Some may balk at the #NewBeginning branding of a coach in his fifth year, but they played like a brand new team, that's for sure.
- Jaylen Hoard is a grown man. The highly touted freshman tallied 19 points on 6-13, 7-8 at the line. Oliver Sarr was also a monster, scoring 16 on 4-9, 8-9. Hoard had 9 boards and Sarr notched a double double with 13 boards.
- Our 3 point shooting was rough at 4-14, but those who made them were efficient. Chaundee Brown was 5-7, 2-3 from deep, 3-4 from the line, and Brandon Childress was 3-5, 2-4 from deep, 5-5 from the line.
- Our guard defense was so, SO much better. They actually rotated! There was help defense on the interior! Actual well rounded basketball!
- I saw more hustle for loose balls in this one game to a man than I saw in probably the entire OOC season last year put together. Guys were diving on the floor up by almost 30. It was genuinely like watching a different sport.
- Torry Johnson's nose for the ball is tremendous, but even better, he doesn't gamble as much as, say, Brandon Childress, so it's the best of both worlds.
- Our guard rotation is quite possibly better than it was last year. I'm not joking. Bryant Crawford had superstar plays, perhaps, and guard by committee isn't as sexy, but everyone was so solid tonight. We didn't have any superstar guard plays, but the key is we didn't NEED them to dominate.
- We drew 47 free throw attempts. 47. Holy cow. Furthermore, the Demon Deacons had 31 second chance points. That's a lot of lunch pail work, folks.
Competition be darned, this was a good game. Everything from the pound the ball approach to the energy to the attitude felt completely different. I really hope it carries over.
