Enough of the pessimism from me. Here are a few things I really liked from last night:
First, the obvious, Dent had his best game of the year. Never mind that Hurley’s defense helped him out by creating space and driving lanes he could exploit. He still took advantage of those opportunities and played aggressively when they were there. And of course, it’s purely a coincidence, but it almost felt like he read my last post on him, hahahaha. He used the glass, even tried using the rim to shield himself from defenders. Most importantly, he played with confidence. If you’re out there reading, Donnie, one small request: when they switch a big onto you and he’s dropping below the free-throw line, let it fly. You only need to make one of those to force the post defender out. With your speed, you'll get around most bigs easily.
Perry and Williams have taken their fair share of criticism around here, but we don’t win that game without them. As has become customary, the Bruins hit a second-half swoon. Williams checked in with the Bruins up just seven and immediately missed a point-blank layup off a nice pass from Dent, but he made up for it by stealing the ball right back, which led to points. The Sun Devils hit some tough shots, but they were also getting bailed out by calls. On one play, the screener clearly grabbed Perry by the arm, which led to a three-point play when Dailey turned his back instead of challenging at the rim. I think we were down five at that point.
Then came the response: on back-to-back possessions, Perry hit two huge shots—a baseline jumper and a three. I’ll admit, it was a nervous stretch for me because despite the 18 points, Tyler wasn’t having a great game overall. The teams traded baskets, and on what looked like a sure score, Williams came out of nowhere for a block that led to a Sky three, pushing the lead back to 11. That pretty much sealed it.
Lastly, credit to Brown and Jammerson as well, both were solid contributors all night.