The Hoops Report - BCU

[Hoops McKnight*]

1. So after a manly game of college basketball, followed by a hearty Tex-Mex meal with manly men, I come home to a hen party. Just damn…

2. 2nd sub-par performance in a row, this time against the #342 team in the nation. Ya gotta hit ‘em with a knockout punch early. We didn’t. 13 first half TO’s, and a ton of missed chippies. The only things that kept us in the game were rebounds and blocked shots.

3. I thought PJ’s first dunk would electrify the team. It didn’t, but the 2nd one sure did! Either one could make ESPN’s Top 10.

4. So we’re down 9 with 6:15 to go. BCU just hit 2 straight 3’s as the 35-second clock expires. CK sez if we’re going to win this game, we need to start a run right now! We finish the game with a 14-3 run, mostly because Donnie put in the press.

5. BCU sure was a mouthy group, and really pissed Keith off. Most animated I’ve EVER seen him. He was guarding #23, and told BCU’s PG to give him the ball so that Keith could shut him down. The guy drains a 15-ft fall-away jumper.

6. Overheard a pithy critique of the Knight Moves halftime performance: “Too many clothes, not tight enough!”

7. Two things kept BCU ahead for most of the game - at least 4 inside wraparound passes for dunks, and using every possible second of the 35-second clock on every possession.

8. Stat of the game - UCF 20 of 25 FTs, BCU 3 of 6. And Isaiah 5 of 5 down the stretch (AND a behind the backboard jump shot!).

9. One benefit of getting to the game early for warm-ups. Christian Laettner was color man for BHN’s broadcast of the game. Pre-game analysis segment consisted of him on the court in front of the camera - with Dave Baumann standing on 2 pillows.

10. Note to Donnie: Former 7’ UCF bench warming C Ben Stout was in attendance with his 6’+ tall GF. Time to start recruiting…

11. We’ve simply had too many players out on suspension this season (AJ & Marcus tonight). It’s worse than injuries, in that you just know they could be productive if they hadn’t screwed up.

12. Tristan is passing up on too many 3-pt shot opportunities.

13. Attendance is down 25% so far this season. I think the 5:00 starts are a big contributor.

 

[Knightrogen]

The attendence will be up when conference play starts.

Can't wait for it to start.

But we have two more games before the break.

 

[UCFProf]

This season, the team knows that the Conference matters if they want to not only make it to the Big Dance in March, but to get a decent seeding! They already have the signature win over UConn. Now they'll need to take care of business during the C-USA months of January and February. If they are doing well, the attendance will respond as the campus catches fire about how good this team can be. Let say what nobody else has: it was the basketball team record and attendance that got us into the Big East as a full member, and it is basketball (check out the story in the Sentinel sports today) that will benefit most! Now Jones can recruit even more successfully and less likely to leave immediately for those big offers that are sure to come this spring.