Authors Note: No the results of the Great Alaskan Shootout did not make me give up writing about the Dawgs. I did get a chance to watch all three games online but due to family obligations and travel I did not get to upload my posts until late Sunday night. My apologies to the 150 readers who visited the site over the weekend I would guess just looking for some answers as combining these three games with the football finale did not make for an enjoyable holiday weekend.
Final 62-57 Alaska Anchorage.
Going into the great Alaskan Shootout most Tech fans hoped for a 3-0 record, would be excited about 2-1, disappointed at 1-2, and devastated at 0-3. Welcome to ground zero.
Thoughts on ground zero:
Starters
Jackson
Cooper
Rolle
Guyton
Gibson
*When you don’t shoot the basketball well (%) it’s hard to win games. No matter how great the coaching or athletes if you don’t put the ball in the hoop you are not going to be successful. Tonight’s Tech shot 33% from the field. 33% in the 1st half. 33% in the 2nd half. Consistent yes. Good no. In five of the six halves in Alaska Tech shot in the low to mid 30s.
* Out rebounded tonight 42-36. 24-15 in the 2nd half. Did I mention Anchorage is Division II?
*Anchorage points off turnovers – 21.
* Kyle Gibson once again came out slow shooting 1-5 in the first half with his only bucket being at the nineteen minute mark. As usual second half he turned it on and ended with 17.
*Jamel Guyton was 3 for 10 tonight. For the three game stretch he went 8 for 30 (26%). There probably isn’t a happier individual to get back to Louisiana. He was 16 for 37 (43%) in the first three games of the year.
*Olu Ashalou played 3 minutes in this one. Three games. 31 minutes. 1 FG. Not the start to his career from a guy who played in the ABCD camp all star game you would expect.
*Yonas Behre played seven minutes tonight but it is worth noting Rupp trusts him enough to put him in the game with 1:30 left and a two possession game.
*Cooper had a big first half with 13 points but then disappeared in the 2nd with only two.
*Tech bench (6 players) played 41 minutes and contributed 3 points. That’s all from the line. No FGs.
*It’s pretty obvious Tech was just going through the motions and ready to head home. Tech is not the first division one school to lose to one of these division II schools on their home floor in these tournaments and they won’t be the last.
* The team will get a full week to practice and recover and learn before the next three games (all in North Louisiana) against winnable opponents.
*I’ve got some analysis of the seasons so far I’ll post later in the week. Just remember young teams (or teams who haven’t played together) get better throughout the season. Just look at the football team for an example. After the Army game who would have picked them to go to a bowl game?
A Closer Look at Latech Hoops 