Returned from the Garden a little while ago. Wow! What a stunning turnaround. For me everything stemmed from the defense.
Down 48 to 34 with under 12 to play, no offensive flow, erratic free throw shooting and no one really hot it was hard to imagine a victory. Simply put we then shut them down big time and our defense triggered our dormant offense. This sent us on an insane 37 to 14 run, in under 12 minutes, that made the Wildcats look more like Pussycats.
I watched Villanova/Creighton recently where Nova could not hit the broad side of the barn and also watched them lose to both Furman and Pennsylvania earlier this season so I was not confusing this group with the bunch that won 2 of the last 3 National titles. That all said the turnaround was still incredibly unexpected especially when you consider our struggles in our previous two Garden games, our seventeen year drought againt Nova at MSG and Nova's 11 and 1 record in Big East play.
As for the players:
L. J. Figueroa was just simply marvelous again. He is a unique talent and was a terror on the boards and the defensive end, as well as being our main offensive spark. He was the best player on the floor tonight. Kudos for Matt for getting a kid this good, who was not even on most top teams radar.
Simon played very well and his defense was outstanding. Watching him shut down Booth tonight and Markus Howard twice this year shows just how tough he is on really good opposing guards. Also his end of the half 70 foot three changed the mood in the Garden.
Heron played another great game. His defense was just great and his leadership, maturity and offense is incredibly valuable and critical to this team's success.
Clark hit a couple of big threes, he also played some very good defense. While he had some moments, he needs to figure out how to stay out of foul trouble that takes him out of games in big spots.
Ponds did not play one of his best games. He shot poorly and seemed frustrated at getting banged around and not getting calls. He settled down in the second half and orchestrated more than dominated and that clearly contributed to the victory. He is still our go to guy, but it was great for him to recognize to take care of the ball and distribute when his shot was clearly off.
The bench scored zero, but Keita and Trimble contibuted defensively and their minutes spelled the starters especially when we had foul trouble. This is a very important and necessary component to our team if we want to have more success this season.
With three wins against the top two teams in the conference (which is three more than the other seven teams in the conference have combined) we should make the big dance barring a bad ending over the next five games. Every game we have left in the regular season is winnable and we will likely be favored in all five. That said every one of those games is losable too and with the Jekyl and Hyde nature we have displayed thus far in conference play we have to hope that we bring it night in and night out.
Here is hoping we play the rest of our games with the same level of intensity that led to this great comeback victory. If we do that, then everything else will take care of itself and make this one of our best seasons in many years.
Down 48 to 34 with under 12 to play, no offensive flow, erratic free throw shooting and no one really hot it was hard to imagine a victory. Simply put we then shut them down big time and our defense triggered our dormant offense. This sent us on an insane 37 to 14 run, in under 12 minutes, that made the Wildcats look more like Pussycats.
I watched Villanova/Creighton recently where Nova could not hit the broad side of the barn and also watched them lose to both Furman and Pennsylvania earlier this season so I was not confusing this group with the bunch that won 2 of the last 3 National titles. That all said the turnaround was still incredibly unexpected especially when you consider our struggles in our previous two Garden games, our seventeen year drought againt Nova at MSG and Nova's 11 and 1 record in Big East play.
As for the players:
L. J. Figueroa was just simply marvelous again. He is a unique talent and was a terror on the boards and the defensive end, as well as being our main offensive spark. He was the best player on the floor tonight. Kudos for Matt for getting a kid this good, who was not even on most top teams radar.
Simon played very well and his defense was outstanding. Watching him shut down Booth tonight and Markus Howard twice this year shows just how tough he is on really good opposing guards. Also his end of the half 70 foot three changed the mood in the Garden.
Heron played another great game. His defense was just great and his leadership, maturity and offense is incredibly valuable and critical to this team's success.
Clark hit a couple of big threes, he also played some very good defense. While he had some moments, he needs to figure out how to stay out of foul trouble that takes him out of games in big spots.
Ponds did not play one of his best games. He shot poorly and seemed frustrated at getting banged around and not getting calls. He settled down in the second half and orchestrated more than dominated and that clearly contributed to the victory. He is still our go to guy, but it was great for him to recognize to take care of the ball and distribute when his shot was clearly off.
The bench scored zero, but Keita and Trimble contibuted defensively and their minutes spelled the starters especially when we had foul trouble. This is a very important and necessary component to our team if we want to have more success this season.
With three wins against the top two teams in the conference (which is three more than the other seven teams in the conference have combined) we should make the big dance barring a bad ending over the next five games. Every game we have left in the regular season is winnable and we will likely be favored in all five. That said every one of those games is losable too and with the Jekyl and Hyde nature we have displayed thus far in conference play we have to hope that we bring it night in and night out.
Here is hoping we play the rest of our games with the same level of intensity that led to this great comeback victory. If we do that, then everything else will take care of itself and make this one of our best seasons in many years.
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