Ok it's been a couple of days and I feel as if I'm the last one to the party. I hoofed it back to Indianapolis Thursday and went directly the Christmas shopping - the girl got 25% off at Walmart for Thursday only so we were on a tight schedule. And I'm fighting a really, really sore tooth and can't get into my dentist until Monday so gimme a break.
Everyone I think has rung in on the game and the team, and I have read most or all of it. I just want to add a couple small things.
First and foremost, that DePaul team is no joke. The Raiders made them look worse than they are. I am really encouraged by the way Tech played defense (for the most part) in that game. The 3 pointer to end regulation was a kick in the pants for sure and from my seats a few rows behind the Tech bench looked like a total lack of communication on the floor. Four or five Raiders should have been a step out on the perimeter playing defense but somehow Tech ended up with two guys way too close to the basket. Live and learn.
Raiders in my opinion have nothing to hang their heads about. No one wins them all, no one makes all their free throws, no one defends perfectly all the time. It took a weird confluence of events for Tech to lose that game, and so be it. They play that same game 9 more times and Tech probably wins eight or nine. I can live with that.
Holyfield and Clarke have got to find a way to score more. Both have really slow shots, but Holyfield at least should be muscling up near the basket. Raiders basically played 3.5 on 5 most of the game, at least offensively. Clarke and Holyfield can't combine for 4 points on 7 shots in 72 minutes, that's not winning basketball right there, it's just not. I ask myself when looking at this game, could Ramsey have given Tech one point in regulation play? I think so.
I like Clarke's game a lot, he's the kind of guy Tech needs for four years instead of one year and he'd be an all time-type player for the Raiders. But he has got to score. I wouldn't play him to shoot ever, I'd play him to pass all the time and dare him to shoot from anywhere. Tech turned it over 22 times I think, and Clarke only had 5 of those himself but a little scoring would enable him to have some room to maneuver and some of those turnovers will disappear.
Holyfield seemed really engaged with the team but man he was a non factor on the floor. He has got to score or short of scoring take some shots, force the action. He's great at the tip off, we can see he's a really quick leaper, not sure why we don't see that in the game as much. I'm assuming that for him and Clarke it's the same basic reason for all things: Newness. We are 8 games in and I usually like to see a team play 10 games before starting to settle on this-and-that tendencies.
Raiders continue to let the ball get to the middle. Tech did fairly well against that in the first half, but not as well in the second half. If the Raider defense is predicated on keeping the ball out of the middle, out of the free throw lane, then they need to continue to work on that. It's gotten a lot better since the first game but it's not all the way there yet. I'm really encouraged though to see the progress on that from Game 1 to Game 8.
Tech I think is close to having the team they are going to have. They are not big and they are not going to get bigger. I don't think Smith will play this season, but I don't have any inside knowledge on that. Raiders got the royal screwjob on Ntambwe, don't get me started. He's a legit D1 scorer and has the kind of size DePaul has across the front.
Anyway, Tech played a reasonable game. This is not a team that can afford to be without Ramsey so hopefully he plays against Louisville. Oh, the Cardinals. Tech can beat them. They are pretty heavy on one guy, that seems like something a staff like Beard's can break down. We'll see how it plays out.
Everyone I think has rung in on the game and the team, and I have read most or all of it. I just want to add a couple small things.
First and foremost, that DePaul team is no joke. The Raiders made them look worse than they are. I am really encouraged by the way Tech played defense (for the most part) in that game. The 3 pointer to end regulation was a kick in the pants for sure and from my seats a few rows behind the Tech bench looked like a total lack of communication on the floor. Four or five Raiders should have been a step out on the perimeter playing defense but somehow Tech ended up with two guys way too close to the basket. Live and learn.
Raiders in my opinion have nothing to hang their heads about. No one wins them all, no one makes all their free throws, no one defends perfectly all the time. It took a weird confluence of events for Tech to lose that game, and so be it. They play that same game 9 more times and Tech probably wins eight or nine. I can live with that.
Holyfield and Clarke have got to find a way to score more. Both have really slow shots, but Holyfield at least should be muscling up near the basket. Raiders basically played 3.5 on 5 most of the game, at least offensively. Clarke and Holyfield can't combine for 4 points on 7 shots in 72 minutes, that's not winning basketball right there, it's just not. I ask myself when looking at this game, could Ramsey have given Tech one point in regulation play? I think so.
I like Clarke's game a lot, he's the kind of guy Tech needs for four years instead of one year and he'd be an all time-type player for the Raiders. But he has got to score. I wouldn't play him to shoot ever, I'd play him to pass all the time and dare him to shoot from anywhere. Tech turned it over 22 times I think, and Clarke only had 5 of those himself but a little scoring would enable him to have some room to maneuver and some of those turnovers will disappear.
Holyfield seemed really engaged with the team but man he was a non factor on the floor. He has got to score or short of scoring take some shots, force the action. He's great at the tip off, we can see he's a really quick leaper, not sure why we don't see that in the game as much. I'm assuming that for him and Clarke it's the same basic reason for all things: Newness. We are 8 games in and I usually like to see a team play 10 games before starting to settle on this-and-that tendencies.
Raiders continue to let the ball get to the middle. Tech did fairly well against that in the first half, but not as well in the second half. If the Raider defense is predicated on keeping the ball out of the middle, out of the free throw lane, then they need to continue to work on that. It's gotten a lot better since the first game but it's not all the way there yet. I'm really encouraged though to see the progress on that from Game 1 to Game 8.
Tech I think is close to having the team they are going to have. They are not big and they are not going to get bigger. I don't think Smith will play this season, but I don't have any inside knowledge on that. Raiders got the royal screwjob on Ntambwe, don't get me started. He's a legit D1 scorer and has the kind of size DePaul has across the front.
Anyway, Tech played a reasonable game. This is not a team that can afford to be without Ramsey so hopefully he plays against Louisville. Oh, the Cardinals. Tech can beat them. They are pretty heavy on one guy, that seems like something a staff like Beard's can break down. We'll see how it plays out.
