TJ missed all 4 of his 3 point attempts last night. Early in the game, when he tried to drive — his shot attempts were blocked. I think Vermont wanted to keep him positioned outside the arc to leave as much space as possible for their other four players. He didn’t get the ball much. Even though he was off on his outside attempts — Duke kept a player close to him so for most of the game Long was mainly an option if his defender looked to help out on defense. With Long’s 3 point percentage for the season, the Duke defender rarely sloughed off him to double up on someone else. I bet if he had hit his first two 3-point attempts, Vermont would have looked to run some plays for TJ.
Hope the preliminary reports are correct and the injury is not as serious as it looked last night.
Post by nashvillestag on Mar 23, 2024 9:20:29 GMT -5
Last contest of the year in the final minutes where the result was known anyway certainly sucks for TJ. Like everyone else I hope he has a quick and complete recovery that will help him continue on his career at Vermont, a place that seems to be a good fit for his talents. If nothing else I guess time is on his side now considering he has many months to return to complete health before another game is played, certainly something we are all rooting for. The lousy part of athletics unfortunately.
TJ had 3 drives where he was able to get in the lane, draw the defense, and then dished to a teammate for an easy basket. They were what I'd call 'high quality' assists. Otherwise, he struggled to get open and get clean shots. I get the impression a lot of his offense still relies on others vs. him being able to create for himself.
He's a strange shooter. I don't think I've ever seen a guy that is as good a shooter as he is... but has as many ugly misses. Must have something to do with being left handed.
Good fit at Vermont. Hope to hear positive news on his injury. He has 1 more year?
Last Edit: Mar 24, 2024 13:06:21 GMT -5 by typhaon
