Coach Dakich used to talk about the 8 minute media timeout being key for a home team. He said that most road teams would play perfectly well until the 8 minute mark, and then at that time the whole thing would fall apart and the home team would pull away.
I've always wanted to research that, but never really had access to the data. From the land of small samples, in BG's last two home games, they have dominated after the 8 minute media timeout...and last night, it was the reverse, as the Akron Zips got a badly needed win over the Falcons in what was a pretty evenly matched game.
BG was up 46-44 heading into the media timeout, and from there on in was outscored 19-12 for the eventual 63-58 loss. Because of some garbage points in the last minute, that actually overstates the case. With 6:02 Jordan Crawford put BG up 4, but the Falcons did not score again until there were :30 left and they were down 8. There were a few turnovers mixed in with mixed shots, and that was really the game.
BG had been down 7 at the half, and came out strong in the second half, and had taken the lead with 12 minutes left in the game.
The game was actually pretty evenly matched on paper. Shooting was relatively even, and BG had a small advantage on the boards. Akron had a +7 FT advantage based on BG committing 20 fouls to Akron's 10, and Akron only made 16 turnovers, as opposed to 20 for BG.
BG lost this one on the offensive end. BG held Akron to .92 points per possession, which is well below their normal 1.01. The Falcons, however, were very inefficient on offense, with .85 points per possession, a number that harkens back to the Horrors of November. (BG has won only 1 game with less than 1 point per possession--and that was Buffalo).
Individually, the Falcons had strong games from the outside players. It sounded on the radio that the inside guys were having trouble dealing with Zeke Marshall, who is a presence on the inside, anyway you want to slice it. (Marshall had only 7 points, 4 boards and 2 blocks in 31 minutes, but Akron was +13 points when he was in the game).
Thomas had 14 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Jordan Crawford continued his hot play with 16 points on 7 of 12 shooting, along with 7 assists, 4 rebounds and 4 steals matched against 6 turnovers. Luke Kraus also continued to play well with 12 points, 5 rebounds, and only 1 turnover in 28 minutes.
BG got considerably less production from Calhoun, Black, McElroy and Oglesby, and I think that it a credit to Akron's interior D. Dee Brown continued to slump, with 1 of 5 shooting and 4 turnovers in 14 minutes.
It is a quick turnaround for the Falcons, who are now done with the first run through the East. The Hated Rockets are coming up on Tuesday. With as competitive as the East race is, every team will be looking to get fat on the games against the West. BG will need that to keep pace.
No comments:
Post a Comment