Front Office Football Central - View Single Post

Radii · 01-25-2009, 05:47 PM

March 3, 2008

NC A&T (10-14, 8-8 MEAC) at Hampton(18-9, 13-3 MEAC)

Hampton is nearly as strong on offense as we are, and much better on defense and on the boards. They beat us by 27 the first time we played, getting 26 points from their star SG Rashad West.

Our team unity has risen to 43, much higher than the first time we played, but theirs is 53 and on the road we don't feel great about this one.

11:15 1st - We fell behind 10-2 and clawed back to within 2, then fell back again behind by 9, trailing now 23-15 as our reserves are all coming into the game. Their star, West, has 9 points already and I don't see what I could have done differently so far...

9:00 1st - We're fighting hard, and trail 29-22 now. My feeling though is basically that we're playing as well as we're going to at this point and we're going to get run out of the gym at any point now. I could try to slow the game down but all of my recent success has come from getting comfortable with my players and getting them in fast break or one on one situations where my guards can go up against slower guys and get to the basket. If someone else is better than me at that, so be it.

5:15 1st - We're down 33-26, we had a couple chances to cut the lead down a bit further but Ewing missed two open shots in a row. The starters(minus Ewing who I rotated in with the reserves for some more offense) are back on the floor for the rest of the half.

We keep it around 7 most of the half but they run off the final four points. 46-35 Hampton. Sadly, i feel I've played about as well as I'm going to play. These guys get out on the break well, defend the break well, and run their half court sets to open shots and easy baskets consistantly.

I've got 11 from Rush, 7 from Coleman, and 4 from Ewing and Willis each.

Their star West has 14 and it kinda surprises me that its not more.

13:45 2nd - We fall down by 14 before Rush sinks a couple 3s to get us back under double digits. I had Ewing wide open from 3 with a chance to cut the lead to 6 but he missed... our backups come into the game down by 7, 58-51.

7:00 2nd - We're down 72-59 as our starters return.

4:00 2nd - We get the lead down under 10, 77-68. Its unlikely but we do have some explosive scoring ability and we're still fighting.

3:00 2nd - Heh, explosive scoring... they have it too. 83-68. Doh.

hahaha well then. Hampton ends the game on a 21-0 run in the final four minutes. Just ridiculous. We had 4 straight possessions where we failed to cross half court before turning it over. Oof.

Hampton 98
NC A&T 68

It wasn't as bad as the final score indicated by far, but we were never really in it either. Rush scored 19, Ewing 12, and Coleman had perhaps his best game of the year with 13 points/12 rebounds, including 6 offensive boards.

We expected to lose this one, and I'm very happy with how hard we fought for the first 36 minutes, putting ourselves one good run away from having a chance at the end. The ending was a bit embarrassing though.

One more game left in the regular season, I expect to get it in tonight.

01-25-2009, 05:47 PM	#39
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	March 3, 2008 NC A&T (10-14, 8-8 MEAC) at Hampton(18-9, 13-3 MEAC) Hampton is nearly as strong on offense as we are, and much better on defense and on the boards. They beat us by 27 the first time we played, getting 26 points from their star SG Rashad West. Our team unity has risen to 43, much higher than the first time we played, but theirs is 53 and on the road we don't feel great about this one. 11:15 1st - We fell behind 10-2 and clawed back to within 2, then fell back again behind by 9, trailing now 23-15 as our reserves are all coming into the game. Their star, West, has 9 points already and I don't see what I could have done differently so far... 9:00 1st - We're fighting hard, and trail 29-22 now. My feeling though is basically that we're playing as well as we're going to at this point and we're going to get run out of the gym at any point now. I could try to slow the game down but all of my recent success has come from getting comfortable with my players and getting them in fast break or one on one situations where my guards can go up against slower guys and get to the basket. If someone else is better than me at that, so be it. 5:15 1st - We're down 33-26, we had a couple chances to cut the lead down a bit further but Ewing missed two open shots in a row. The starters(minus Ewing who I rotated in with the reserves for some more offense) are back on the floor for the rest of the half. We keep it around 7 most of the half but they run off the final four points. 46-35 Hampton. Sadly, i feel I've played about as well as I'm going to play. These guys get out on the break well, defend the break well, and run their half court sets to open shots and easy baskets consistantly. I've got 11 from Rush, 7 from Coleman, and 4 from Ewing and Willis each. Their star West has 14 and it kinda surprises me that its not more. 13:45 2nd - We fall down by 14 before Rush sinks a couple 3s to get us back under double digits. I had Ewing wide open from 3 with a chance to cut the lead to 6 but he missed... our backups come into the game down by 7, 58-51. 7:00 2nd - We're down 72-59 as our starters return. 4:00 2nd - We get the lead down under 10, 77-68. Its unlikely but we do have some explosive scoring ability and we're still fighting. 3:00 2nd - Heh, explosive scoring... they have it too. 83-68. Doh. hahaha well then. Hampton ends the game on a 21-0 run in the final four minutes. Just ridiculous. We had 4 straight possessions where we failed to cross half court before turning it over. Oof. Hampton 98 NC A&T 68 It wasn't as bad as the final score indicated by far, but we were never really in it either. Rush scored 19, Ewing 12, and Coleman had perhaps his best game of the year with 13 points/12 rebounds, including 6 offensive boards. We expected to lose this one, and I'm very happy with how hard we fought for the first 36 minutes, putting ourselves one good run away from having a chance at the end. The ending was a bit embarrassing though. One more game left in the regular season, I expect to get it in tonight.