16 pts/game from Sammy recently (Photo: RTD)Against Longwood on Saturday, the Hoos shot a steady 51.8% from the floor. A lot of this came from the wide-open looks the guys were getting all game with a few fastbreaks here and there. Really, the Lancers couldn't stop Virginia in any way - though the game really was never that big of a blowout until late in the 2nd half. While they played hard and gave the Hoos more practice against a zone defense, LU was the perfect opponent for this point in the schedule - we needed to get some target practice. Rhythm is basically the most important part of shooting, so what better way to establish more rhythm for our shooters than 40 minutes of unguarded shooting in a live game? (Note: Longwood really did play a fine game, but the team was tired having played the night before and obviously overmatched in every way. More power to the Lancers for showing up and I'll try and tone down any language that might be seen as insulting/boastful).
Obviously, this is a team that the Hoos should beat comfortably, but to do so in a way that helps us improve in a previous area of (some) weakness (consistent shooting) is really beneficial for the rest of the season. With the exception of a few games (Michigan), the Hoos have struggled early on to get consistent performance from shooters - something that will be necessary when the ACC schedule starts.
Last night, the Hoos started right where they left off - against a much better opponent. While this year's George Mason team might not be as good as some of their recent ones (and for sure has a much worse coach), they're still a team with NCAAT experience that knows how to win. They were picked to finish 2nd in the usually-strong CAA and, as such, Virginia has now vanquished the top two Colonial teams already this year (Drexel was picked to finish 1st). Point being: these guys weren't going to back down to the challenge of beating their instate big brothers on their own floor. However, Tony's guys beat the Patriots in every way from start to finish last night and walked away with a strong win and a dominating performance. As a team, the Wahoos shot 60.5% from the floor and hit exactly half of their 3s. Looks like the team's found its shot.
Some thoughts going into the break:
-Sammy Z's line from last night: 6/11 FGs, 4/6 3s, 4 steals, 32 min.
-Having Sammy as a reliable shooter is HUGE in terms of this team being able to win in the ACC.
- After the LU game, it looked like Brogdon had stolen most of KT's minutes, but KT played plenty of non-garbage-time minutes against GMU. While Malcolm might be 1st in the rotation, Tony is nowhere near done leaving KT out of it.
-Sene still can't catch. But boy, he does most everything else well.
-FT shooting was a little off last night, that's a couple of off games for the year so far. Must fix.
-Jontel was all over the place in the 1st half, but played a great game in the 2nd - good to see some adjustment from him.
-GMU pressed most of the game and, for the most part, UVA handled it well. There were a few mistakes, but it should serve as good experience for facing it in the future.
-James Johnson is looking like he's officially out of the rotation - no clue why people are mumbling about him transferring, but I guess we'll see.
- I think most folks would've taken 8-1 at this point, hopefully the west coast trip goes according to plan.
And a few notes from a friend at the game:
-The difference between Jontel 1st half and Jontel 2nd half was HUGE. Also big that we didn't overlook Mason...
-It worries me to read jontels quote- "wasn't really excited for this game until coach warned us how good they were."
-Good teams get up for every opponent- even if they suck. It's a chance for them to shine! Saw us on Sports Center today=respect
Time to get to work, fellas.
I caught myself getting too focused on Virginia's impressive points allowed per game stat, especially when GMU seemed to be on pace to challenge the Hoos on that in the first 10 minutes of the second half.
ReplyDelete(knocking on wood already) But it was completely awesome to come out of that game with an only slightly worse (and still completely impressive) average after keeping GMU to 48 points. I love our pacing.
Yeah, some of that obviously comes from playing mainly scrubs so far - but every major team is doing the same thing. But you're right about how impressive it's been for sure. I think a lot of it stems from making teams take a long time when they have the ball - it's not like sammy's waiting for the shot clock to wind down to shoot.
ReplyDeleteRecruits out there who love getting after it on defense have got to take notice of Tony's system. Imagine if we hold UNC to 65 pts.