Got an eyeful of the team. Thought I’d share… perhaps not much new at this point..
Early on, seemed to be quicker to the ball than what we’ve seen for much of the year. Some really nice plays, good aggression to the rack early. Ware/Malik were both on. Was thinking we might surprise… the crowd was not all that intense, at all. Perfect place to steal one.
But as things wore on, they looked defeated mentally to me. Hesitant. Galloway especially. He may have been playing through pain. He was a frustrated mess at the FT line. The ongoing shooting fiasco seems to be eating that team up.
Body language, emotion (never seen such a stone-faced, quiet bunch tbh)… just miles from a fiery “hey, MF-er get your head in the game and refuse to lose!” crew.
As has been noted all year, Mgbako is a step slow all over, he only had two boards and shoulda had his hands on many more. The fundamentals on rebounding are dreadful. Hands down. Body on nobody. Just like… so much potential. But potential doesn’t win ball games.
Reneau slow in closeouts. People are really picking on the bigs out there. Guards smoked on perimeter D. We got nothing to stall that Baldwin kid.
More dead horse stuff: The offense takes FOREVER to get moving, Penn State’s pressure was smart. Takes half the shot clock to dump it in and watch. And not sure if anyone has noticed, but there’s this cataclysmic lack of outside shooting… can’t stretch a lead, can’t mount a comeback. And what long-balls were shot seemed always off-balance, feet never set, mechanics are poop. Rushed. Woof.
I love seeing the team live though, srsly, even in this current state, it’s a rare event for me, but uh… really hard to imagine things getting much better with this pro-style, iso stuff. Without pro-style, iso players. And just an overall attitude tweak. I love how Cignetti is very vocal about the mental part. And, uh, the shooting thing.
We had fun in Happy Valley though overall. Fun town for sure.
Early on, seemed to be quicker to the ball than what we’ve seen for much of the year. Some really nice plays, good aggression to the rack early. Ware/Malik were both on. Was thinking we might surprise… the crowd was not all that intense, at all. Perfect place to steal one.
But as things wore on, they looked defeated mentally to me. Hesitant. Galloway especially. He may have been playing through pain. He was a frustrated mess at the FT line. The ongoing shooting fiasco seems to be eating that team up.
Body language, emotion (never seen such a stone-faced, quiet bunch tbh)… just miles from a fiery “hey, MF-er get your head in the game and refuse to lose!” crew.
As has been noted all year, Mgbako is a step slow all over, he only had two boards and shoulda had his hands on many more. The fundamentals on rebounding are dreadful. Hands down. Body on nobody. Just like… so much potential. But potential doesn’t win ball games.
Reneau slow in closeouts. People are really picking on the bigs out there. Guards smoked on perimeter D. We got nothing to stall that Baldwin kid.
More dead horse stuff: The offense takes FOREVER to get moving, Penn State’s pressure was smart. Takes half the shot clock to dump it in and watch. And not sure if anyone has noticed, but there’s this cataclysmic lack of outside shooting… can’t stretch a lead, can’t mount a comeback. And what long-balls were shot seemed always off-balance, feet never set, mechanics are poop. Rushed. Woof.
I love seeing the team live though, srsly, even in this current state, it’s a rare event for me, but uh… really hard to imagine things getting much better with this pro-style, iso stuff. Without pro-style, iso players. And just an overall attitude tweak. I love how Cignetti is very vocal about the mental part. And, uh, the shooting thing.
We had fun in Happy Valley though overall. Fun town for sure.
