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Yup. That - was a can of whoopass. it's not all bad. We're 13-4, and in second place in the PAC-12 with 3 games to go. ...but HOLY JEEBUS THIS ONE HURT!!!
20 things I noticed:
1-Referees hate us. As bad as ever. Totally inconsistent, and one-sided.
2-PAC-12 Referees are ridiculously terrible.
3-Did I mention #2?
4-Our free throw shooting is going to be our downfall.
5-Colorado made a lot of shots. They share the ball well, but hit big outside shots all night long.
6-Tad Boyle is on my naughty list.
7-Evan will be on the side of a milk carton somewhere tomorrow morning. MIA tonight
8-We did not finish at the basket at all. I know it was frustrating, no calls, deficit all night, etc., but you've just got to finish.
9-Other teams run better half court offensive sets than we do. The good ones, anyway. True. Motion sets run against us are often beautiful. We stagnate.
10-Ethan Anderson still picks up his dribble too much.
11-Isaiah and Max can be soft. Charmin soft. GET DIRTY BOYS! ...before it's too late.
12-We are absolutely loose-ball deficient. it's ridiculous. Every other team outworks us to make loose balls theirs. ....and lately, we've been a little unlucky.
13-We haven't learned how to lean on Evan in the low post, so that he can dominate/get to the FT line, or kick out for open 3's out of double teams. We should see more of both in tough games.
14-Where the hell is Reese Waters? He was MIA tonight...and this might have been a great time to give him 5 minutes.
15-Coach Andy Enfield does not take enough technicals. I know it's not his demeanor, but sometimes, it's just necessary.
16-Our stellar season long defense was absent tonight.
17-Drew Peterson is still rushing his shots. (Use your legs, Drew.)
18-Colorado has our #. (6-0 vs USC over the past 3 seasons.) Damn.
19-We need one more player who can create his own shot. - somebody who can score. That's the second time in 2 games where we're endured long stretches absent of scoring. That's worrisome.
20-Evan needs to assert himself. He's a stud. When the tough get going.....
BONUS:
21-Stop the presses. Agbonkpolo can play basketball. The whole "Max" thing is absolutely not that the kid can't play. It's that his offense is just missing, and it's adding up. Between his offensive inefficiency and his miscues, those possessions are piling up. His 3PT% is atrocious. (You think opponents don't scout? He's being left wide open for a reason fellas.) And despite his defensive positives, Max continues to make the most maddening mistakes doing mere fundamental things.... and they are deflating. I'll get ridiculed for this, but it's self evident to anybody not looking through rose-colored glasses. It's not just deflating for USC basketball fans. It's got to be deflating for the team. You could put together a highlight reel from this season of Max flailing his hands at something after the fact....of him losing control of the ball doing the simplest of things...missing short shots....dropping a rebound....having the ball roll through his legs as he attempts to corral it...bobbling a pass that's right in his hands...running over a defender while trying to maintain the basketball...losing the ball while he's attacking from the wing...doing that again...fouling late reaching...passing the ball late on the break and losing a scoring opportunity...stepping out of bounds when he's all by himself....passing the ball at a bad angle for a TO...etc., etc. Another noticeable mistake - tonight, Max had the top of the press late, and McKinley Wright received the ball in the corner. Max neglected use his right foot to cut off the sideline, and instead of forcing him back to the middle (to help), he straddled behind him - leaned to baseline, and Wright just pivoted and blew by everybody down the sideline. Just one more frustrating miscue. Look. These kids are all young. That said, this is D1 big-boy basketball, and you would be hard pressed to find another player with a comparable highlight reel. Max is absolutely contributing more on D wit his length, and with much better success of late....but when he's not putting it in on the other end of the court - his miscues make it harder watch.
At this point, he's "practicing his jump shot on company time." This team has a real chance to make a run. Those chances don't come often.
17 min; 0 pts; 2 reb; 0 ast; 0 stl; 0 blk; 2 TOs; 2 PF
Keeping it real.
20 things I noticed:
1-Referees hate us. As bad as ever. Totally inconsistent, and one-sided.
2-PAC-12 Referees are ridiculously terrible.
3-Did I mention #2?
4-Our free throw shooting is going to be our downfall.
5-Colorado made a lot of shots. They share the ball well, but hit big outside shots all night long.
6-Tad Boyle is on my naughty list.
7-Evan will be on the side of a milk carton somewhere tomorrow morning. MIA tonight
8-We did not finish at the basket at all. I know it was frustrating, no calls, deficit all night, etc., but you've just got to finish.
9-Other teams run better half court offensive sets than we do. The good ones, anyway. True. Motion sets run against us are often beautiful. We stagnate.
10-Ethan Anderson still picks up his dribble too much.
11-Isaiah and Max can be soft. Charmin soft. GET DIRTY BOYS! ...before it's too late.
12-We are absolutely loose-ball deficient. it's ridiculous. Every other team outworks us to make loose balls theirs. ....and lately, we've been a little unlucky.
13-We haven't learned how to lean on Evan in the low post, so that he can dominate/get to the FT line, or kick out for open 3's out of double teams. We should see more of both in tough games.
14-Where the hell is Reese Waters? He was MIA tonight...and this might have been a great time to give him 5 minutes.
15-Coach Andy Enfield does not take enough technicals. I know it's not his demeanor, but sometimes, it's just necessary.
16-Our stellar season long defense was absent tonight.
17-Drew Peterson is still rushing his shots. (Use your legs, Drew.)
18-Colorado has our #. (6-0 vs USC over the past 3 seasons.) Damn.
19-We need one more player who can create his own shot. - somebody who can score. That's the second time in 2 games where we're endured long stretches absent of scoring. That's worrisome.
20-Evan needs to assert himself. He's a stud. When the tough get going.....
BONUS:
21-Stop the presses. Agbonkpolo can play basketball. The whole "Max" thing is absolutely not that the kid can't play. It's that his offense is just missing, and it's adding up. Between his offensive inefficiency and his miscues, those possessions are piling up. His 3PT% is atrocious. (You think opponents don't scout? He's being left wide open for a reason fellas.) And despite his defensive positives, Max continues to make the most maddening mistakes doing mere fundamental things.... and they are deflating. I'll get ridiculed for this, but it's self evident to anybody not looking through rose-colored glasses. It's not just deflating for USC basketball fans. It's got to be deflating for the team. You could put together a highlight reel from this season of Max flailing his hands at something after the fact....of him losing control of the ball doing the simplest of things...missing short shots....dropping a rebound....having the ball roll through his legs as he attempts to corral it...bobbling a pass that's right in his hands...running over a defender while trying to maintain the basketball...losing the ball while he's attacking from the wing...doing that again...fouling late reaching...passing the ball late on the break and losing a scoring opportunity...stepping out of bounds when he's all by himself....passing the ball at a bad angle for a TO...etc., etc. Another noticeable mistake - tonight, Max had the top of the press late, and McKinley Wright received the ball in the corner. Max neglected use his right foot to cut off the sideline, and instead of forcing him back to the middle (to help), he straddled behind him - leaned to baseline, and Wright just pivoted and blew by everybody down the sideline. Just one more frustrating miscue. Look. These kids are all young. That said, this is D1 big-boy basketball, and you would be hard pressed to find another player with a comparable highlight reel. Max is absolutely contributing more on D wit his length, and with much better success of late....but when he's not putting it in on the other end of the court - his miscues make it harder watch.
At this point, he's "practicing his jump shot on company time." This team has a real chance to make a run. Those chances don't come often.
17 min; 0 pts; 2 reb; 0 ast; 0 stl; 0 blk; 2 TOs; 2 PF
Keeping it real.
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