Men vs South Carolina Game Thread

[mustache eagle 2,397]

It definitely felt like they shared the ball better ... but you can’t have an assist if you don’t make your shot.  We made more shots last night.

also ... with DC going off last night, that means every player has had a substantial contribution to at least one game.  That’s comforting to see.  But DC fell off at games end when the team was forcing it to him

[Tiger 8,819]

Cambridge!!!! Wow he was on fire last night!! But damn his shot doesn't inspire confidence when he lets it go. The way he missed his two misses, and then his bank 3 which was sooo off it happened to go in was just indicative of the type of night he was having. I like that we saw his potential last night. The kid can be a knockdown shooter with his already obvious athletic gifts. But he has had a handful of shots this year that looked like his misses from last night -- WAY off. If he can make defenses respect his outside shot it will help our team tremendously. I'm very happy for the kid and what it can mean for his, and for our team's future. I'm not sold on him being a reliable sniper for us yet but it sure was nice to see that he has it in him. I know this reads like I'm down on the kid, but I assure you nobody was more hype than me watching him tear it up last night. Dev needed a night like that IMO and I hope it's a sign that the light is coming on for him

Samir struggled early but seemed to get back into his groove. We need him to be back to his confident self.

J'von played much better and had a solid floor game and made some tough shots. Dunno how sustainable or reliable those shots will be moving forward but in the very least it should give him some confidence.

Okoro -- this kid is special. I know I said he's not going to be a PG but the kid has great vision for a wing and is a willing passer. He had some really nice passes last night. That one pass along the baseline to Cambridge (I think) for 3 was beautiful. I think we're going to find he will be making more plays for us moving forward from the wing spot and that is going to be cruuuucial for us as our guard play leaves some to be desired.

Wiley was solid, not spectacular, not great, certainly not bad, but solid. Particularly defensively and on the boards.

Mac did a great job on the glass, Jamal was hitting 3s which is  a great sign for us, and Al Flan made some good plays although it wasn't his night to have a lot of offensive opportunity.

 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,662]

2 hours ago, AU64 said:

Funny thing is about a week ago someone posted that DC needed to be permanently on the bench since he was not helping the team at all.  

And last night he carried the offense....and the rest of the team had an off night from the field....especially from the three line.    

Saturday should be an interesting game...

 

I was closer to that side than not, he looked like he was going through the motions last week. The Jungle is like an aphrodisiac 

[Zeek 16,649]

15 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

@Zeek muhhhhhhhh dude. Where you at?!?! You know it is not officially a Bball game thread until we get your thoughts, comments and opinions on the game!!! What did you think about young Skywalker Cambridge GOING OFFFFFFFFFF?!?!?!? That was a sight to behold. He was EN FUEGO! WOOOOOO!!!!

My dude!!!! I'm in the thick of our wrestling season right now so I've been largely MIA from everything else; trust me even my wife gets jealous of the sport lol!

Dude, I love it though! Love seeing coach Pearl give him the "about time!" and love that he stayed to work on Free Throws afterwards. Wish we could take back our last two performances but the adversity might benefit us later!

War DAMNNNNNNNNNN

[GwillMac6 20,666]

29 minutes ago, Zeek said:

My dude!!!! I'm in the thick of our wrestling season right now so I've been largely MIA from everything else; trust me even my wife gets jealous of the sport lol!

Dude, I love it though! Love seeing coach Pearl give him the "about time!" and love that he stayed to work on Free Throws afterwards. Wish we could take back our last two performances but the adversity might benefit us later!

War DAMNNNNNNNNNN

This is the type of content I have been missing on here and searching for!!!! FREAKING LOVE IT BRODIE!!!!!!!! WOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! LETS FREAKING GOOOO BAAAAAAY BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[boisnumber1 2,818]

Almost 20 games into the season, and I still don't know what this team is. Not sure they do either. I keep thinking we just aren't that good, but we keep showing signs here and there. The next month we will either finally turn it up a notch, or we will just be average. Hopefully it's like last year, and we start clicking by season's end. If we do not start shooting with more consistency - not just a game here and there - I dont see this team going very far.

[GwillMac6 20,666]

 

[Zeek 16,649]

4 hours ago, boisnumber1 said:

Almost 20 games into the season, and I still don't know what this team is. Not sure they do either. I keep thinking we just aren't that good, but we keep showing signs here and there. The next month we will either finally turn it up a notch, or we will just be average. Hopefully it's like last year, and we start clicking by season's end. If we do not start shooting with more consistency - not just a game here and there - I dont see this team going very far.

I agree with this, doesn’t seem to be an “identity” but dang we have some solid dudes coming off the bench. It’s definitely a transition year but the future is bright. 

[AU64 10,122]

23 minutes ago, Zeek said:

I agree with this, doesn’t seem to be an “identity” but dang we have some solid dudes coming off the bench. It’s definitely a transition year but the future is bright. 

Lots of important players in their final year. As even the blue bloods are finding out, you can't always just reload when you lose your starters. Hoping to see more from the bench is the season moves  on.

[AUGoo 2,659]

12 hours ago, Zeek said:

I agree with this, doesn’t seem to be an “identity” but dang we have some solid dudes coming off the bench. It’s definitely a transition year but the future is bright. 

I see an identity when they pass, move, and actually RUN the O. The D is a given. But the standing around while Jvon or Samir dribble for 29 second and throw up a prayer makes me use my TV brick.

[toddc 13,194]

17 hours ago, GwillMac6 said:

 

This quote makes me wonder about Purifoy and his lack of big games this year, after knowing what he did 2 years ago. I really thought he might be the man this year, and hopefully we see his best in the second half of the season! He’s definitely a big “corner” piece of the Puzzle CBP is trying to put together.

[AuburnNTexas 7,140]

1 hour ago, toddc said:

This quote makes me wonder about Purifoy and his lack of big games this year, after knowing what he did 2 years ago. I really thought he might be the man this year, and hopefully we see his best in the second half of the season! He’s definitely a big “corner” piece of the Puzzle CBP is trying to put together.

Purifoy's body has changed he has gotten thicker and much stronger and could do yeoman's work down low but he grew up as a small forward and has a small forward mentality.A couple of games this year when Mac and Wiley were in foul trouble he played down low and did very well battling down low for rebounds on defense and scoring. He has a nice shot very good form and can hit the three but he needs to get down low and bang more while still keeping other team honest when he has an open 3. He has the capability to be both a down low banger and also a 3 point shooter if he does both he will help the team and himself.

[Randman5000 4,226]

23 hours ago, AuburnNTexas said:

Purifoy's body has changed he has gotten thicker and much stronger and could do yeoman's work down low but he grew up as a small forward and has a small forward mentality.A couple of games this year when Mac and Wiley were in foul trouble he played down low and did very well battling down low for rebounds on defense and scoring. He has a nice shot very good form and can hit the three but he needs to get down low and bang more while still keeping other team honest when he has an open 3. He has the capability to be both a down low banger and also a 3 point shooter if he does both he will help the team and himself.

And smarter, he's grown alot

[Tiger 8,819]

Purifoy has been solid for us this year. His shots aren't always falling but his effort and energy this year has been great. He's been fighting on the glass, and while he sometimes has a mental lapse he's at least mitigating some of that with his effort on other plays.

 

And now that we are 48 hours removed from the game, I can be a little more rational when thinking about his 3 pointer with 18 seconds left on the shot clock when we were trying to bleed clock. I still will never forgive him for that. WTF was he thinking?

[ShocksMyBrain 9,362]

32 minutes ago, Tiger said:

Purifoy has been solid for us this year. His shots aren't always falling but his effort and energy this year has been great. He's been fighting on the glass, and while he sometimes has a mental lapse he's at least mitigating some of that with his effort on other plays.

 

And now that we are 48 hours removed from the game, I can be a little more rational when thinking about his 3 pointer with 18 seconds left on the shot clock when we were trying to bleed clock. I still will never forgive him for that. WTF was he thinking?

And that’s not the first time we’ve chucked a 3 and missed and got close to losing the game. Need more awareness and focus when it comes to finishing the last 5 minutes of a game. 

[Tiger 8,819]

55 minutes ago, ShocksMyBrain said:

And that’s not the first time we’ve chucked a 3 and missed and got close to losing the game. Need more awareness and focus when it comes to finishing the last 5 minutes of a game. 

We really miss a steady hand like Harper right now. And next year a freshman will likely be playing 30-34 mpg at PG. We really need a grad transfer to come in. But it will be tough to find a guy with 1 year left to play to come in and be a backup.

We were very lucky Ronnie Johnson didn't sabotage the locker room during his year here when Harper started as a freshman. I'm sure Ronnie was not expecting to be leading the 2nd unit. He doesn't get enough credit for that.

[mustache eagle 2,397]

Yep.  Ronnie was an integral, but unsung piece to that team.  I’d imagine his maturity was good for Harper.