That's more like it
by Jeff Nusser on Feb 6, 2010 11:01 PM PST
Email
PrintSo, I didn't see the game -- I was out celebrating my wife's birthday by spending the day with her at the Pike Place Market (without the lads) and consuming perhaps my favorite beverage in the world -- but I did glance at tonight's stats.
Grady will be along either later tonight or early tomorrow morning with the recap, but in the spirit of my post from yesterday, I thought I'd go ahead and point this out:
Arizona offensive efficiency, Pac-10 play: 105.5
Arizona offensive efficiency, tonight: 93.8
The stats tell me we didn't really harass them into that bad of a shooting night -- pretty much exactly average for them -- but we did an exceptional job of cleaning up the defensive glass and keeping their free throw rate down.
Makes me wish I had seen it, because it sounds precisely like the sort of defensive performance I would have appreciated. I'd love to hear from any of you just how it went down.
30 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Also.
I will have it on DVR to watch tomorrow. Sad I didn’t catch any of it tonight.
CougCenter WSU's second main blog
by Craig Powers on Feb 6, 2010 11:05 PM PST up reply actions
Van's Tavern in Naches, Washington has it on tap.
Walking distance from my Dad’s place. Pretty sure I was the only one that ever ordered it, but was super excited they had it.
CougCenter WSU's second main blog
by Craig Powers on Feb 6, 2010 11:16 PM PST up reply actions
By the way
It’s probably a good thing there isn’t a place within walking distance of MY house that has it on tap …
High effort and intensity
Check sportslink for more. Everything we harped on was addressed by Bone. He went ten deep early, yanking players who weren’t bringing it immediately and setting the tone. The offense had a TON more movement off ball and we took good shots. The defense was mostly straight man, using zone sparingly to throw off their rhythm.
On offense, we used Dee inside and used backcuts to get to the rim. We were going to the hole and getting to the line, making our free throws. Dee played like a monster, Klay was unselfish, X was slashing and cutting, and MOTUM! played very well.
The team played disciplined, almost Bennett like, with their shot selection. It felt like after weathering the inital storm that we were always in control. Everytime az made a run, we called a timeout and answered it. We closed out the first on a 15-2 run and started the second half on a run as well, essentially putting the game away.
The newest, and my favorite, wrinkle was setting up a press off a made bucket. Everytime we scored, we set up and had a man on everyone, either backing off if they got it in, or sticking with a full court press to disrupt. It was like he saw your defense post and used this game to answer it.
by Brian Floyd on Feb 6, 2010 11:12 PM PST via mobile reply actions
Was I the only one that found this game eerily similar to the Arizona home game last year?
Klay Thompson is my man crush
by crimson and gray on Feb 6, 2010 11:15 PM PST up reply actions
No you werent
Very similar, but more high scoring. We took the lead with an early second half run and put it away. I had almost forgot about that. Good catch
by Brian Floyd on Feb 6, 2010 11:25 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
It hit me while I was eating at Mongolian Fire after the game
The second half run and then the bench scoring I think was what got me. I could get used to more like that.
Klay Thompson is my man crush
by crimson and gray on Feb 6, 2010 11:29 PM PST up reply actions
the bench was huge
That was probably the cool thing to see. Everyone stepped up and brought it. We’ve got talent all over on this team. Be excited to watch these kids grow
by Brian Floyd on Feb 6, 2010 11:36 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
I had been waiting to start the "Aussie Aussie Aussie" chant since the first game this year.
I am glad I finally got that chance tonight. Brock showed that potential I think everyone thought he had in him. Bjornstadt looked a lot better today as well. Can’t wait for the strides I expect to see this team make. Lets hope we can see this same defense from Reggie and the rest of the guys this year.
Klay Thompson is my man crush
by crimson and gray on Feb 6, 2010 11:47 PM PST up reply actions
Reggie absolutely brought it in my opinion
He has it in him as long as he commits. Tonight showed his D intensity doesn’t hurt his O production.
Motum can be special, especially if he hits the weights. He’s got a good shot and can play some D. Bjorn is a project but he may pan out in time. X is flourishing on both ends now. I absolutely love what he brings to the game. He’s quick, can shoot, and can slash quite well. If you can’t tell I’m very excited to see these kids grow up
by Brian Floyd on Feb 6, 2010 11:51 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
By the wayim
I’m a huge fan of the presses we run with X and Reggie. Not only does it slow the opponent, but also causes turnovers. The two of them running a two man zone press is a great call
by Brian Floyd on Feb 6, 2010 11:54 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Great call
I loved that press. Just a little wrinkle that seemed to throw them off brilliantly.
Klay Thompson is my man crush
by crimson and gray on Feb 6, 2010 11:55 PM PST up reply actions
Me too!
And I do understand there will be some growing pains like the previous 3 games but I thats part of the fun.
Klay Thompson is my man crush
by crimson and gray on Feb 6, 2010 11:54 PM PST up reply actions
I questioned it
a little bit at the start of the game, especially when I saw Bjornstad enter the game, but apparently it worked. Watson had a great game, I don’t think anyone’s mentioned that. Had a big block, and showed off some outside shooting. Since I’m from Portland, I noticed that he seems a lot like Lamarcus Aldridge of the Blazers. Obviously he isn’t at the same level as him, but he’s good down low, but also showed off some perimeter shooting tonight.
Can definitely see that
would love to see some better free throw shooting from him however. He kills me from the stripe. I don’t understand how X and him can be solid mid range guys but so horrible from the line.
Klay Thompson is my man crush
by crimson and gray on Feb 6, 2010 11:57 PM PST up reply actions
Grippi explained it
Bone was yanking anyone that wasn’t bringing full effort early. Thus the Bjorn sighting. He was definitely instilling discipline on the fly.
I had meant to mention Watson too. He played huge on defense today and played a valuable role
by Brian Floyd on Feb 7, 2010 12:00 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
He showed range out to almost the three pt line
If he can knock those down consistently, it’ll go a long way to breaking zones. Flashing him to the high post as a threat to shoot would help
by Brian Floyd on Feb 7, 2010 12:02 AM PST via mobile up reply actions
Really good defense all around
Mostly man that we played very hard and rotated very well on but also mixed in some zone at some key times that seemed to throw off their offense. Capers did a fantastic job on Nic Wise.
Klay Thompson is my man crush
by crimson and gray on Feb 6, 2010 11:13 PM PST reply actions
Best Game of Year
-That was by far our best game of the year. I have been hard on Coach Bone but he made a lot of the adjustments I have been asking for tonight.
-I guess Abe was sick but I have been wanting Bone to use Motum and Watson to spell Nik at the 4 for a while now. I think he should have done it 3 weeks ago. They give us more size and Motum has a great basketball I.q.
-We played with much more intensity on defense, Reggie wasn’t perfect but was much better then he has been. He needs to continue to play with a sense of urgency on defense. It was great that Coach benched Reggie after defensive mistakes. I have been calling for that for a while now.
-On offense we showed good patience and moved better. We ran one set repeatedly in the second half with good success. We just need to add a couple of more sets, We even ran the swinging gate screen but didn’t get a basket. I would love for us to be more of a scoring threat on the baseline inbounds play. We only took a few rushed shots, one early in the game by Reggie and a couple by Klay. We need to continue to move the ball and get the optimum shot until late in the clock.
-One thing I think we can work on is holding the ball at the point. When the ball gets passed from one wing to the point, both Reggie and Klay have a tendency to hold the ball instead of reversing it. You should never hold the ball at the point, keep it moving.
Also when Reggie passes to a wing from the point he often just stands, I wish he would go opposite or at least move somewhere to get the d moving.
-Great game by the Bench!! Bjornstad is going to be a big factor in this program. I still wish he was redshirting this year.
-We need to stay focused and Coach Bone needs to keep stressing defense and cherishing every possession. I still believe we have no worse then the third best personnel in the league.
Go Cougs
That felt like the first game Bone really ran everything his way
A lot more rotation of players and going with the consistent full court pressure, which we varied from soft press to a true press, seems more like the way Bone wants us to play. It might have just taken a little 3 game skid and some truely uninspiring performances for Bone to committ to going all in with his way. Hopefully we continue to see that.
I think last night will be a bit of an anamoly for this year, but hopefully a prediction of what is to come. I’m not sure that Motum, Bjornstad and Watson will be as effective on the road. They are still young, and having the crowd behind them helped. Especially Motum as the place seemed to erupting when he started getting to the hoop. If we can carry this intensity into Stanford on Thursday I really like our chances there, and that could open some doors for the game at Cal on Saturday.
Yeah
I’m very very happy we start the trip at Stanford and not Cal. I think a win at Maples gives us a shot at Cal if we can play as we did yesterday.
Isn't it ironic just a week after Bone saying that Bjornstad might not play the rest of the season
he plays in the first few minutes of the game.
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Community Guidelines
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
