Jackets finish strong - beat St.Louis 75-62

RECAP
Well, I was a little worried at the half. the Jackets only managed a 3 point lead and St.Louis controlled the tempo. But the Jackets came out in the 2nd half and played their game, forcing more turnovers and playing a faster game. You could see the momentum changing and the tempo changing.

Some team notes:

1. Nine guys played at least 10 minutes. Jack ended with 25 minutes, significantly less than his 33.5 avg. Bynum got 18 minutes, actually more than I thought he would. Not one guy over 30 minutes - M.Lewis was on the floor the most with 29 minutes. I break down the changes in minutes with Bynum at the bottom.

2. St.Louis shot 42.1% for the game. This is the first team to shoot over 40% against the Jackets this year. St.Louis actually rotated a lot of guys in and out unlike previous games. They actually had 9 guys also with at least 10 minutes.

3. GT was outrebounded for the first time this year 36-30. This was a little concerning, but particularly in the first half, you could see that St.Louis did an outstanding job boxing out.

4. General frustration level in the 1st half was high as the Jackets were unable to play their game. I think generally when you have a team that likes to slow the game down versus one that likes to speed it up, the slow-down team usually gets what they want. We've seen it at the tourney plenty of times with teams like Princeton and others.

Some player notes:

1. Luke played another solid game, grabbing about 8 boards a scoring 5 points. While he didn't fare well too well in his one-on-one post-defense, you could see him switching off well in the double-team D down low. Overall solid game.

2. BJ - streaky but always manages to get hot right at key moments in the game, hitting a couple of three's at the end of the 1st half. Ended with 17 points (6-12), 4 assists, 4 steals. Very nice overall game.

3. Will Bynum - it was obvious in the 1st half that he was trying to force things a little. Couple of fouls, a turnover, couple of air-balls. But he let the game come to him more effectively in the 2nd half. I think we need to understand that it will take some time for him to integrate into the team, but there were a couple of flashes of excitement with him. He will be a good one. His playing style, the way he runs, his shot, his size........actually reminds me of..................Tim Hardaway. He even had a nice crossover in the 2nd half to beat a St.Louis defender. Ended with 6 points (2-5), 3 boards, 3 assists, 2 to's, 1 steal.

4. Moore - again, hustling, getting boards, and seem to hit most of his shots. Obviously a leader on this team. Ended with 9 points, 3 boards, hit 2 3-pt shots. Only played 16 minutes. I tell you...this suprises me. I would expect him to have more minutes than that.

5. Jack - not typical of his games so far, but did not make too many mistakes. His 2nd half was better than the first (like most of the team). Ended with 13 points (4-6), 2-2 from the arc, 3 assists, 3 to's, 3 boards,

6. M.Lewis - didn't have a good shooting night (shots were not even close), but seemed to be in the middle of things. He was hustling and trying to help the team in other ways. Had a very nice slashing layup on a feed from Bynum late in the game. Ended with 6 points (1-5), 1 assist, 3 to's

7. Isma'il - He seemed to be the key guy in the 1st half keeping us in the game. Hustling, leaping, defending, getting boards...he is just tough. I was getting disappointed that Isma'il was not going to make one of his highlight dunks......but ohhh how that changed. First he stole the ball and it looked like it was coming......but NOOOO....he stepped out of bounds. Then the first higlight happened. Bynum stole the ball and shoveled it to a streaking Isma'il who went up, pulled the ball back down to his left side, then slammed it home. The crowd went nuts. Then the BIG ONE. Bynum charges downcourt and throws a laser from halfcourt towards the basket. Out of nowhere Isma'il leaps above a Billiken defender and slams it home on the alley-oop. How they didn't call a foul I don't know, but I was practically crying. If my 18-month old hadn't been asleep I wouldn't have screamed. It was just plain sick......sick I say. Isma'il finishes with 16 points (6-9), 4 boards, 2 assists.

BREAKDOWN OF MINUTES

Player...........Avg................vs St.L
Bynum............0....................18
Jack...............33.5................25 (down)
Elder..............27.8................28
Lewis.............31.7................29
Luke S............22.7...............27 (up)
Isma'il............19.3................22
Moore.............22.3...............16 (down)
McHenry.........18.7................21
Brooks............16.5...............12 (down)
Nystrom..........3.2.................1
West...............3.3.................1

So for this game, Bynum got his minutes from Jack, Moore and Brooks primarily. A few cleanup minutes were taken away from Nystrom and West and the rest are statistically close to their averages. There were probably about 3-5 minutes where both Jack and Bynum were in the game. The biggest concern I have seeing this is Moore's minutes going down. He just seems to be an important person on the court.

POST GAME INTERVIEW

They interviewed Isma'il after the game. Fogler asked him "Where did you get your hops....Did Paul Hewitt teach you how to sky like that, or was that God-given?". IM - "I was just blessed with that". Then Fogler asked him "Who do you consider the leaders on this team?". His answer "Myself, Marvin Lewis and Clarence Moore". Nice to see him give props to the seniors.