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Offensive firepower at its best last night in Nampa, both teams shooting 50 percent from the field and WWU red hot from 3-point land, 56 percent. Great crowd, church night/$2 tickets, got 1,200 in the stands, need more promotions. Middle and high school kids could go to the admissions table and get free t-shirts, women's and men's teams signed picture autographs after each game. Really nice to see NNU doing this; I hope other GNAC schools will also do this.
WWU is an interesting club, super long and tall. I can see how they beat WOU as outside of Chirnside/Hawken/Boughman, Wolves aren't super tall and WWU is. They sacrifice defensive quickness for height and the ability to get off shots. Backcourt is not quick, but savvy -- if they tried this in D-1, i.e., no quicks/no point guard, they'd get killed. In D2, it works, especially with shooters like Drechsel (6-6) and Hommes (6-7), who had 25 and 29 points, respectively, Hommes a stunning 7 of 10 from 3-point land.
NNU kept it tight, Jones and Megwa were dynamic with 26 and 22 points, Megwa not afraid to go into the big tree forest and make shots with guys hanging on him. He's fun to watch. NNU had to scramble and fight hard to keep it close and they did the whole game. WWU meanwhile would just pull up from 3 and knock it down. Score not indicative of how close it was, NNU had to foul down the stretch. Very entertaining game.
* I don't like to question coaching too much ... I think NNU's Paul Rush is a great coach, but with just under 4 minutes left he pulled Jones, Roth, and I think Bezzant, 3 of his best players, and the subs were not that good. A one-point deficit became 7 in no time. Not sure why he did this, it wasn't foul trouble either. A head-scratcher to me because NNU isn't that deep. Nevertheless, as fun game to be at.
WWU is an interesting club, super long and tall. I can see how they beat WOU as outside of Chirnside/Hawken/Boughman, Wolves aren't super tall and WWU is. They sacrifice defensive quickness for height and the ability to get off shots. Backcourt is not quick, but savvy -- if they tried this in D-1, i.e., no quicks/no point guard, they'd get killed. In D2, it works, especially with shooters like Drechsel (6-6) and Hommes (6-7), who had 25 and 29 points, respectively, Hommes a stunning 7 of 10 from 3-point land.
NNU kept it tight, Jones and Megwa were dynamic with 26 and 22 points, Megwa not afraid to go into the big tree forest and make shots with guys hanging on him. He's fun to watch. NNU had to scramble and fight hard to keep it close and they did the whole game. WWU meanwhile would just pull up from 3 and knock it down. Score not indicative of how close it was, NNU had to foul down the stretch. Very entertaining game.
* I don't like to question coaching too much ... I think NNU's Paul Rush is a great coach, but with just under 4 minutes left he pulled Jones, Roth, and I think Bezzant, 3 of his best players, and the subs were not that good. A one-point deficit became 7 in no time. Not sure why he did this, it wasn't foul trouble either. A head-scratcher to me because NNU isn't that deep. Nevertheless, as fun game to be at.
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