They were trying to deny Blackmon the ball, especially early in the shot clock. IU usually had run an action or two to get Blackmon the ball in any kind of favorable position.
They both played a heck of a game overall. Different confidence to them tonight then weâve seen previously. MAAR took two charges I believe too, albeit not traditional ones
And Dwalt attacked the basket! Like a lot! He even got hammered, and then continued to attack with aplomb.
I was about to ask about that. I saw Walton shot well from inside the arc. Mostly mid ranges or at the rim?
BOTH. It was crazy, man. He made some corner jumpers early, then feigned them to get to the hoop, through contact. Sure, it was IU contact, but still. And Bryant was lurking
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That reverse layup in the second half was a beauty. He wasnât gunshy tonight, thatâs for sure. Took some confident jumpers that first half
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Iâve been especially critical of Walton this year. That would be so great for him if he turned a corner.
He just looked so confident, could see it in his body control. He has never struggled to get enough elevation at the hoop, but he usually seems more concerned with guarding himself, rather than prioritizing keeping his eyes on the rim and his body appropriately angled. Not tonight
Absolutely agree. I can tell he called that team meeting and taking it upon himself to back up his words. Very different player since that happened.
Tonightâs Walton was the Walton that @umhoops has been saying, for the last two years, has the potential to be the best player/star on the team. Not trying to say thatâs who he is, now. But Dylan was right about the potential.
For the last 4 years, Walton has been the only player on the team with enough lateral agility to stay in front of upper tier B10 guards. Sure, heâs going to get bullied to the rim at times, but he can definitely move his feet. The last 2 years his effort hasnât been what it needs to be. I think part of that has to do with the losing and the other part is that he knows the backside rotations are non-existent. Hopefully he can get back to being a defensive plus
Couldnât agree more. Thought the ND game, last year, made that clear: it showed what he could do when he was engaged/when the game means something. Hope he can maintain this level of intensity, itâd be great to have a legit plus defenderâprobably the first since jMo
FYI I think I was wrong, I think MAAR checked Blackmon the most tonight
The final 10 minutes was all MAAR I believe.
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Yeah my fault earlier, MAAR did an outstanding job
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The good news is that donnal has 5 fouls to give against ward.
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Matt McQuaid, shooting 32% on the season from three was 3-3 from deep
To be fair, he was WIDE open. But Winstonâs prayer that fell into Bridgesâ lap and Nairnâs prayer that banked in basically fall under the same infuriating category
At least 2 of those were Irvin doing that infuriating soft help on a post up where he does nothing to actually add resistance yet allows himself to lose sight of his man. I think the other one was just a blown assignment on a fast break.
Yupp. Zak needs to forget about this game (DJ too, really), luckily he has a week to. Still think, removed from the Breslin atmosphere, we can hang a double digit win on them in AA.