Santa Clara 77, UNC 66
Game summary:
UNC lost to Santa Clara by 11, but I'm afraid the margin of victory doesn't begin to show how lopsided the game actually was. Santa Clara took a 1 point lead with 4:16 left to go in first half and never trailed again. The worst thing I can say about UNC is that we looked just like last year's team for most of the game -- and that's not a compliment. The team chemistry (or lack thereof) was depressing. We had good effort, but seemed out of sync. And just like last year, the offense was anemic for long stretches and the defense looked like swiss cheese. There was a lot of talk during the preseason about UNC's defense had improved markedly and everyone was coming together, but I didn't see that. Coach Williams did say during the post-game that his two Jayhawk teams to lose their season openers both went on to the Final Four that year. Obviously, without Ray Felton, the team didn't have their floor leader. I think Felton could have made the difference in this game, but regardless, this shows how mediocre we are without him in the lineup. And I'm sure we can still play mediocre with him in the lineup if the team chemistry is not there.
I'm probably most disappointed with our defense. We gave up at least 3 or 4 quick turnaround shots by Santa Clara's big man Travis Niesen (a good player, but he shouldn't be schooling May and Williams). Niesen ended up having the game of his life and had a career high in points. It was one of those nights for UNC where Santa Clara couldn't miss and we couldn't make anything. You know it is bad when someone shoots an airball from outside and a guy underneath the basket catches it and flicks it in facing away from the basket. Yes, it was one of those nights indeed.
Despite our big height advantage, Santa Clara outrebounded us. Melvin had trouble playing the point. McCants wasn't aggressive on offense early.
There were some bright spots. We took at least 3 charges in the first half. Our guys were stepping in and closing the gap all over the place. Very good. McCants had a great dunk during the first few minutes. Quentin had an early steal and transition layup.
Let's hope we use this as motivation for the upcoming Maui Invitational.
Game breakdown:
Who: Santa Clara
Where: Oakland, CA
Viewing method: DirectTV - CSTV (channel 610)
Starters:
Sean May - Even with the drop in weight, I didn't notice May as being any quicker or having more stamina. To me, he played just like he did last year. He go t a bunch of rebounds, but many were off his own missed shots and he missed a ton of shots around the basket. He made those shots before he got hurt his freshman year, but hasn't been consistent since.
Rashad McCants - Pretty good defense, but was not very active on offense in the first half. Very unselfish play, but maybe too unselfish--especially when no one else is stepping up and making shots. In the final 5 minutes of the game Rashad caught fire and started draining 3's. But it was too little too late.
Quentin Thomas - Started in place of the benched Felton. Tall and quick, but was a little out of control at times and played like a freshman.
Jawad Williams - Didn't start on fire like he did at the beginning of last year. His shooting percentage was pretty low (36%). He also got schooled a few times down low by Niesen.
Jackie Manuel - Got the start, which wasn't common last year. He must have been doing better in practice than Melvin Scott. Jackie played solid defense (as expected), but wasn't much of a threat offensively (ended with 0 points).
Reserves:
Melvin Scott - In a departure from last year's starting line-up, Melvin came off the bench. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to help his game. He missed a bunch of outside shots and the times he played the point, he didn't look comfortable and forced a couple of turnovers.
Marvin Williams - Marvin played strong down-low, but like May, missed several around the basket.
David Noel - I was a bit shocked to see how little David played. He made a couple of good plays, but his playing time was limited.
Wes Miller - Wes filled in at the point and did a respectable job, although he didn't bring much of an offensive threat.
Reyshawn Terry - It was a bit of a surprise to me that Reyshawn didn't play a single minute (unless he made it in during the final minute).
C.J. Hooker - Got in during the final minute when Coach Williams cleared the bench.
Charlie Everett - Got in during the final minute when Coach Williams cleared the bench.
Byron Sanders - I don't think he played a single minute unless he came in during the final minute.
Damion Grant - I don't think he played a single minute unless he came in during the final minute.
Jesse Holley - Not present. Jesse is still playing for the UNC Football team.
Sideline:
Coach Williams didn't start to show a lot of emotion until the second half when he was visibly upset a few times. One thing I know I don't like to see is Felton on the sideline for the whole game. Let's hope we don't have to see that again. Felton was seen cheering on his team vigorously. I recall one 3 McCants made and Felton jumped up and started clapping and talking to everyone.
Announcers:
Matt Doherty
Carter Blackburn
This was a bit of a reunion for Matt and Carolina. He said he watched practice the day before the game and several players went over to say hi. I wonder if Rashad was one of those players? ;-) Overall, if had to watch/listen to Matt announce many games this year, I'd have to put the TV on mute. He needs to go back to coaching because I don't think he comes across well on TV (which is exactly what I thought when I used to watch his Saturday morning coach show when he was at UNC). He comes off pretty smug and likes to use a bunch of coaching jargon that the average fan would have no clue of what he is talking about. Now for the bad part. It is was a well known fact that Doherty and Rashad didn't get along very well. I could see him being overly biased against UNC and specifically Rashad. He kept talking about how refs were missing calls with Rashad fouling and he'd point out several cases where the refs missed calls against UNC. He didn't talk about near as many missed calls in favor of UNC. Obviously Doherty isn't a UNC fan, which I don't expect him to be as an announcer, but I do expect him to call an even game and I don't think he did that.
Here are a few tidbits of note from Matt:
- Jackie is early candidate for defense player of the year
- Said CSTV needs to pay him more money
- Said he was an employee of Isiah Thomas - does some scouting for the Knicks
Referees:
Dave libby
Mike Davis
Verne Harrison
The refs did an ok job, but not great. The called several fouls against Niesen's (aka the Flopper) defender when all Neisen was doing was flopping. Niesen should stick to the court and not pursue an acting job, but the refs fell for his stunts several times. Here are a few other missed calls I saw:
- Called several questionable touch fouls against UNC including a touch foul on May
- Marvin was fouled and they called it a jump ball
- Santa Clara had an obvious goal-tend to everyone in the building....except the refs
Crowd:
Non-factor. Definitely not a capacity crowd. Normally after an unranked team on their own court beats UNC, the crowd storms the floor. It didn't happen this time, but Oakland isn't really Santa Clara's home floor. And there was a lot of Carolina blue in the stands.
