UAA on a roll...

[lv2hoop]

Seawolves have won 7 straight. I'm looking forward to the match-up with Billings in Anchorage on Saturday night. If the Seawolf men can continue this streak, they should be moving up in the West region rankings at last.

UAA has a formula that is working for them. They know who they are offensively (very efficient) and their defense and especially their rebounding has become a tough wall for most teams to penetrate.

The one issue that they have is they don't have a true threat to throw the ball into the post to and get easy buckets from. Hammell creates some scoring inside based solely on his offensive rebounding prowess. But he can't create a basket for himself off of a straight up move. Neither can Devine. So their offense isn't as dynamic as you'd want to see if they were a favorite to win the West Region. But you never know since the game is so perimeter oriented anyway and they do have a ton of firepower and depth in that backcourt.

And Devine and Hammell offer a lot in terms of rebounding and shot blocking and overall basketball IQ is good from them, they just aren't great offensively.

[Rob_AK]

Re: UAA on a roll...

UAF is a scrappy team and put up a valiant fight tonight but didn't quite get it done. It was a defensive battle reminiscent of the CCAA games. But it was a heck of a game and the UAF announcer was entertaining and didn't make a big deal about the inevitable questionable calls that happen during a game. If UAF continues to play defense the way they did tonight they have a decent chance of finishing 4-1 and maybe getting to the GNAC tourney with a 10-10 record. I was impressed with the defensive intensity of both teams.

Svejcar and Mitchell both had good shooting games which always makes UAA look pretty good. UAA outrebounded UAF 48-26 including 20 offensive boards which was the difference in the game. Surprisingly it was Svejcar that led the way with 7 offensive boards. I thought Wiggs had a pretty good all around game even though he scored a career low of 11 points. You are right about Hammell and Devine not being major offensive threats (and tonight was not one of their best games in that regard). But Hammell was a force on the boards as usual, and Devine is a great defensive presence. He is able to make the high post trap on picks and still get back to his guy as well as block or force people to alter their shots inside. Avoiding fouls when playing that kind of defense is difficult. One somewhat related statistic from tonight's game is that UAF outscored UAA 26-16 in the paint despite giving up 20 offensive rebounds.

Well, UAA passed one major road test and have one major one remaining - at WOU. That should tell us a lot going into the postseason.

[tsull]

Re: UAA on a roll...

Seawolves have won 7 straight. I'm looking forward to the match-up with Billings in Anchorage on Saturday night. If the Seawolf men can continue this streak, they should be moving up in the West region rankings at last.

UAA has a formula that is working for them. They know who they are offensively (very efficient) and their defense and especially their rebounding has become a tough wall for most teams to penetrate.

The one issue that they have is they don't have a true threat to throw the ball into the post to and get easy buckets from. Hammell creates some scoring inside based solely on his offensive rebounding prowess. But he can't create a basket for himself off of a straight up move. Neither can Devine. So their offense isn't as dynamic as you'd want to see if they were a favorite to win the West Region. But you never know since the game is so perimeter oriented anyway and they do have a ton of firepower and depth in that backcourt.

And Devine and Hammell offer a lot in terms of rebounding and shot blocking and overall basketball IQ is good from them, they just aren't great offensively.

I predicted them to win the conference and they're becoming the team I thought they could be. I saw them in a stinker of a performance at NNU, looked all mixed up. NNU has good physical talent, but UAA is a better club and should've won. Wiggs in that game was forcing shots. When he lets the game come to him, he's unstoppable. I stand by my pre-season pick and think they'll play WOU in the GNAC title game. :laugh:

* Only 592 at the gate for a rivalry game?

[Rob_AK]

Re: UAA on a roll...

* Only 592 at the gate for a rivalry game?

Guessing it was -20F or so at game time. Fifteen years ago there would have been a much bigger crowd despite the temp, but now people don't have to freeze their a$$es off, but can stay home and catch the game on the internet while drinking beer in front of the fireplace. With the advent of the internet (and in Anchorage we get the UAA games live in HD on the TV), I think the attendance has dropped significantly. I have 3 kids between 4 and 10, and frankly the hassle of packing them up and going to a game is overwhelming. Much easier for me to watch it on the tube (can you even call a TV the "tube" anymore when it is a 55inch flat screen?). So I go to half the games I used to.