Bluebird of sadness ThoughtZ™

[RichZ]

Before anyone points out that last night's opponent was the blueJAYS, not blueBIRDS, I know. Ever hear of artistic license?

1. 1st lead at 17:57
2. Looks like Karaban's shot is MIA again.
3. Newton made a three at 13min but like his free throws lately, it had almost no arc on it. But the next one looked a lot better.
4. The game changed completely when Clingan came in. It was like the energy level of the whole team went way up.
5. Spencer having a field day with the pull up in the lane.
6. Great move by Castle for the twisting layup at about 3:30.
7. Hassan! Acrobatic layup among the trees and the foul at 1:17. The kid continues to impress.
8. At the half -- 11 point lead. Newton and Spencer in double figures. No one else has more than 4 points. Karaban scoreless.
9. Hey, Karaban appears to have found his shot in the locker room at half time.
10. Our defensive intensity at another level in the 2nd half. Smothering the BJs.
11. Clingan comes WAY out to block a three point attempt and starts a break that ends in a Diarra layup. I think he saw Johnson getting ready to come in to spell him, and wanted to do something to force DH to keep him out there.
12. 10:52... 20 point lead.
13. Castle is a superb rebounder.
14. Johnson fouling a guard 4 feet from half court is exactly the kind of play we don't need.
15. Started getting sloppy at around 6 minutes. 22 point lead down to 16 pretty quickly, and 10 at 2:30. Then everybody woke up and we took control again. Need to either work on our slowdown game or just stop trying to use it.
16. Cam's quick bucket on the third inbounds of one possession of clock killing, took whatever hope was left in the BJs, crushed it and through it in the gutter.
17. ISTR last year there was a lot of ESPN/FS1 talking head mention of Kalkbrenner being one of the elite center's in the country. This year, not so much. My take -- he's above average, but not close to elite. Comparison from last night. Kalkbrenner -- 35 min, 5 blk, 8 boards, 0 dimes, 11 points. Clingan -- 15 min, 2 blk, 5 boards, 2 dimes, 6 pts.
18. There were 28 rebounding opportunities (sometimes called misses<G>) at our basket. We controlled 21 of them. That is astounding,
19. Most telling stats of the game... offensive boards 21 to 6 and 8 to 3 in steals.

 

[Palatine]

The sequence where we missed four shots and got three offensive rebound was very telling. We were relentless. Dominate on the glass. They played very good defense and our offense had a tough night. But our energy and overall talent carried the day.