The Pac 10-Big XII Hardwood Series kicked off last night with two great games. In the opener, Oklahoma knocked off an under-manned USC team 73-72. I came away from this game impressed with how USC played. The Trojans have struggled early in the season (they are now 5-3), but they are a talented bunch that play hard. Their biggest issue is that they are not playing with their full roster. Kasey Cunningham is done for the year after injuring his knee. UConn transfer Marcus Johnson will not be eligible until the second semester. UNC transfer Alex Stephenson did not get cleared to play this year. Nikola Vucevic is still waiting on the NCAA Clearinghouse to determine his eligibility.
Until then, they have a decent group of guys. I liked what I saw from Daniel Hackett last night. He is not the kind of player that is going to force a lot, but he also isn't the type of point guard that is going to create a lot (although he did have 13 assists last night). As a point guard, he is going to distribute the ball and he is going to get it to guys in a place where they can score. A perfect example is the four or five lob passes he threw last night. Tim Floyd ran a number of different back doors and back picks that got Taj Gibson and Demar Derozan open for lobs, and Daniel Hackett put every one of them on the money (even though he was making the pass from about 30 feet away with a man on him). He also showed some athleticism when he drove right (he's a lefty) and went up and dunked in traffic with his right hand.
I was really disappointed watching Derozan play. This kid is no where near the player that he can be yet. He is a tremendous athlete, but he does not have a grasp of the fundamentals, and he really needs to put on some strength. For the game, he was 5-13 for 10 points, and of those five made FG's, one was the oop end on an alley-oop and two were wide open lay-ups. He took a lot of bad shots, forcing the issue way too often. And most of the time, those bad shots were the result of getting pushed around after getting a step on someone. Another issue I had was how soft he went up throughout the game. We've all seen this youtube clip at this point, so we know this guy has some serious bounce. So why is he ever laying the ball in? Why is he getting blocked by Taylor Griffin on a dunk attempt where it looks like he barely makes an effort to jump? I can't remember where I read it, but someone criticizing Derozan said that he was just too nice of a kid right now, and after watching him last night I completely agree. The great ones have a cockiness, a swagger that they carry themselves with. If Tyler Hansbrough or Blake Griffin or Kevin Durant got blocked (badly) on a dunk attempt, they would be demanding the ball on the next possession. Derozan is not that guy yet. Hopefully, with all the potential he has, one day he will be that guy.
One more note on USC - Dwight Lewis played great. He ended up with 25, but his ability to knock down jumpers kept USC in the game, kept the defense honest when he came off of screens (helped those lob plays work), and opened up the floor.
USC started out in this junk, triangle-and-two defense. They were face guarding Willie Warren and Tony Crocker, and then the triangle would sag off of Austin Johnson with the intent of going 2-on-3 versus the brothers Griffin. This defense didn't last too long as the Sooners guards, specifically Austin Johnson, came out on fire. USC finally got out of that defense, which slowed down the Sooner offense. By that point, however, OU had already built up a seven-point halftime lead.
In the second half, USC came back because they switched to a man-to-man defense where they would trap Blake Griffin every time he touched the ball with in 15 feet. They mixed up who was trapping and where they were trapping from, and it worked for a while, as Griffin was quiet for a majority of the game. But down the stretch, specifically after Leonard Washington took this cheap shot at Griffin (to be fair, if you watch closely, Blake gives Washington a little shove after his brother scored), Griffin took over. He scored 11 points in the final 10 minutes of the game because he made a couple adjustments. Blake would post up deep on the block, and when he got the ball, he would get the shot up quickly, before the double team had a chance to get there. He also started going out to the wing (he seems to prefer the side where he can drive right and go base line), because from there he could penetrate right, and if no one came over to help,
Griffin would get all the way to the rim. If someone did come to help, Griffin would spin back middle (which is one of his favorite and most effective moves).
Last thing about Griffin. I have been really impressed with his patience. He seems to understand that he does not need to force the issue, and instead lets the game come to him. Last night, when he was double and triple teamed, he was content to let the ball move around on the perimeter and watch his teammates knock down threes. As the game went on and USC was forced to respect those shooters, Griffin started to take the game over. He finished with a quiet 25 points.
Texas held on against UCLA 68-64 in the night cap. Both of these teams are going to need some serious work on boxing out drills as there were a combined 31 offensive rebounds (UCLA had 16). Texas kind of controlled the game in the first half, but Alfred Aboya came alive in the second, grabbing offensive rebound after offensive rebound. He is a really high energy player, and would be a fantastic complement to a tough low post scorer (I hate to harp but UCLA really needs a low post scoring presence).
Texas came out with an interesting match-up. For the entire game, Justin Mason was guarding Darren Collison 94 feet. Just hounding him. In the early going, that pressure flustered Collison to the tune of 5 first half turnovers. But the all-american 
really settled down during the second half, and actually ended up posting a good game (22 and 5 dimes, but 9-22 from the floor). I have become enamored with Justin Mason. The guy is the perfect back court mate to someone like AJ Abrams. Mason looks to be able to guard just about anyone, he protects the ball well, and he has added the ability to penetrate and score or dish. I mean, the back court of Josh Shipp, Jrue Holiday, and Collison are very good defensively, and Mason was getting into the lane at will.
Back to how Texas aligned defensively. AJ Abrams spent most of the game guarding Shipp or shooter Michael Roll while Damion James was the guy Rick Barnes chose to put on Holiday. It worked well as Holiday never really got into the game. Holiday is not all that quick, and James is a fantastic athlete with good length, which means that even though Holiday had a step on him, he could play off a little bit because he could still challenge the jumper.
Three final thoughts on this game: Darren Collison is not going to carry this team to the final four. He is not that kind of a point guard. He can knock down big shots. He will play some great defense. He can get in the lane and create. but he is still more of a set up point guard than he is an Allen Iverson/OJ Mayo kind of scorer. AJ Abrams' release is unbelievably quick. You give him an inch, and he makes you pay. He finished the night with 31 on just 18 shots. Jrue Holiday learned that the hard way when he went got burned a couple times going for steals. Did you see Damion James go up and get those rebounds in traffic last night? Twice in the last thirty seconds, UCLA missed a shot and James came from out of his area, out jumped everyone, and got the board. If he can continue to fill out his ball skills, he is going to be a very good player in the league.
The rest of the night's action:
UConn 68, Buffalo 64: For once, I am glad that I have comcast. For some reason, they replayed this game at 11 pm last night, which allowed me to watch it so I could let you all know exactly why my UConn Huskies, the #2 team in the country, had to force a turnover on the Bulls last possession while up two to hold on for a victory. Two things before I get into this. One, Buffalo is a tough team to play in the Alumni Center, and really like playing Big East teams there. Since 2005, they have beaten South Florida and Rutgers, and were up 10 on #2-at-the-time Pitt late in the second half before losing. And two, UConn has this infuriating tendency to decide that they don't need to show up to play to win a game. I don't know why it happens, but it just does with UConn.
So how did Buffalo keep it so close with UConn? For one thing, they played great. Buffalo's star, Rodney Pierce, had 28 points and the Huskies could just not figure out how to stop him. They weren't afraid to attack Thabeet either, and in fact for the first time I can remember, someone actually dunked on him (courtesy of reserve big man Michael Watt).
UConn's guards just didn't come to play (to be fair, AJ Price and Jerome Dyson flew in two hours before game time because they had a final). Jerome Dyson was 3-14 from the field and just kept forcing the ball into the paint and up at the rim. He did have three steals, but he, like every other UConn guard, just lost focus defensively. Take this series as an example. Dyson jumps a passing lane for a steal and takes it in for a lay-up. He picks up his man full court, forces him to pass at half court, then lolli-gags back and his man cuts to the rim for a lay-up. At the other end, 
Dyson gets the ball and forces a terrible runner, doesn't hustle back on D, and his man knocks down a three in the corner. It was like that all night.
Hasheem Thabeet (21, 18, 4 blocks) and Jeff Adrien (18, 7, 4 blocks) both played fairly well, but combined for two offensive rebounds and did just an ok job against Buffalo's big men.
I mean, it really is as simple as that. UConn didn't play hard, they turned the ball over, they took bad shots, and Buffalo played great. The Bulls simply outworked the Huskies. I'm thankful for a lot of things in my life, but at the top of that list right now is that I don't have to attend today's UConn practice.
I love the announcer's call: "Hahn, for the wiinnn... GOT IT!! He stuck it ... at the buz-zer... for the But-ler win."
Friday, December 5, 2008
Friday Morning Shootaround |
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