There is no ugly win!

[Dane Pound]

Great win tonight. It speaks volumes that they were able to pull it out while Levi had one of the toughest nights ( 8 pts, 9 boards, 7 turnovers) I've seen him have. St. Hillaire was the only one with a good shooting night and was huge in OT. Pretty gritty effort by everyone on an ugly looking night. I was kind of concerned they might feel sorry for themselves in OT after letting Lehigh come back to tie it. They didn't. Courtney Johnson really came to play tonight-Tough D, no turnovers, 3 steals, 3 assists, 4 rebounds and 10 points in 43 minutes. Pipikis wasn't bad with 7 points and 5 boards. Apparently they have been preaching to Knotts to be more aggressive because he was hyper-agressive in the first half and took some wild shots. I liked the aggressiveness but hopefully he'll be able to find some middle ground between passive and wildman.

We've been looking for a night when everyone steps up and contributes something and this was more like it. Eight players scored and all eight had at least one rebound.

Edited December 23, 2003 by Dane Pound

[Dane96]

Games like this propel a team. They can believe now. I said it in another thread...who would have thought Janis could become a 8 and 5 type of guy. That is more than anyone expected. The good thing....he is doing it with limited shots...making them count. Wyatt....if he only could get 7 boards and 5 pts a nite I would be very happy.

 

The only bad thing about this win is that we have a tough game Sunday. I hope we can stay close (Freeman is a beast) and Iati can shut down Anderson. Anderson is flat out nasty....all in attendance will get a treat watching the kid ball.

 

Good win fellas! Oh DanePound, Delaware Valley plays DIII ball in the MAC (Middle Atlantic- Kings, Scranton, etc.)

[Patch]

A win is a win is a win!!!!

 

Ugly wins are like squibbers that go for infield hits in baseball - in a week they're said to have been line drives.

 

Here's my view:

 

Levi had his worst performance of the young season with 7 turnovers several of the ridiculous variety, but to his credit he's a Warrior. He was 4 for 5 from the line ( the one he missed almost cost us dearly) and mustered up 9 rebounds.

 

Courtney Johnson hurt us early missing a few layups but his true value is that he can defend and he did that for 43 minutes.

 

Jon Iati is a tough little sucker, he makes mistakes and struggles at time but he played the full 45 minutes scored 15 pts and had 5 assists to go with 3 TOs.

 

Janis had a solid game, he made his presence felt inside 8 pts 5 boards.

 

"Q's" alarm went off just in time to get us a victory with 6 OT pts and 13 altogether.

 

Wyatt was a man today, I have a history of ripping him but if he can deliver 9 boards in 17 minutes on most nights I would sing his praises.

 

If we get solid contribution from 6 players we'll be competitive in most our games.

 

Special highlight.....

 

Did anyone else notice that we ran a well concieved play coming out of a time out with 15 sec. remaining in regulation. Levi got a wide open look with 3 sec and just didn't put it down.

[Patch]

Follow up on Levi

 

Though I thought he had a nightmarish game overall I do want to state that with UA down 55-54 and 2:15 to go he hit 4 consecutive points to put us up 58-55 with about 1:30 to go and then grabbed a big Defensive Board with about 30 sec remaining to set the stage for "Q", Iati and Johnson to hit 5 of 6 freethrows to seal the deal.

 

One thing about Levi is that though his game isn't the smoothest or prettiest he brings maximum effort all the time.

[DOWNTOWN]

Good "W" and good defensive effort by the Danes.

 

Nice to see:

 

Courtney Johnson (walk on) contibuting big minutes and seemingly buying in to what his role is on the team. An ill advised shot early in the season could have sealed his fate but much credit should

 

"Q" coming out of the doldrums and stepping up big time in the end.

 

Janis, another solid, though unspectacular performance, but battled down low.

 

The "Enforcer" .....17 minutes/9 rebounds.........I would love to see that production or a reasonable fascimile on a more regular basis.......we can't be looking over our shoulder for Jamal Hughes to appear and we are getting more than expected from Janis..........we need The "Enforcer" to contribute on a consistent basis.......his track record speaks for itself...........was this a harbinger of things to come or an anomaly.......stay tuned.

 

Levi having a bad game offensivily......how can you knock the guy?..............and we are still able win..........who woulda thunkit?

 

Some clutch foul shooting in O.T..... I won't mention a missed front end of a one and one that could have sealed it in regualation!

 

On a different note:

 

I would like to see Iati log less minutes in the future. It is a long, hard, physical season compared to high school. I recognize that he is a tough competitor and a "gym rat" type of player but come the end of the season I fear "freshmen burnout".........though I pose the problem I do not have a solution.

 

HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL "BIG PURPLE FANS"

[Patch]

"DOWNTOWN"

 

I would like to see Iati log less minutes in the future. It is a long, hard, physical season compared to high school. I recognize that he is a tough competitor and a "gym rat" type of player but come the end of the season I fear "freshmen burnout".........though I pose the problem I do not have a solution. -DOWNTOWN

 

How very true - in the last 3 games Iati has logged 124 minutes or a mind boggling 41.3 minutes a contest.

 

From what I hear he works as hard as anyone in practice and is always looking for "Individualized Instruction" to improve his game from the coaches.

 

With the defensive pressure he faces with all the grabbing, holding and bumps he gets trying to come off screens I hope he knows how to rest when he's not on the court.

 

2 Sidebars:

 

1. Near the end of the overtime and immediately after the game one of the most excited people and one of the biggest smiles came from Jamar Wilson. It's great to see how much he wants his teammates to be successful.

 

2. Good Luck to Jamar who goes under the knife Monday the 29th of December.

[Dane Pound]

Second the good luck to Jamar and his surgery.

Seemed to me last night that this was the first time Levi got the "star treatment" from the other team. He was doubled and tripled teamed all night and had trouble handling it often forcing the issue and turning the ball over. To his credit he continued to battle and help out it other ways. I suspect as the season goes on we'll see him handle those situations better and pass out of those spots instead of dribbing into traffic.

A couple things I enjoyed last night:

-Courtney Johnson slapping the floor to pick the defensive intensity.

-Iati's interview on the late news. He looks like a guy who is having fun playing D1 basketball.

[Patch]

"Dane Pound"

 

It's relly amazing that Iati and Johnson 2 true freshman, and one being a walk on, could handle playing 88 minutes against solid, quick, experienced senior guards and only turn it over 3 times.

 

It is always nice be able to see a Dane Athlete SMILE during an interview!!!!!

[statefan]

I generally agree with everyone's analysis of last night's game. However, to get back to one of Patch's points regarding plays out of time outs, yes the final play of regulation got Levi a clean three look, but still, a three was not necessary at that time. I agree it was the best opportunity available. My bigger concern was that out of two previous time outs, we got no shot, once a shot clock violation. In contrast, out of a time out, Lehigh gots an alley-oop play, their nicest play of the night. Not a big deal, and not intending to start an argument, just an observation.

 

On another note, there was an article over the weekend which referred to the lay off we had for exams and the opportunity it gave for the coaching staff to work more one on one with players on individual skills. The results have been astonishing, with Courtney Johnson and Pipikis being the obvious examples, but you can also see changes in Iati, Wyatt and Knotts, all for the better. Wyatt, in particular seems to get better position lately than he used to. Which staff member works on low post players? He deserves a lot of credit. It appears to me that Coach Driscoll is responsible for working with Johnson and Iati, and there is significant improvement there. Maybe this is too simple of an explanation, but it appears that with recruiting for next season wrapped up in the early period, the staff has more time and resources available to work with current players on their skills.

[Patch]

However, to get back to one of Patch's points regarding plays out of time outs, yes the final play of regulation got Levi a clean three look, but still, a three was not necessary at that time. I agree it was the best opportunity available. My bigger concern was that out of two previous time outs, we got no shot, once a shot clock violation. In contrast, out of a time out, Lehigh gots an alley-oop play, their nicest play of the night. Not a big deal, and not intending to start an argument, just an observation. -statefan

 

Great observation you are absolutely right:

 

1. I don't think the play was designed necessarily for a three. I think they were looking penetration and dish with the final outcome being an option.

 

2. When you have 2 freshman and an additional walk on on the floor with a total of 21 DI games under their belt they are going to struggle even out of time outs. I am sure the coaches wish they had about 20 more timeouts a game so they could attempt to talk this young team through situations. Levi is the Team Leader and he's only a sophmore and not playing where he played all last year.

 

3. The play Lehigh ran was perfectly executed and it was a walkon who got victimized. Its tough when you're somewhat inexperienced and you've been helping on the 3 guards all game not to get caught.

 

Right play at the right time perfectly executed.

 

Kudos to Lehigh!!

Edited December 23, 2003 by Patch