Anyone else confused by May last night?

[sioux34]

Sorry if this has been covered in the game thread, but what was with May going soft to the rack last night. Very uncharacteristic of him to attempt two layups and get blocked each time. I expected the force of his dunk to actually draw Anderson through the hoop along with the ball on each attempt.

 

[ssckelley]

The first one he launched a little to soon, the second one I have no idea what he was thinking. Dunks in either of those situations and the Iowa bench erupts.

 

[TritonHawkeye]

What I missed was something got him upset with AC at the end of the half. He was all over him when everyone else was heading off the court.

 

[9YRPLAN]

you can only watch your teammates get assaulted with no call for so long before you start fearing for your own safety.

 

[LG210]

What I missed was something got him upset with AC at the end of the half. He was all over him when everyone else was heading off the court.

AC didn't switch a screen, which left UVA's best player (Harris) wide open for a three.

 

[LG210]

The first one he launched a little to soon, the second one I have no idea what he was thinking. Dunks in either of those situations and the Iowa bench erupts.

Yep. First one he was caught in a "tweener" distance and made the wrong decision (should have gone for one more dribble).

Second one, it looked like he was trying to draw contact to get 3, but lost the ball (or he may have been trying to shield the defender with his body). Should have just made his best effort going for 2 instead of worrying about drawing a foul. Certainly Anderson's 17 previous blocks were in the forefront on his mind, though, so you have to give Anderson credit.

 

[ChosenChildren]

Yep. First one he was caught in a "tweener" distance and made the wrong decision (should have gone for one more dribble).

Second one, it looked like he was trying to draw contact to get 3, but lost the ball (or he may have been trying to shield the defender with his body). Should have just made his best effort going for 2 instead of worrying about drawing a foul. Certainly Anderson's 17 previous blocks were in the forefront on his mind, though, so you have to give Anderson credit.

I agree, but I think one thing to remember is that May was given the task of guarding Harris. He expended tremendous energy on the other end of the floor and did a great job shutting down their all-ACC guard.

May overall was great last night and was a big reason why we won the game.

 

[sioux34]

I certainly agree CC. May had a great game, I was just surprised he didn't throw those two down.

 

[1hawkeye1]

I certainly agree CC. May had a great game, I was just surprised he didn't throw those two down.

Very surprised! He hasn't gone lollipop to the rack like that all season. If anything, he goes for the dunk when he shouldn't. Got a feeling we won't be seeing that next game. At least I hope not.

 

[LG210]

I agree, but I think one thing to remember is that May was given the task of guarding Harris. He expended tremendous energy on the other end of the floor and did a great job shutting down their all-ACC guard.

May overall was great last night and was a big reason why we won the game.

I agree that he played a great game. I wasn't at all intending to be critical of May--I was just describing those two plays as I saw them.

 

[ibahawkeye]

AC didn't switch a screen, which left UVA's best player (Harris) wide open for a three.

I believe Fran was calling for a foul. I think we had a foul to give. AC tried to wrap him up... but as it was all night, no call.

 

[WindsorHawk]

The thing that I've been thinking about a lot lately is May's defense...especially after last night. He has a high basketball IQ. He's unselfish. He provides great leadership. The IQ, unselfish play and leadership will come from other players next year IMO...not real worried.

Right now there is no one that locks down on a perimeter player like May. May is strong and physical and hard nosed and determined and relentless and... I think Clemmons has the potential to be a lock down guy on a 1 or smaller 2 as he gets more experience. Marble could potentially upgrade his defense but he plays decent defense and I don't want better defense to come at the expense of his offense.

I think the team defense is fine and will continue to be fine. It may be that we just have to make up for the loss of May with the additional points we will likely score and improved help defense...on the opponent's best offensive weapon from the perimeter. I'm interested in what others think.

 

[sioux34]

I have always been impressed with Mays ability to play up on opponents on the perimeter. You never see him a step off his man and at times, he appears to be sharing the same jersey.

 

[WindsorHawk]

I have always been impressed with Mays ability to play up on opponents on the perimeter. You never see him a step off his man and at times, he appears to be sharing the same jersey.

I agree and I'm so glad he has been able to stay healthy this year. He's getting to play his senior season on a good team while performing to the best of his ability...which is pretty damn good. It's always nice to have fond memories of any Hawk's last year.

Side Note - I never would have thought Lohaus could do what he did his last year...perhaps the biggest shocker for me since I became a fan. Jepsen is probably a solid 2nd.

 

[Billso]

I think Clemmons has the potential to be a lock down guy on a 1 or smaller 2 as he gets more experience.

I hope so. Especially compared to May, there was not much basketball IQ on display from AC last night. Great team effort, but not his finest hour individually.

 

[WinOneThisCentury]

Andersen had hammered the crap out of several people. On the first one, May just left too early. On the second one, he was expecting the hammer and he got distracted and lost the ball on the way up. Andersen was actually backing off a little on the second and May leaped into him. White got hammered about 5 times last night and not one call. That was criminal.

 

[JHHawk]

Andersen had hammered the crap out of several people. On the first one, May just left too early. On the second one, he was expecting the hammer and he got distracted and lost the ball on the way up. Andersen was actually backing off a little on the second and May leaped into him. White got hammered about 5 times last night and not one call. That was criminal.

Exactly. Sometimes going full court,with a guy right on the hip, a player might try to get it on the board quickly,and get caught intween....Eric would normally take another dribble,and hammer it home.

Love how a healthy Eric has played this senior year...like Cole and Gatens...captain's contributions are huge.

 

[BrueCrew3]

I'm confused about why we're talking about this. For the last 4 to 6 weeks, Eric May has been playing lights out, a streak that makes me believe it is NOT a fluke. He has one sub-par offensive performance (where others picked up the slack) and we're wondering what's up??

As far as I'm concerned, Eric did EXACTLY what we needed last night. He has no need to apologize.

GO HAWKS!!!

 

[MisterLucky]

Where are all the experts who had relegated May to the end of the bench, or worse yet, thought he should give up his scholarship and transfer to a Div. II school? Don't remember any mea culpas.

 

[WindsorHawk]

I hope so. Especially compared to May, there was not much basketball IQ on display from AC last night. Great team effort, but not his finest hour individually.

I actually like the game AC played last night. He hit a 3. He made all 4 FTs down the stretch...didn't realize he had gotten up over 70% at the line until they mentioned it. He definitely has some things to work on but he's a true freshman. I think our true freshmen this year are so good we forget they're true freshmen. During his post game interview Fran singled out AC as someone that he was thrilled (not sure this is the exact word) with tonight.