I'll start by saying that I did not expect this game at all. Sure, I knew that we could make the score ugly if we played great D and hit plenty of shots from deep. But I didn't expect us to shoot 48% with only 5 threes and win by such a large margin. One of the reasons for this was that Georgia Tech played really, really poorly. Yes our defense frustrated them, but they really caused a lot of their own problems on offense.
What to like:
-Rebounding: The stat that sticks out the most when you look as the box score, aside from GT's miserable 6% from deep, is the whopping 41 to 22 advantage in rebounding for UVA. This isn't that surprising, as Georgia Tech is pretty weak down low, but such a large margin shows we clearly out-hustled them. With Assane only playing 13 minutes as he injured his ankle (more on this later), such a domination on the boards is impressive. The fact is, we are generally a very good rebounding team. This will help greatly down the road.
-UVA's "Big 2": Mike Scott and Joe Harris. Everyone knows about Mike Scott now, but Harris is really having a fantastic year as well. After a slow start, Scott really heated up. Per usual, he had his silky mid-range jumper going. He finished with 18pts on 7-13 from the field with 7 boards and 2 assists. Harris had one of his best overall and most efficient performances in his short career here. He had 16pts on 7-10 shooting with one 3pt basket, 5 boards, 3 assists, and a block. He really used his dribble well and got deep inside the arc. If he can get shots like he got last night, he will be a consistent 15-20 point scorer. They didn't really give him any room to knock them down from deep, so Joe showed his ability to beat the defense with penetration, a skill he didn't really have last year.
-Again, the young guys: Obviously Joe had another good game, but I don't really treat him as young, because he plays so much, but Akil, Darion, Paul, and Malcolm continue to impress. Akil and Darion were as active as ever. Mitchell tallied 4pts and 7 boards in 22 minutes. Darion had 4pts (including a Sportscenter Top 10 dunk off of his own steal), 2 boards, 1 assist, 1 steal, and 2 blocks in 17 minutes. If Assane's injury is serious, they are going to see their time skyrocket, and I think they're both ready for the challenge (although that would cause a depth issue; more below). Paul continues to look more and more comfortable out there (one could even argue he looks more comfortable than KT did at times this year). I really think as he gains experience, he'll put the pieces of his game together and make himself a really tough guy to guard. Also, his defense has been a pleasant surprise. He doesn't look too lost in the difficult pack line scheme. Obviously, we know what Malcolm can do. He hasn't exactly been lighting it up like he did earlier in the year, but I'm not worried. Even when he's not scoring, he does the little things that help the team succeed.
What not to like:
-Assane's Injury: We still don't know the extent of the injury, but judging on his recent tweet, it doesn't look good. If he does miss an extended period of time, we could have some depth issues in the post. Now, I had been calling for Mitchell and Atkins' time to increase at the expense of Sene, but that doesn't mean we wouldn't miss him. While he has been struggling lately, he is still a veteran who can be a presence in the paint. It will be interesting to see how our talented yet young guys do in this situation. I think they're ready for it, but they are going to have to grow up fast, because we will not be able to afford them to lag behind. There will be no others behind them.
-Shooting: While at times we looked lights out, I still think we have a lot more in our tank when it comes to shooting. Sammy looked like his demons were still bothering him early, but then recovered later in the game. Still, he doesn't look like the Sam we're used to. GT tried hard to prevent Joe from beating them from deep, but I really want to see Joe get more looks from 3. Last year, that was all of his game. While it's awesome that he has developed other parts of his game, I don't want that aspect to go away completely. Paul hit two nice threes, but also missed badly twice. I think that's just him still working on getting the rhythm down. He can stroke it; he'll get there in time. Finally, Malcolm's shot hasn't been what it was earlier in the year. If we can get all of these guys shooting up to their potential, then we can really become an even more dominant and balanced team.
No comments:
Post a Comment