Much, much better than a loss but one thing that had me apoplectic was the insistence by defenders, especially the guards to defend “the ball” rather than the player; constantly getting off balance with their weight forward lunging at the ball or diving to steal passes that were low percentage gambles. All those things do is break down the team defense, allowing easy penetration. The only stat generally more overrated than steals are blocked shots. Neither are bad unto themselves but they are when they are treated as the goal as opposed to happening within the context of good fundamental team defense.
Big kudos to the ”2nd team” who I thought completely changed the lackluster energy level the starters began the game with when they came in. Look at bench points but that is not the end all and be all of contributions. And yes, I am including Wilcher and Dunlap in that praise. They got SJU involved in the rock fight the game was as opposed to the “let’s win it on offense” attitude the starters began the game with.
Finally, very surprised Pitino did not go zone but I am confident he certainly knows better than I and he got his “teaching moment” and the W, which is obviously the best of both worlds.
