I thought we actually played pretty well on offense. it was a slow paced game, but we scored consistently the whole second half. We scored something like 42 points in 31 possessions in the 2nd half. Granted, we had trouble getting stops, but I don't agree with those who say we played poorly. It wasn't perfect, but it was darn good.
TT, too, came alive late (if this is too much for you to read, skip to 6 and 7).
1) When we were down 62-55 with about 3:30 to go, he drove inside, drew the whole defense and kicked out to Kromah who was able to drive and put in a beautiful finger roll because TT had gotten the defense out of position. Then, we get a stop because we double teamed Kendall Anthony twice and even though he split both, we sped him up so much that he threw up a wild shot over Pellom when Pellom, for once, stepped up to help on time.
2) So then down 5, Taylor drives, draws three defenders and throws the great pass to Pellom for the jame. Next possession Mikic falls down and Robbins decides to drive (with no plan). Again, Pellom steps up and Robbins turns it over trying to pass around Pellom.
3) Now down 3, TT drives, draws the defense, dishes to Kromah, who buries the three to tie with 2:30 to play (TT caught Martel cheating off Kromah when he drove inside so Kromah was open).
4) With the game tied, Kromah gambles for a steal and doesn't get it, leaving Garrett a wide-open lane and a dunk. We get it back and with 2:00 to go, Taylor goes behind his back, gets inside the lane, and hits a tough, leading floater over Lindsey (I thought Lindsey fouled him, was suprised there was no call).
5) Game tied again, Derrick Williams muscles Pellom under the baskset to get open, but Kromah gets there with the help defense in time to come up with a HUGE blocked shot.
6) Next possession, we did something key off the ball that most people probably didn't notice. We ran a little three man screen and cut play -- all off the ball -- which forced Richmond to switch. it resulted in PG Lindsey guarding Pellon in the post on the weak side. While TT dribbled, Pellom singled to Ware and Kromah to stay on their side of the court (he emphatically gestured, to them I think because if the D came, they would be able to switch back. Taylor reversed the ball to Bynes, who mkde the very nice entry pass to Pellom being guarded by the much smaller Lindsey. Derrick Williams came on the double team and Pellom found Ware, who laid it in, using the rim to shield off Darius Garrett. That was a perfect example of all 5 players executing a play to perfection. Great coaching, great execution, and it got us the lead.
7) Now we're up 2, and I thought TT made the defensive play of the game. Kendall Anthony dribbled to his right off a screen. Our D got confused and two people went after Anthony, leaving Darius Garrett open at the three point line. Problem was when the defense stepped up to Garrett, Derrick Willaims was wide open under the basekt. Tony Taylor saw it and left Lindsey at the three point line and sprinted in to guard Williams. TT got there just in time to keep Garrett from throwing it in, but Garrett so Lindsey open at the 3 point line. TT sprinted as quick as he could to close on the shooter -- and something fortunate happened, Lindsey got distracted by TT's run out and instead of concentratiing on the shot he tried to kick his legs out to draw a foul (but TT's run out was under control and he avoided the foul). The result: an air ball, that went out of bounds to us (because LK boxed out Garrett). If TT doesn't cover Williamns inside then make the quick, hard run out on the shooter, the game would have been tied or we might have been behnd.
From there, we got the lucky break with the guy dribbling it off Kromah's foot, hitting some FTs and then holding our breath for the win.
But I thought TT's getting inside the lane on 4 straight possessions when we were down 7 (scoring 2, getting 2 assists, and setting up Lasan even though technically no assist on the play). and making the unsung defensive play when we were up 2 were huge. You could tell the kid really wanted to finally win a big one like this one this year- and he willed it to happen, along with his teammates who never lost the faith.