My children are on winter break so we were able to make this midafternoon game even though I wasn't well early that morning. We swung around to pick up my daughter's friend and were there in plenty of time for the start.
This was going to be an adjustment game. As most know UNC lost a vital piece of their attack just nine days earlier when Xylina McDaniel was injured during the Elon game at Myrtle Beach. She's had surgery to repair the injury and now we wait to see if she can come back this season. In the meantime others can and will step up and if this game was any indication, McDaniel will do what she can for her teammates while she is sidelined. She was really vocal with her team during the game. I could hear her from where we sat (section 214). At one point it appeared she had a notepad and pen likely documenting things she's seeing while she has this time to watch. Whenever it is, I have no doubt she will be back stronger and more determined than ever. The Tar Heels pushed through to a 71 to 56 victory.
So the first adjustment was to the starting lineup. McDaniel has started from the time she arrived. The Tar Heels went small starting a 4 guard lineup along with Stephanie Mavunga. So it was four regulars (Mavunga, Gray, Coleman and Rountree) plus Danielle Butts. This game started the way the last couple of games have started. Brittany Rountree for 3! I love how she's getting her shot off this year. And she is just as steady a hand as usual dishing out assists as well. She came out and drained another to start the second half.
Brittany Rountree: 9 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists (photo from www.goheels.com)
Latifah Coleman: 3 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, 3 steals (photo from www.goheels.com)
Kind of a quiet one numbers wise for Latifah and she played 14 minutes, splitting time with Jamie Cherry who had a bit of a rough afternoon shooting the ball. She expended a lot of energy on defense in this game pressuring Albany's ball handlers and was one of the players disrupting the Great Danes lob passes skying in the air to tip one away. A whole lot in that little package. Jamie as I mentioned had a rough shooting day; but she had fewer turnovers than in the last couple of games and that's saying a lot for this one. Just probably needs to slow down just a bit once UNC is in the half court or quarter court set.
Jamie Cherry: 6 points, 1 assist (photo from www.goheels.com)
Allisha Gray: 15 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 3 steals (photo from www.goheels.com)
Allisha was all over this one, even though she didn't shoot quite as efficiently as we're used to. Yeah, we're a bit spoiled seeing her shoot between 50 and 70% each game. Something I don't usually say although she is quite capable at her size is she came up with 2 big blocks in this one. One was a break away for Albany but she used her speed to close in and slap the ball against the blackboard. It was a beautiful defensive play.
Danielle Butts: 4 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal (photo from www.goheels.com)
The power pack came through in this one. She had numbers in several positive categories. The picture above is another highlight layup, where she caught it and got it into the basket without putting it on the floor and without traveling. She got 25 minutes in this game, which is about two to two and a half times the normal minutes she generally plays. She puts out a lot of energy when she is out there; so I know this was not as easy as she made it look. Also only committed one foul and that is huge in a game where our friends in the striped shirts were way too involved for my taste. Over 40 fouls were called in this contest.
Stephanie Mavunga: 14 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals (photo from www.goheels.com)
Other than Danielle Butts, the player with the biggest adjustment to make was probably Stephanie Mavunga. She and McDaniel are partners and have done a lot of damage this season. They tend to take the pressure off each other. Stephanie came through really well though, took advantage of her height advantage and whenever Albany didn't double team her, she made them pay for it. Was a victim of some questionable calls in this fan's opinion or she could have easily had another 20/10 game.
Jessica Washington: 16 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists (photo from www.goheels.com)
Danielle Butts gave us the rebounds and the steals. Jessica Washington gave us the scoring. Normally averaging about 5 points per game, Jessica hit shot after shot in this one for 16 points. She hit a couple of three point baskets; but she was hitting a midrange jumper in this game and that is important. I call her "Woman with wicked crossover" and when you combine that with a midrange jumper it is really hard to defend. Jessica was hard to defend in this one as her six field goals came from different locations and she continued to crash the boards despite being one of the smaller players on the court.
What to Take Away From this One
The Not So Good
After several games holding the turnovers down there were 19 giveaways in this one for the Tar Heels. Some were passes the Great Danes telegraphed and took for points on the other end. Albany had 10 steals in all. Even though UNC won the rebounding battle, Albany got 15 offensive rebounds and that is a number UNC tries to keep down for opponents because it gives them another chance to score. Our shooting overall was still a few percentage points below normal; but I can't say I'm surprised by that given the circumstances. One player Shereesha Richards, did score 34 points for Albany. I always say, "One person can't win alone." but she sure tried. She was also a one woman parade to the free throw line with 15 of Albany's 27 attempts.
The Good
Well we won the first game after winter break and while that is known to be an up and down game due to the time off, considering it was combined with being the first game without Xylina, the Heels did well. They had 15 assists on 23 baskets which shows great ball movement. UNC outrebounded the Great Danes though overall they were taller. The Heels hit 9 three point baskets and shot nearly 70% from the free throw line. The Great Danes took advantage of their size inside combined with Xylina's absence for some lob passes over the top of the defense. The Tar Heels adjusted using their athletic ability to disrupt that play enough times that the Great Danes stopped using it.
You always want to see adjustments made to counter what's happening. In game adjustments are crucial. They also had to adjust to how the game was called and that was likely the most difficult adjustment of the day. This crew was...let's just say, really active. It's hard to get into a flow when there are more fouls than minutes in the game; so I give UNC all the credit for overcoming it. Everyone played a part in that. Hillary Fuller and Hillary Summers came in and gave us some minutes taking up space inside. N'Dea Bryant came in and wreaked a bit of havoc on defense with her size and athleticism.
Next
The Tar Heels have two home games over the weekend. Tomorrow afternoon is the final non-conference game. East Tennessee State, a frequent opponent comes to visit and then conference play starts off with a bang when North Carolina State arrives on Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment