My takeaways from yesterday.
1. Tyler Burton is a bad bad man. I said at the beginning of the year that he would be the best player on this team, but that was a tad tongue in cheek, as I thought with Grant and Gilly out there, Tyler would still be option 2 or 3 on this team. But it is pretty clear, Tyler is playing on a different level right now, like an A-10 POY type of level.
2. Did I see us playing defense yesterday, why I think I did. Yeah, Northern Iowa missed a ton of shots but I thought we actually guarded them pretty well. I didn't see too many wide open or flying dutchman closeouts. We got beat a few times on defense (Tyler got victimized a few times, one of which he then stuffed the guy at the rim on an incredible block).
3. I thought Wilson had a pretty nice floor game. Played his usual great defense, but also contributed nicely on offense.
4. Bench minutes were odd. Crabtree only with 3 minutes, while Sal had 4. Sherod got the most bench minutes, which is surprising considering he was 1-7 from the field and 0-5 from 3. He did grab a bunch of boards.
5. Credit for to Mooney for giving Gilly some rest during this game. I think we had Zay and Dji in when he wasn't. I think those guys sufficiently handled their business with Gilly on the bench. Let's hope that continues, it helps all 3 players.
Let's not mistake Northern Iowa for a great team though. There are 2-5 (they did somehow beat St. Bonny, but have also lost to Nicholls and Bradley). They also were missing their second leading scorer yesterday. But after the disaster in the Bahamas, two straight road wins should be making this team feel pretty good.
1. Tyler Burton is a bad bad man. I said at the beginning of the year that he would be the best player on this team, but that was a tad tongue in cheek, as I thought with Grant and Gilly out there, Tyler would still be option 2 or 3 on this team. But it is pretty clear, Tyler is playing on a different level right now, like an A-10 POY type of level.
2. Did I see us playing defense yesterday, why I think I did. Yeah, Northern Iowa missed a ton of shots but I thought we actually guarded them pretty well. I didn't see too many wide open or flying dutchman closeouts. We got beat a few times on defense (Tyler got victimized a few times, one of which he then stuffed the guy at the rim on an incredible block).
3. I thought Wilson had a pretty nice floor game. Played his usual great defense, but also contributed nicely on offense.
4. Bench minutes were odd. Crabtree only with 3 minutes, while Sal had 4. Sherod got the most bench minutes, which is surprising considering he was 1-7 from the field and 0-5 from 3. He did grab a bunch of boards.
5. Credit for to Mooney for giving Gilly some rest during this game. I think we had Zay and Dji in when he wasn't. I think those guys sufficiently handled their business with Gilly on the bench. Let's hope that continues, it helps all 3 players.
Let's not mistake Northern Iowa for a great team though. There are 2-5 (they did somehow beat St. Bonny, but have also lost to Nicholls and Bradley). They also were missing their second leading scorer yesterday. But after the disaster in the Bahamas, two straight road wins should be making this team feel pretty good.
