re: Jordan Mickey

It is easy to praise Mickey. He has been our most consistent player so far. With three and sometimes four veteran players starting, that is saying a lot.

The shot blocking is spectacular but he, and indeed the rest of the team, still need a lot of work on basic defense. The one thing that has kept a lot of inferior teams in the game with us is them getting too many easy shots.

With all of our size and ability, it amazes me how many scrums at the defensive basket end up with the other team eventually getting the ball in the hole.

Back to Mickey, as good as he has been, the kid is still a freshman. To start the game he was doing what he does best, scoring from in close. But then, ala JOB in his early years, he finds himself alone at the top of the key and can't resist taking that three which he missed. I'm sure he can make that shot on occassion and it is no big deal if it was later in the game but I thought it really changed the early momentum when they couldn't stop him next to the basket.