Did Mike Gesell.....

I agree. I tweeted that tomorrows headline should be "Gessel hits clutch shot and ft while Paige has costly t/o."
He looked much more assertive and under control tonight. Shots weren't forced and had nice awareness of the UNC bigs once he got into the lane.
 
Even the shots Gesell missed tonight were close. I really hope he's turned the corner. I think he has.
 
He finally hit a shot at the rim, late and in money time...and earlier used a jump stop on a drive and Paige just flew by, and he hit the shot. He was into this from the get go
 
Maybe things are finally changing for MG, he clanked two clutch FT's and they still went in!
Maybe a good sign??
 
He finally hit a shot at the rim, late and in money time...and earlier used a jump stop on a drive and Paige just flew by, and he hit the shot. He was into this from the get go

No doubt. He started out great and finished even better. the Hawks and Mike made a statement tonight and as much as espn and Dicky V only said it was a "good win", it was big.
 
One of his best moves was when he took it basically one on four, pump faked as one Carolina defender flew by, then kissed it high of the glass with a little fade away. Pretty impressive and heady move on his part.
 
Maybe, since he's now a junior and not a frosh or soph, he has many games like this in front of him. Maybe the whole fan base shouldn't give up on him constantly diminish his worth to team.... Just a thought.... ya'll hated this kid last week. And by hated, I don't mean, really hated, but just didn't believe he had moments like tonight in him based on his first 2 seasons of basketball.
 
One of his best moves was when he took it basically one on four, pump faked as one Carolina defender flew by, then kissed it high of the glass with a little fade away. Pretty impressive and heady move on his part.

My favorite play of the game.
 
Finally started to resemble the Mike Bibby comparisons coming out of HS with the pull up shot.

If that was the only time I had seen MG that is exactly the comparison I would have made.

im not holding out hope that it will continue until I see it more often though.
 
I hope he can build on this. He took better angels to the rim and was able to finish. He hit some big shots. Played great dee and walked away with the win.
 
Honestly, tonight wasn't his breakout party. It started last year, I forget exactly starting at which point but I posted all the stats and info. It was something to the effect of his stats since B1G play started or since January being 14 points 6 assists. I really wish I knew what it was but there was legitimate criteria that he turned the corner and had more than a small sample size to back it up. Everybody was too busy building pitchforks and soaking their torches with lighter fluid to notice.

Also gotta love Woodbury's performance. Paige wasn't the only man facing the team he spurned with much fanfare, and Woody had to do it in front of the fans on the home floor that he spurned. 11 points, 7 boards AGAIN in only 24 minutes on 5-7 shooting. About the only thing nice the wretched announcers had to say about us was that he needed to see more touches. And yes, saying we were doing a crappy job getting the ball to Woodbury qualifies as a good thing when it's Dick Vitale and you're not in the ACC.
 
I feel like I owe MG an apology. Till that game I hadn't seen him to be capable of that. But dude was balling. After he knocked in that first shot and then got that steal and dunk you could tell he was into this game and it was personal not professional. He did out play Paige flat out. He was playing like he thought it was he not Paige Roy shoulda been after and boy I bet Roy is wondering what he's gotten himself into this year. I think his group is overated (not to take anything away from our guys but..) They have some athletes out there but only one guy that can hit a jumper and even he's streaky. It'll be interesting to see how the year plays out. It's sure nice to see Iowa grit out a tough game like that on the road against them especially.
 
MG played a little more like a Junior tonight instead of a Freshman or Sophomore. Weird. It's so astonishing how players get better as they mature. It's so out of left field I don't think anyone could have seen this coming.
 
Best part of all was when he landed on that NC fan. See the look of disappointment on that guys face was excellent!
 

Latest posts

Top