Who Those Guys?

I’m ok with being wrong about going "oh and three" to start the conference season.

A different team dressed out for the Vanderbilt game than the one we’ve seen for the last few games. The defensive intensity that we saw much earlier in the season was back. Today we owned the paint. This made all the difference in the world. Vanderbilt couldn’t get on track.

While we didn’t get to 40 minutes of intensity, the intensity level was about as good as it gets for almost all of the game.

With this team the defensive intensity feeds the offensive intensity. We aggressively attacked the basket and finished well and had gang rebounding always at the ready just in case. McCurdy entered the game early and promptly pushed the ball up the court and made a sweet left handed layup in traffic. Eric Ferguson got inspired and made a few more just as sweet as the game progressed.

Each trip to the free throw lines you see these guys taking things seriously. They all had their “game face” on.

Our half-court offense did a much better job of attacking the basket than in the previous two games. Townes decided to be a man about things. Charles Thomas came ready to play. Hill, when not in foul trouble, has been there all along from an intensity standpoint. Today he added playing well with 3 fouls to his list of things he can do. This guy will be something by the time he’s a senior.

Vanderbilt didn’t attack us in the paint early in the game as LSU and Mississippi State did. Not having our big guys in early foul trouble in the first half was good for us. Vandy made a big effort to attack the paint early in the second half. While our interior defense was excellent, both Townes and Hill had quick fouls during this stretch. Had Vanderbilt started the game with this strategy and created some foul trouble, things could have well been different.

Our intensity and momentum for much of the game led to a few favorable whistles. The calls go to the aggressor and the team that’s “in the flow.” Good for us.

We responded well after a bit of a let down that allowed Vandy to slowly cut our 10 point lead to eventually tie the game. I think the radio guys said a 23-11 run. We turned up the defense and decided not to miss any more free throws.

Today everyone on the team stepped up and refused to lose. That’s what it takes. You have to play with an attitude.

Hopefully the bad playing habits we demonstrated late in the non-conference season that bled over to the conference season are gone. We still struggled on a few half court possessions, but all in all were much improved. Vandy played man most of the game after we played pretty well against their zone in the first half.

Great crowd. Stayed strong even when Vandy tied the game. Best in a long, long time for the last 10 minutes of a game.

I upgraded my seats to half court, row 16 today. I’d really rather all those that are leaving really choice seats empty come to the game. But then I’d have to actually find my real seats.