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| Michael Javes |
I saw UALR Coach Steve Shields in the hall after Saturday’s 88-76
victory over Florida International.
“Did you practice or not practice free throws,” I asked.
He laughed.
“We practiced them,” Shields said.
Whatever they did, it worked. UALR, which had made 10 of 24 free throws
over the past two games, made 24 of 28 on Saturday. That included 5 of 5 from Michael
Javes, 4 of 4 from Josh Hagins, 5 of 6 by Ben Dillard and 2 of 2 by Gus Leeper.
Javes entered the game shooting 29 percent. But he looked comfortable and confident at the line on Saturday.
When teams that should be decent free throw shooting teams are
struggling, there’s two schools of thought. You either spend extra time in
practice making sure everyone is comfortable. Or you don’t practice them at
all. You don’t even bring it up.
I remember when UALR Assistant Coach Robert Lee was at
Louisiana-Lafayette. He had a team that was struggling and took the don’t
mention it approach. And it seems like they got better.
Shields isn’t one to chance such matters. That’s why it didn’t surprise
me that they worked on them.
BURN UNIT
Playing on television, it seemed a strong possibility that James White’s
tomahawk dunk might have made ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays of the day on
Saturday. It didn’t. Too bad because it was good enough.
FASTEST 40?
The Fastest 40 Minutes in Basketball might normally be played by
Fayetteville, but it would be difficult to top the first-half pace by UALR and
Florida International. UALR led 51-36 at halftime and was in double digits in
turnovers.
BURNING SENSATION
The Sun Belt needs to fix officiating – at least on network television
games. Saturday’s UALR-FIU game was officiated by Samuel Croft, John Moore and
Vladimir Voyard-Tadal. And they struggled throughout. Not that this is a
surprise. After all, it’s a league-wide joke about Saturday Night in the Sun
Belt officials. Here’s a solution. Up the pay for these TV games. Pay the same
as the SEC, Big XII and others. Just for these games. It increases your chance
of getting a better crew. And it would make the league look better as well.
STAT OF THE GAME
5-5 Michael Javes went 5 of 5 at the free throw line. And UALR needed
them all early in the game.
BTH KEYS REVISITED
Free time: UALR made 24 of 28 free throws. Grade: A+
Second chance: UALR outrebounded FIU 29-25 for the game but gave up 10
offensive rebounds to the Trojans’ 7. FIU held a 13-10 advantage in
second-chance points. That’s not good enough. Grade: D.
Magic number: Remember all that stuff about never losing when UALR
gives up 66 or fewer points? Well, it’s all still true. So is the fact that
when UALR scores 88 they win. But for the purposes of this, the defense just
wasn’t good enough. Grade: C.
THE GOOD
Ben Dillard had 11 points, 3 assists, 3 rebounds, a steal and no
turnovers in 29 minutes.
THE BAD
UALR gave up 10 offensive rebounds to an undersized Florida
International team.
THE UGLY
21 turnovers is just way too many.
VEGAS, BABY
UALR went off as the favorite
and easily covered the number.
PREDICTIONS
Everyone was a winner. Again, Real Time RPI was the closest prediction.
UP NEXT
It doesn’t get any easier. UALR travels to Middle Tennessee on Thursday
and Western Kentucky on Saturday. UALR, which hasn’t won on the road this
season, needs to get one to hold the West Division lead.
