Tonight UCF defeated Holy Cross 70-57, continuing the Knights dominance at The Dungeon.This victory sends the Knights to an 8-0 record at home (and to 10-4 on the season), unfortunately; only 3,004 fans were on hand to witness it.
Matt's game analysis:
The Knights started out slow in their first attempt at double digit wins this year, with poor shooting and multiple turnovers. AJ Rompza was targeted as a defensive weakness from the beginning of the game, with the opposing point guard Andrew Beinart taking advantage of the height difference between them. Beinart took shots basically unopposed whenever Rompza was on duty. AJ has incredibly quick hands and feet and is a great defender against other small, quick point guards, but his height deficiency is a clear factor when it comes to any team with decent size at guard. He was removed shortly after the second half began, never to return to the court. Kirk was sighted screaming at Rompza to drive and dish outside, clearly frustrated with Rompza’s efforts.
Tony Davis continued his improvements on his inside game, going hard to the hoop numerous times while drawing 16 foul shots and hitting 14 of them. Davis seemed to be a target of Holy Cross’s defense, taking hard fouls and being forced to shoot free throws. Tony ended the game with a season high 16 points.
Isaac Sosa played well despite wearing a facemask for most of the game, and having a rather large wad of gauze shoved up his nose throughout. He shot 2-6 from beyond the arc, and hit two of his three free throws. If he continues this kind of shooting and improves his defense, he is going to be an absolute machine his senior year. He needs to become a little more confident in his shot, especially shooting quickly after receiving a pass (ala Mike O’Donnell last season.)
Kenrick Zondervan had a solid game, making all three of his attempts and hitting both of his foul shots. His weakness today was receiving passes under the hoop. He committed multiple turnovers while either mishandling a pass or not seeing it completely.
Jermaine Taylor led the Knights in points as always, shooting a very smooth 11 for 17, including 4-8 beyond the arc. He ended the game with 35 minutes played and 29 points scored. As usual, he ignited the Knights multiple times with huge dunks. One came at the beginning of the game when AJ Rompza stole the ball and passed it from his stomach to JT for the slam. The other two were alley-oop plays where Jermaine went back door and received beautiful passes from Chris Baez and Tony Davis.
Vin’s thoughts and opinions:
UCF started off very slow for the second straight week, falling behind by as much as 7. In fact, the Knights didn’t have their first lead until Jermaine Taylor threw down an emphatic slam with 9 minutes remaining in the first half…
Holy Cross, played strong fundamental ball, executing great passing, and playing solid defense. Unfortunately for Holy Cross, they also like to play a little “rough” and chose the wrong man to pick on.
I got 3 words for you: “Tony Davis, baby!” TD may not be known for his free throw shooting abilities, but he hit an outstanding 88% from the line... going 14/16. Tony played fantastic basketball most of the night, clearly having his best game since his stellar USF performance.. He would have had even more points, but he just couldn’t get that “shooters touch” on some of his fouls.
Let me preface this next statement… I love Rompza. Unfortunately, his size proved to be costly tonight. He finished the game with no points and 4 TOs. Being absolutely dominated early on. I have no doubts that he is going to be superb here for years to come.. He’ll bounce back strong.. I just don’t think Memphis is going to be his bounce back.
Isaac Sosa. Can you say, stud? He continued what he’s done all season long, hitting shots from beyond the arc. He is such a great weapon off the bench, another 10 points for him tonight. Once he gains confidence, he is going to be an excellent game manager.
Jermaine Taylor started off slow again tonight, having just 8 points in the first half, but played lights out in the second half, to finish with 29 points.. 12 of which came from beyond the arc. He really has progressed every game this season. He made some fantastic baseline power moves tonight, and continued improving from the line…missing just one attempt.
REMINDER: This Saturday(1/10) @ 5pm the Knights take on the Memphis Tigers. Remind your friends. Bring new people. Pack that damn arena. WEAR BLACK.
Well first off, both of your post are very accurate in my opinion. There are just a few things I would like to add. First off, A.J. Rompza is an excellent open court player. He makes great passes and knows how to dribble very well in traffic due to the fact he is so low to the ground. Well being so low to the ground is not so good on defense, especially when it comes to contesting shots and getting defense rebounds which is important for everybody on the team. The two possible match ups for A.J. in the Memphis game are Doneal Mack(6'6) and Antonio Anderson(6'5). I dont expect him to play as much in this game. Next, UCF as a team had a poor rebounding game like usual. We are just not a good rebounding team. Holy Cross had 9 offensive rebounds which is about 7 too many. We had 3....If we continue to do this against Memphis we will get destroyed. We need to hold them to about 2 offensive rebounds to eliminate second chance scoring. Lastly, Jermaine Taylor needs to stop coming out of games so slowly. We need a consistent effort throughout the whole game. Also if JT settles for the 3 all game long against Memphis that may be bad, he needs to go to the basket to get Memphis into foul trouble.
I voted for other but I like this way too. Vince is a funny writer. Matt don't sound so robotic. In fact, take a few shots before you write your thingy.
Posts
Well first off, both of your post are very accurate in my opinion. There are just a few things I would like to add. First off, A.J. Rompza is an excellent open court player. He makes great passes and knows how to dribble very well in traffic due to the fact he is so low to the ground. Well being so low to the ground is not so good on defense, especially when it comes to contesting shots and getting defense rebounds which is important for everybody on the team. The two possible match ups for A.J. in the Memphis game are Doneal Mack(6'6) and Antonio Anderson(6'5). I dont expect him to play as much in this game.
ReplyDeleteNext, UCF as a team had a poor rebounding game like usual. We are just not a good rebounding team. Holy Cross had 9 offensive rebounds which is about 7 too many. We had 3....If we continue to do this against Memphis we will get destroyed. We need to hold them to about 2 offensive rebounds to eliminate second chance scoring.
Lastly, Jermaine Taylor needs to stop coming out of games so slowly. We need a consistent effort throughout the whole game. Also if JT settles for the 3 all game long against Memphis that may be bad, he needs to go to the basket to get Memphis into foul trouble.
E
Needs more girls jumping on trampolines.
ReplyDeleteI voted for other but I like this way too. Vince is a funny writer. Matt don't sound so robotic. In fact, take a few shots before you write your thingy.