So, here's my thoughts from watching the game on TV. Please note that this won't have the GF-24/BWahlberg/PeauxRogue/MTgrizrule panache:
* Kudos to the Cats - they shot lights out, and made tough shots all game. Everytime we came back on a run, they had an answer.
* Our D was solid all night. Part of it was Cats using more clock, but the other part was our D not giving easy open looks/paths to the basket very often all night.
* I honestly believed when the Cats went up by 3(4?) with under a minute left, and we immediately gave them the ball back on offense, I figured that was it. Kudos to the guys for not giving up and playing tough the whole game
* I think Tinks likes having a more traditional 5 just on principle, and that is the kind of O he is most comfortable running. However, Hutch sat the whole 2nd half, and this may be the signal that Tinks is reluctantly saying "look - we're gonna have to go small, and kick-butt with it because that's what we have"
* I'm no b-ball expert, but I think Hutch's biggest problem is he has hands of concrete. Even when rebounding half the time, he bobbles the hell out of the ball. When he does catch it (the ball) on offense, he's like a dog that chases a car - he doesn't know what to do with it once he's got it, because he rarely catches the damn thing cleanly.
* Weisner is clutch as hell. Yeah, maybe he was sitting because he wasn't as focused on D as he needed to be, but he seems to come up huge everytime we have no answer on offense (what game was it last year when he turned the game for us? In like 90 seconds of play, he had a couple steals, a block, and like 6 points).
* Jamar was excellent - he went cold late for a bit
* The free throw bug appears to have cropped up again, but it was nice seeing Gregory calmly nail a couple when everyone else was clanking them. I honestly think Cherry's issue this game was that he was letting his shooting elbow fly open again when shooting free throws. His last 2/3 he nailed, and he kept his elbow tucked.
* Lastly I don't think Cherry quite has his feel for the game back yet. Last year, he knew exactly when to push it or slow it down on offense and when he needed to bring the O or just become a distributor. That was his biggest advantage last year in my opinion. Hopefully as he gets his feet wet more he'll get his feel back for the flow of the game.
* Ok. Seriously, this is the last one - DeShields steal, ball-fake, and lay-up was beautiful. I don't think he makes that play last year. It shows how much he's grown as a player. First, stole the ball, started to push it, then broke into the clear with a beautiful behind the back dribble, then attacked the defender, and cleared him with a saavy ball fake rather than trying to just go through and hope for the foul, or pass to the player the defender was looking to. Finally, stayed controlled all the way through to the finish for the easy bucket. Maybe the play of the night outside Weisner's 3.
--Sorry for rambling. Hopefully all that makes sense! I guess I had more to talk about than I thought!
