Oakland Game Observations

[ORUTerry]

Oakland Game Observations

1. Oakland came out in a zone (no surprise); but it was a modified box ?and-one with one player face guarding Green with another player also guarding him when he moved to his area. They went so far as to double team him when he drifted out to the perimeter near the 3-point arc. This caused players to be open near the basket resulting in easy lay-ups. Oakland only used this defense for the first 10 minutes of the game. It appeared to be mildly effective; it certainly limited touches by Caleb Green. I spoke with Rhett Brooks after the game and he said it was almost like Kampe discontinued it with a thought towards using it at a later date.

2. We made good interior passes and played good defense ? especially in the first half. We are doing a better job with our transition offense. They made a decision to leave Bluitt open and he made them pay for it. Bluitt only played around six minutes in the first half because of collecting two fouls. Fowlkes came in and did a very nice job; his ability to penetrate the zone and draw the defenders to him is very helpful. It is also nice to have a relatively tall point guard on the court to see the court better. He needs to play more. It was nice in the second half to have both he and Bluitt on the court. Jonathan was actually playing the shooting guard on several possessions.

3. Oakland had no answer for Larry Owens ? but then who does? When he is aggressive and uses his athleticism, Owens can be a real difference-maker. He was all over the place. Larry should send a card to Caleb Green though, because without the double-team, teams could focus more on Owens. The focus on Green allows for the other players to have more freedom on the offensive side of the court.

4. Chris Riouse made some nice jumpers and played decent defense in the first half. I thought he got tired (conditioning issue from his injury?) in the second half and was beat by his man several times.

5. Yemi had a good game ? especially on defense. He had several steals (gotta love that 7?2? wingspan) and worked hard when he was defending Wooten. Needs to work on his baseline jumper.

6. Michalec had a nice stat line and made some nice plays. It is good to have his bulk down low. He did an okay job on defense?. Shawn Hopes just had a career night where he could not miss. Most of his points were from 8 to 12 feet out where he could not miss.

7. Calvin Wooten is a very confident shooter. We did a decent job of covering him and trying to deny him the ball; we switched Yemi and Owens on him during the game with Owens playing him most of the second half. Wooten made a couple of 3-pointers with a man in his face ? and he was 3 to 4 feet behind the line?. Impressive. In the first half, Oakland ran some high post screens to get him open but I don?t remember that happening in the second half. Wooten and Hopes were the only real offense that the Grizzlies had. As I said before, Hopes was unconscious from 8 to 12 feet out.

[ORUIsbig]

Anybody else notice that Meloy wasn't dressed out. I hope hes not hurt again.

Yemi played strong defence. I love his aggressiveness until he does something bad and chases the guy who stole the ball, he almost fouls them every time. little too much reaction to that.

I wonder how much longer teams will play zone on us? We seem to have found the key to breaking it with our larger more athletic lineups.

Officiating was bad. they could have called a foul on those guarding Caleb every time down the floor. and the 3 blocking fouls on JB was amaizng.

Seems like Mickey is becomes less and less of factor on the floor. he hit a few good shots and grabbed a few late boards, but overall, he has been overshadowed.

Welcome back Chris. We need him to stay that way the rest of this road. though he looked tired, he fell behind on some screens.

Why did larry play all 40 minutes if everyone was playing so well last night?

The biggest overall improvement was the passion of the coaching staff. Loved seeing Sutton get all into the refs last night.

I am encouraged

[vcboy2000]

They'll keep playing zone against us until the Mid Con tourney. The lineup is still pretty new and word hasn't gotten around the conference yet.

Andrew Meloy aggrevated his leg injury in practice. That is why he did not dress out.

[tmh8286]

Zone defense is the great equalizer. It allows smaller, less athletic teams to compete with larger, more athletic teams. That's why you see it used by so many Mid-Con teams.

That, and because it's effective.

Coach Williams mentioned the situation with Maloy at the pre-game dinner. He said what vcboy2000 said.