Friday, January 1, 2010

Huge Second Half Sinks Spartans

UNCG 67- NC State 89

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It was a familiar feeling game for UNCG fans against NC State. Play tough and watch the other team's fans look nervous, but wither in the end. The Spartans dug themselves another big hole right out of the gate. UNCG showed plenty of heart, though as they battled back to being down just 4 at halftime. A 57 point outburst by the Wolfpack in the second half turned back any thoughts of an upset.

Positives:
- Scoring help --- It was good to see more than one Spartan in double figures. Brian Cole (10 pts)did a great job of keeping UNCG in the game in the first half. While Korey Van Dussen's (12 pts) scoring in the second half helped the Spartans fight deep into the second half. Of course, Ben Stywall (18 pts) and Brandon Evans (14 pts) did their normal scoring too.
- Rebounding --- Again, UNCG did a great job of out rebounding an ACC opponent. Stywall led the charge with 13 rebounds.
- Free throws --- The Spartans shot over 80% from the line and are shooting over 70% for the year. Hopefully, this is something that UNCG can take advantage of by getting to the line more often.

Negatives:
- Defense --- NC State scored over 50 points in the second half and shot close to 70% in the half. For the game the Wolfpack shot over 50%. It seems like everyone UNCG has played has shot really well. Some of that is just luck, but some of it is poor defense. The Spartans need to get better at this in league play.
Turnovers and assists --- It was another rough night for turning the ball over. However, it is starting to become obvious that UNCG is dribbling too much and not passing enough. This is leading to very few assists. Spartan guards are creating a lot of shots for themselves, but very few openings for their teammates. Again let's hope that the assist numbers start to go up (and turnovers down) when SoCon play begins next week.

2 comments:

David said...

They better kick ass in the SoCon. They are playing well but just can't win. I think this hard early season schedule will be a tremendous help when it comes to league play. Hope to see them in the big dance in March.

Why are they moving a home game back to the Flem? The coliseum must not be much of a home if they have to move out every time some third rate country act comes through town. While we are at it why are the banners and jerseys not hanging from the rafters in the coliseum? If it is our new home we should have every thing that was hanging at the Flem and some sort of trophy case there.

I also hope that they use our home floor during the acc and NCAA tournament's. They do at other schools and if this is truly our home court I believe we should do the same.

On a positive note they do sell beer at games now tho $8 is a bit steep.

If you could look in to any of this and comment on your blog that would be rad!

Dash said...

David ... The NCAA has gone to using a standard floor for almost all of the NCAA venues over the past few season. Plus, the GC had an ACC tourney specific one made several years ago. So, I doubt they'll be using our floor for those games.

I agree that these games should help for a big run later on. UNCG has a bunch of young guards getting a lot of on the job training.

I will have a full post to comment on some of this other stuff you mentioned coming up the near future. However, I'd strongly suggest that if there's things you see that you think should be changed ... to email and call people in the AD or at the GC. They are the ones who can really help change things. All I can do is complain on the internet.