Central Washington Game Thoughts

There are days where you look at yourself in the mirror, and you look at the way you contributed to whatever happened that day, and you want to spit at yourself and walk away. That's how I felt after the BYU game. I felt like I played selfishly, and didn't use the tools our team had to function. Maybe I'm wrong, but playing the position today, I have to be the guy the moves the team. It's always felt that way- the energy that I bring to the floor is contagious- and sometimes, as in the BYU game, it can be a hazard.

However, tonight was a different story, and we looked like a different team. The ball was shared well. I feel like looking at the way we played, we have a chance to do a lot of special things. Regardless of that, we failed in a couple of areas which led us to a one point defeat by Central Washington.


First off, I feel like our defensive rotation was absolutely pathetic on baseline drives. We would let the guards get to the baseline, and then when the bigs would step to help, it seemed like their guards would shoot, but our guards didn't switch off to their bigs, and we gave up a ton of boards, and they scored plentifully on second chance points, and that hurts when you are trying to protect the lead.

Secondly, I feel like we made poor decisions on offense. There was pressure, really good pressure in fact. The pressure was very intense, but it wasn't something that couldn't be handled. And, when we had the tiniest bit of pressure applied, all of us, including myself, would press the panic button, and toss the ball into an abyss of the wrong team's hands... And it cost us the game ultimately.


Thirdly, I feel like we are gelling as a team. We seem to have learned a lot from the BYU game, and it was extremely visible on the floor tonight. We looked like an actual team. The game was fun, and exciting, and I couldn't have asked for a better atmosphere. However, I do wish the results were different.


I'm back to where I was last season, struggling to put the 3 ball down. I don't know where that comes from because I feel like I am a good three point shooter. I guess that comes from having the confidence to rain 3's when I need to, and I don't know where that confidence fell to. But playing inside out is becoming a strength for us and me, so we'll keep hitting that until my 3's decide they would like to drop.

So, I suppose I'll continue trying to learn, and trying to play better. Life goes on. Big game tomorrow, and we've got to go get this one. We can't afford any more losses this year.




--Brack