We're moving on!! How bout that Nijel ** Pack!! He was huge for us in this game...and particularly in the waning moments.
This slugfest could not have started worse for us. The team seemed uptight & were perhaps trying too hard. Shot selection was really poor, shot execution was poor (tightness led to bricks), and the wrong players were shooting from the wrong spots (Omier from 3, Walker for 3 etc). Every shot looked awkward for virtually the entire first half. We were like 3 of 30 and only making FTs to stay in it. We had around 25 points at the half...LOL. The team simply needed to relax, take a deep breath and execute Coach L's plan. They are a fun to watch bunch on offense when they just relax and do their normal thing.
Some much improved D helped us engineer a major turnaround at the end. Our press really worked and their star (DeVries) had a brutal night shooting (similar to Wong...but he'll come back stronger next game). Huge 3s by Pack & Wooga (who has really come on late in the season) helped us claw our way back...combined with some savage press D.
Walker almost cost us the game with poor shot selection at a critical moment. Had Drake not failed to score twice more after Walker's brick from 3-pt range, we would have lost the game because of that one poor choice in a critical moment (as it did lead quickly to about a 5-6 pt swing in Drake's favor). Had Drake not missed a couple we would have gone down by around 10 points due to a poor decision in that one crucial moment. For the whole team (except Nijel & Wooga), the shot selection was the worst I've seen it all season.
This was one super ugly win...but in some ways the early struggles made the end that much sweeter. Win & advance...but learn to relax at the beginning of these games & get the usual rhythm & flow going. Thank you Nijel & Wooga. Congrats to the players & the coaches on the win. Onto the next. Go Canes!!
