TT Win thoughts
 

The team looked really good tonight at times. Really, really sharp.

Crosby played well right off the bat. He gave the team a lift in beginning after Crutcher was hurt. I was surprised that Crosby did not get more playing time later. He deserved it. The other impact player obviously was Kostas. His length bothers other teams a lot. He forces opponents to alter their shots quite a bit. His block at the rim was stunning good.

This team is streaky. How many times this year have they scored 13 straight points or given up 13 straight points? Did it again tonight.


The offense in the first half has some outstanding flow at times. The ball movement was excellent and there were a lot of assists. 22 assists for 31 baskets is really nice.

The team offense stalled at the very end of the first half and start of the second half. It seems to stall more when Svoboda is in the game. They lose height with and he just has not found his rhythm yet. The ball movement stopped and they took desperation 3s at the end of the shot clock during that stretch. Felt like Old Dominion game during that stretch.

Crutcher looked smooth often. Felt like Scoochie II. Crutcher and J. Davis seem to make a good combo.

The D gave up a lot of threes. They seem to get lazy early and then well into the second half. Other than those lapses, the D and the zone looked good.

The team scores best in transition. They are clearly a defense to offense team. TTs turnovers helped rev up the UD offense.

The team is immature in end game situations. They made a couple of dumb plays and would attack the basket instead of run the clock. Landers made a really goofy move dropping the ball out of bounds before the final second ticked off. They need to work better on game finishing.

Lots of bright spots. Most of the players played really well for good portions of the game. Josh is a workhorse on the boards. Landers plays hard and physical. DD can score in a hurry. Would love to see Svoboda get untracked and Williams back.

Nice to get a win. Other thoughts?

Best ball movement I’ve seen this year. One play in particular just made me glow. Dribble-drive down the lane, with a kick out to the left corner, with rotation back to the left wing for an uncontested 3 by JD that was nothing but net. The shot was beautiful, but the passes that set it up were letter-perfect. Reminded me of the best of the AM era, when we had guys like DMO, Sibert, & Vee, who could execute that with the best of them.
Posted via Mobile Device

The first 5 minutes of the game I thought to myself it was going to be ugly....primarily because we didn't get a post touch that entire time. The next possession...inside touch...dunk by Cunningham. Next post feed...bunny by Kostas.

This team has to find a way to get the ball into the paint. If not, they are going to be in for long nights.

I will say that there were bright spots with ball movement and knocking down the open shots. Defensive pressure was there and they got out into transition. They needed the win and thankfully they were playing Tennessee Tech.

This is still a young, immature team that's in the process of getting to know one another on the court. We have some really good young talent out there that display a lot of guts, if not great judgment yet, but it seems that AG is getting through to them. We need to give them some more time to develop the chemistry they'll need to succeed in the A-10 before we can expect smooth offensive and defensive sets. Most of us knew going into the season this team would be a work in progress ...and it is, but it seems to be coming along pretty well over all. IMHO, Kostas' improved defensive positioning and court awareness was great to see.

Agree Kostas defensive positioning improved because he stayed out of foul trouble. We need him to continue to stay out of foul trouble!

On the offensive sets, unless he is being told to do so by AG, he is spending too much time way outside on the perimeter when he should be running the baseline under the basket to make himself available for alley-oops dunks, interior passes or at the very least to be in position for tip ins or rebounds! He can shoot the three pointer but he was 0 for 2 last night and that is not the part of the game that he is going to help the team the most!

What I noticed more is he did not even challenge many shots at all going up and even gave up on a few rebounds in that first half. I'm sure AG stressed to him the necessary trade off on giving up a few buckets to be able to stay on the floor.

With Kosta being a young player I'm sure he'll learn more of the give and take approach here and will be able to both challenge more shots (not blocks) and stay on the floor.....He'll still have issues with big thick BIGS that go right at him bit at this point it's vital he feels more confident...

The one thing Kostas did not do last night is to go after layups he probably could not stop. He will learn the fine line of defense, and then look out. He will be a treat to watch.

Unlike some bigs we have had who never would shoot outside of six feet or at the three line, Kostas is developing those shots, and when he does, look out.

Right now he is a reacher and jumper. He will soon learn positioning and blocking out, then look out.

Kostas already passes as well as Pollard, who was our best big passer in recent memory.

We are still in for some stinker games, but next year will be fun.

All very good comments by all about Kostas, and about the team.

Point: T tech was just as sloppy with the ball or worse. So while this was a good get your sh*t together game... Tenn Tech was pretty horrid. Could score on occasional runs. But when i saw there lineup - meaning heights and especially weight I knew guys like Landers, Josh C, bigger tougher guys should man handle T Tech.

But not a good team.

One play impressed me. Crutcher drove the right key, then in traffic threw a lob hook to Kostas for slam. That showed great court awareness and great confidence by a freshman. On the negative, almost all of TT threes were uncontested by our zone.

The conflict is that Kostas is our best high post distributor. With his smarts and length, the potential for an assist exists every time he gets the ball at the free throw line. We need him everywhere.