~ The first positive that anyone will think about is the Ryne Hamblet game winner, obviously. Ryne struggled at times yesterday, but when the game wasa on the line we put the ball in his hands. He had the quick thinking instincts to see that Samarco was not going to come open so he just attacked the rim. He actually got a pretty good look, and was able to get the ball high off the glass for the game winner. Good stuff.
~ Martin Samarco had another ho-hum 23 points. The guy hit some big shots for us yesterday, including a big time 3 pointer with a hand in his face late in the 2nd half. I think he scored almost half our first half points as well. He needs to start hitting those late free throws, but the guy played his guts out for us and was a major factor in the win...again our leading scorer, but who would expect anything else?
~ Matt LeFeld was dominant when he was in the game. It is a real shame that he has so many issues with his feet, because I think he could be an All MAC Center the way he plays when he's in there. He only played 20 minutes yesterday but got 12 points and was able to get his look pretty much everytime he had the ball. I hope he can still give us at least 20 mpg the rest of the year, because this kid is a very good player. Tons of heart scrapping for loose balls on the floor as well. I don't think anyone on the team works harder than Matt.
~ Eric Marschall was also very good, especially in the first half yesterday. He does a good job getting looks in the post, and he's a good finisher around the rim. He also does a good job hitting cutting teammates by passing out of the post...I think he had more than the 2 assists the box score credited him with. Marschall also did a pretty good job on the glass, especially the offensive glass getting some putbacks. We really need to teach Eric to stop fouling so much, because he is very valuable on the offensive end...we cannot afford him to take himself out of games.
~ In the first half Brandon Bland came in and changed the flow of the game in very limited action. This kid has great lateral quickness, and he was the only one on the team that could matchup with #5 for USA. They were relying on his dribble penetration and then him kicking when the double team came. We were getting burnt on that until Bland came in and was able to prevent some of that penetration, forcing them to go another direction. He only played a few minutes, but he was impressive defensively in his limited time.
~ Similarly, Otis Polk only played a few minutes but also changed the game. Soon after coming in he sent an opposing shot into the stands with a big block. After that there were 2-3 more shots that were either altered or passed up by S. Alabama players due to his presence in the middle. Polk also added a nice cut to the rim and layin on the offensive side. It is clear that he gets winded quickly, and needs to come out of the games. I think as he gets in better game shape we'll see more of Polk. He definitely has a body that will be tough for a lot of the MAC to matchup with on either end of the court.
~ The final thing (and perhaps the most notable) that jumped out at me was that we actually rebounded the ball pretty well yesterday. This jumps out at me, because in Dan's tenure we've always been a poor rebounding team, but yesterday we did a good job boxing out and getting the boards. This is even more astounding because our 3 true Centers (Larson, LeFeld, & Polk) only played a combined 25 minutes. Hamblet, Clements, and Marschall all contributed on the boards. As a team we outrebounded them 25 to 18.
In all yesterday's was a great game and a great win. Southern Alabama is a good team. They have tourney experience, and they wouldn't go away even though we led throughout the game. Our young team battled, and was able to come away with a big win, and that is nice to see. Certainly there are some negatives to point out in the process, but after a win like that I think the team deserves us to point out the things that were positive from the game. Like Dan said in the postgame the team is still a work in progress, but it sure is nice to beat a quality team while the group is growing
