Just Some Thoughts

Good afternoon everyone!  First and foremost I would like to correct myself.  Last week I stated the guys would not be able to go home for the Christmas Holiday.  The guys will get to spend the holiday with their family if they can make it home.  Going home is a luxury when you play college basketball.  We spend almost 11 months out of the year in Lexington.  My point is, going home was like a refreshing trip and when we returned to campus it felt like we had so much more energy.  Sometimes you just need to get away from the norm. 

The team is steadily improving as the season goes along.  As a coach and a player this is what you want to see.  You never want to peak to fast and you obviously never want to get worse.  This team has a lot of upside and a strong core with Jodie and Patrick leading the way.  As fans we should be really encouraged by the play of the team this weekend.

Saturday’s game in Louisville was without a doubt the best game we have played all year.  We excelled in every statistical category except rebounding.  We were out-rebounded by a total of 8.  Perhaps the most discouraging stat is the fact that we gave up 18 offensive rebounds.  Allowing teams to receive this many second chance opportunities could be detrimental later in the season.  Although this stat was bad, I believe the most impressive stat is 31 field goals off of 23 assist.  This stat alone, without looking at the game tells me we are improving on the offensive end.  We also achieved this with a player scoring 46 points.  It didn’t seem like Jodie forced the issue at all until the last few minutes of the game when he was obviously trying to get 50.  But every other shot was nothing out of the ordinary.  I thought we set some really good screens for Jodie to get open within our offense.  If we continue to play like this I can see Jodie having 1 or 2 more 40 point games.  Jodie’s ability to come of screens at full speed and square up on the dime gives him an unbelievable advantage over his defenders.  Even if teams try to double down or mirror Jodie, he will still be effective because of his raw ability and his athleticism.  My hat goes off to Jodie for this gutsy and stupendous performance.  If Jodie was playing in a church league game, 46 would have still been impressive.  So, all you haters out there give props when props are due!  Appalachian State or not it was a great outing for Jodie Meeks. 

One last thing!  If you are interested in coming to the inauguration with Matt and me, we have gone in with a few more people for transportation.  There are quite a few of us going, however, there are still a few slots left.  More details about the mode of transportation and who is all going can be found in the following link.   

http://www.la-croix.com/mm/illustrations/Multimedia/Actu/2007/6/15/dix-roues2.jpg

Everyone have a very Merry Christmas!!