SEC throw a bunch of people under the basket and hope for a foul and the refs weren't calling it. R-Kansas averages 26.3 FT attempts per game. They only had 9 against us.

SEC basketball: Throw up 40 3's a game, drive with the intent to get fouled.

 

[JDjacket]

I mean our defensive effort vs GW was just the worst we've had all year, simple as that. St. Johns and GW are the only teams to score 70+ on us so far this year. NW and UT didn't, so to this point I'd say that GW game was more the exception than the rule so far. We'll see if that holds true as the season continues considering our sample size of average and above competition is lacking so far.

 

[orientalnc]

Joe hit two 30-foot three pointers with a man in his face. Just shrug your shoulders on those shots. We lost Jones a couple of times. Otherwise, I liked our play on defense.

Turnovers continue to plague us on offense. We need to value every possession.

 

[GTJake]

I got lucky and this game was aired on the SEC channel so I got to watch.
I'll say this, the last 5 minutes showed this team has some grit.
Based on the G-W game, it appears this is a young team the needs to be mentally prepared to play, you would think Pastner as a rah-rah kind of guy would be good at this.
Anyway, we had enough talent to play with a good team, maybe NCAA Tourney caliber, on their home court ... giving me a ray of hope !!!

 

[MikeJacket1967]

I got lucky and this game was aired on the SEC channel so I got to watch.
I'll say this, the last 5 minutes showed this team has some grit.
Based on the G-W game, it appears this is a young team the needs to be mentally prepared to play, you would think Pastner as a rah-rah kind of guy would be good at this.
Anyway, we had enough talent to play with a good team, maybe NCAA Tourney caliber, on their home court ... giving me a ray of hope !!!

I was proud with how the young lineup stood toe to toe with a talented Arkansas team and came away with the win

 

[GTBatGirl96]

Pleasantly surprised we didn't get screwed by the officiating crew with a few seconds left. On the replay, I thought the ball was clearly off the Arkansas guy, but the subsequent inbounds play got reeeeeeaaally close to five seconds. If those calls/non-call had gone the other way, we'd likely be looking at an L.

 

[alagold]

Good rebound game but it was obvious that the team needed a spark and why JP hasn't given the FRosh a starting chance earlier.
Wright is a sub and should have a no-3 shot rule.We should try to get the ball to Banks EVERY time down court.The guy is a threat.Then the kick-outs make shots easier also.Jose is a WARRIOR..

 

[awbuzz]

We scored, including free throws, on 9 out our last 10 possessions!

That is a pleasantly surprising data point.

 

[AE 87]

I think GWebb is simply a better team than Arky who will end up not being that good this year.

I'm happy with the win, but I don't see us as middle of the ACC yet.

 

[MikeJacket1967]

I think GWebb is simply a better team than Arky who will end up not being that good this year.

I'm happy with the win, but I don't see us as middle of the ACC yet.

GT may wind up playing Arkansas in the NIT Tournament

 

[YlJacket]

Don't think GW is a better team than AK.
FWIW AK was picked by the SEC media to be 10th in the SEC. UGA was picked to be 13th.
Hopefully bodes well for Sat.

 

[gte447f]

Jose had a monster game scoring, rebounding, playing defense, and setting the tone mentally for the rest of the team. I wish he would generate more assists but I guess since he is having to be the leading scorer, he can't do everything.

Banks also had a monster game, scoring, rebounding and defending at a high level. He outplayed their NBA big. He made some very nice passes for assists out of the high and low post areas, but he also forced a couple too many passes that ended up being turnovers, when he should have made his own move to the basket. He also lost the ball a few times or had it knocked away by defenders in traffic. He has to get stronger with the ball in his hands to cut down on turnovers.

Devoe played a good defensive game and was key in handling their full court pressure and advancing the ball into the front court. He is a good ball handler, and handles pressure calmly and smoothly. I had hoped he would be more of a creator and scorer, but maybe that will come later. He is crafty with the ball when he does drive or get into the lane, but so far he doesn't do much of that, and when he does he isn't finishing the drives with made baskets.

Moses had an OK game. Nice defensive presence and got 4 rebounds in 17 minutes. He still shot poorly going 1-6 in 17 minutes. I believe his only make was on a dunk put back off of his own missed layup. Coach should keep limiting his minutes until he starts to understand his role consistently.

I thought Curtis had a rough game. He made the 2 3's, but it bugs me when he poses after he makes a shot instead of following his shot or getting back on defense. He played ok defense, but he fouled out in just 19 minutes of play on several dumb fouls, and he got blown by near the end of the game and gave up a basket. He committed 3 bad turnovers, one of which was on an inbounds pass under their basket that they scored off of.

Oh, and of course Moore played brilliantly!

 

[YlJacket]

Moses had an OK game. Nice defensive presence and got 4 rebounds in 17 minutes. He still shot poorly going 1-6 in 17 minutes. I believe his only make was on a dunk put back off of his own missed layup. Coach should keep limiting his minutes until he starts to understand his role consistently.

I am going to beat my personal dead horse but I think CJP really has to look at how he sets up Mose's role. It is really hard to run a 4 out offense and then tell Moses he can't shoot beyond 15 feet. It destroys the spacing and it is hard to put a kid 20 feet from the basket - throw him the ball there - and then expect him to do something without shooting. It doesn't work.

They ran Moses in a 3 out system a couple of games ago which kept him 15 feet or so from the basket and thus in a role where he could make plays. They haven't gone back to it since and Moses has suffered despite starting. If you want his help on D where his length and athleticism are real assets, then you have to put him in an offensive system that allows him to do at least OK. I understand the issues of having a separate system just for one player and this does restrict the space available for Banks. But it is a tradeoff that has to come if you are going to play him and get his D.

 

[Deleted member 2897]

I haven't had time to read a lot of this thread, but just finally could browse the box score. A couple things that stood out to me:
James Banks: 6 Offensive Rebounds
Jose Alvarado: 9 Offensive Rebounds

That is pure I WANT IT MORE THAN YOU. Those guys are going to be huge for us this year.

 

[LibertyTurns]

It’s not the first time a GT team came sleepwalking out of finals week and crapped the bed. That’s damn near a lock of the week bet every year.

 

[gte447f]

It is really hard to run a 4 out offense and then tell Moses he can't shoot beyond 15 feet. It destroys the spacing and it is hard to put a kid 20 feet from the basket - throw him the ball there - and then expect him to do something without shooting. It doesn't work.

I agree with you. It isn't doing the team or Moses any favors right now putting the ball in his hands beyond the 3 point line. Run some double post sets, high-low sets, etc. with Moses and another big man in the game.