December 7th, 2013
Ohio (6-0) at Wichita State (4-2)
A decently rated MVC team – 76 OVR (75 off/77 def/74 sht/81 reb). We barely beat a much, much worse Savannah State team in our first true road game, so I'm taking them seriously.
Scouting
PG Jair Maxiell – SR – 84 OVR – Well then! 6'2” PG - 93 speed/89 quickness/86 vertical. 87 handling/88 passing. 93 defense(!!!!!) 80 steals, 82 close/79 med/75 3. Only averaging 11 points per game so far. I guarentee you he will score more than 11 against us. Also, 93 defense!
SG Willard Archie – SR – 71 OVR – 85 spd/76 quicks, 82 defense which is pretty solid too. 83 close/69 med/63 3, not a great shooter, but 85 off the dribble which might help some. 14.7 ppg so far this year.
SF TR Horton – SR – 59 OVR – 83 close/84 in traffic. That's all he has worth mentioning. Poor defender, poor shooter(54 from 3). Poor physical skills. House could eat him alive.
PF Marion Bird – SO – 67 OVR – 6'8” SF movedu p to PF. Terrible on the boards and in the post. 76 close/69 med/70 3. only 78 in traffic, he shouldn't be scoring a lot. But he does seem to be so far for 10.5 ppg.
C Beckham Timmerman – FR – 68 OVR – Only 6'9”, above average on the boards (78 off/79 def), very good post offense(85), poor post defense(70). 80 close/77 in traffic. A good ball hawk, 78 block/80 steals, so he'll get his hands on the ball on defense. I guess if you get your shot off against him you'll make it, but you'll struggle to get it off. 5.0 ppg.
So its really a question of whether Jair Maxiell can beat us all by himself. Our team unity is up to 50, theirs is 42.
Half
| Time
| OHIO
| WSU
| Notes
|
1
| 12:20
| 11
| 16
| They've led most of the way, they just ran off 4 straight to make it a 5 point game. Maxiell has 4 points and 4 assists so far I believe, and he is harassing the hell out of Murphy. Backups are in.
|
1
| 4:15
| 26
| 27
| They took Maxiell out at the 10 minute mark or so. We slowly cut into the lead and have it down to 1 now. The last 2+ minutes the starters have been ready to come back in but I was not about to call a timeout while Maxiell is on the bench. I'd rather play my backups tired than allow him back in the game. They finally take a TO. Starters on the way back.
|
1
| 2:25
| 31
| 30
| House gets by his man for a dunk in the half court set, and Cooper is left unguarded at the top of the key for a wide open 3. Ohio back in the lead for the first time since 4-2 or so.
|
| HALF
| 38
| 36
| We took a 38-32 lead but allowed them to score the last 4 of the half. We're shooting 50%, they're at 48%. Fouls are a total non-issue. We've committed 4, they have 3.
Maxiell has 8 points, 5 assists and 3 steals. 90+ defense looks like an amazing attribute to have, he got in front of cooper a couple times where Cooper usually glides to the basket for a layup and just said NO, pull up and miss a shot here buddy. Their PF Bird scored 8 aswell.
House has 8 for us, and 4 assists. Delic has 7 boards but is 1-6 down low, only 2 points. Cooper has 5. Mendoza was really solid for the backups, scoring 6 points and beating their backup PG a number of times.
|
2
| 16:00
| 46
| 47
| We slowly build up a 6 point edge, playing tough defense and getting good shots by House and Cooper. They come down and make a 3, we turn it over, and they get a 3 point play chance, but they miss the FT and get a board and putback instead. 6 point lead gone. 1 point deficit. Their crowd goes nuts and we call a timeout.
|
2
| 15:45
| 46
| 47
| After the timeout they press. Murphy loses control of the ball, House is there to scoop it up before Maxiell can, they trap House and begin to force a held ball. I call another timeout.
|
2
| 13:00
| 53
| 54
| This half is taking forever. We've committed 4 fouls already after only committing 4 in the first half. We've drawn 7 already and are shooting free throws, after only drawing 3 in the first half. Thanks to all the timeouts and such, starters aren't tired yet, I'm letting them go a bit longer.
|
2
| 11:45
| 56
| 54
| I bring in the backups now. House with a dunk in transition and drawing a foul in the hafl court set our next play, only 1-2 from the line though, putting us up 2.
|
2
| 6:10
| 64
| 63
| Inspired play by our backups. They get a couple blocked shots, a dunk that all give them crowd boosts and Wichita State multiple times threatens to make a run, but we get big stops and claw for baskets and stay with them. Starters are back in.
|
2
| 4:00
| 66
| 65
| Those last two minutes were way more intense than 2 points each... They score to go back ahead, we fail to score on 2 straight possessions, one of them a steal leading to a crowd boost for the Shockers. We hold tight, stall a little on one play and end up getting a run out after a missed 3 pointer leading to a Murphy dunk, putting us back in the lead and forcing a Wichita State timeout. Another small stretch where it feels like we could have given up 4 or 6 points, but didn't.
|
2
| 2:30
| 70
| 67
| Timeout Wichita State as we get two very good baskets in the paint by house and Delic, they scored once on a good look inside too. Their ball.
|
2
| 2:25
| 70
| 70
| Maxiell gets by Murphy and goes straight to the hole... fouled and makes the FT.
|
2
| 2:20
| 70
| 70
| I call a timeout with 3 seconds left to get the ball upcourt... struggling a ton. I've got one TO left.
|
2
| 1:45
| 72
| 70
| They steal a kickout from Sessoms intended for House. We do a great job getting back on D and they miss a quick shot. We get out on the run and House with a layup.
|
Hah, go go rebounding! We get a stop and get the ball with about a minute left. I'm not trying to kill the clock with just a 2 point lead, so I take my first good shot, an open 3 by Murphy. He misses, but Sessoms grabs the board and kicks it out. Now there's about 45 seconds left. I run the clock most of the way down and Cooper scoots open for a 3 with about 13 seconds left. Its no good but once again Sessoms grabs the board!! He's fouled and comes up big, making both free throws to ice the game.
Ohio 76
Wichita State 72
Maxiell didn't hurt us nearly as bad as I expected. A number of times late in the second half it seemd like he'd make what was clearly a good pass, setting up a shot that, yes, was in traffic, but seemed better than most teams would get from a similar play. And there just isn't enough talent around Maxiell, not enough finishers when he sets them up in great spots.
He did get 16 points/6 assists/5 steals. He annoyed the hell out of me when I was trying to run my offense, but he isn't enough of a scorer to be able to win games for a team like this. Still, on the road against a team with a great player, I'm extremely happy to win.
Murphy: 9 points
Cooper: 10 points
House: 19 points/3 boards/4 assists
Delic: points/11 boards
Sessoms: 9 points/8 boards
Mendoza: 6 points
Lufkin: 5 points
Everyone I've played so far has had a poor defensive SF. I expect to see that a lot in conference play too. I expect House to have a lot of games like this for me. He's not rebounding as much for me as he used to for two reasons I believe. 1) I don't play much 2-3 zone anymore, as my defenders have improved I've switched to almost entirely man to man. So house is out of position for rebounds. 2) I've got some very good rebounders on my team now. Delic, Sessoms, Watson, all outstanding rebounder, they're not letting the SF sneak in there too often and snag one.