GDT: Mastodons vs Jackrabbits at Frost Arena

[SoDakJack]

Re: GDT: Mastodons vs Jackrabbits at Frost Arena

Gutty win, After a Huge Letdown, and a first half where we were killing them. Hope we can continue to improve as TJ suggests. Happy with the win, surely room for said improvement.

P.S. is the Tapatalk app Dead for others for this forum or just me? Hopefully the update will fix that. I know I can view other forums so I think its something here. Oddly happened right after the USD game.

The men were fortunate to pull this one out. Had IPFW started the game they way they played the second half we might be having a much different discussion.

That being said, we bounced back from possibly our worst game of the year (maybe Misery State?) to win a game that we could have very easily collapsed.

[Jacked_Up]

Re: GDT: Mastodons vs Jackrabbits at Frost Arena

Fort Wayne is no slouch. Chalk up the win and move on, I guess. There are two more home games coming up. It's a great opportunity for the Jacks to tighten their grip on first place.

[Jacked_Up]

Re: GDT: Mastodons vs Jackrabbits at Frost Arena

I wonder what the story is with Chris Howell? He hasn't gotten off the bench for a couple of games.

[filbert]

Re: GDT: Mastodons vs Jackrabbits at Frost Arena

I wonder what the story is with Chris Howell? He hasn't gotten off the bench for a couple of games.

I watched him for a little while during halftime warmups and early 2nd half on the bench . . . during halftime he was sorta-kinda guarding Jenkins in what looked like a light-hearted warmup drill . . . he looked pretty happy and engaged on the bench when I peeked in there, too. My guess based on pretty much nothing but that is that he's hurt, could play in an emergency but can't really go 100%.

[SoDakJack]

Re: GDT: Mastodons vs Jackrabbits at Frost Arena

I watched him for a little while during halftime warmups and early 2nd half on the bench . . . during halftime he was sorta-kinda guarding Jenkins in what looked like a light-hearted warmup drill . . . he looked pretty happy and engaged on the bench when I peeked in there, too. My guess based on pretty much nothing but that is that he's hurt, could play in an emergency but can't really go 100%.

Wasn't he having foot problems earlier in the year? Perhaps it never has fully healed.

[BTownJack]

Re: GDT: Mastodons vs Jackrabbits at Frost Arena

I wonder what the story is with Chris Howell? He hasn't gotten off the bench for a couple of games.

I had similar thoughts when Key rode the pine for 3 or 4 straight games. Now he's playing more. Recently Severyn found his way to a lot less minutes. You could argue injury, sickness or both....or TJ just has a propensity to be a roller coaster with playing time. I'm not saying I'm complaining. At the very least he keeps this fan board more active because of it!

[SoDakJack]

Re: GDT: Mastodons vs Jackrabbits at Frost Arena

I had similar thoughts when Key rode the pine for 3 or 4 straight games. Now he's playing more. Recently Severyn found his way to a lot less minutes. You could argue injury, sickness or both....or TJ just has a propensity to be a roller coaster with playing time. I'm not saying I'm complaining. At the very least he keeps this fan board more active because of it!

I think that TJ is tightening up his rotation even more as we hit the halfway point. He knows that this team's success/failure will depend on getting the most out of his top 6/7 guys. With the emergence of Flatten and King's offense, it has made playing time even more scarce. I think that he is already in tournament mode.

[OldHare]

Re: GDT: Mastodons vs Jackrabbits at Frost Arena

I think that TJ is tightening up his rotation even more as we hit the halfway point. He knows that this team's success/failure will depend on getting the most out of his top 6/7 guys. With the emergence of Flatten and King's offense, it has made playing time even more scarce. I think that he is already in tournament mode.

Key may have also stepped up his defense, but he is most effective when he is getting more assists and fewer shots. Hopefully he stays focused on those details. The coyote game he shot 1-6 and only had 2 assists and 2 turnovers. He has been averaging 18.2 minutes in the games he has played and he is the leader in assists for the year. Earlier in the year he was piling up the turnovers, but those have slowed a bunch. He has speed that most cannot begin to defend until he runs into double and triple teams.

[SoDakJack]

Re: GDT: Mastodons vs Jackrabbits at Frost Arena

Key may have also stepped up his defense, but he is most effective when he is getting more assists and fewer shots. Hopefully he stays focused on those details. The coyote game he shot 1-6 and only had 2 assists and 2 turnovers. He has been averaging 18.2 minutes in the games he has played and he is the leader in assists for the year. Earlier in the year he was piling up the turnovers, but those have slowed a bunch. He has speed that most cannot begin to defend until he runs into double and triple teams.

Key's biggest issue that I have seen so far this year is that he seems to get too far under the basket before passing. He has the best handles on the team, but that doesn't do much good if you are trapped on the baseline.

I think that the team as a whole tends to dribble too much, which in turn gets them into trouble. Jenkins, Daum, and Key all have been guilty of it so far this year.