Tuesday, January 20, 2004

GT Drops Wake Forest on the road....

.... A HUGE WIN!!! Possibly Paul Hewitt's best road win of his GT career. The Jackets just played a tough, scrappy game, held a slim lead most of the game and held it the last 2 minutes (which wouldn't have happened last year). This is just huge - Wake Forest had won 24 in a row at home and this win would have tied their all-time record - NOT TO BE!!!!

So, who were the stars - Will "The Thrill" Bynum, Marvin "I'm back" Lewis and Isma'il "Moby Dunk" lead the way. Bynum finisheds with 20 points on 7-13 shooting (3-5 from 3pt). No doubt in my mind - Bynum is STREET!! That kid is playground, he is Rucker. His crossover is killer. If he keeps this up,watch out. Lewis finishes with 14 on 5-7 shooting (4-4 from 3pt range), and hits a crucial 3pt shot in the final minutes to maintain our slim margin and stall a WF charge. Lewis also grabs 6 boards. Isma'il ends with 14 on 5-12 shooting and while he was only 4-8 from the free throw line, he hits 2 crucial ones in the final minute to help seal the victory. C-Moore also has a notable performance with 3 points, 5 boards, 1 block, 3 assists. The only shot he hit was a 3pt-er at the end of the game to help keep us ahead.

The defense was key again. WF shoots 40% which is decent but only 27% from 3pt range. Rebounds are basically even, turnovers even, steals even. My biggest worry though continues to be the halfcourt game. At times we just don't seem to have one. Let's face it - we won the game in large part because we were 9-17 from behind the arc. We shot better from outside the arc than inside. That was Lewis/Bynum who were a combined 7/9. So what happens when those shots are not falling?

Elder had another off-night. He seems to be having many more off nights than on-nights. He ends with 10 points on 2-7 shooting (0-3 from 3pt). He did grab 4 boards and he did hit all 6 free throws. Luke also had an off night, but mainly offensively. He ends with 1 point, 4 boards (3 offensive), 1 block, 2 assists and 1 steal. Not too bad, but he did help hold Eric Williams to only 9 points.

Just an outstanding win for the Jackets!!! Hopefully their confidence will increase and they can steal another road victory or two.