MBB Final: LA 76, UTA. 64

[zephyr]

Defensive improvement to me ties directly to the reduction in turnovers. Only 7 of them tonight. That is outstanding ball handling and passing by all players on the court. That will get you in the victory side almost every night. As far as the line goes, this team was ahead of us in the standings and playing at home. That is why they were favored. Strange that only a week ago the Mavs were in first place. Shows how balanced the league is.

While UTA didn't quite have the slashers that teams like App State and Ga Southern had, we defended better on the ball. We were staying in front of the offensive players which requires less help side rotation and allows you to cover shooters better. During the three game losing streak, we gave up so many layups and open 3's that we had no chance of keeping games close. They are working harder and it looks like Miller has taken it upon himself to not force so much on offense. His turnovers are down a bit and he's passing the ball a lot more than before where he would force those shots. Last night he made some really nice interior passes to Gant and Davis for buckets.

[Million$Mullet]

While UTA didn't quite have the slashers that teams like App State and Ga Southern had, we defended better on the ball. We were staying in front of the offensive players which requires less help side rotation and allows you to cover shooters better. During the three game losing streak, we gave up so many layups and open 3's that we had no chance of keeping games close. They are working harder and it looks like Miller has taken it upon himself to not force so much on offense. His turnovers are down a bit and he's passing the ball a lot more than before where he would force those shots. Last night he made some really nice interior passes to Gant and Davis for buckets.

We definitely took advantage of UTA’s style of play in the first half. They looked like the exact same team as last year except with worse players. They played right into our hands.

[Hatch]

While UTA didn't quite have the slashers that teams like App State and Ga Southern had, we defended better on the ball. We were staying in front of the offensive players which requires less help side rotation and allows you to cover shooters better. During the three game losing streak, we gave up so many layups and open 3's that we had no chance of keeping games close. They are working harder and it looks like Miller has taken it upon himself to not force so much on offense. His turnovers are down a bit and he's passing the ball a lot more than before where he would force those shots. Last night he made some really nice interior passes to Gant and Davis for buckets.

The commentators last night were very good. You could tell they were experienced and they mentioned previously doing NBA and WNBA games. I loved the comparison of Miller to the 40 something guy with a knee brace who hangs out at the Y and can school all the young kids.

Russell and Wesley played well too. Russell found ways to score even though his 3s weren’t falling and Wesley ran the point well with 6 assists and only 1 turnover.

[Cajunsmike]

The commentators last night were very good. You could tell they were experienced and they mentioned previously doing NBA and WNBA games. I loved the comparison of Miller to the 40 something guy with a knee brace who hangs out at the Y and can school all the young kids.

Russell and Wesley played well too. Russell found ways to score even though his 3s weren’t falling and Wesley ran the point well with 6 assists and only 1 turnover.

Very encouraging to have several guys who will be returning next year play well. Wesley ‘s play of late is especially a bright spot. He can perhaps run the show at point going forward. As far as UTA style of play goes, it is completely different than what Scott Cross did. They used to be known as the Movin’ Mavs but they prefer to be much more deliberate now. We got out to such a large lead last night it forced them to play a different style than they prefer

[Million$Mullet]

Very encouraging to have several guys who will be returning next year play well. Wesley ‘s play of late is especially a bright spot. He can perhaps run the show at point going forward. As far as UTA style of play goes, it is completely different than what Scott Cross did. They used to be known as the Movin’ Mavs but they prefer to be much more deliberate now. We got out to such a large lead last night it forced them to play a different style than they prefer

They looked like the same team to me Mike. Jacking up 3s and giving up offensive rebounds cause they were busy looking for the fast break. This was long before we got out to a significant lead

[Cajunsmike]

They looked like the same team to me Mike. Jacking up 3s and giving up offensive rebounds cause they were busy looking for the fast break. This was long before we got out to a significant lead

All the scouting reports said that they prefer to play at a deliberate pace. Many of their scores have been in the 50's and 60's.

[SlickRick]

They definitely looked like a team that lost 6 seniors.

Our hustle on defense is making a big difference. Miller is working hard to rebound the ball better and it's showing. Russell had a poor shooting night. Davis was awesome. Wesley needs to shoot better. He doesn't have a go to shot. he cant go to the rim like Stroman. No mid range jump shot and rarely hits the 3.

We keep finding ways to score, but better defense is the difference maker. IMO.

[Boomer]

We won last night without Gant having to be the star. He scored 11, but Davis, Russell and Miller all had double digits too. That’s a good sign. Gant needs a break.

......Davis had what 3 in a row and some ringers in a previous game——that helps!

[zephyr]

The commentators last night were very good. You could tell they were experienced and they mentioned previously doing NBA and WNBA games. I loved the comparison of Miller to the 40 something guy with a knee brace who hangs out at the Y and can school all the young kids.

Russell and Wesley played well too. Russell found ways to score even though his 3s weren’t falling and Wesley ran the point well with 6 assists and only 1 turnover.

Ron Thulin man. I've always liked him and was excited when I saw he would be calling the game.

[zephyr]

When Malik went down Jay Walker said that the team would have to reinvent itself. Maybe they have done that. Took awhile but I guess that is not surprising considering he was a big part of what they did. Seems like guys have adopted to their roles and the coaches have adjusted how they play somewhat. Let's see if they can continue the good play of recent days on Saturday. JD stays hot like he was tonight and we have a shot. A loss won't kill us as we got the one we had to have tonight. I agree with the point that we should celebrate tonight and not worry about the disagreements about the program that some may have with each other. We can continue those discussions at a later date. Anytime you win a road conference it should put a smile on your face. It did to me.

Mike, defensively you may have something. On offense, I don't think we did anything different last night but make shots. We were on fire in the first half, particularly from 3 where our percentage was actually better than from 2. That won't happen often as you've seen with this team as we have guys that go hot and cold. Last year we had Bartley who we could always rely upon to hit shots, especially from the outside as he was so consistent. This year even our "shooters" have been hot and cold to say the least.

[zephyr]

They looked like the same team to me Mike. Jacking up 3s and giving up offensive rebounds cause they were busy looking for the fast break. This was long before we got out to a significant lead

They do not want to get out and fast break. They are not much of a transition team and have morphed into more of a deliberate team that focuses on defense.

[Million$Mullet]

They do not want to get out and fast break. They are not much of a transition team and have morphed into more of a deliberate team that focuses on defense.

Who? Us or them? Cause they were jacking shots up left and right when they weren’t making anything and continued to do so instead of running their deliberate offense. I don’t care what their scouting report said