Friends of Air Force Basketball

A very interesting game for our Falcons. The timing of this game vs this team was probably appropriate. Let me first give credit for TSU for what they tried to do. A team with no wins, playing on the road for their 12 consecutive games to include this being their 4th game in 7 days (and playing at altitude), and having the 10th hardest schedule to date in the Sarigan ratings of SOS out of 300+ teams. Wow! They have no outside threat so tried to pound it inside for the entire game.

With that said, our Falcons were on the 'other side' of the bubble....playing their first game after 9 days, after final exams and playing a 0-11 team. Could be trouble? At the end it was not, but the team showed the time off. After their last game (a Saturday), the team had exams for 4 days with individual workout time as they saw fit. Back to the gym and, as Matt Holland said in postgame interview, they had 3 of their best practices to date. Point of note, DBrooks is out nursing an ankle injury and PBrown suited up last night but did not play).

The team showed energy and emotion on the court yesterday. Diving for ball, working underneath, being physicial. They turned into an uncharacteristic 19 PF's. Some were good calls, some questionable by the ref...but none-the-less the guys were playing aggressive on defense. First half TSU had some success inside, but as we realized they had no outside presence (poor shooting and good defense = TCU 0-10 3pt), coaching staff and players adjusted right before the end of the half and the rest of the game was all Falcons on the defensive end. We played in our matchup zone the entire game.

On offense I saw mixed emotions throughout the game. At times I saw an incredible amount of good passes both against the zone and man to man. Very business like. But at times we really tried to force a shot OR take an extra pass prior to shooting. We actually had a transition game last night. While the box score doesn’t show any fastbreak points, we had 3 or 4 fastbreak baskets…and we had 2-3 fastbreak misses! At times we got out of control on the offensive end resulting in good shot selection, but misses under the rim that we should not have had. Cut to the chase, at times we tried to play TSU style of game and lost control of the ball and the shot. This game could easily have been 80points or more the AF. Between missed FG’s discussed above and another poor performance at the FT line (20-33 60%...nice job Matt 5-5!), we left points on the court. I do have to comment on offense vs full court pressure. For the entire 2^nd half, TSU applied full court pressure. We used a basic man offense to bring the ball down and waiting for the trap to pass….but did it poorly several times resulting in TO’s. Coaching staff made a good adjustment to use (my term only, don’t know the proper term), more of a full court zone offense to use less dribbling and more passing to break the press….one word here…NICE! Got the ball up the court. Good experience for the team.

With all this said, it was a positive game after the layoff! We passed the ball well and played aggressive defense inside. Good Game to get rid of the cobwebs. Matt Holland played hard and aggressive the entire game. Great stats and numbers and 5 steals. Andrew got out of his groove early and got early fouls limiting his time. Anwar, on paper a good game w/ 16 pts but got out of control several times (3 to’s). Needs to ‘breath deep’ and play within himself as he said he needed to in an interview 3 weeks ago….about the time he began to break out and play so well. Did get to the rim…good, did score…good, did get fouled at times….good, made on 2-6 FT’s…ah. Evan played well but got frustrated with the TSU fouls, 2-3 from the line with 5 rebounds. Bigs overall good…Mike and Sammy need to look to shoot. Noonan 4 rebs. Nice minutes by Avery. Very patient with the ball, good decisions and 2-3 from the 3pt. I like watching Jon Atkins. Very sharp passing and aggressive defense.

Overall a slightly ragged but successful night for the team! I think this helps them nicely prepare for Portland. Guys will fly home today, have an early Christmas, and on to Cal Tourney on Christmas Day. Merry Christmas!

AF Box Score: http://goairforcefalcons.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/afa/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/TSUBox

On a beautiful but windy night in Colorado Springs, our Falcons came out hard and ready to play. An excellent win for our Falcons at home after playing 7 days ago at UNC. AF wins over Tx Pan-Am 71-50 in front of 2041 fans (to include 25 or so cadets who have begun final exam weekend).

From the beginning, you could see a different ‘feeling’ about the team tonight. Don’t know if it was the time off to get their legs back, if they just ‘had a feeling’, or if they knew that tonight was the fun before the tedious exam week begins. At the FoAFB reception, Coach Pryor (this weeks scout coach who obviously helped lay a sound game plan for our team) commented that the team had a great week of practices. He said he felt they were ready for this game….and indeed they were. On offense we saw the team come down from 17 TO’s last week to only 12 this week. Tx PanAm played a combination of zone and man to man, but never gave us any full court or half court pressure. We ran our offense well. Versus the man to man I felt I saw our AF offense move the ball using cuts and passes. The plays were familiar to what we have seen in the past and with new motion at times. We didn’t force the ball inside, but if it was there on a cut we took it with Anwar leading the way followed by Andrew and Evan going to the rim. Didn’t get any (or many) true open back door looks, but the collapsing by Tx PanAm gave us the opportunity to kick the ball for an open three look. Except for one or two opportunities, this may have been the best ball movement I’ve seen in this young season versus a zone defense. Very good and quick passing outside, working inside and if no shot, back out nicely. We didn’t force anything and actually did well on the glass getting 10 (out of 36 total) offensive rebounds. 5 different players had 4 or more rebounds total with Andrew having 8.

I thought we played more aggressive on defense for the whole game. A few lapses here and there but overall sound. We extended the matchup zone out to half court picking up the point guard there as he came over the line. Quick movements and switches with a lot of talk. It looked like we were getting burned by the three (Tx PanAm Smith made 3 in a row in the first half…..not all alone but well behind the arc, nice shots). It seemed like ‘here we go again’….but the staff adjusted for a short while with a box and one on him and we took him out of his rhythm. He finished 3-10 for the game (we later went back to our normal defense). Held them to 37% FG and 30% 3pt….this is a team who lost to Drake at Drake by 2points. A team avg’ing 67 points was held to 50pts. Nice job guys.

We did let some deep passes into the lane a few times as we were concentrating on the perimeter….need to switch quicker and ‘block out’ in those situations to deny the lane. Overall a nice job by the defense…I liked the ‘hands in your face’ we are going to deny you type of defense!

Individually we were led by Andrew. A man on a mission tonight finishing with a career high 23pts, season high 8 rebounds and 50% 3pt with 5-10. Good passing and the best thing, only one TO. AND no forcing by Andrew overall tonight. Anwar again is raising his game. Good ball control, good drives to the basket and shooting if there or making great passes outside if covered. A very respectable 4-11, 2-3 FT and 3 assists. Matt, with his Mom and Grandparents there, had a nice 9 pts and 4 assists in 27 mins. Evan had an excellent night with great judgment. 5-6 FG with 5 rebs and 2 assists. Very aggressive defense.

Pleasant surprises of the night. Mike McClain 2-2 3pts, 4 rebs and 2 steals. Avery solid with no TO’s and 1 3pt in 13 mins. The big man Trevor Nonnan showed a glimpse of the future. In 16 mins he had 7 pts, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. I don’t say this lightly, he had some passes that reminded me of a young Nick Welch. Post interview with J.Arthur, when asked about that, he said something like “We have guys that are scoring right now so my job is to pass instead of feel I have to score…I enjoy the passing game….I’ll have my opportunity in the future to score”. As I said, a glimpse of the future….maybe a 6’9” forward and a 6’11” center in the next few years???? Good mins by Taylor, Derek, Jon and Brandon. Grant was quiet but aggressive on defense.

Coach and staff did a good job again of getting guys in and out of the game. 9 guys in double figure mins. And it was substitution during the whole game for at least 9 of the 13 guys that played…..not just in the last 7 mins or so.

A lot still to be learned by this team, but a lot of growing has taken place. We finished the game 52% FG, 50% 3pt, 67% (6-9) FT’s. UT had 20 pts in the paint but we had 24. UT had 4 2^nd chance pts, we had 6. One of the biggest stats, 18 assists on 28 FG’s. Not too bad.

Next game is our early OOC trap game. We play in 9 days on Monday 22Dec vs 0-8 Tx Southern. Sounds too easy? This team is 0-8 but has played #24 Marquette, UTEP, Cincinnati, Arkansas, Washington and play 3 games before playing us (Texas 16^th, Gonzaga 18^th, and Idaho 20^th)…and all of their first 8 games AND these 3 games have/are on the road. They will come to Clune (aka THE CHAMBER) as an experienced and hungry team. And our guys will be coming off of exam week and a layoff. We then hit the road for games 27/28 at Cal (starting with Portland), 31^st at home vs Stonybrook and open MWC 3Jan vs SDSU. GO FALCONS

Early morning and the coffee is brewing. Another home win for the Falcons and 'again' a lot of positives for this young team. It was AF with a home crowd of 2388 playing a team that had outside shooting (for a while), inside presense with a 6'11" Big, changed defenses and pressured us inside and outside on offense. Ref's don't win or lose games, but last night the refs were making 'interesting' and 'ticky tacky' fouls on both teams (at least 5 hand check fouls) instead of letting the teams play resulting in both teams having opportunities at the line. More on that below.

The home crowd (I assume the majority were us season ticket holders) was joined by the band and the 'diehard' 30 cadets from Section 8. These guys/gals did their best behind the basket to have a presence. But, as in past pre-season games, it was disappointing to not see more of the student body present. One guy gave the excuse that 'everyone just returned for Thanksgiving. I don't buy it, just no support. Hopefully that will change, especially once MWC play begins. The band was there and loud.....time for them to move from the upper deck to behind the basket in the lower section. If Section 8 won't fill it up then maybe the band will. Maybe they'll move for the next home game! Note: Chauncy Billups attended the game at Clune to see his old CU coach, now the coach at NI Ricardo Patton.

Northern Illinois played an aggressive defense changing up throughout the night. Starting zone, switching to man-to-man, then quickly back to zone. Play a typical 2-1-2, a 3-2 at one time I think, and late in the second half a half court trapping zone. No real full court pressure until late in the game and this caused us some problems initially, but figured out by the offense shortly with no ill effects 'after' one TO.

Our offense ran well last night. Especially in the first half I saw very good ball movement vs the man defense. Good cutting. We move the ball quickly up the court after inbounds or rebound and, if no quick opportunity, settled into the offense. Good motion 'Air Force Offense' but with a twist. While the movement was very similar to what began at our Princeton with Joe Scott was the same in many respects, it didn't begin immediately inside out. Offense keep the ball up top with several passes then (after10 sec+ it seemed) began the motion offense. Again, nice passing inside of opportunities and great inside/out passing. Same vs the zone. Although it seemed we didn't run it as effectively 2nd half (I think that was due to 'again' the changing defense NI was playing), I thought it was the best ball movement vs zone I've seen thus far. To help our effort, we worked hard on the offensive boards. While Grant Parker didn't score and the 'big's overall didn't add to point totals, there seemed to be more of an aggressiveness on the boards tonight as we had 7 of our 12 offensive boards from Parker or Noonan. Great job guys. One of the BIGGEST things to note...of our 22-46 FG 48%, we had assists on 18 of them! Wow...great team effort. And only 10 TO's on 66 pocessions.

Not only did we score with the offense, we had 2-3 very nice transition baskets on breakaways to include Anwar steal and dunk and Henke run the ball down the court with a finishing behind the back dish to Noonan for a bucket. Nice transition.

Defense played well tonight. We got into a rythm and played solid inside and out. Even with the hand check fouls (wow...some were laughable....ok, I'm a homer...did JA say anything on the radio anyone?), we played aggressive. Underneath we worked hard against the big man who was smooth and aggressive. Good double down when we needed to. He's not a Luke Neville, but good experience vs size none the less. Outside we had good pressure. Their one '3' expert appeared to go off during the night making some 3's at surprising times, most with moderate coverage. But even if he was 5-12 last night, we held the team to 7-23 for 30%. We won the rebounding edge 34-30, but with their height they did get 17 offensive rebounds.

Kudo's to the players and staff. Good rotation by Coach Reynolds. 8 of 9 players had double digit minutes with six having 20 or more. We did rely on Matt, Andrew and Anwar all with 30+.

Matt had a career night. Wow has he been steady. Very good and gratious postgame comments as he was selected the AOG player of the game. 8-10 FG 5-6 3pt 21pts. He talked about the team playing within it self, keeping it's composure and getting 'excited'. Coach complimented him on not only shooting well, but 'not' taking some shot opportunities, instead passing to another with better position or for a layup. Coach feels Matt's defense is continuing to improve. Congrats Matt.

Another good night for Anwar. Getting much more comfortable at the point and playing in control. 6-11 inside and 7-8 FT's!

Andrew continues to play a team game. The leadership of the 3 seniors 'may' finally be maturing to help direct this team. A very good 5-13, 2-5 3pt 2-3 FT 6 reb and 3 assts. Again, good improvements on defense.

Evan didn't score from the field but was huge with 8 rebs and 7-10 FT's. Good defense up top.

The bigs as a group didn't add to scoring and I believe that is a concern for the team. But, as mentioned above, contributed greatly on the boards and blocking out. Grant is getting more and more aggressive underneath and played very well vs the 6'11'. He got two early fouls and Trevor Noonan got the nod and opportunity. He took it and played very well in 13 mins with 4 points, 4 rebs, 1 block and 1 assist. Mike needs to have his breakout game and hopefully it will come soon.

Taylor worked hard but, vs the pressure defense, had his first true freshman game with a few TO's. Time and maturity will help him continue to improve. Avery played very well up top as the loan guard off the bench. No scoring but handled the ball well and directed the offense.

Not a perfect game but a very good and solid win for the tean and the staff. A tough one looms Saturday at UNC in Greely vs the Bears who lost to SDSU last night 73-62....yes, holding SDSU to only 73 pts!

See news today for all the stats and stories.

Ok, deep breath, I'm ready to type. Oops, just like the team at times tonight, I just realized, I'm already typing! Seriously, another tale of two halves for our young team. A few postives as there always 'should' be following a game (learn from your mistakes and find the 'gold that's in the sand and muck'), and a lot of areas to look at and figure out how to improve.

AF played Wofford for 20 minutes to end the first half tied, after playing a pretty solid first half. Yes, we went from 8 (or 9) up in the half to finish tied, but the offense was moving, the defense not bad. We missed at least 3 or 4 layups that should have been in during this half. They were NOT wide open shots, mostly pressured hard, but definately makeable. Wofford, for the whole game, did not miss these kinds of shots. We did get fouled on some of these misses and did ok on the FT's. I don't have a breakdown by half, but we shot an excellent 91% FT's for the game at 19-21. Although as fans we thought Wofford did better than that, they did not shooting only 78% at 18-23. Wofford played mostly man for the game, guessing 70%, with 25-30% zone. We did break the man, but didn't always score on the inside as mentioned above.

I won't get into alot of names tonight, but some things jumped out. Career night for Grant Parker (who, I believe, is recovering from being ill) at 15 pts. Solid 5-8 FG, 1-1 3pt 4-4 Ft and 4 rebs in 23mins. Great job and the most aggressive I've seen him. Another solid night for Matt, 13 pts on all 3's 3-4 and 4-4 FT's. Need to get more aggressive on the boards. Anwar had a tough night....drove very well but 1-8 / 0-1 3's. Evan was 4-9...shot great from inside the arc, but 0-4 on 3's. We really need him to find a way to hit outside to help pull the defense on him, or they will sag. Overall the shot selection was very good, but just didnt' hit (as a whole) for everyone on the team. Mike didn't score again in 10 mins. He needs to get a few to get the confidence up...we need him to contribute on the scoreboard. Freshmen Steward and Noonan played, and were solid with controlling the ball, but not much scoring tonight. Andrew had moments throughout the night.

The biggest thing to comment on is perimeter defense AGAIN. Credits to Woffords Junior Salter with a career night 28pts 9-18Fg 7-13 3pts 3-4 FT's (and Reggie Minton Classic tournament player!). We gave him space and he made the shot. A team that shot 30 something percent 3's vs UCCS, shot 44% tonight. And even when we payed good defense, we still get scored on (ex: perfect 33seconds of defense, the shooter throws up the ball 1 foot outside the arc with a hand in his face, hits it off the backboard, into the net!..ouch again). In post game comments coach said the team isn't 'buying into the defense'. I'm not sure what that means, but I think it's as much intensity as anything. We came out and played with good emotion and intensity in the first 15 minutes of the game....but slowed and faltered down the stretch. Wofford did not...they ran and cut as hard the last 10 mins as the first. That's not on the coaches, that's on the players. I think this will come with maturity.

Relative to the game and flow, if a 'big' is not producing, or if a starting guard is not producing, it might be the time to pull them for someone who can give you something during this game. Not taking away anything from any one player, but if it's an off night, it's an off night. Nuff said there.

Positives from the USAFA summary:
-- Junior Grant Parker scored a career-high 15 points
-- Air Force had four players in double figures for the third consecutive game
-- Sophomore Evan Washington scored a season-high 11 points
-- Air Force's 90.5% (19-21) from the free-throw line is the best this season

In addition, even on rebs with 30 each and only gave them 7 offensive rebounds. That's much improved. They were bigger than us, but didn't score inside consistently, that's a positive. Negative: We MUST find a perimeter defense. Even a poot shooting outside team, if they are open and given opportunities, will flourish and begin to hit with consistency if they get the confidence going.

A tough game with our first road game Wed vs Stanford. According to the web, you can watch this free on the Stanford website: http://gostanford.cstv.com/spo...askbl-body.html I'll put this up seperately for all to see. Stanford currently 4-0. GO FALCONS

Thanks to all the fans of Air Force sports that have and do continue to support all our teams. A special thanks to you diehards who go to all the games, to those that talk Air Force sports, to the 'few' that post on the blogs and forums, because you are an integral part in spreading the word about our Falcons. I am writing this to all of YOU to ask for your help in spreading the word about what our Air Force sports teams have done and are doing.

Do many of you realize where Falcon sports have risen to on the 'national' horizon beginning 5 years ago? Since the Academy reconvened for the fall semester in 2003, our Air Force Falcons have made their name know throughout the nation, and not just due to football. Prior to that year we lived and died based on the accomplishments of our Falcon football team led by legendary coach Fisher DeBerry. We went to bowl games, had great rankings....we were known. During the last of his coaching years, AF was truly 'out of the limelight'. But change was coming and is still here.

Around 1999 a young coach by the name of Joe Scott was hired to take over for another legend at USAFA, basketball coach Reggie Minton. He proceeded to bring the Princeton Offense (our current style is now often call the Air Force Offense) to AF and began recruiting players that could succeed in that system. Coach Scott brought the team to all time highs, a legacy he will have here at the Academy for years to come. Since his arrival and with coaches that followed, the team has succeeded by winning the MWC conference once, having an individual (Nick Welch) be co-Player of the Year for the MWC, going to the NCAA's twice and the NIT semi-finals! A tradition was begun.

A younger coach was hired before that to come coach our AF Hockey Falcons. Coach Frank Serratore came to the Academy as only our 4th coach in the team’s history. He worked hard with the team, changed the way we recruited hockey players, and brought a new attitude to Falcon Hockey. In the past two years we have gone to the NCAA's twice (an accomplishment that has never happened here before), won the league tourney and won the league outright! And as of this date, our current team is 10-0 and ranked 12^th in the nation. This is not only the highest our AF Falcons have ever been ranked, but it’s the highest that anyone in our conference (Atlantic Hockey) has ever been ranked!

As basketball was hiring our current coach Jeff Reynolds in 2007, Coach Deberry retired and Coach Troy Calhoun, an Air Force Academy graduate, was hired to succeed him and lead our football team. Picked to finish at the bottom of the pack, he led the team to an overall 9-4 record and our first bowl appearance since 2002. Presently, a team that lost 18 starters from last year, picked to finish 7 in the league, is now 8-3, in fourth place with one game to be played, headed to a bowl, and ranked fourth nationally in rushing yards per game. Not bad for a team picked to finish near the bottom of the conference!

So lets review:

2003-04 AF Basketball MWC champions, NCAA’s,

2005-06 AF Basketball NCAA’s

2006-07 AF Basketball NIT Semi-Finals, AF Hockey NCAA’s, AHA tourney champions

2007-08 AF Hockey NCAA’s, AHA league Champions, AF Football Bowl game

2008-Present: AF Hockey 10-0, AF Football 8-3 headed to a bowl, AF Basketball begins season 2-0

Air Force is once again known for it’s athletic accomplishments in the public eye, but it is not just for football, it’s all three of our major sports. In addition we had several individuals (either graduates or coaches) highlighted during the Olympic trials and at the Olympics themselves.

This is a time when fans out there need to embrace our young men and women as they take to the fields, the courts, the track, the diamond. Efforts must be taken to fill every venue and to get ‘the word out’ on all our sporting events. It’s a shame that an Air Force football team sporting a record of 8-2 and playing the team ranked 15^th nationally, cannot sellout our stadium. So while our ‘home’ football season is over, Air Force fans out there still have the opportunity to ‘start the fire burning’ and to get out and support our Falcons.

Our football team WILL be playing in a bowl game. Last year Air Force set a bowl record for number of ticket sold, selling over 12,000 tickets for the Armed Force Bowl. We can do that again or better this year! Clune Arena seats 6000 fans. In the past we have had conference games and (most notably) the Air Force vs DePaul quarter final NIT game, sold out. Nothing was more dramatic than seeing fans, from cadets in Section 8 to season ticket holders, swarming the court after our win. There is no reason we cannot have crowds like that for every game. Lastly, our Air Force Hockey Falcons are on the verge of major national attention. Everyone is talking about ‘some Air Force team’ that is 10-0, ranked #12, and having two players at the top of the national scoring list!. The Cadet Ice Arena can hold 2500 fans. Only 2500! How can this venue NOT be sold out every time these Falcons step on to the ice? The opportunities are there for each and every Falcon fan to support these teams and any number of other Falcon teams during their respective seasons.

So, as I wrap this up, I challenge each and everyone out there in the Colorado Springs area, in Castle Rock, Pueblo and Denver, to look at the schedules and get out there and support the Falcons. For the diehard football fans, do not hibernate away from Falcon sports until spring football, rather go watch a hockey or basketball game. Imagine if 10-20% of those fans that ‘do’ go to football games, would make a basketball or hockey game? That would equal = sellouts! Basketball and hockey fans, take an afternoon or evening when the team is out of town to go watch another sport. In this time of economic downturn, the relatively inexpensive tickets for you and the family to enjoy Falcons sports is something you cannot afford to miss. Where else can you go for $20-25 with a family of four to enjoy each others company, sit with fellow friends and fans, and enjoy yourself? Not the professional sports where you will spend and arm and a leg! You out of town fans out there, tune in to the nationally televised Falcons in many sports (example: 15 basketball games, to include 14 of our MWC games will be televised on either theMtn, CBS-C or Versus and available on either cable or Direct TV), or listen to all basketball, football or hockey games live on the web for no cost to you! Air Force fan forums and blogs are alive and well and allow you to talk Air Force sports and read the daily news with links posted from all local newspapers along the Front Range and stories from our pregame and postgame stories from our opponent’s media. (Some sources for fan participation are www.airforce.scout.com and click on forums, www.friendsofairforcebasketball.org particularly the basketball news and the AF news sections, or www.goairforcefalcons.cstv.com )

It’s a special time for Air Force fans in all our sports. As we celebrate our Air Force Academy and it’s traditions of service and academics, let’s also get out there and support our team as they play

I was going to come home after watching a good game, having stopped for a glass of red wine and some pasta, but then remembered to do my writup!

With that said, I'll lay a few word on ya for what I thought of the game. The comments from Irish and others (See AF Forum (go to Forum) ) said most of what I saw! Still a 'young team and a work in progress' as Coach said in his postgame radio interview with Jim Arthur. I think this showed throughout the game but with some very bright spots which shone throughout the game! In addition, kudo's to those that made it to the game. Much less than Friday (not bad for third AF event BB-FB-BB in one weekend, 2800 tonight vs 3200 Friday night), but a good crowd. Less cadets and less energetic than Friday but those 2800 WHERE at Clune...thanks to those fans!

The biggest comment I have for the night was intensity. It seemed lacking to a degree as our Falcons hit the court. In post game comment JR even said the shoot around at 930 this am was not a good one resulting in missed opportunities as we progressed to the game...more on that later. I must give the team some leeway, Cal St Bakersfield (CSB) came out in a zone and stayed in it until after the half/midway thru the 2nd half then went man-to-man. Coach said the morning shoot around was lacking that they never got to look at/review (remember, this is a very young team) our offense vs a box-and-one. He thought CSB would try that a little, and in reality played that the whole time until they went man-to-man. Think about it. If you look at last years stats and our first game, who do you guard? Andrew Henke. CSB played box on one vs him anytime he was in and, when he left the game, did the same vs Anwar. During this period of time, the offense looked sluggish and (at times) unsure of themselves. They still worked hard but as a casual fan it felt slow and not our AF offense. That is something many fans forget as I sometimes do. We don't run the same AF / Princeton style offensive sets vs man-man as we do vs zone. It's a differnt thought process and not as much looking for the back door due to the zone. We did adapt and get opportunities for shots, both inside and out as the game went on. The team offense showed good sparks of movement, and even with the zone/box, had several backdoor and/or drive to the basket opportunities. Tried posting up at times with moderate success. Actually moved the ball quickly up the court a few times, but didn't have many opportunites to score off of them, and once had a 3v1 and didn't score.

On defense it was a different scenario than Friday. A much bigger team that 'early on' shot well outside, but also tried to push it into the paint with several big bodies on the team. Actually did well on the inside early in the game, fell off in the middle third of the game resulting in CSB getting some of their 20 off rebs, and 18 points off second chance shots. But the defense did what they needed to do holding CSB to 33.8% Fg and 23.6% 3pt (in comparison, CSB shot 30.3% FG and 11.8% 3's in their loss Friday to Wyoming 84-58).

Individual play comments alot about how our team did this evening.
Andrew seemed to be quiet (as some in another thread mentioned), but with the defense it's understandable, 3-6 FG 2-3 3pointers. Thought he used his 'role' well but needed to be more aggressive moving with the man defender (in the box-and -one) to disrupt the defense more. The lack of practice as a team vs the box may be the reason.

Anwar drove and, while missed a couple, did an excellent job getting to the rim. But was only 5-13 and 5-8 FT's. If you don't score, ya gotta make the FT's. I'm preaching to the choir here. His potential and abilites are greater than last year. I saw the thought process and movement to the rim as aggressive and at the correct times. If he can break the bubble and figure how to be more consistent, it will change our game!

Evan was quite today. 3-6 (good numbers) but I think we need him to look more at the shots. Even from from the 3...while he may not be our 3 pt shooter, he has opportunities that I think he can successfully take. Versus the zone, he was not in as good a position for rebounds and vs the bigs, didn't get many on defense.

Matt Holland played as a good role player tonight. Didn't look much from the outside.
Mike McClain...some good aggessive play, but didn't score when the opportunity presented itself.

Off the bench, Parker, Stewart and Noonan played very well.
Parker...best game of his career. 3-6 FG and 6-8 FT's. Fairly aggressive underneath. Needs to 'jump' more, get off his feet. I'm very proud of his play and especially his FT's. Postgame said he worked hard this week on FT technique.

Talyor Stewart...wow, for a freshman he's played two very solid games. Jim Arthur asked about his experience in the system. He said he played a motion offense in H.S. and a similar offense to ours in AAU. It showed. First double-double for a Fr since Tom Bellairs (in 2000 I think it was said) w/ 13pts and 10 rebound (see stats below).
Very nice and good defense. Did have a couple (2) of unforced To's (4 total) showing freshman mental error. Co AOG player of the game with Grant Parker.

Trevor Noonan. We played a combination offense tonight, often having both 6'8" Parker and 6'9' Noonan in . He contributed greatly in his first real action 3-5FG, 1-3 3pt 8 total. Statistically good, but the big thing was his presence and his passing. Early to say (and going out on the limb with this comment)...but his passing even as a freshman reminds me of Nick Welch's passing. Could have force several shots but made a good decision under duress and passed...score for AF!

Overall an intersting game. JArthur thought it was a much better performance vs a better team tonight vs Friday. I don't know if that's totally true, rather a performance vs 'a shooting with bigs' team tonight with CSB vs Westerns 'shoot from outside and make them' team. Good learning. The tightness of the game and the box-and-one probably helped Coach's decsion to shorten the bench, and it worked. 8 guys played and 5 had 10pts or more, with Andrew coming in with a difficult 10pts. Evan had 7 and Trevor 8...good balance.

Free throws continue to be the 'dark horse' on our guys. Only 50% in the first half (4-8)...but a respectable 78% 14-18 2nd half. Overall 70% (69.2%)...we must be more consistent becasue that 'will' win or lose 3-4 games this season.

Oveall good game for our young team. They need to find their energy, sense of urgency, focus as they step on the floor and keep that intensity for 40 minutes. Good we have an easier schedule becasue we will need each and every game to grow upon. Two games next week Sat UCCS 5pm, Sun Woford 5pm followed by on the road at Stanford the 26th. Mark your calendars.

Full story and stats/box score from USAFA
http://goairforcefalcons.cstv..../111608aab.html

Postgame summary is, like, wow! A lot of positives out there following at tough 40 minutes of basketball for our Falcons!. Our Falcons beat Western State 70-64. Starting five was Washington and Johnson up top, Mike McClain in the middle and Henke and Holland on the outside.

Got to start with kudo’s to the fans. Had 3200 there (a half full Clune Arena) and a good showing from the cadets and Section 8. I remember season OOC openers with 250 in the stands. Good noise, good energy…thanks to all who came!

A young team that showed a lot during an interesting game. Some on the board are already talking about ‘oh, oh….long season’. I see it in a different light. As coach said in his post game comments, ‘a work in progress’. AF played a DII Western State team that was there to play. Final stats are not all out…the ESPN stats don’t show 3 pointers……but let me tell you, WSt shot them. They were something from outside. Their % may not be high, but I’m guess that 4 out of every 5 shots in the first 30 mins were from the 3 pt range. I saw shots made from the arc, from 1 foot outside the arc, from 2 feet outside the arc, and at least 3 shots made 3 feet outside the arc…..and that’s with someone guarding them (although not ‘in his face’…I mean, who makes those shots?). And they always made those shots when they needed it. Kudo’s to WSt!

We worked hard throughout the game. Our 3pt % was something like 8 -15 or 53%. Not bad. We were 25 – 51 for 49% FG….we had a ‘good’ % FT’s in the first half but struggled late in the game and ended up 12-21 or 51%. That hurt. The two biggest stats were that our ‘big’s were 1-9 today and WSt had 12 offensive rebounds.

I thought the offense ran well at times and you are still see the ‘AF offense’ / Princeton principles….but it was not run as aggressive as I think coach would have liked. I think that is still the inexperience. We had 3 or 4 nice back doors. We had several missed opportunities, and those were mainly by the bigs and by Evan…more on that below. The good news is, only 7 turnovers for the game! The defense was overall good, but (again) the outside shooting was exceptional although the final % doesn’t sound like it.

See the stats and numbers below (it shows Parker started, but McClain actually did). You’ll see a good rotation of the starting five with true freshman Taylor Stewart getting 30mins of playing time along with rotation of Parker and Avery Merriux. The other two freshmen Noonan and Atkins were in for under two mins. Props to both junior Avery Merrieux and Fr Taylor Stewart with good play and no turnovers scoring 9 and 10 pts respectively. I think Taylor Stewart is the real deal. Andrew Henke played very well and was high man with 18 points (but some missed FT’s). Excellent overall at 6-9. Holland 4-4, Johnson 5-10….Evan didn’t shoot well but had 8 rebounds and 2 blocks…this young man can fly!

Overall a much closer game than desired or thought…..but maybe that’s what this team needs to learn and grow. I’m pleased at the poise they showed and the lack of turnovers. They came from 10 down to up by 10 the back to even….so an up and down night. But they never quit!