After reviewing the stats, and the post game recaps, I am starting think it may be a good thing there was no working link for this game. I love watching our cats play, but this one may have been a bit hard to swallow. Of course not watching the game makes it hard for grades, so this version will be strictly by the numbers and the recaps.
Lets start by looking at some team numbers:
- Only shooting 34.5% from the floor is not going to win you many games. We need to find a way to raise that at least to the mid 40’s to consistently win. It is good to see that we can stay in a game while shooting poorly.
- 15% from behind the arc today. 3-20 is painful to look at. We are supposed to be a better long distance team then that right?
- Overall 73.3% from the line isn’t horrible, but it sounds like we missed some key shots down the stretch. Not only that, but those misses were from our leaders, and that is always going to lose games.
- On the bright side we out rebounded the buffs 38-32. It amazes me how good of a rebounding team we seem to be even though we completely lack size.
- Only 10 turnovers is a good number. You always want to be better in this area, but I can live with 10.
Now for the hard part, individual grades and stats. Come join me after the jump for a look at these.
Solomon Hill GRADE C+: Solomon went 4-7 from the field. Although that is a good number, he should be shooting more than 7 shots in a game. 1-4 from the FT line is way below what a player of his caliber should be shooting. 10 rebounds is a bright spot for Solomon.
Jesse Perry GRADE A-: Jesse would have gotten an A from me if we won, but I just can’t give it to him in a loss. His 20 points and 10 rebounds led the team. I am so grateful we at least have Jesse this year.
Kyle Fogg GRADE C-: Kyle got to the line 11 times today, and made 8 of them. That is a great stat. Shooting 3-12 from the floor is just as unimpressive. We need Kyle to be a better leader and go to guy if we are going to win.
Nick Johnson GRADE D: Nick may only be a freshman, but he is also a starter. 1-5 from the floor and only 2 points is not a good day for anyone. I have high hopes for Nick, but he has hit a freshman wall. Lets hope he can climb over it.
Josiah Turner GRADE B+: Nick may be hitting a freshman wall, but it seem Josiah is climbing over the one he hit earlier this year. It sounds like Josiah played under control today and ended with 9 point 3 assists and 5 rebounds. He was efficient and shot 5-6 from the FT line. Maybe Josiah can turn into a late game go to guy? I can dream can’t I?
Brendon Lavender GRADE F: He didn’t do anything. 11 minutes in the game only 1 rebound and 0-2 from the floor. I really have been pushing for more playing time for Brendon, but he needs to be a bit more assertive.
Kyryl Natyazhko GRADE INC: Only playing 4 minutes is hard to grade. He got 1 rebound. So that’s better than nothing.
Jordin Mayes GRADE F: Jordin got 14 minutes today. However, in that time he went 0-5 from the floor and had all Zeros in his stat line. How do you play 14 minutes and literally have no rebounds, assists, or anything?
Kevin Parrom GRADE C+: I was just happy to see Kevin get 22 minutes. I keep pulling for this guy after everything he has been through. That being said he did shoot 3-6 and had 6 points and 5 rebounds. That’s better than the rest of our bench COMBINED.
Angelo Chol GRADE INC: Angelo only played 5 minutes and managed to take 1 shot that he missed. Nothing else to really grade him on.
Hopefully we can keep this season in perspective, and our young guys can keep developing. As always if you have any thoughts let me know. For those of you who were lucky enough to watch the game feel free to tell me how some of our players played, and if they deserved the grades I gave out.