Why all the early 3s? He had a happy trigger finger from behind the arc, when it was totally unnecessary. He was a beast in all other areas, one of the best games I've ever seen from Dom... but poppin all those... I just don't get it.
ND was letting him shoot. I cringed when he took them, but they weren't forced. He just didn't make them.
Quote from: ecompt on January 27, 2009, 08:05:25 AM
ND was letting him shoot. I cringed when he took them, but they weren't forced. He just didn't make them.
They weren't forced, but they also weren't within the flow of the offense. Most of the ones that he took in the early part of the game were in the first 10-15 seconds of the shot clock. DJ isn't a good enough shooter to hit that shot consistently without any rhythm. It was later in the game where the team started to make the extra pass that they started to fall for us.
Granted, but maybe DJ took those shots to show ND that he wasn't afraid. If he has a wide-open shot and doesn't take it, that gives us only three offensive weapons. He did hit a big three in the second half.
I was thinking that too, maybe they are just giving him the shot though as he was taking and missing his third one I was yelling, "Stop with the threes James!" He is so fast and such a good ball handler, that I think he is so much more effective when he draws defenders to him and kicks it out to the better shooters.
But then he hit that one three in the second half so I shut up.
He also threw up an quasi airball (it only hit the backboard) in the second half I believe. It was at a critical point too. I think it was right after ND got the lead and jacked up a quick three. Who cares though as long as we win.
Quote from: ErickJD08 on January 27, 2009, 10:53:40 AM
He also threw up an quasi airball (it only hit the backboard) in the second half I believe. It was at a critical point too. I think it was right after ND got the lead and jacked up a quick three. Who cares though as long as we win.
I remember that shot. There were 1 or 2 possessions there where they looked a little panicked. It reminded me a lot of past years. Then the got things under control and looked strong down the stretch. I think the senior leadership and experience really is the key to this team. How's that for stating the obvious?
Maybe it was because he was playing in his home state and had a lot of friends and relatives at the game. I'm sure he wanted to do his very best and also maybe prove that he should have been Mr. Basketball the year he didn't get it.
I think taking some 3s early was part of the game plan - of we hit them early that really opens the lanes for our quick slashing guards. I don't recall when we hit our first 3, but doing so helped all the paint points a little.
His last collegiate game in Indiana ...maybe wanted to show something to the home folks.
Quote from: ecompt on January 27, 2009, 10:36:37 AM
Granted, but maybe DJ took those shots to show ND that he wasn't afraid. If he has a wide-open shot and doesn't take it, that gives us only three offensive weapons. He did hit a big three in the second half.
Though I thought he took one too many like the rest of you, a few don't hurt.
Dom was able to blow by a couple of defenders while on the perimeter because they had to respect that he was going to shoot it. And usually if Dom makes a couple, he can be very streaky. So though they didn't go in early (the ones where the game was close i didn't like) it made ND change how they were going to defend him just a little bit.
I would rather he take a few EARLY and find out if he's got it going, since he's such a streaky shooter. If he misses, then rein it back in and distribute, which he did EXCEPTIONALLY last night. That dagger 3 by McNeal was a sweet setup.
Quote from: MUUSC on January 27, 2009, 01:14:36 PM
His last collegiate game in Indiana ...maybe wanted to show something to the home folks.
That's assuming we don't play the our sweet 16 and elite 8 matchups in indianapolis.