Saturday night, I was on a birthday party bus and after failing in my attempt to get the bartender at the first bar to turn the CU game on, was finally able to get the game at bar #2. Seriously, I know its the NFL playoffs, but would it kill you to turn ONE of your 57 televisions to the Jays game? One? Anyway, once that sales pitch was successful, the next pitch was to convince everyone to stay at that bar until the game ended.
My solution was to offer to buy beer for the person in charge of making such decisions as long as we stayed at that bar. Not a cheap solution, but a solution nonetheless! You bet.
Random observations from the game (because I haven't done a post-game random thought post in a long time!):
-P'Allen Stinnett finally gets a start over Pierce Hibma. The Jays start the game quicker, Stinnett matches up with the Shox best player, PJ Couisnard, on defense from the opening tip, Hibma plays great off the bench. Everybody wins.
-Wichita State fans are correct that Gregg Marshall should not have been T'd up for his gesture in the second half, on its own merits. But come on, that guy was whining all...night...long. He reminded me of Bruce Weber, and not in a positive way. Every whistle he would say something to the refs. Every time. So yeah, he didn't deserve the T for his silly "gesture and walk away" routine. But the T was a culmination call. In other words, in and of itself it wasn't T-worthy, but combined with his body of work over the evening, the ref simply had enough. I think I know now why he was so quiet on the radio with Perrault last week...he had to save his voice for riding the refs.
-Stinnett should have been T'd up for kicking the ball. Period, end of story. Yes it was not a demonstrative kick (which is probably why the refs didn't notice it), but you can't do that. Someone tell him he just used his "Get Out Of T'dom Free Card", and not to push his luck by trying it again. Please?
-Loved the intensity the Jays brought from the get-go. To have the lead from the 13:22 mark of the first half until the end, on the road, is pretty good stuff.
-Speaking of Marshall's T, could it have come at a worse time for the Shox? Up to that point, the largest lead for either team was five points, and the game had been tied more times than I could count. It was 48-48, Dotzler hits a jumper to put the Jays up 50-48, Preadom is called for an offensive foul in the backcourt, and then Marshall goes bats*** crazy. Bahe hits the technical foul shots, Dotzler hits the foul shots, Dane Watts hits a three, and suddenly its 57-48. Thanks for the gift, coach.
-It was 63-51 with 5:30 to play, and it looked like the Jays were going to pull away, making me look very smart with my prediction. I even said those exact words to a guy at the bar (or something to that effect). "This game is just about over!"
-The Jays didn't score again until the 1:04 mark, and that was on the front-end of a one-and-one with the game tied 63-all. A 12-0 run. Someone remind me to keep my mouth shut next time, presuming I do not learn this lesson on my own and presuming there is, in fact, a next time.
-Koch Arena is an intimidating as ever, regardless of the quality of the home team. I think that place is good for 5-7 points, easy. Its loud, its intense, and its a tough place to get a win.
-Which makes the Jays win even more impressive.
-Especially when you consider Dane Watts fouled out with 3 minutes and change remaining. Raise your hand if you thought the Jays would pull an "El Foldo" after that happened (sheepishly raises hand).
-That the Jays didn't fold with their senior leader and unofficial captain on the bench, in a hostile road atmosphere against a desperate team is a credit to the intestinal fortitude of their young players. This team is growing up before our eyes, folks.
-Now if they could just stop building double-digit leads on the road and then blowing them, I'd be happy as a clam.
-How about that last play of the game? Stinnett misses the back-end of a two-shot foul leaving it a one-possession game. Wichita doesn't use their last timeout, instead opting to run a play and hope the Jays weren't set on defense. This is the Dana Altman strategy, and I've made it known here and elsewhere that I don't like it. Sure, you don't give the defense a chance to draw up a play, but you also don't get a chance to draw up an offensive play to get a clean look. What happened was quite predictable (probably because we've seen it happen to us so many times)...
-The Shox point guard dribbles the length of the court, doesn't have an open look, throws up a desperation shot and misses.
-68-65 Jays win.
-You bet.
POLYFRO HEEE-HAW PLAYER OF THE GAME: Boy, if I could give two cans of virtual Heee-Haw, I would do it. Nick Bahe was 5-7 from the floor, hit three HUGE three-pointers, had two assists and a steal, and had 15 points. But I can't deny Mr. Stinnett. In his first of what will surely be many collegiate starts, he was 6-14 from the floor, made 3 out of 4 free throws in the last 90 seconds of a tight game on the road, had five rebounds, two steals and drew one very, very big charge when the game was tied 63-all with a minute to go.
That's the way you earn future starts. Hell, that's the way you earn not only MVC All-Freshman team honors, but arguably a much more prestigious award: The Polyfro Heee-Haw Player Of The Game. Celebratory Generic Mountain Dew for everyone! You bet.
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