ClockworkOrange
Electric Sheep
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- Jan 28, 2009
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That was the highest up I've ever sat in TBA. Only tickets we could get were in 312, Row 16.
The crowd made a fair amount of noise for such a small percentage of a full house. Pretty sparse all around (very low thousands, my brother calculated - well under 4K or whatever was supposed to be there), but reasonably lively. Probably couldn't tell from TV at all.
I kept expecting the hear the piped-in crowd noise that everyone was talking about, but never did that I could tell. From folks who went to the Colorado game it was supposed to sound like really annoying static, but never heard that at all. So that was a pleasant surprise. My wife and son and I worked a bucket of popcorn down to the cinders which kept us from having to fool with our masks the whole time.
We missed something like 15 bunnies right around the rim or from a few feet out. Should've won by 20 points or more if only a few of those had dropped. But I give Cincy credit for some of that. Extremely physical the whole game. Taking it up under the hoop was like trying to broad jump through a car wash set on max clean. Not for the faint of heart. They could have called fouls on literally every attempted alley oop or drive to the bucket.
Cincy was really quick. As rough as they made it inside, they were fast around the perimeter too. Didn't seem like we had many opportunities to even hoist a three, at least from the nosebleed section.
I was really surprised we didn't try to mix it up a little when it came to defending their guards. They saw Vescovi as a liability and basically spent much of the second half (whenever Santi was in) simply clearing out NBA style and letting DeJulius go to work on him. Our seats were almost directly behind the bucket, and I felt miserable for Santiago every time down the floor as Cincy would clear it out to either side and DeJulius would either take the ball straight to the rack or fake a slash and jab step for a step-back three. I kept wondering why Barnes didn't switch out somebody else like Springer or Keon to guard him. Maybe he just wanted to see how Santi would handle it, but it was brutal. Santi does seem like he's gotten a tad bit better on D, but still physically limited, no matter how hard he hustles. They ran him off constant rubs and screens too.
Keon didn't get many finishes on his slashes, but WOW does he put pressure on a defense, any defense you throw at him, to keep him from penetrating. About all you can do is hack away and hope the refs swallow their whistles. Once we really start to gel, I would think a lot of those rim attacks are going to drop and/or he's going to find somebody else open for an easy deuce. A fantastic talent, even when I was wishing I had binoculars to see him better. Interesting to watch from high in the "end zone" to see him go to work. So different from watching on TV or the 50 yard line.
Springer might have saved us with several timely plays in the last 10 minutes or so. Cat quick and sticks to his man like flypaper. Can't wait for him to get a little more experience. Another dynamite player.
JJJ is really rounding into his own. Made another great play at the rim and just basically played several positions at once, and all of them pretty well. My dad calls him the glue guy for this team, and he's probably right.
I was proud of how our undersized bigs held their ground against all that height. Pons made life hell for them on several plays. in spite of giving up half a foot in height at times. Anosike is going to contribute with D and rebounding, though I'm not sure he'll be able to give us much offensively. Those old-school moves he is used to getting mileage out of against lesser players haven't produced much fruit yet. He's able to back folks down fine, but then the length of Power 5 posts seems to bother the finishing touches on his shots so that he either rushes or doesn't get them up with much finesse after working so hard to get in position. I'm hoping this improves over the course of the season, but I doubt he will ever be close to a 10 and 10 guy like some were predicting (or was it just me?
).
Fulky looks like he needs to get his wind back after all the layoffs. Though he plays so hard, no wonder he's grabbing his shorts every chance he gets. Really gets flung around a lot, and could've drawn even more fouls if the refs called every legit contact. I know what it was like in high school down low, so I can only imagine at this level -- I don't mind guys using sheer strength to body up and hold position, etc., but I do wish they would at least call something when Fulky is getting slung around like a beach umbrella in a hurricane. (And yeah, I know, half the time the "hurricane" is Fulky himself). But even though he's still not up to where he was the last third of last season, he still had a great stat sheet.
ORN is an adequate physical talent -- seems to have good athleticism, but gosh if he doesn't disappear out there. I was hoping to see him take a leap forward this year, but he simply seems so...timid?.... out there for lack of a better word. He just seems to lack the swagger you need to play at this level, as if he doesn't trust his own ability. At this point I agree with whoever it was who said maybe Plavsic should start swallowing up some of Olivier's minutes just to see what he can do.
Bailey didn't seem to be quite the presence he was against Colorado. My dad really likes his leadership skills, but I'm thinking Springer and Johnson are going to start taking more of Victor's minutes, and we might start bringing him off the bench for spot up threes. I wonder if Gaines will see the floor at all -- I really thought he might get out there some and make a showing as I posted previously, but as others have pointed out there is simply too much talent in his slot (though I would have loved to see what he could have done with Orange DeJulius).
I guess Pember is almost certainly a redshirt (or COVID shirt, whatever you want to call this year).
Hate that we didn't get a chance to play Gonzaga or ND! Though maybe it will be a blessing in disguise, as some of these guys barely know each other and need time for chemistry to develop. But when it does....WHOA. Nobody is going to want to play this team, unless it's somebody with dominating bigs like Purdue a couple of years ago. Even then, maybe we could run their legs off or get them in foul trouble. Really excited and can't wait to see this season continue!
I wanted to get some action pics, but after the first couple snapped from my phone I could tell you wouldn't be able to see much so I gave up.
The crowd made a fair amount of noise for such a small percentage of a full house. Pretty sparse all around (very low thousands, my brother calculated - well under 4K or whatever was supposed to be there), but reasonably lively. Probably couldn't tell from TV at all.
I kept expecting the hear the piped-in crowd noise that everyone was talking about, but never did that I could tell. From folks who went to the Colorado game it was supposed to sound like really annoying static, but never heard that at all. So that was a pleasant surprise. My wife and son and I worked a bucket of popcorn down to the cinders which kept us from having to fool with our masks the whole time.
We missed something like 15 bunnies right around the rim or from a few feet out. Should've won by 20 points or more if only a few of those had dropped. But I give Cincy credit for some of that. Extremely physical the whole game. Taking it up under the hoop was like trying to broad jump through a car wash set on max clean. Not for the faint of heart. They could have called fouls on literally every attempted alley oop or drive to the bucket.
Cincy was really quick. As rough as they made it inside, they were fast around the perimeter too. Didn't seem like we had many opportunities to even hoist a three, at least from the nosebleed section.
I was really surprised we didn't try to mix it up a little when it came to defending their guards. They saw Vescovi as a liability and basically spent much of the second half (whenever Santi was in) simply clearing out NBA style and letting DeJulius go to work on him. Our seats were almost directly behind the bucket, and I felt miserable for Santiago every time down the floor as Cincy would clear it out to either side and DeJulius would either take the ball straight to the rack or fake a slash and jab step for a step-back three. I kept wondering why Barnes didn't switch out somebody else like Springer or Keon to guard him. Maybe he just wanted to see how Santi would handle it, but it was brutal. Santi does seem like he's gotten a tad bit better on D, but still physically limited, no matter how hard he hustles. They ran him off constant rubs and screens too.
Keon didn't get many finishes on his slashes, but WOW does he put pressure on a defense, any defense you throw at him, to keep him from penetrating. About all you can do is hack away and hope the refs swallow their whistles. Once we really start to gel, I would think a lot of those rim attacks are going to drop and/or he's going to find somebody else open for an easy deuce. A fantastic talent, even when I was wishing I had binoculars to see him better. Interesting to watch from high in the "end zone" to see him go to work. So different from watching on TV or the 50 yard line.
Springer might have saved us with several timely plays in the last 10 minutes or so. Cat quick and sticks to his man like flypaper. Can't wait for him to get a little more experience. Another dynamite player.
JJJ is really rounding into his own. Made another great play at the rim and just basically played several positions at once, and all of them pretty well. My dad calls him the glue guy for this team, and he's probably right.
I was proud of how our undersized bigs held their ground against all that height. Pons made life hell for them on several plays. in spite of giving up half a foot in height at times. Anosike is going to contribute with D and rebounding, though I'm not sure he'll be able to give us much offensively. Those old-school moves he is used to getting mileage out of against lesser players haven't produced much fruit yet. He's able to back folks down fine, but then the length of Power 5 posts seems to bother the finishing touches on his shots so that he either rushes or doesn't get them up with much finesse after working so hard to get in position. I'm hoping this improves over the course of the season, but I doubt he will ever be close to a 10 and 10 guy like some were predicting (or was it just me?
).Fulky looks like he needs to get his wind back after all the layoffs. Though he plays so hard, no wonder he's grabbing his shorts every chance he gets. Really gets flung around a lot, and could've drawn even more fouls if the refs called every legit contact. I know what it was like in high school down low, so I can only imagine at this level -- I don't mind guys using sheer strength to body up and hold position, etc., but I do wish they would at least call something when Fulky is getting slung around like a beach umbrella in a hurricane. (And yeah, I know, half the time the "hurricane" is Fulky himself). But even though he's still not up to where he was the last third of last season, he still had a great stat sheet.
ORN is an adequate physical talent -- seems to have good athleticism, but gosh if he doesn't disappear out there. I was hoping to see him take a leap forward this year, but he simply seems so...timid?.... out there for lack of a better word. He just seems to lack the swagger you need to play at this level, as if he doesn't trust his own ability. At this point I agree with whoever it was who said maybe Plavsic should start swallowing up some of Olivier's minutes just to see what he can do.
Bailey didn't seem to be quite the presence he was against Colorado. My dad really likes his leadership skills, but I'm thinking Springer and Johnson are going to start taking more of Victor's minutes, and we might start bringing him off the bench for spot up threes. I wonder if Gaines will see the floor at all -- I really thought he might get out there some and make a showing as I posted previously, but as others have pointed out there is simply too much talent in his slot (though I would have loved to see what he could have done with Orange DeJulius).
I guess Pember is almost certainly a redshirt (or COVID shirt, whatever you want to call this year).
Hate that we didn't get a chance to play Gonzaga or ND! Though maybe it will be a blessing in disguise, as some of these guys barely know each other and need time for chemistry to develop. But when it does....WHOA. Nobody is going to want to play this team, unless it's somebody with dominating bigs like Purdue a couple of years ago. Even then, maybe we could run their legs off or get them in foul trouble. Really excited and can't wait to see this season continue!
I wanted to get some action pics, but after the first couple snapped from my phone I could tell you wouldn't be able to see much so I gave up.
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