1. We have been down and trailing at the first media time out in 10 of our last 12 games. This is a stat that nobody on this board should be surprised about. Most of us have already alluded to it. And what does that tell us?
It tells us what just about everybody on this board has been saying, namely that whenever you put Clark and Salt in at the same time (and by the way, they were both in in all of those games as of the first media timeout), we can’t score worth crap. It’s basically three on five offensive basketball.
Look, I love Jack Salt. He’s been a tremendous asset to this team over the last five years, And obviously Clark had one of his better games overall yesterday. But even at that, he only scored like one basket and had some turnovers, and made a couple of other bonehead plays. I will grant you that he played much better in the second half, especially down the stretch and especially with those critical steals.
But even with all of that said, he played 36 minutes yesterday and scored, what, 5 points? Whereas Jay Huff was in for about five minutes and scored two points. Now it’s probably wrong to extrapolate that out, but it implies that if Jay was left in longer, he might possibly at least score more than Clark. And I’ll say this, Clark certainly has a role on the team. But 36 minutes? I just don’t understand how he can be left in the game with those stats especially at the guard position.
I mean Jay Huff comes in for a few minutes, makes one mistake, and gets yanked. Braxton Key is in somewhat the same position, although not quite as bad as Huff. What did he play yesterday? Something like 11 minutes maybe? But man he was hitting some crucial shots and pulling down some direly needed rebounds, and so forth and yet like Huff, he sits on the bench most of the game cooling his heels while Clark continues to play. Again, I just don’t get it.
I’ll conclude this point by saying this: if Tony continues to insist on putting Clark and Salt in at the same time for long stretches at the beginning of each game, I think we're going to continue to be behind for most of the first half. And I’m just scared we’re going to get behind one time and not be able to come back like we did yesterday.
2. Ties into the first point above and here it is: We have not won a single NCAAT game under Tony scoring less than 70 points. I don't think this needs any comment. But like the Fabulous Sports Babe used to say: SCORE MORE POINTS!!! Defense is great, but at this time of year with all the other teams playing out of their GD minds, we have just GOT to score more, and Clark and Salt together not only don't accomplish that, they hinder that. Case in point, our next opponent, OK, who scored, what, 95 points yesterday. They probably won't score that against us (I certainly hope not anyway), but I think once again we will likely have to score at least 65-70 points to win, and once more (just to beat a dead horse), I don't think we get there with Clark and Salt playing at the same time for large hunks of time during the game.
It tells us what just about everybody on this board has been saying, namely that whenever you put Clark and Salt in at the same time (and by the way, they were both in in all of those games as of the first media timeout), we can’t score worth crap. It’s basically three on five offensive basketball.
Look, I love Jack Salt. He’s been a tremendous asset to this team over the last five years, And obviously Clark had one of his better games overall yesterday. But even at that, he only scored like one basket and had some turnovers, and made a couple of other bonehead plays. I will grant you that he played much better in the second half, especially down the stretch and especially with those critical steals.
But even with all of that said, he played 36 minutes yesterday and scored, what, 5 points? Whereas Jay Huff was in for about five minutes and scored two points. Now it’s probably wrong to extrapolate that out, but it implies that if Jay was left in longer, he might possibly at least score more than Clark. And I’ll say this, Clark certainly has a role on the team. But 36 minutes? I just don’t understand how he can be left in the game with those stats especially at the guard position.
I mean Jay Huff comes in for a few minutes, makes one mistake, and gets yanked. Braxton Key is in somewhat the same position, although not quite as bad as Huff. What did he play yesterday? Something like 11 minutes maybe? But man he was hitting some crucial shots and pulling down some direly needed rebounds, and so forth and yet like Huff, he sits on the bench most of the game cooling his heels while Clark continues to play. Again, I just don’t get it.
I’ll conclude this point by saying this: if Tony continues to insist on putting Clark and Salt in at the same time for long stretches at the beginning of each game, I think we're going to continue to be behind for most of the first half. And I’m just scared we’re going to get behind one time and not be able to come back like we did yesterday.
2. Ties into the first point above and here it is: We have not won a single NCAAT game under Tony scoring less than 70 points. I don't think this needs any comment. But like the Fabulous Sports Babe used to say: SCORE MORE POINTS!!! Defense is great, but at this time of year with all the other teams playing out of their GD minds, we have just GOT to score more, and Clark and Salt together not only don't accomplish that, they hinder that. Case in point, our next opponent, OK, who scored, what, 95 points yesterday. They probably won't score that against us (I certainly hope not anyway), but I think once again we will likely have to score at least 65-70 points to win, and once more (just to beat a dead horse), I don't think we get there with Clark and Salt playing at the same time for large hunks of time during the game.
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