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Post by kentuckyace on Dec 18, 2023 22:42:54 GMT -6
Going to that zone defense made a difference in the second half as it disrupted UTM's offense for a while. On the radio they said we went on a 17-2 run at that time. I would have to double check that to verify. Update: Looks like we went on a 21-3 run from 12:28 (down 59-64) to 6:22 (80-67). That six minute stretch definitely won the game for us. I thought Ragland did a masterful job of making adjustments through the game including going zone as you mention as well as the traps and player substitutions. Great game from Toumi, Strawbridge, Cuff, (quiet good game from Hum-house), Bailey didn’t shoot great but played a balanced game with D and not forcing too much. Fantastic clutch free throw shooting by Thomas in last 2 minutes of game. Again thought Ragland made some great situational player subs tonight, he was in a groove tonight.
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Post by kentuckyace on Dec 18, 2023 22:49:39 GMT -6
Fun game to watch indeed. I am shocked that we had that much of a rebound margin. Sitting in the arena without stats it seemed like we were getting killed on the boards. UT-Martin was quick with some damn nice 3 point shooters. I can't imagine there really being anything stronger in the OVC this year. I haven't seen Little Rock, but they did smack Murray around tonight. Nice crowd for the coldest night of the season so far. This town is starved for a winner. Agree watching it I wouldn’t have thought we had a big rebound margin. Thankfully they only had a couple of guys hitting 3’s. A big factor of us getting the big lead was Ragland switching up the defense and then forcing a lot of 3’s over our length and missing a lot. You take away Sears and Jackson the rest of UTM was 3-18 and they ended up only shooting 30% as a team. I know we were slightly worse on our 3pt % but loved the way we played tonight.
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Post by sect3purple on Dec 18, 2023 23:20:20 GMT -6
All the team contributed - especially by not panicking when UT Martin went on a run. Cuff was remarkably calm and strong - he is skilled and confident. My favorite thing about him is that when he snares an offensive rebound he calmly maneuvers into position and puts up a shot, scoring 2 points, instead of throwing the ball out. He seems to instinctively realize that he "has his guy" and scores right over him - is such an asset to our team! Smart player who makes everyone around him better!
Go, ACES!
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Post by 65pointgame on Dec 18, 2023 23:55:42 GMT -6
Going to that zone defense made a difference in the second half as it disrupted UTM's offense for a while. On the radio they said we went on a 17-2 run at that time. I would have to double check that to verify. Update: Looks like we went on a 21-3 run from 12:28 (down 59-64) to 6:22 (80-67). That six minute stretch definitely won the game for us.
It was no mistake by coach to put in all our guys who have "length" to deploy that zone defense.
Overall a great game to watch and basketball is much more enjoyable to view when every little foul isn't called. Does anyone have a video clip of the Hughes foul they can post? Would like to see that one again.
Toumi's growth as a player has really impressed me this year -- the crowd really appreciated the blocked shot he had in the 2nd half.
The guys were great on the boards and kept some balls alive that appeared to being going towards UTM. Cuff stands out in that category. Haffner's big stat line to me is the 3 steals.
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Post by Ace78 on Dec 19, 2023 0:45:08 GMT -6
I'm amazed at several things this year... No. 1 is how much of a TOTAL TEAM this group is! In all the years I've followed the Aces, I can't remember a better total contributing roster ... starters, bench, walk-ons, enthusiasm ... in producing the results we've seen this year. No. 2 is how well this team has been constructed in just one year's time. It's incredible to see how well this group plays together in such a short time frame. No. 3 is how well coached and prepared this team is! If something isn't working, the coaches make adjustments "in game" to improve things. That switch to a 2-3 zone and the trapping defensive pressure really threw UT-Martin out of sync in tonight's 2nd half. No. 4 .. we have a lot of very talented players at all positions. For the most part, talent is very balanced throughout the roster. No. 5 .. our offense is SO much fun to watch! Lots of pace, we take care of the ball, we make smarter passes and make (for the most part) better choices in shot selection. Remember the offense in the "old days" from the not so distant past? Wow, what a drastic change!
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Post by austinace on Dec 19, 2023 3:19:49 GMT -6
Tanner with the belt - well deserved:
Can anyone understand what he says after "They don't believe in us"? Also Kenny with the well-deserved CenterPoint Energy player of the game award. Another great team effort.
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Post by austinace on Dec 19, 2023 3:35:59 GMT -6
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Post by aceloverlarry on Dec 19, 2023 6:33:47 GMT -6
Can anyone understand what he says after "They don't believe in us"? Sounded to me like he said “not today”.
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Post by Tom Servo on Dec 19, 2023 9:05:42 GMT -6
That call against Hughes was one of the most disgraceful missed calls I have ever seen. It was around the 8:00 minute mark of the 1st half I believe. You can see it on the ESPN+ feed and the announcers talked about it as well. That was just horrendous. He wasn't in the restricted circle and he was set. The guy just ran into him and elbowed him in the face - absolutely pathetic.
Other than that - they did what they had in order to win. Cuff was excellent - like 44 said he makes it so simple and I love how patient he is inside. He uses his size so well. I think losing Hughes hurt us a lot defensively. He's probably our best rim protector and not only that - he was unstoppable on offense again. At his size - his threes and mid range shots are going to be very tough to defend - especially with his high release.
and yes - completely agree - going to that zone in the 2nd half was a really nice move by Ragland. That threw them off and forced them to get out of the one - on - one game they were hurting us with.
Let's keep it rolling!
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Post by austinace on Dec 19, 2023 9:13:44 GMT -6
Jevin's radio highlights:
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Post by sgace on Dec 19, 2023 10:57:11 GMT -6
Just another gritty effort by an Aces team that continues to impress. Anxious for Wed. night’s game versus the Techsters! So look forward to MVC for the first time in years! A win @ Terre naught would shake up the world of MVC play! I echo what all of you have been saying…this team is so much fun to watch. A lot of the fun is watching the Aces invoke “40 minutes of hell” on our opponents similar to Nolan Richardson’s Razorbacks back in the day. Again, the best word I can use to describe this bunch is GRITTY! Cheers from southern Utah!
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Post by sgace on Dec 19, 2023 11:00:23 GMT -6
Excellent! Thanks for the heads up. Go Aces!
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Post by austinace on Dec 19, 2023 11:35:29 GMT -6
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Post by municup14 on Dec 19, 2023 11:46:53 GMT -6
Great team effort. I believe Tenn. Will vie for the OVC title,they have a 2 headed scoring monster plus they have White eligible. Any news on Hughes nose.
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Post by hedlyvanhalen on Dec 19, 2023 13:18:38 GMT -6
I concur about the praise of the coaching staff’s game management and Cuff’s leadership.
I want to also add this. Part of the reason that we are playing well is that Yacine Toumi is playing well. There are still times when he drives us crazy and that will probably never go away completely BUT, his decision making and touch around the basket have noticeably improved from last season. I’m guessing that the coaching staff has been drilling into him the old adage of “ be quick, but don’t hurry.”
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