Final Score: UW-87 UCSB-80
Well that was a stressful win. That much is certain. UW had a 10 point lead with 4 minutes to go only to throw it away by giving up two straight 3-pointers and two lay-ins. All of a sudden it was tied at 77 in a span a hair longer than a minute. All this out of a timeout by UW. Where was the game plan? I can understand a 10-0 run, it happens, but not out of a timeout and not in the final minutes against a mid-major.
The refs started out decent enough in the first half. They were atrocious in the second. Between several very poor calls and misses as well as UW missing huge free throws at the end of the game kept this much closer than it should have been. Four straight free throws were missed with under a minute on the clock. Unacceptable. Thankfully, Romar pulled Tony Wroten(who was playing out of his mind) after missing his third straight free throw in the closing minutes and put in Desmond Simmons who is an excellent free throw shooter. Wroten was 4-9 on the night. Not going to work. Not at all.
UW came out with a 4 guard line-up featuring Tony Wroten with Aziz N'Diaye on the sidelines due to his knee injury. UW came out in the second half with C.J. Wilcox on the bench and Desmond Simmons in the starting 5. This was a good move as Wilcox was cold tonight and we needed a big man in the post to shore up the defense. It paid off as UCSB had 26 points in the paint in the first half and only 10 in the second.
Tony Wroten. He is the best, most frustrating player I've ever seen. Yet he is the heart and soul of this team. We have been asking who this teams leader is. I have an answer, Tony Wroten. Say all you want about the turnovers, as long as he keeps playing this way I am OK with it. Keep it to 5 and under, that is my limit. 27 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist (more on this later), 5 turnovers, and 1 steal. I'll take that stat line. He could have had 30 if he made his free throws. He was visibly upset with himself after missing the last 3 free throws. This was great to see. It means he is starting to take the free throws seriously and understands what kind of impact free throws have on a game. He had a monster slam after juking out his defender with a sweet fake pass. I thought for sure it would be on SportCenter, but sadly it was not. His assist, however, was.
Terrence Ross. When can we get a full 40 out of you?? Yet again, it took a huge second half for Ross to break double digits. Ross had only 2 points in the first half. He tallied up 14 in the second half and finished with 5 rebounds, an assist, two steals, and just one turnover. Ross nabbed the number 2 spot on the Top Ten with another vicious jam courtesy of Tony Wroten. It would have been number 1 if not for a great 3/4 court shot that swished at the end of half. Hard to argue against that. Wroten lobbed up a beautiful assist that Ross turned into a full 360 jam. Absolutely monstrous. Ross went 4-4 from the charity stripe with all 4 coming in crunch time. He hit 2 of 4 from deep and shot 5 of 12 on the night. Wroten had 21 shots compared to a combined total of 17 for Wilcox and Ross. I like that Wroten is taking the initiative and getting to the rack, but Wilcox and Ross are our best shooters and need to have more opportunities.
Desmond Simmons had another stellar night and continues to impress me with his solid shot and great work effort. 9 points on 4-5 shooting including a dime from deep, 8 rebounds, and 2 steals. He did miss his lone free throw, which was infuriating simply because he is a solid player at the line. Simmons best plays often come defending in the post where he deflects passes left and right. Both of his steals came from deflecting passes and chasing down the loose ball. If Tony hadn't willed this team to victory tonight I would be expecting Romar to throw Simmons in the starting 5 simply because of how much of an impact he has on the game. I think Simmons is one of the more underrated and valued players on the team and possibly in the Pac-12. Game in and game out he performs well.
Abdul Gaddy silently shot his way to 17 points. I didn't even realize he did that well until I looked at the post-game stats. He only had 1 assist, but given the fact that the team only had 8 assist on the night it hard to expect him to get much more than that. Gaddy was 6-10 on the night and drilled 2 of his 3 3-pointers. He also tallied 2 boards and 0 turnovers. Not bad. He looked much more aggressive tonight and seems to be taking a page out of Wroten's book.
Darnell Gant was all sorts tonight. His 2-7 shooting was sub par. He was 4-5 from the line and ended with 9 points and 8 boards, 4 of which were offensive. That was great to see, especially with N'Diaye out of the game. He also dished out an assist and had a steal, going without a turnover tonight.
C.J. Wilcox all but disappeared tonight. He took only 5 shots and hit just 2 of them. Wilcox had picked up 4 fouls with over 15 minutes to go in the second half, which in part contributed to his lack of opportunities. Wilcox needs to get aggressive and attack the hoop. He has a fantastic inside shot that is underused. He still seems to have the streaky mentality where is he cold he can't get hot, if he is hot his shots just wont stop draining through the net.
What Needed Improvement:
Free Throws:
19-30 from the line is atrocious. I plan on writing an article on free throws in the next few days so I'll try not to rant too much on this post. This mainly falls on Wroten who was 4-9 from the line. Gaddy was also a tad behind with a 3-5 night from the stripe and Kemp was 2-4 on the night. The rest of the team was nearly perfect.
Rebounding:
UW got out rebounded 40-35. Three players had 7 or more boards. Usually I'd be ecstatic about this, especially considering the Dawgs were without N'Diaye. What upset me were the 14 offensive boards UCSB collected leading to 12 second chance points. We have got to get better at preventing these second chance opportunities.
Assists:
We scorer nearly 90 points while only handing out 8 assists. I don't even know how that is possible. While I like the fact that the team has enough players that can create their own opportunities, I like us dishing out 15+ assists much more. It shows movement and team unity.
What was Good:
Defensive Tenacity:
The Huskies forced 17 turnovers (only committing 7 themselves) and had 8 steals. I'd like to see a count of how many tipped balls UW had because they were all over the place. I loved the group effort. I realize the Gauchos scored quite a bit today, but to be fair Orlando Johnson was on fire and could not miss. He kept UCSB in the game much longer than I thought was possible.
Inside Presence:
I don't mean our post players, I mean attacking the rim. Wroten highlighted it, but Ross had his fair share of nice inside shots in the second half. Gaddy was another force inside with a couple of nice drives. I still want to see Ross and Wilcox get to the hoop and earn some real free throws. Tonight, their shots came from late game fouls designed to slow us down and give UCSB a chance at an upset comeback.
Final Thoughts:
Giving up the 10 point lead in a matter of seconds was just plain ugly. I don't know how Romar doesn't use a time out after the back-to-back 3's to rally the team and reorganize the offense. They need to keep the pedal to the metal. Wroten could end up as the leading scorer for this team with the way he is going. Ross and Wilcox need to find their identity and get their game going for the full 40. A win is a win and hopefully this will inspire some great play. There is a lot of work to be done if they want to make the NCAA and it all starts here at Hec-Ed. No better place to do it than at home.
Go Dawgs!
Showing posts with label University of California Santa Barbara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label University of California Santa Barbara. Show all posts
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
University of California: Santa Barbara Game Preview
UCSB comes in with a 5-2 record, both losses coming in overtime. Their most recent game was a 65-61 win over USD. This game had a chance to turn into a loss when a few Santa Barbara fans threw tortillas on the court with .6 seconds remaining. Rather than assess the Gauchos with a technical, the refs opted to give the fans a formal warning and let play continue. A technical would have meant two free throws and possession of the ball. Making both free throws and sinking a quick shot could have given USD a 1 point win instead of a 4 point loss.
The Gauchos are a pretty solid offensive team averaging nearly 80 points and over 40 rebounds per game. They are also dishing out 16 assists per game and hitting around 46% from the field. Their defense is fairly proficient as well, allowing only 66 points and 33 boards per game. Santa Barbara is only forcing 12 turnovers per game, but are committing only 11 per game themselves. They have very solid point guards who know how to handle pressure situations and make the smart decision nearly every time. The Husky defense will need to bring the pressure hard to force the UCSB guards into uncomfortable situations.
Orlando Johnson is a superstar for the Gauchos. He leads the team in every major statistical category. He is averaging over 22 points, almost 7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and over a steal per game. Johnson has been absolutely stellar thus far and the Huskies will need to work their defensive magic to control his impact on the game. At 6-5 205lb, Johnson is a bit of a mismatch for both guards and forwards. I suspect C.J. Wilcox or Terrence Ross will draw this assignment as they have the length and athleticism to stay in his face and play more preventative defense.
James Nunnally is another strong player for Santa Barbara. At 6-7 205lb, Nunnally is a bit small for a forward, but taller than your average guard. He is averaging 18 points and nearly 6 boards per game. He is a fantastic free throw shooter with 31 makes on 38 attempts. He also has decent range with 11 makes on 33 attempts from deep. I suspect Desmond Simmons will draw this assignment should he take Aziz N'Diaye's starting position. Simmons has the speed, mobility, and tenacity to play tight D on Nunnally anywhere on the court.
Jamie Serna rounds out the tough UCSB back court. He is listed at 6-9 and 235lb. He is the only other double digit scorer with 11.6 points per game. He is also third in rebounding at 4.9 boards per game. Serna is not an outside shooter, but he does do a solid job of drawing fouls and has attempted 30 free throws on the year.
Santa Barbara also features 7-2 245lb Greg Somogyi from Hungary. Somogyi averages only 12 minutes, 3 points, and a bit under 4 rebounds per game.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups:
Santa Barbara:
Nate Garth 6-2 180lb
Christian Peterson 6-3 219lb
Orlando Johnson 6-5 205lb
James Nunnally 6-7 205lb
Jamie Serna 6-9 235lb
Washington:
Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
C.J. Wilcox 6-5 190lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Desmond Simmons 6-7 220lb
Darnell Gant 6-8 230lb
Keys to the Game:
Defensive Pressure:
With a strong UCSB frontcourt and the absence of N'Diaye for the next few games, the Huskies will have their work cutout when it comes to containing the oppositions scoring in the paint. Simmons and Gant will need to step up their games and the Husky bench will need to rise to the occasion. This means Shawn Kemp and Marin Breunig need to shake off the freshman jitters and establish themselves as contributing members of the team on a consistent basis.
Rebounding:
The Gauchos know how to rebound and so do the Dawgs. After watching Duke take apart the Huskies on long rebounds, it'll be interesting to see how UW bounces back and if they can bang down low with Nunnally and Johnson. The Husky backcourt needs to go back to what they were doing to start the year by collapsing on the boards and picking up the mid range stuff outside the grasp of our frontcourt.
Free Throws:
If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. Free throws win ball games, plain and simple. Ross and Wilcox are simply not doing enough to get to the line. So much so that Wilcox has not attempted a free throw in something like 5 games. Tony Wroten has more makes than anyone else on the team has attempted and his free throw shooting, while seemingly improving (thank god), is still terrible on the season. The UW backcourt, and even the frontcourt, can and need to do much more to draw shooting fouls. Play through the contact, go strong to the hoop, pull of some dribble moves to get the defender off balance and make it happen. Duke could have put us away if they had shot their free throws well and UW could have won at Nevada and Marquette if they had made their free throws. Maybe it's just me, but I feel as though this has been a problem throughout Romar's tenure. The Huskies have not been good free throw shooting teams, which to me reveals that Romar does not see the value of the free throw and does not devote nearly enough time to them in practice. The best drill a coach can implement to really enforce free throw ability is called "55-55" or some variation thereof. Simply put, this drill takes place at the end of practice. The team is split into two equal squads who then take turns attempted 1-and-1's until each player has shot. The losing team is the one with the lower score at the end and has to run a set of lines for each point they lost by. It simulates end game scenarios where players are exhausted, while also giving the players a bit of pressure and reason to perform extremely well. I'm glad to hear Wroten has been doing his part to improve his game, hopefully this will start to rub off on others and inspire them to put in a few extra hours dedicated to free throws and getting to the hoop.
Final Score Prediction:
UW-86 UCSB-76
This is the first of 5 straight home games for the Huskies who have sorely missed the confines of Hec-Ed. The terrible road woes continue to be an issue, but something that must be corrected immediately if they want to get back the NCAA. I think this is a winnable game for the Dawgs as they have a better backcourt and a decent enough frontcourt to content with the Gaucho big men. The key is playing a solid 40 minute rather than the 25 or 30 they have been the past few games. 4-4 is a bad place to be, especially considering they have lost the last 4 of 5. These guys know how to win, they just need to execute and not give up early. Wroten has been tough these past few games and is really proving how valuable he is to this team. Yes, the turnovers are maddening and against Duke he went from a point guard to a shooting guard since no one else was attacking the rim. He may very well continue to develop this role if Wilcox and Ross refuse to draw fouls. While I appreciate the nice inside shots Wilcox took and made against Duke, he stopped well short of contact that could have had minimal effect on his shot and drawn a foul as well. UW needs to do everything it can to get Johnson into foul trouble early. This means a fast, motion offense with plenty of screens and players running hard and tight off of those screens.
The Gauchos are a pretty solid offensive team averaging nearly 80 points and over 40 rebounds per game. They are also dishing out 16 assists per game and hitting around 46% from the field. Their defense is fairly proficient as well, allowing only 66 points and 33 boards per game. Santa Barbara is only forcing 12 turnovers per game, but are committing only 11 per game themselves. They have very solid point guards who know how to handle pressure situations and make the smart decision nearly every time. The Husky defense will need to bring the pressure hard to force the UCSB guards into uncomfortable situations.
Orlando Johnson is a superstar for the Gauchos. He leads the team in every major statistical category. He is averaging over 22 points, almost 7 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and over a steal per game. Johnson has been absolutely stellar thus far and the Huskies will need to work their defensive magic to control his impact on the game. At 6-5 205lb, Johnson is a bit of a mismatch for both guards and forwards. I suspect C.J. Wilcox or Terrence Ross will draw this assignment as they have the length and athleticism to stay in his face and play more preventative defense.
James Nunnally is another strong player for Santa Barbara. At 6-7 205lb, Nunnally is a bit small for a forward, but taller than your average guard. He is averaging 18 points and nearly 6 boards per game. He is a fantastic free throw shooter with 31 makes on 38 attempts. He also has decent range with 11 makes on 33 attempts from deep. I suspect Desmond Simmons will draw this assignment should he take Aziz N'Diaye's starting position. Simmons has the speed, mobility, and tenacity to play tight D on Nunnally anywhere on the court.
Jamie Serna rounds out the tough UCSB back court. He is listed at 6-9 and 235lb. He is the only other double digit scorer with 11.6 points per game. He is also third in rebounding at 4.9 boards per game. Serna is not an outside shooter, but he does do a solid job of drawing fouls and has attempted 30 free throws on the year.
Santa Barbara also features 7-2 245lb Greg Somogyi from Hungary. Somogyi averages only 12 minutes, 3 points, and a bit under 4 rebounds per game.
Predicted Starting Line-Ups:
Santa Barbara:
Nate Garth 6-2 180lb
Christian Peterson 6-3 219lb
Orlando Johnson 6-5 205lb
James Nunnally 6-7 205lb
Jamie Serna 6-9 235lb
Washington:
Abdul Gaddy 6-3 185lb
C.J. Wilcox 6-5 190lb
Terrence Ross 6-6 195lb
Desmond Simmons 6-7 220lb
Darnell Gant 6-8 230lb
Keys to the Game:
Defensive Pressure:
With a strong UCSB frontcourt and the absence of N'Diaye for the next few games, the Huskies will have their work cutout when it comes to containing the oppositions scoring in the paint. Simmons and Gant will need to step up their games and the Husky bench will need to rise to the occasion. This means Shawn Kemp and Marin Breunig need to shake off the freshman jitters and establish themselves as contributing members of the team on a consistent basis.
Rebounding:
The Gauchos know how to rebound and so do the Dawgs. After watching Duke take apart the Huskies on long rebounds, it'll be interesting to see how UW bounces back and if they can bang down low with Nunnally and Johnson. The Husky backcourt needs to go back to what they were doing to start the year by collapsing on the boards and picking up the mid range stuff outside the grasp of our frontcourt.
Free Throws:
If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. Free throws win ball games, plain and simple. Ross and Wilcox are simply not doing enough to get to the line. So much so that Wilcox has not attempted a free throw in something like 5 games. Tony Wroten has more makes than anyone else on the team has attempted and his free throw shooting, while seemingly improving (thank god), is still terrible on the season. The UW backcourt, and even the frontcourt, can and need to do much more to draw shooting fouls. Play through the contact, go strong to the hoop, pull of some dribble moves to get the defender off balance and make it happen. Duke could have put us away if they had shot their free throws well and UW could have won at Nevada and Marquette if they had made their free throws. Maybe it's just me, but I feel as though this has been a problem throughout Romar's tenure. The Huskies have not been good free throw shooting teams, which to me reveals that Romar does not see the value of the free throw and does not devote nearly enough time to them in practice. The best drill a coach can implement to really enforce free throw ability is called "55-55" or some variation thereof. Simply put, this drill takes place at the end of practice. The team is split into two equal squads who then take turns attempted 1-and-1's until each player has shot. The losing team is the one with the lower score at the end and has to run a set of lines for each point they lost by. It simulates end game scenarios where players are exhausted, while also giving the players a bit of pressure and reason to perform extremely well. I'm glad to hear Wroten has been doing his part to improve his game, hopefully this will start to rub off on others and inspire them to put in a few extra hours dedicated to free throws and getting to the hoop.
Final Score Prediction:
UW-86 UCSB-76
This is the first of 5 straight home games for the Huskies who have sorely missed the confines of Hec-Ed. The terrible road woes continue to be an issue, but something that must be corrected immediately if they want to get back the NCAA. I think this is a winnable game for the Dawgs as they have a better backcourt and a decent enough frontcourt to content with the Gaucho big men. The key is playing a solid 40 minute rather than the 25 or 30 they have been the past few games. 4-4 is a bad place to be, especially considering they have lost the last 4 of 5. These guys know how to win, they just need to execute and not give up early. Wroten has been tough these past few games and is really proving how valuable he is to this team. Yes, the turnovers are maddening and against Duke he went from a point guard to a shooting guard since no one else was attacking the rim. He may very well continue to develop this role if Wilcox and Ross refuse to draw fouls. While I appreciate the nice inside shots Wilcox took and made against Duke, he stopped well short of contact that could have had minimal effect on his shot and drawn a foul as well. UW needs to do everything it can to get Johnson into foul trouble early. This means a fast, motion offense with plenty of screens and players running hard and tight off of those screens.
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