Here are my player evals:
Hibbert--Very quiet game but had some nice rebounds. The drive and dunk was fantastic. Why the heck couldn't he defend his man? He never even put his arms up. That needs to be a focus for him this week.
Green--Back to form. Dominated the first half.
Sapp--Great game. I love how he drove to the hoop and he hit a 3. He attacks the zone better than any of our other guards.
Wallace--Quiet game. He took a terrible 3 and just wasn't hitting much of anything. He also missed a layup.
Summers--Summers is a stud. He will be a great Hoya. I love his blocking on defense and he has a nice stroke.
Egerson--Nice game. He hit a three and a sweet little mid-range. He is playing with confidence and doesn't seem to be pressing after losing the starting gig.
Ticket--Loved Vernon's dunks. He is still very raw but lightning quick and freakishly athletic. The dunk off of the Egerson miss was incredible.
Pat--The three will only embolden him.
Rivers--He's a players. His 3 looked good and he showed the ability to dribble-drive. Very happy with his game. Evidently, Doc was in the crowd last night.
All in all, a good win and fine tune-up for Oregon. We really still need to step up our defensive intensity. Oregon's guards are going to eat us alive if we don't tighten things up.
I was happy with the student turnout considering they just got back from vacation and are heading into finals ... and this was Ball State.
Articles:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/27/AR2006112701616.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/27/AR2006112701601.html
http://washingtontimes.com/sports/20061128-125201-8013r.htm
http://washingtontimes.com/sports/20061128-120348-6321r.htm
Update: The Post has a great video with scenes from the game and interviews with the three Thompsons.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2006/11/28/VI2006112800424.html
Update 2: Another Post video:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2006/11/28/VI2006112800640.html
1 comment:
Here's my take. I tried to post this earlier, but was having some computer issues. Overall, I agree with Diamond's assessment.
This was our best game of the season. The Hoyas won by 15 over Ball State in the Battle of the Thompsons, but the game wasn't even that close. If we hadn't put our scrubs in at the end we could have won by 25.
Some observations. First, Jeff Green finally had a good game. He had some fantastic passes in the beginning to set up teammates for easy baskets. He shot the ball well from downtown and a little closer in. The only thing he did not do was drive with effectiveness. It's nice to have you back Jeff.
Hibbert had the play of the night with his spin-and-drive down the lane, which he finished with a dunk. That being said, his continued inability to finish strong is getting annoying. Roy was about 7 inches taller than anyone on the Ball State team and the ball was still getting knocked around when it was in his hands. Plus, Rollin absolutely abused him down low. Roy showed that any big man with girth can still knock him all over the place. Though Roy took a lot of trips to the foul line, what we really need is for him to finish those physical contested shots close to the basket. Macklin seemed much more physical to me. He had 3 easy throw down dunks. Even though these were not really contested (he set up behind the Ball State post players and then just stepped up to receive the pass and throw it down) he seemed to show a "killer instinct that Hibs just doesn't have.
DaJuan Summers is the real deal. I thought he looked very smooth and his shot looked good. Even if Crawford gets healthy, I don't see how he could replace Summers in the starting line up. I hope he proves me wrong though, as that would mean Crawford is much better than I think he is.
Pat Ewing, did not get a lot of playing time, but made some spectacular plays in the time allotted. I'm not a big fan of Patrick. I think he plays out of control most of the time and he is more likely to foul the opposing squad than do something positive for the Hoyas. But he is an athletic specimen. He had a fantastic block last night. The kid can flat out elevate! He also had another nice three-pointer from near the same location that he hit from in the Vandy game.
Wallace looked fine, but not good. He did not have a lot of points (5) and was 0-3 from beyond the arch. He also had 3 turnovers.
Sapp continued to improve. He handled the ball a lot more, and seems to give the Hoyas a little more explosiveness from the top of the key. He led the team in assists, plus, he did not have any turnovers. A good game from Sappy.
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