Back by unpopular demand - you can thank BBPride for me brining this back. I had stayed away from providing my thoughts because I had grown very frustrated by the way the Sycamores were playing - but I will try and provide for the rest of the season and keep my emotions in check.
It was the tail of two halfs and then a couple overtimes. The Sycamores were very sharp out of the gates probably playing the best half of basketball of the season. Had 42 points at half and had something like 13 assists on 15 made baskets. Second half was a different ball game - Sycamores didn't cut, pass and pick like they did in the first half - spacing wasn't as good and as a result we turned the ball over a bunch - 15 in the first 2 halfs and 18 for the game. We took better care of the ball in the overtimes.
In the OT's the Sycamores were able to hit some big shots by a bunch of different players. I'd say the Sycamores were probably as tough mentally and physically as they have been all season. Got to hand it to coach Lansing for not letting his team quit in major foul trouble, on the road and having surrendered at 14 point lead in the game - it would have been very easy for the Sycamores to pack it in. They didn't and we get a huge road W in the sweep of Evansville on the season. We needed this one boys!
The biggest factor in this one? Our bench - if you looked at the box score/or watched the triple overtime game of Drake vs. WSU you would quickly notice that both of those teams didn't go more than 7 deep into the bench. The Aces went 7 deep but neither of those guys got more than 20 minutes in a double OT game - what does that tell us? That they were relying on their starters heavily. Sycamores get, 25, 28, 35 and 14 off the bench - those minutes were HUGE in this one!
Odum: Thought he played really well in the first half - had a couple big steals early on and really did a nice job getting his teammates involved. I didn't think that he was worth two shits in the second half, failing to much of anything. In the overtimes he was solid - he was able to play tough D playing with 4 fouls the entire overtime - difficult task. Odum, Steve and Lathan did a wonderful job on Ryan tonight holding him to 6 of 20 shooting. Odum goes 10, 7, 5 and 3 for the Sycamores - I thought the Sycamores actually played well with him on the bench tonight and that rarely ever happens.
Lathan: The best move Lansing has made this season is inserting him into the starting lineup. He has played with much more confidence since that move. He was fantastic tonight - probably the best game I have ever seen him have for the Sycamores. 27 points on 10 of 16 shooting and 7 of 7 from the free throw line is excellent! For Lathan to lead the Sycamores with 39 minutes and only have 3 turnovers is a great indicator of how well Lathan played tonight - he played about as perfect of game as a kid could play. High praise - well deserved. Oh and he hit some BIG shots late.
Richard: He battled foul trouble most of this game and it really made it difficult for him to get into the flow of the game. He didn't shoot the ball very well tonight, 4 of 8 and 0 for 3 from long range. Did play very well in the over times for the Sycamores, got a couple big rebounds and also had a big block in the second overtime (I think). I am critical on Carl because I know what he is capable of, he showed last game at home what he is capable of. I don't think it's being unfair to say that Richard is capable of playing better than he did tonight.
Walker: Tough night for him with 5 turnovers and only 1 rebound for the Sycamores tonight. Lansing pulled the plug on him in this one as he only played 18 minutes and that had nothing to do with foul trouble - he only had 3 total in the game. Walker will bounce back, he almost always does.
Steve: Has put together back to back solid efforts - his D was fantastic tonight and he got a lot of love from ESPNU announcers. I thought his D on Ryan was fantastic - he got called for a bad blocking foul at the end of the second OT which helped extend the game, but he played very well late in this game - he is also starting to knock down some shots. You want to see a stat line off the bench that mattered? Here you go, 12 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds and 4 steals.
JP: Had 9 points and that's about all I can say about his 9 points - because he didn't do anything else. He had 6 of those in the first half in which everyone that played, played well. He has to do a better job than he has this season - I would consider starting Steve over him if Steve continues to shoot the ball and play like he did tonight. I don't think bring JP off the bench is a bad thing either - might help him get free as D's will have a harder time keying on his 3 point shooting ability. Just a thought.
RJ: Thought he had an up and down game - he was able to take 2 more chargers, does anyone do a better job at taking a charge than he? That is also a two sided coin, I would venture to guess that some of his charges come because he is so far out of position that he is in a place to have to take some of those charges - but to his credit he does a nice job taking them. He added some nice rebounds late in this game and 5 of 6 from the line. Would like to see him get back to his hot shooting of early on this season - only 1 of 6 from the filed in a dreadful shooting night for him.
Gant: 4 points, 1 steal, 1 block in a pretty nice lift off the bench. Thought he played really well in the first half and really kind of surprised that Lansing didn't give him a look in the overtimes. He brings him first off the bench in the second half and then didn't give him much time after that - yes he made a few mistakes in the second half - but who the hell didn't make mistakes in the second half? Richard did, Odum did... I want to see Gant play 15 to 20 a game from here on out - he has to get those kind of minutes. He hustles, he rebounds and he is a shot blocker - we don't have anyone else that can block or redirect shots around the rim.
Eitel: Was solid in the first half with 2 made 3s and at that point he had hit 8 of his last 11 3 pointers taken - that is scorching hot! In the second half he missed a couple wide open looks badly... Let me say this about the kid though - 2 mid range jumpers that he short armed he could have hung his head, but he followed his shot on both and was able to get offensive rebounds on both, one of which he stepped out on. Hustle plays like that have earned him time for Greg Lansing.
Kitch: Probably deserves to play more - yes. But who are you going to play him for in this one? Evansville isn't a very big team, but they are physical. I wouldn't consider Kitch the most physical player. Tough to justify him playing infront of Gant or RJ tonight, no? You could make a case for him getting some of Carl's minutes but that's just not going to happen. With Walker playing under 20 in this one kind of surprised he didn't play more than he did - then again I thought Lansing did a great job using his bench so I will not question him on his substitutions tonight.
LETS BLACK OUT THE HC ON WEDNESDAY GANG! The team has started to show some signs of life - you figure in the last 2 games Odum has not played like I think he is capable of playing and we are still winning ball games. That is good sign for things to come - we have one of the deepest teams in the Valley - if we can continue to have guys step up and score ala Lathan tonight and Richard the other night then it gives us that scoring threat that we need to win basketball games. Odum can't be your number one scoring option, it's not his game - this team doesn't play well when they are relying on Odum to score buckets. We have to continue to shoot the 3 well and continue to play good D - if we do the rest will take car of it's self.
Good to be back with you all!
It was the tail of two halfs and then a couple overtimes. The Sycamores were very sharp out of the gates probably playing the best half of basketball of the season. Had 42 points at half and had something like 13 assists on 15 made baskets. Second half was a different ball game - Sycamores didn't cut, pass and pick like they did in the first half - spacing wasn't as good and as a result we turned the ball over a bunch - 15 in the first 2 halfs and 18 for the game. We took better care of the ball in the overtimes.
In the OT's the Sycamores were able to hit some big shots by a bunch of different players. I'd say the Sycamores were probably as tough mentally and physically as they have been all season. Got to hand it to coach Lansing for not letting his team quit in major foul trouble, on the road and having surrendered at 14 point lead in the game - it would have been very easy for the Sycamores to pack it in. They didn't and we get a huge road W in the sweep of Evansville on the season. We needed this one boys!
The biggest factor in this one? Our bench - if you looked at the box score/or watched the triple overtime game of Drake vs. WSU you would quickly notice that both of those teams didn't go more than 7 deep into the bench. The Aces went 7 deep but neither of those guys got more than 20 minutes in a double OT game - what does that tell us? That they were relying on their starters heavily. Sycamores get, 25, 28, 35 and 14 off the bench - those minutes were HUGE in this one!
Odum: Thought he played really well in the first half - had a couple big steals early on and really did a nice job getting his teammates involved. I didn't think that he was worth two shits in the second half, failing to much of anything. In the overtimes he was solid - he was able to play tough D playing with 4 fouls the entire overtime - difficult task. Odum, Steve and Lathan did a wonderful job on Ryan tonight holding him to 6 of 20 shooting. Odum goes 10, 7, 5 and 3 for the Sycamores - I thought the Sycamores actually played well with him on the bench tonight and that rarely ever happens.
Lathan: The best move Lansing has made this season is inserting him into the starting lineup. He has played with much more confidence since that move. He was fantastic tonight - probably the best game I have ever seen him have for the Sycamores. 27 points on 10 of 16 shooting and 7 of 7 from the free throw line is excellent! For Lathan to lead the Sycamores with 39 minutes and only have 3 turnovers is a great indicator of how well Lathan played tonight - he played about as perfect of game as a kid could play. High praise - well deserved. Oh and he hit some BIG shots late.
Richard: He battled foul trouble most of this game and it really made it difficult for him to get into the flow of the game. He didn't shoot the ball very well tonight, 4 of 8 and 0 for 3 from long range. Did play very well in the over times for the Sycamores, got a couple big rebounds and also had a big block in the second overtime (I think). I am critical on Carl because I know what he is capable of, he showed last game at home what he is capable of. I don't think it's being unfair to say that Richard is capable of playing better than he did tonight.
Walker: Tough night for him with 5 turnovers and only 1 rebound for the Sycamores tonight. Lansing pulled the plug on him in this one as he only played 18 minutes and that had nothing to do with foul trouble - he only had 3 total in the game. Walker will bounce back, he almost always does.
Steve: Has put together back to back solid efforts - his D was fantastic tonight and he got a lot of love from ESPNU announcers. I thought his D on Ryan was fantastic - he got called for a bad blocking foul at the end of the second OT which helped extend the game, but he played very well late in this game - he is also starting to knock down some shots. You want to see a stat line off the bench that mattered? Here you go, 12 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds and 4 steals.
JP: Had 9 points and that's about all I can say about his 9 points - because he didn't do anything else. He had 6 of those in the first half in which everyone that played, played well. He has to do a better job than he has this season - I would consider starting Steve over him if Steve continues to shoot the ball and play like he did tonight. I don't think bring JP off the bench is a bad thing either - might help him get free as D's will have a harder time keying on his 3 point shooting ability. Just a thought.
RJ: Thought he had an up and down game - he was able to take 2 more chargers, does anyone do a better job at taking a charge than he? That is also a two sided coin, I would venture to guess that some of his charges come because he is so far out of position that he is in a place to have to take some of those charges - but to his credit he does a nice job taking them. He added some nice rebounds late in this game and 5 of 6 from the line. Would like to see him get back to his hot shooting of early on this season - only 1 of 6 from the filed in a dreadful shooting night for him.
Gant: 4 points, 1 steal, 1 block in a pretty nice lift off the bench. Thought he played really well in the first half and really kind of surprised that Lansing didn't give him a look in the overtimes. He brings him first off the bench in the second half and then didn't give him much time after that - yes he made a few mistakes in the second half - but who the hell didn't make mistakes in the second half? Richard did, Odum did... I want to see Gant play 15 to 20 a game from here on out - he has to get those kind of minutes. He hustles, he rebounds and he is a shot blocker - we don't have anyone else that can block or redirect shots around the rim.
Eitel: Was solid in the first half with 2 made 3s and at that point he had hit 8 of his last 11 3 pointers taken - that is scorching hot! In the second half he missed a couple wide open looks badly... Let me say this about the kid though - 2 mid range jumpers that he short armed he could have hung his head, but he followed his shot on both and was able to get offensive rebounds on both, one of which he stepped out on. Hustle plays like that have earned him time for Greg Lansing.
Kitch: Probably deserves to play more - yes. But who are you going to play him for in this one? Evansville isn't a very big team, but they are physical. I wouldn't consider Kitch the most physical player. Tough to justify him playing infront of Gant or RJ tonight, no? You could make a case for him getting some of Carl's minutes but that's just not going to happen. With Walker playing under 20 in this one kind of surprised he didn't play more than he did - then again I thought Lansing did a great job using his bench so I will not question him on his substitutions tonight.
LETS BLACK OUT THE HC ON WEDNESDAY GANG! The team has started to show some signs of life - you figure in the last 2 games Odum has not played like I think he is capable of playing and we are still winning ball games. That is good sign for things to come - we have one of the deepest teams in the Valley - if we can continue to have guys step up and score ala Lathan tonight and Richard the other night then it gives us that scoring threat that we need to win basketball games. Odum can't be your number one scoring option, it's not his game - this team doesn't play well when they are relying on Odum to score buckets. We have to continue to shoot the 3 well and continue to play good D - if we do the rest will take car of it's self.
Good to be back with you all!
