Peach Jam Friday Night Top Ten
NHR drove two hours south and two hours back to see Howard Pulley’s much anticipated “win and your are in” game with MoKan on Friday night and it was worth every second of the trip. What about it stood out? …
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Continue ReadingNHR drove two hours south and two hours back to see Howard Pulley’s much anticipated “win and your are in” game with MoKan on Friday night and it was worth every second of the trip. What about it stood out? Here is our “Friday Night Peach Jam Top Ten”.
1. The Atmosphere. Attempted to get in the regular way and no college coaches, media, parents, fans, etc were allowed through the court four door 45 minutes before game time. People were lined up. Using common sense I went to the court three door and moved over to get my seat. What I ended up seeing was a catwalk crowd three and four rows deep, packed stands, packed corners, coaches on the sidelines including Coach K, Lon Kruger, Bill Self, Richard Pitino, Greg Gard, Tim Miles, Sean Miller, Scott Drew, and so many others, Chris Paul, and all top media guys. Every move of note was celebrated and the play was high level. The energy was as amazing as you can imagine for a basketball game.
2. Gary Trent Jr. He scored 38 points, had a dozen boards, and of course there was the game tying coast to coast buzzer beater that few will soon forget. Trent had to take a high volume of shots and at times it was needed to carry the team. Memorable showing.
3. The Pulley Putbacks. Other teams simply don’t box-out, they just stand there and Brad Davison and Tre Jones led the charge with several second chance scores and Gabe Kalscheur, Theo John, and Trent all did the same. Offensive rebounding is all about effort and these Pulley kids put forth the effort. Outside of Trent, their second chance points is what kept them in the game.
4. Gard and Pitino. So Greg Gard and Richard Pitino are going head to head with recruits, so why wouldn’t they sit right next to each other in the front row to watch this game.
5. Tre Jones Bounces Back. Tre had a turnover that bothered him and you could see it on his face late in the game. Tre was able to recover from that and make several plays to get his team to overtime with the most memorable being a couple clutch free throws Tre is a 2018 playing in one of the most amazing atmospheres there is and he will grow and be back here next year as one of the nation’s best.
6. MoKan talent. Michael Porter is a national name, Carte’Are Gordon’s attacking dunk was one of the most physical I’ve ever seen, and Trae Young scored 35 points on high percentage shooting including eight scores after halftime at the front of the rim where the Pulley second level of defense couldn’t get over to stop him before he released.
7. Theo. A nice game from Theo John who scored ten points with some good boards. Like every Pulley player Theo had some plays he wants back but more often than not John’s play on the backside of the glass and more importantly contesting MoKan shots at the rim stopped the MoKan squad from every getting above a three point lead until it was 76-71 in overtime.
8. Gabe’s bench help. Kalscheur came off the bench to score a putback and a mid-range jumper in the first half and then hit a jumper in the second half. Pulley didn’t use the bench much at all but Gabe came in and helped.
9. Coaches. Trent had Coach K, Steve Alford, Tom Izzo, and others watching. Tre Jones had Coach K, Scott Drew, Sean Miller, and Richard Pitino watching among others. Brad Davison had Pitino, Greg Gard, John Beilein, Chris Collins, Ben Jacobsen watching. Theo John had Pitino, Wojo, Lon Kruger, and several assistants from offered schools watching. Gabe and Daniel Oturo had Pitino and Jacobsen watching.
10. Brad fouling out. Brad fouled out before the end of regulation taking off a vocal leader and experienced decision maker off the floor where as MoKan lost none of their players and this was another factor in a constant one score game being a MoKan win.