I liked our option not the play .

[On the Heup Train]

Last night was not the night to put it in Aments hands with 20% shooting and 7 turnovers. Thats basically giving the opponent 15 possessions, assuming we don’t get the OReb, in a game that came down to 1 possession. Unacceptable. I know hes young etc but there is a lack of intensity that has bothered me since day 1. Soft. First play of game was a great set and at 6 freaking 10 get up and send a message but he went in soft, got it blocked then screwed up on the other end. His defense is awful. The Durant comparisons are out of line. Durant was a flat out dog. Ament isn’t. It is what it is. I know if I was his pg, he’d hate me on the court because I’d be in his face yelling at him all game.

I think Rick will address this.

 

[Redheads]

Wow. The 2H started out with 1 on TN to 5 on SU iirc. Not the most consistent crew I’ve seen ref a game.

It might be a good idea for them to take a class on what is and isn’t a charge. That “block” on Boswell giving him his 3rd foul early in the 2nd half was disruptive to executing a game plan.

 

[Redheads]

When was the last time you saw a game where one team had 3 offensive fouls called on them? Zero since they changed the rule. 2 on Ament and the block on Boswell were horrible.

 

[Jax_Vol]

We even got a clean look w .5 SEC and clanked it.

Basically we missed two bunnies to finish the night.


If we want to beat the Fighting Illini, we will need to make 90% of our bunnies

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

We even got a clean look w .5 SEC and clanked it.

It was open, but it was also rushed. I think it was 0.4 after the refs checked the film and whether it was .4 or .5 that’s a very difficult shot to convert.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

It was also after a missed free throw. Mike Keith said we could run the baseline but that was a mistake. The length of the court with less than a half second left? It’s amazing that SU was so bad that they failed to defend the attempt.

BTW, that was some unusual form on his shot by the SU free throw shooter.

 

[esarmstrong]

Ament suffers from a lack of physical strength. He gets pushed around too much against these more physical teams and it impacts the quality of his shots. It is also contributing to his turnovers, imho. I don't know if it is something that can be improved this season.

 

[rdk4121]

I was thinking that they might have drawn up a 3-point look. It was awfully crowded around the rim. Looked like SU was expecting Carey to get the attempt.

We airballed more 3s than we made last night. Not sure i wanted that to be the attempt either.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

We airballed more 3s than we made last night. Not sure i wanted that to be the attempt either.

SU wouldn’t have been looking for a perimeter attempt. At 6’10” Ament probably gets a good, unmolested look.

Nothing wrong with taking a chance at getting out of town with a W. With SU’s strong post defense and also looking for a Carey attempt, I would have liked to see the ball go to Ament. But I’m not at all bothered that it was drawn up as it was. Although those refs weren’t ever going to call a foul on Carey’s attempt which creates a huge swing in the odds of success. Actually the refs might have been more likely to call a charge on Carey which might be why he leaned away from the basket in his motion on the attempt instead of going strong to the rim. An outside attempt also creates a better opportunity to get a second chance on a long offensive rebound.

 

[Jax_Vol]

SU wouldn’t have been looking for a perimeter attempt. At 6’10” Ament probably gets a good, unmolested look.

Nothing wrong with taking a chance at getting out of town with a W. With SU’s strong post defense and also looking for a Carey attempt, I would have liked to see the ball go to Ament. But I’m not at all bothered that it was drawn up as it was. Although those refs weren’t ever going to call a foul on Carey’s attempt which creates a huge swing in the odds of success. Actually the refs might have been more likely to call a charge on Carey which might be why he leaned away from the basket in his motion on the attempt instead of going strong to the rim. An outside attempt also creates a better opportunity to get a second chance on a long offensive rebound.

Maybe in a gym somewhere.

In those huge dome settings that have the court on part of a football field, most road teams can't shoot a 3.

Extremely poor background, weird lighting, wrong ceiling height, too cold, etc.

Ament probably has limited experience shooting in an 50,000 seat aerodrome.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Maybe in a gym somewhere.

In those huge dome settings that have the court on part of a football field, most road teams can't shoot a 3.

Extremely poor background, weird lighting, wrong ceiling height, too cold, etc.

Ament probably has limited experience shooting in an 50,000 seat aerodrome.

I said a 3 but meant taking a shot from the perimeter. It was a one point SU lead.

We didn’t make the contested bunny in the paint either did we?

 

[rdk4121]

SU wouldn’t have been looking for a perimeter attempt. At 6’10” Ament probably gets a good, unmolested look.

Nothing wrong with taking a chance at getting out of town with a W. With SU’s strong post defense and also looking for a Carey attempt, I would have liked to see the ball go to Ament. But I’m not at all bothered that it was drawn up as it was. Although those refs weren’t ever going to call a foul on Carey’s attempt which creates a huge swing in the odds of success. Actually the refs might have been more likely to call a charge on Carey which might be why he leaned away from the basket in his motion on the attempt instead of going strong to the rim. An outside attempt also creates a better opportunity to get a second chance on a long offensive rebound.

We were only down 1, any shot would've been for the win. Didn't need to be a 3, which why would you take a 3 if you can avoid it. If you just mean a midrange jumper, then sure.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

We were only down 1, any shot would've been for the win. Didn't need to be a 3, which why would you take a 3 if you can avoid it. If you just mean a midrange jumper, then sure.

I specifically clarified that my premise was initiating a play on the “perimeter” was what I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO SEE HAPPEN on that possession. I didn’t prefer to have Gillespie drive.

I would have liked to have put the ball in the hands of our 6’10” future lottery pick that plays on a wing. I think that he would have been more likely to get sent to the free throw line if he drove the ball. He could have fed Carey (or somebody else) for an attempt in the paint after drawing out an extended defense to guard the perimeter.

Ament with his length should have been able to get off a shot from distance, drive to the paint and possibly draw a foul (or convert), take the ball to the rim if the defense let up to avoid fouling, or drop off a pass to Carey.

Going to Carey directly seems like it creates one option, SU was ready for it, it’s much more difficult to have refs give him foul shots unless he’s clearly hacked while shooting (they were almost certainly going to let rough play under the basket go uncalled). Also Carey could have had a possible offensive rebound and put back if Ament missed.

Ament would have benefited from being in that situation but maybe CRB decided it was too soon (first true away game in front of 20,000 hostile fans). Either way, as sluggish as our offense was, the odds were against UT converting and taking the lead. I’m not whining about the staff electing to draw up a play for Carey. But my preference was to give the ball to Ament and let that play out.

 

[Jax_Vol]

I said a 3 but meant taking a shot from the perimeter. It was a one point SU lead.

We didn’t make the contested bunny in the paint either did we?

You are right, I forgot the guy missed a free throw.

I still liked it because it was a non-typical Barnes play. Similar to Illinois game last year, he got the ball to the hot hand.

As the final play showed, just wasn't Ament's night.

We'll learn from the experience.

Really gonna need J.P out there to play with any of the Top-20 type of teams.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

You are right, I forgot the guy missed a free throw.

I still liked it because it was a non-typical Barnes play. Similar to Illinois game last year, he got the ball to the hot hand.

As the final play showed, just wasn't Ament's night.

We'll learn from the experience.

Really gonna need J.P out there to play with any of the Top-20 type of teams.

There were two plays set up late. I’ve mostly been commenting on the next to last possession. I didn’t expect anything to be successful on the final possession. The ball was inbounded after SU missed the 2nd of two free throws. We grabbed the rebound and called time out. The refs adjusted the clock from 0.5 to 0.4 seconds and our inbounder wasn’t allowed to run the baseline. Our final shot was ugly, but I’m kind of surprised that we were even able to get it off before the buzzer.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Last 2 minutes:

UT down by 4.

Felix misses the front end of 1and 1.

SU fouls and turns over the ball at 01:24.

Gillespie to Carey for 2 points in the paint. SU lead cut to 2 with 01:14.

UT plays defense, SU misses at 00:58. Ament gets the rebound.

Boswell drives and ties game at 60-60 with 00:38.

SU dribbles across mid court, calls time out at 00:31 to set up play.

Boswell fouls at 00:13. SU makes 1 of 2. Leads by 1.

UT advances ball and takes time out at 00:09.

Play set up for Carey, he misses in front of the rim. He leaned away from the goal instead of pushing through multiple defenders towards the basket.

SU is fouled, makes first, misses 2nd free throw. UT rebounds, calls time out, 00:04 remaining. SU leads by 2.

Full court inbounds pass to Ament, Ament catches the ball in the paint, turns, hurries shot and misses. The clock operator was pretty generous to UT starting the clock. Ball game over after Ament’s missed shot.

https://dxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net/sidearm.nextgen.sites/utsports.com/stats/mbball/2025/pdf/20251202085625-12-2-25.pdf