UCI game thoughts

[SisyphusMiner]

I actually thought our offense looked better this game in that it was much more active, at least when the starters were on the court.  Lathon was much more active which helped a lot.  UCI was pretty tough defensively.  Rebounding would be good to do when we play Houston.

Souley still looked good.
Archie showed some improvement in that he didn't actively hurt us when he was on the court.
It's really weird that Verhoeven offers no offensive threat at all yet we are better offensively with him than with Vila or Efe I think.
Efe is what we used to call a black hole -- once the ball goes in to him it never comes back out.

Other than that, per player observations pretty much the same observations as the NCAT game.

[Chanson]

That was the best defense we have played against this year. We got lucky though. I didnt think there was another team that was worse in turnovers, but I was wrong. UCI proved that last night. Our failure to rebound & their failure to secure was a wash. Both defenses were good. The difference was Lathon. He decided to get involved & scored. I think Efe needs more minutes, but coach holds off because he misses assignments & cant find the open man when he is triple teamed. Verho drives & passes out well. Plus, his defense & a hot blocking ability is way better than Efe or Vila.
Archie has shaken off SOME rust, but his offense seems like he doesnt want the ball or cant figure out what to do when he gets it. I think he's too worried about screwing up. He is far from the confidence he had in high school.
Boum was tailed all night, because of the performance he had Monday night. William's was tested with the size, but adapted quickly & hit his FT. Lathon was great & Edwards was average. Hawkins struggled a bit. We have depth with big men, but not really with guards. That worries me a bit. Archie & Stroud need to step up.
We are 8n for a pounding against Houston if the guards don't perform.

[ATL-Miner]

Archie looked like he was playing scared and was a liability when he was on the floor. Thankfully he didn't see action in the 2nd half. Turns the ball over way too frequently considering his limited minutes, not to mention the occasional air-ball. The best thing Archie has shown so far is his creative, pre-game handshakes with the starters.

We got clobbered on the boards, however it was our best game on Turnovers committing only 9, mostly in the first half. 4 of them by Edwards alone. Yet we forced UCI into 22 turnovers which is what kept us in the game along with solid Free Throw shooting at 77% for the team. Defense was solid.

Lathon is clearly the heart of this team and was setting the early tone offensively. Great competitor. Williams is showing that his last season of working on his perimeter game is paying off, much better shooter from distance than I thought considering he rarely shot for distance at Fresno St. Boum is steadily playing more confident and is all over the court on defense. The team does look better offensively with Verhoeven in there, despite his lack of points. Had five rebounds and a couple of nice shot blocks too.

Good win over a good team. A game we would have likely lost down the stretch in previous recent years. Thursday is going to be a real test against Houston.

[Chanson]

ATL hit it on the money with Edwards. The kid averages 3 cough ups with the ball per game. He needs to not pass the ball into the paint. He should be the 1st guard out when switching & give him less time while increasing Hawkins time.

[SisyphusMiner]

Agree with everything both of you said!
The Edwards thing is weird because he typically plays pretty intelligently, but like you said several times a game does something really stupid.