The SF position has mostly been a non-contributing position but some subtle changes have freed up the offense.
Freeman has been taking "Small Forward" like 3's of late....and he is not a known shooter, but has taken what the defense has given....7-8 from floor vs Illinois....
Fast forward to tonight and Laurent and Thiam combine for 6-10 shooting overall and 3-5 from 3 point land....and even though Freeman took 2 more 3 pointers and missed them....they were uncontested shots, because of the attention Sanders draws from defenses.....and they were what I would consider Small Forward type of attempts from the top of the key area.
Eugene took and made one in the last NW game, after being left open....he took and missed his first one and when given a second wide open attempt, he hesitated and wound up traveling for a turnover.
These are shots that are being given to us by the defense and even though I'd prefer the guards to shoot these 3's, until defenses adjust, this is a huge hole we can take advantage of.
I don't know what the 3rd matchup with NW will look like, but I can assure you Freeman, Eugene and Laurent will be left open tomorrow and if they make shots, RU will be alive and kicking....OR, Nigel, Corey and Mike will get open looks if they play honest defense......we also won without a big night from Sanders, who played his worse game in about a month.
It's easy to place a lot of heat on the lack of FT shooting or a few sloppy turnovers, but if we get another 12-15 points from the SF spot tomorrow or open 3's that teams give us, the game is going to the wire and I like RU's chances to advance to Friday night....
Freeman has been taking "Small Forward" like 3's of late....and he is not a known shooter, but has taken what the defense has given....7-8 from floor vs Illinois....
Fast forward to tonight and Laurent and Thiam combine for 6-10 shooting overall and 3-5 from 3 point land....and even though Freeman took 2 more 3 pointers and missed them....they were uncontested shots, because of the attention Sanders draws from defenses.....and they were what I would consider Small Forward type of attempts from the top of the key area.
Eugene took and made one in the last NW game, after being left open....he took and missed his first one and when given a second wide open attempt, he hesitated and wound up traveling for a turnover.
These are shots that are being given to us by the defense and even though I'd prefer the guards to shoot these 3's, until defenses adjust, this is a huge hole we can take advantage of.
I don't know what the 3rd matchup with NW will look like, but I can assure you Freeman, Eugene and Laurent will be left open tomorrow and if they make shots, RU will be alive and kicking....OR, Nigel, Corey and Mike will get open looks if they play honest defense......we also won without a big night from Sanders, who played his worse game in about a month.
It's easy to place a lot of heat on the lack of FT shooting or a few sloppy turnovers, but if we get another 12-15 points from the SF spot tomorrow or open 3's that teams give us, the game is going to the wire and I like RU's chances to advance to Friday night....
