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BroadcastingDawg's Game Review and Grades - UW vs #16 Baylor
BroadcastingDawg
Member Posts: 1,245
WHAT A HUGE WIN BABY.
These are the wins that matter. It might not seem like it now, but in March this win will show up as a Quad 1 win and will do wonders for our NCAA tourney chances and seeding. This is a game that is going to look really fucking good and I can't think of a better way to start a year. It's also a huge momentum builder to come back down double digits with less than 10 minutes to go against a top-tier, B12 team... just has to do wonders for the confidence of these guys going forward.
First Half: The game was super ugly for the Dawgs in the first half. It was turnovers galore... I believe as many as 15 turnovers in the half? Truth be told, all the Dawgs looked totally nervous in the first 20 minutes of the ballgame... understandable I guess as a lot of guys this was their first real action as "starters" of a big college basketball team in their careers. Really... our youth showed for a good majority of this game. There was a lot of stationary dribbling on the exterior of paint... a lot 1-on-1 dribbling that led to a lot of travels, offensive fouls and steals in favor of Baylor. A lot of travels told me the guys were just nervous because they were moving their feet before the dribble... It just seemed like there was a lot of overthinking... not much natural basketball being played and a lot of indecision on offense. They made an adjustment to get the ball inside to the bigs and it kept the Dawgs in the half. Baylor only had 5 fouls in the first half... that tells you UW wasn't aggressive, they didn't attempt any free throws and weren't doing enough driving to the hoop. Naz Carter was also huge from outside, we'll get to that later.
On defense it seemed like the intensity wasn't really there in the beginning. Baylor was out-hustling us on the boards and it led to a lot of open Baylor shooters on the perimeter. Baylor's first 12 points came off wide open 3-pointers where either the defender didn't close out or a guy ended up being wide open after the Dawgs found themselves out of position. Thankfully Baylor didn't have much of answer for the gap that we leave in our zone at the free-throw line... because if they had a capable mid-range shooter it might have gotten ugly. There was a bunch of hesitation from Baylor when they got the ball to the high-post... it led to some klanks from short distance and some blocks on the interior for UW. The Dawgs also made some adjustments in their perimeter D before the half was over... Hamier Wright had 3 blocks in the half and I believe 2 of them were on jump shots outside.
Second Half:
The freshman + Naz took over and their was a noticeable change in the intent and direction of the offense. 6 turnovers compared to 15 tells me the Dawgs were a lot more comfortable and had gotten over the initial goosebumps. There was a noted effort to drive the ball or get it inside to Stewart where he either tried to take his man or made a nice pass outside that led to a 3 or a free line to drive to the basket. It never seemed easy for the Dawgs on O... but when they were able to consistently get shots near the basket it completely changed the flow. The Dawgs got Baylor into immediate foul trouble in the second half by taking it to the bucket and thanks to Jaden McDaniels, hit some big free throws that kept them in the game when it was teetering on Baylor running away with it. Stewart, Jaden and Naz were 12-20 in the 2nd half... that's a good recipe for beating most teams.
For most of the 2nd half it seemed like the Dawgs would get within 7 points or so and Baylor would have a loose ball fall right in their hands for an easy bucket and it makes their offensive rebound total in the second half look inflated because there were a lot of klanks. There was a noted effort on the glass in the second half on both ends of the court for the Dawgs... you could tell Hop wasn't pleased and we were fighting for possessions off every miss. That said, the Dawg D continued to look a little hesitant until about the 8 minute mark in the game... and then it was like a rabid animal was unleashed. The energy shifted, all of a sudden the Dawgs were clogging passing lanes, deflecting passes, flustering Baylor, creating turnovers that led to transition buckets (forced 17 turnovers for Baylor) and man... IT WAS A BLOCK PARTY BABY. I counted as many as 9 blocks in the final 8 minutes of the game (the box score only counted 6, but I don't buy it)... Stewart and Hamier had 5 on their own and completely dominated the Baylor interior that had looked comfortable for a lot of the game. The change in passion and intensity on D changed the game and ultimately led to the win. If the Dawgs can play D like they did in the final 8 minutes of this game... holy God, we're going to be really, really good. This D has the potential to be the best in the country... we have so much length and Baylor was noticeably afraid to shoot when we picked it up. Baylor scored 105 pts in their first game... just 64 tonight... that says something.
These are the wins that matter. It might not seem like it now, but in March this win will show up as a Quad 1 win and will do wonders for our NCAA tourney chances and seeding. This is a game that is going to look really fucking good and I can't think of a better way to start a year. It's also a huge momentum builder to come back down double digits with less than 10 minutes to go against a top-tier, B12 team... just has to do wonders for the confidence of these guys going forward.
First Half: The game was super ugly for the Dawgs in the first half. It was turnovers galore... I believe as many as 15 turnovers in the half? Truth be told, all the Dawgs looked totally nervous in the first 20 minutes of the ballgame... understandable I guess as a lot of guys this was their first real action as "starters" of a big college basketball team in their careers. Really... our youth showed for a good majority of this game. There was a lot of stationary dribbling on the exterior of paint... a lot 1-on-1 dribbling that led to a lot of travels, offensive fouls and steals in favor of Baylor. A lot of travels told me the guys were just nervous because they were moving their feet before the dribble... It just seemed like there was a lot of overthinking... not much natural basketball being played and a lot of indecision on offense. They made an adjustment to get the ball inside to the bigs and it kept the Dawgs in the half. Baylor only had 5 fouls in the first half... that tells you UW wasn't aggressive, they didn't attempt any free throws and weren't doing enough driving to the hoop. Naz Carter was also huge from outside, we'll get to that later.
On defense it seemed like the intensity wasn't really there in the beginning. Baylor was out-hustling us on the boards and it led to a lot of open Baylor shooters on the perimeter. Baylor's first 12 points came off wide open 3-pointers where either the defender didn't close out or a guy ended up being wide open after the Dawgs found themselves out of position. Thankfully Baylor didn't have much of answer for the gap that we leave in our zone at the free-throw line... because if they had a capable mid-range shooter it might have gotten ugly. There was a bunch of hesitation from Baylor when they got the ball to the high-post... it led to some klanks from short distance and some blocks on the interior for UW. The Dawgs also made some adjustments in their perimeter D before the half was over... Hamier Wright had 3 blocks in the half and I believe 2 of them were on jump shots outside.
Second Half:
The freshman + Naz took over and their was a noticeable change in the intent and direction of the offense. 6 turnovers compared to 15 tells me the Dawgs were a lot more comfortable and had gotten over the initial goosebumps. There was a noted effort to drive the ball or get it inside to Stewart where he either tried to take his man or made a nice pass outside that led to a 3 or a free line to drive to the basket. It never seemed easy for the Dawgs on O... but when they were able to consistently get shots near the basket it completely changed the flow. The Dawgs got Baylor into immediate foul trouble in the second half by taking it to the bucket and thanks to Jaden McDaniels, hit some big free throws that kept them in the game when it was teetering on Baylor running away with it. Stewart, Jaden and Naz were 12-20 in the 2nd half... that's a good recipe for beating most teams.
For most of the 2nd half it seemed like the Dawgs would get within 7 points or so and Baylor would have a loose ball fall right in their hands for an easy bucket and it makes their offensive rebound total in the second half look inflated because there were a lot of klanks. There was a noted effort on the glass in the second half on both ends of the court for the Dawgs... you could tell Hop wasn't pleased and we were fighting for possessions off every miss. That said, the Dawg D continued to look a little hesitant until about the 8 minute mark in the game... and then it was like a rabid animal was unleashed. The energy shifted, all of a sudden the Dawgs were clogging passing lanes, deflecting passes, flustering Baylor, creating turnovers that led to transition buckets (forced 17 turnovers for Baylor) and man... IT WAS A BLOCK PARTY BABY. I counted as many as 9 blocks in the final 8 minutes of the game (the box score only counted 6, but I don't buy it)... Stewart and Hamier had 5 on their own and completely dominated the Baylor interior that had looked comfortable for a lot of the game. The change in passion and intensity on D changed the game and ultimately led to the win. If the Dawgs can play D like they did in the final 8 minutes of this game... holy God, we're going to be really, really good. This D has the potential to be the best in the country... we have so much length and Baylor was noticeably afraid to shoot when we picked it up. Baylor scored 105 pts in their first game... just 64 tonight... that says something.
Comments
https://baylorbears.com/boxscore.aspx?id=25294&path=mbball
Isaiah Stewart: A
15 PTS...7-13 FG, 0-1 3PT, 1-1 FT, 2 assists, 7 boards, 3 offensive rebounds, 4 defensive rebounds, 3 blocks
There's a stat stuffer for ya. Guys... Isaiah Stewart is a fucking dude. He is an animal on the post. His ability to back his guy down and use tremendous footwork is amazing. Super good feel for a mini sky hook that he hit with both hands. Had a thunder dunk where he just adulted his guy on the post. The Huskies are going to need to rely on him producing from the post... it's a totally different, and welcomed style away from what we had in Dickerson. He's physical down there and it's a thrill to watch. He had 2 assists and is showed a great feel for passing out of the post which is going to lead to open J's down the road. He had 4 turnovers... most came from indecision and getting the ball out of position when the O was out of wack... but man he was just a BEAST on O. He was a little soft on his man for a good portion of the game... Baylor's center hit some jumpers over him. Then he completely changed... seemed like he got fed up and had 4 blocks in about 3 minutes and wasn't giving anyone an inch. He was a catalyst on D in that big second half charge.
18 PTS... 5-10 FG, 1-2 3PT, 7-8 FT, 2 assists, 7 boards, 1 offensive rebound, 6 defensive rebounds, 1 steal
It seemed like early on Jaden was a little hesitant to get going... second guessing... a lot of passing away from his opportunities. Second half he seemed more apt to look for his shot and definitely took the ball to the bucket more. I want to see him drive a bit more because he's got the chance to be a creator on this O for a lot of guys. So why does he get an A? Honestly, in the flow of the game he didn't do anything extremely special, he hit an open 3... had a nice crossover fadeaway jumper that fell... but he won the Huskies this game with his second half free-throw shooting. He hit 3x front ends of 1-1's when Baylor held 6-8 point leads in the game. He kept us in it by making those free throws. He misses those front ends... we lose. Simple as that. SO CLUTCH from a frosh. Tells you a lot about him internally.
23 PTS... 8-15 FG, 4-6 3PT, 3-6 FT, 7 boards, 1 offensive rebound, 6 defensive rebounds, 3 steals
If Naz Carter can shoot 3's as well as he did tonight... lordy... look out. Looking at his stroke compared to his first couple years as a Dawg, you could definitely see better rotation... less hook spin that he would sometimes create with a little bit of loop in his form. It's clear he's worked on this aspect of his game. Naz will be the first to tell you he was maybe a little out of control with the ball in his hands driving to the hoop this game. He had 4 turnovers... was off balance a lot in the paint leading to some charges... ball handling suffered... he got blocked a few times close to the bucket... he's going to need to clean that stuff up because it's clear he's going to be our primary offensive weapon and we can't have that. He was a menace on D and crashed the boards hard... his length an athleticism were on full display and he looks like he's ready to take the reigns as the next Husky great!
3 PTS... 1-3 FG, 0-1 3PT, 2 assists, 1 defensive rebound, 2 steals
Seems like kind of a boring stat line right? Well... he only played 19 minutes... but I really loved the energy and hustle he brought to the defensive end of the court. It only showed up in the box score that he had 2 steals... but I swear he at least deflected 5 passes that ended in steals or denied an entry pass. I said it before the season that I thought he had the potential to be Mattise-like on D... I think he's earned more playing time going forward and I was thrilled with the energy and poise he played with.
6 PTs... 2-5 FG, 2-3 3PT, 1 assist, 4 boards, 4 defensive rebounds, 5 blocks, 4 turnovers
Oh Hamier. What do we do with you? How do you win Gatorade POY in New York without the ability to dribble, drive or control your body? Guys he's a total liability with the ball in his hands... so lets just take it out. He had 4 turnovers and frankly it looked worse than it was. He just has no feel for driving the line... he's off balance... it's all bad. So what do we need him to be? We need him to hit 3's and play defense. He should not be allowed to drive into the paint going forward... either he shoots from the outside or he passes the ball. PLEASE. On defense he was nuts. 5 blocks... can't beat that and that's why you can't take him off the floor. His offensive ability is just woeful.
2 PTS... 1-7 FG, 0-2 3PT, 9 assists, 3 turnovers
Quade had one saving grace... his 9 assists. But if the coach pulls you late in the second half in favor of an all forward rotation you know your defense was rough and your offense wasn't good enough to save it. He looked lost shooting the basketball... aside from one nice jumper it was friggin' rough out there. He facilitated the offense for the most part when he was out there but he has to be significantly better shooting to justify 32 minutes as the PG. Frankly he was a liability in the zone... has to get better.
Others: Sam Timmins played for 2 minutes, Elijah Hardy played for 11... both made some decent plays in their time but not enough to go off of to give grades.
Final Thoughts: I'm a little surprised the Dawgs only went with what was basically a 6-7 man rotation. This will change as we play less talented teams in the non-conference... but I feel like Nate Roberts, BPJ and RaeQuan Battle are going to be vital depth pieces as the season progresses and I would have at least liked to see them get a bit more playing time.
Nate/BPJ are going to be big spelling Isaiah... This team NEEDS RaeQuan to hit some 3's because Naz is our only real threat.
GO DAWGS.
Our D is great, still running a modified 4-1 (always laugh when commentators call it a 2-3). We did shift into some man during the game, which I like. Switch it up some. Last two years our weakness was Noah not rotating properly so when the other team passed down low, he would step in and let an easy back door dunk. Isaiah is much longer, more agile, and I don't see that an issue as much this year. And I like that he can conserve every in that spot on defense and still play good defense. The number of blocks we had was amazing.
The offense is still basically the same iso low block with Stewart instead of Dickerson
If that’s not working we do the same nowell ISO guard drive with limited movement/kick out 3 threat.
The court still felt really small at times, and that’s going to hurt them in more than a couple games.
Defense obvious step back without Thybulle but can now mix to man to shake things up and more athletic down low instead of trying to flop take a charge every time.
McDaniels, with his length, could be really good in that middle zone area where so Thybulle got so many of his steals and blocks from behind, but you can tell he hasn’t figured out yet.
Hop was pretty regularly trying to get the middle of the zone big man up on top of the charge circle more to help close that space now that Thybulle is gone.
Naz looked like he has continued to improve which is huge.
Bey still looks pretty meh but it’s whatever, he’s not losing games
At some point in the season we are going to use wright to break a full court press and it’s going to drive me insane. If he can just be Gant that would be great.
The team didn’t look much better than it did last year. But the individual players playing look a lot better. Way higher team potential, if the younger guys continue to settle in and improve as the season progresses.
The court did feel small... I also think Baylor is just a quality defensive basketball team and they had some nice size/quickness defending the perimeter. They were a really good defensive team last year... they held teams to 67 points a game last year.
I'm not sure I see an "obvious step back" on the D. I think where we're weaker without Thybulle... we're significantly stronger without Dickerson and Timmins playing limited minutes. We're going to be much better protecting the rim this year than we did last year. Like I said, I thought Bey looked Mattise-like in the time he played.
Yeah man... Hamier... it's like, go spend some time with a guy who can train you a bit... basic dribbling skills would be nice.
I had a feeling Naz was ready to break out. He was good at the end of last year and started shooting the ball better. He’s a scorer. I would love to get another version of him because 3-4 year players that are good from their sophomore year on are huge in college basketball.
I don’t think we played especially well and we still won. This team will be good. The will have a couple struggles during the year, but it’s a legit top 25 team probably in the 10-20 range.