I don't understand why Fields isn't playing more. He played 1 minute last night and while he did have a bad game against G-W, part of the pre-conference season is to get guys minutes in live-game situations, particularly freshmen. Chennault has 0 points in the first half and Fields still only got in for one minute. I don't really understand why.
Tony had a really good game last night. After Smith went nuts it was Tony that slowed him down, and he'd been pressuring them all night setting the tone on defense. He blew one layup but had a clutch finish in crunch time and hit his free throws. His passing/vision is lacking, but he's superior in every other way to Fields. Much stronger, better handle, far better scorer, far better defender. Only 2 turnovers.
Chase had a nicer game than his stats indicate. Hit some huge 3's in clutch situations and really kept us in it. Played tough defense as well. His misses were all dead on - had 2 or 3 go around and out. He just needs to perfect his reverse finishes and get CJ to teach him that step-back elbow jumper and he'll be money.
We went with a CJ/Chase/Travis/Nikita/Carson lineup for a bit, but they immediately got trapped and beat up a bit. CJ's not quick enough to break the press and Chase is too small and doesn't quite have the handle. In came Tony and the press was worthless again.
McKie had a really off night. He only made one significant bucket really, and got abused a bit on defense. Gave up 2 score plus fouls, was out of position a few times, and struggled to rebound with only 3 defensive boards. Every player has off nights so no big deal, but the main thing is it was nice that we won without him. Going into the season I didn't think that was possible.
CJ is rock solid. His elbow step-back jumper is just brutal. One of our final possessions we ran the clock down to 6 seconds and he calmly drove and hit the game clincher. Seems to be finding his sweet spot.
Carson had a solid game as well. Played good defense, boxed out well but lost his legs a bit in the 2nd half. Hit a nice pop out jumper and a tough jumper out of a spin move. Still not strong enough with the ball, especially on rebounds. In the 2nd half he lost a lot of boards where he had position but just didn't fight hard enough. Still a big improvement over earlier in the year though, I think Ty being in is helping him.