Imperfect analogy, of course, but having Spike on our bench kind of reminds me of how it felt to have Aroldis Chapman in the bullpen for my Cubbies. Sure, you could argue that Maddon overused him in Game Six, but my Cubs won the Series, and I love Maddon, and I won't allow second-guessing to cloud my euphoria.
About Spike...
I didn't pile on after the Nova loss, but frankly, I agreed that Spike should have been in the game at the end. No he doesn't go in and score a team's final eight points or lock down the best opposing player for the last three minutes, but he's like Aroldis Chapman in that he's a closer. When Spike was on the bench at the end of the Nova game, I kept thinking to myself, Come on, Coach. Put him in. This is why we got him!
He was in at the end of the game tonight, and man, did he make a difference.
1. He's a steadying influence. For a team that doesn't really know how to win yet (and frankly hasn't understood how to win big games for several years), his presence is a calming, confident one. It isn't just that he's been there, it's that his personality (spunky, smart, tough) makes him a guy you want in your foxhole. You could just see the difference tonight in our body language in the last three minutes.
2. He makes the right passes. One example of this occurred when Georgia State overloaded their press to force a turnover. Where in the past we would have picked up our dribble or force-fed the lateral reversal pass or insisted on hitting the middle man, Spike calmly floated one over the defense to an awaiting Mathias. Not a highlight reel play, but one that saved us a disastrous turnover.
3. While not incredibly athletic, he's quick enough and canny enough to anticipate defensively. The charge he drew on Hollowell was crucial and effectively neutered Hollowell's already fading confidence in the dribble drive. This is leadership; this is what it means to execute down the stretch to put your team in a position to win.
And while there are areas in which we need to improve, I was extremely pleased with several things I saw tonight. One of them is the emergence of our own Cuban Missile.
About Spike...
I didn't pile on after the Nova loss, but frankly, I agreed that Spike should have been in the game at the end. No he doesn't go in and score a team's final eight points or lock down the best opposing player for the last three minutes, but he's like Aroldis Chapman in that he's a closer. When Spike was on the bench at the end of the Nova game, I kept thinking to myself, Come on, Coach. Put him in. This is why we got him!
He was in at the end of the game tonight, and man, did he make a difference.
1. He's a steadying influence. For a team that doesn't really know how to win yet (and frankly hasn't understood how to win big games for several years), his presence is a calming, confident one. It isn't just that he's been there, it's that his personality (spunky, smart, tough) makes him a guy you want in your foxhole. You could just see the difference tonight in our body language in the last three minutes.
2. He makes the right passes. One example of this occurred when Georgia State overloaded their press to force a turnover. Where in the past we would have picked up our dribble or force-fed the lateral reversal pass or insisted on hitting the middle man, Spike calmly floated one over the defense to an awaiting Mathias. Not a highlight reel play, but one that saved us a disastrous turnover.
3. While not incredibly athletic, he's quick enough and canny enough to anticipate defensively. The charge he drew on Hollowell was crucial and effectively neutered Hollowell's already fading confidence in the dribble drive. This is leadership; this is what it means to execute down the stretch to put your team in a position to win.
And while there are areas in which we need to improve, I was extremely pleased with several things I saw tonight. One of them is the emergence of our own Cuban Missile.
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