Turn it off at 60-40 and pick it back up at 78-78 LOL. That last stretch was rough Murph. But a win is a win and I am so happy and grateful for it.
What has happened to Aberdeen? DNP against Auburn and only 4 first half minutes against LSU. We blew out Auburn, but we also didn't score from the field in the final 9 minutes. I think Pullen and Clayton are playing too many minutes particularly when the other team is pressing 94 feet. We need another ball handler and somebody that can play solid defense against the opponent guards. Aberdeen seems like the logical choice. I am perplexed by both Richard and Kugel. I didn't think either was particularly good last night, especially in the second half.
I think Aberdeen is struggling to get extended minutes oneatatime, I don't pretend to know the reasons. Like you I would like to see him fit into a defensive role when in relief.
As Golden pointed out, much of our problem late was the lack of stops by our defense and it was their guards that were doing the damage. He should get comparable minutes to Haugh, who played 11 last night,
Clayton & Pullin carry the team for much of the game, maybe too much so, and they seem to be a step slower down the stretch. Pullin is a great distributor of the ball and has a good isolation game, but sometimes he tries to do too much and it leaves the rest of the team standing around watching him dribble around, trying to back his guy down for a turnaround jumper. They have both been clutch for the most part, but those late 2nd have collapses are a concern. Last night we just started settling for outside shots when we had been dominating the paint the entire game. On the other end they were just riving it right to the hoop and we weren't moving our feet to cut them off and either let them get to the rim and/or fould them.
Just watched it. Knew it was a W before I watched, but man I would have been on edge if I had saw it live!