Mixed bags abound from yesterday’s squeaker over Wake Forest.
Good news: we needed one defensive stop to go home (relatively) happy, and we got it. Malcolm’s one-possession thesis on effective one-on-one man-to-man defense against a wing most effective going to his right and finishing in the lane gets an A+.
Bad news: it came down to one defensive stop because we reverted to some of the poor habits of the first half after building what should have been a comfortable 51-38 lead with 10 minutes left. We were two good possessions from turning this one into a laughter, and instead of came one free throw away from OT. Dino Mitoglou is about as mobile as U-Hall — you always knew where he was going to be — but that didn’t stop our bigs from routinely being one or two steps too far away from him.
Good news: Devin Thomas — Wake’s second-leading scorer and a real load down low — didn’t attempt a shot, scored just three points, and committed four turnovers, succumbing to our interior defense like a kid walking out into an ocean of increasingly heavy waves.
Bad news: Thomas’s frontcourt mate Dino Mitoglou made six of 12 (12!) three-point tries and scored 18 points, and we spent way too much time trying to hide Mike Tobey on him. Tobes — despite a pretty aggressive offensive performance (eight points in 14 minutes) — was a net negative in this one because he couldn’t recover to Mitoglou on the perimeter fast enough.
Good news: AG destroyed Mitoglou on the offensive side, as the Greek Deac couldn’t stay within a country mile of him when AG faced up and attacked off the dribble. This was Gill’s most assertive offensive game in a while, and it was nice to see him looking assertive.
Bad news: This team forgets their bigs sometimes. It’s partially guys like London and Malcolm thinking any shot they take is a good shot (and they’re often right), and it’s partially a lack of consistent assertion down low from the bigs — it’s like they know a given possession is going away from them, and sort of half-ass their attempts to get position.
Good news: We were off-the-charts good on offense to start the second half, scoring on 12 of our first 16 possessions in the first 10 minutes to outscore Wake 27-7 and go up 13. Guys were cutting hard, we were relying on the post players, and all was as right with the world on offense as it’s been since Justin got hurt.
Bad news: We then “capitalized” on that momentum by getting long twos from Malcolm, Darion, London, and Marial on our next four possessions. All missed, and Wake cut the lead in half. AG, who was already 4-4 for nine points in the half, attempted no shots during this stretch.
Good news: Evan Nolte not only returned from banging his finger at the end of the first half, he made two threes — his first multi-three game of the season.
Bad news: He made the only Virginia threes, and everyone else was 0-9. Since Justin last saw the court at the end of the first half against Louisville, the team has made only six of 31 three-point tries (a sub-Mendoza 19.4%). Evan has hit four of them (in eight tries), but Malcolm and London are both one of 10, and no one else has chipped in. Malcolm’s shot has flattened again. You can see it in his arms on release (it’s more compact), the motion of his body (he sort of pinches the shot and fades a little), and the results (see above).
Good news: Wake had eight turnovers in the second half and 11 for the game. These weren’t your usual “guys get frustrated against the Pack Line” turnovers, either — they were actual effort play turnovers. Malcolm had four of our five steals, and London and Evan both interrupted Wake’s flow by knocking the ball away on multiple occasions.
Bad news: Marial Shayok has now missed 13 straight shots dating back to the second half against Georgia Tech, and looked beyond clueless on the offensive side last night. Evan has used the last two games to establish himself as the obvious best option while Justin recovers.
Good news: Wake had just four fast break points and the game was played closer to our preferred pace (60 possessions) than Wake’s.
Bad news: The emphasis on preventing transition baskets took us off of the offensive glass (and Wake did a really good job blocking out). Our offensive rebound percentage (18.2%) was our lowest of the season.
Pitt’s up next on Monday. The Panthers have won four of five (including wins over Notre Dame and UNC), so a test is in store.
I guess the good news is that we won, but I’m not looking forward to our trip to the Joel in a couple weeks.
