Manny De Montaigne drinks single malts

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Sunday, December 03, 2006

Big Noise, No Win

Trying to look for the silver lining last night, I figured that maybe it was better Cuse lost; better that their comeback fell a couple points short; better that they’re no longer undefeated; and better that their ranking will slip a bit, and that they don’t end up ranked in the top ten before the conference schedule ever begins.

The bad news was obvious. A loss. A 27-1 run in the first half. Eleven minutes without a field goal. Nichols and Devendorf sleepwalking through the game. Terrible outside shooting. But the good news was that Cuse came back from 23 down. With only five and a half minutes left in the game, they still trailed by 17. But from that point on, they were a different team – playing with urgency and intensity. This team needs to play hard for forty minutes. They need to stop going through the motions in the first half, and allowing themselves to fall behind by 10 or more points, which they’ve apparently done in half their games this year. So if last night was awake-up call, I’m fine with that. On the other hand, if this was just a harbinger of the conference schedule, that’s not good. Let’s see if we can bounce back in the Garden, where we often play well. Home away from home.

Meanwhile, the new PH had the game highlight again, although I haven’t seen the clip yet. (I’m hoping someone posts it on Youtube.) On a fast break, he took off from around the foul line, shades of Dr. J, and seemed to fly over two earthbound defenders, who could only watch as he came down, jamming home a dunk before he landed. Before long, when we the offense is stagnant, or late in the game, when we need a bucket, we’re going to have to run clear outs for PH. There’s no one player who can stay with him going to the hoop, and if draws attention from other defenders, he’s a great passer. This is our go-to guy.

One more point. Toward the end of the game, as Cuse stormed back, as the big lead disappeared, as steals led to dunks and turnovers, the Dome was rocking for the first time this year. Nice crowd for December, lots of students, and bedlam for five and half minutes. Always fun to be in the Dome when the crowd is deafening.

1 Comments:

Blogger pops said...

G,
Congratulations to Steven. Duke is a great school, and if he has any interest in living in the south, or the Carolinas, probably the preeminent school. We'll talk soon about arrangements for the long-awaited visit to the Dome.
Berg

9:40 PM  

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