Thoughts on the game:
They really have to get Kennedy making plays earlier in the game; though I thought he and Evans were trying too hard once they got on the court. Kudos to them trying to prove something, but still.
I enjoyed Bob Knight last night because St. John's was the frontrunner - he only talks about frontrunners. Like when they played Duke, he seemed to talk Duke. He would appreciate DJ Kennedy b/c Kennedy's like his better Indiana players - smart, tough, does a lot of smart things on the court.
Sometimes, I wonder what it would look like with Kennedy at point guard and another guard (Hardy?) helping him bring it up...
Dele Coker - despite his overenthusiastic blocks once in a while - is really making his presence felt. Stith had some nice offensive moments, but I think he had a drive where he drew the defense to him, and completely missed the concept of the open man to his left.
Justin Brownlee... I didn't think he was all that great last night. All of his bad ideas wrapped into one game. He should only drive when WIDE open. Rob Thomas was solid but rusty early on. But then he was Rob. Sean needs to stop dribbling from the perimeter - agreed with all who said that - most of the time. It's a nice element in his game, judiciously used. He also needs to remember, like the rest of the team, the defend the easy lay up first and foremost. If those B-S forwards beat you with jumpers, so be it.
Boothe had some okay plays, and a pg doesn't have to be an assist machine... but did anyone see Kennedy bringing up the ball on one side, with Boothe calling for it, and Kennedy ignoring him? Not that it was intentional but... interesting.
Hardy was pretty much what you could ask of him. Paris was pretty decent, but I think he's regressing a little, maybe. He had a couple of shots that looked poorly-aimed, like his freshman year. but he made some plays and I think he looked better on defense.
Interesting how they had so much trouble against the Bulldog bigs. The team needs to keep moving, for sure, because with all those attempts at shot s blocked, an extra pass and some motion would have turned those into fouls. There was some good passing (though I cringe at behind the back passes) in the second half.
The sloppy ballhandling, though, is going to hurt this team something hard.