Great job on D all around by the team, but Temple just shut down and frustrated Reddick all night. I thought he could do well, but he did better than that. I thought he might tire by the end, but if he did it didn't show much and by then Redick's frustration and bad night was just too much to overcome. We had a few frustrating elements with the missed FTs and some hurried plays/passes but overall, great game against a very good team. Credit to Brady too for a good game plan, effective substitutions.
He did a great job-- I thought Reddick would draw lots of fouls and be at the line all night. I wasn't so sure about the blocking foul called on DM late in the game-- seemed to be the same situation as when Big Baby got called for the charge in the first half-- anyone have a take on that? http://LSUBASKETBALL.COM
excellent article on TEMPLE: Temple's defense helps LSU's dream come true March 23, 2006 By Pete Prisco CBS SportsLine.com Senior Writer Tell Pete your opinion! ATLANTA -- Garrett Temple said he didn't get much sleep Wednesday night. How much? Garrett Temple blankets J.J. Redick all night. (AP) "Oh, about six hours," Temple said. OK, so that's good sleep for most people, but for a college freshman with the probable college Player of the Year on his mind, it's not good sleep. Who could blame him? He had visions of Duke's J.J. Redick flash through his head for most of the week, ever since he found out Monday he'd be shadowing the silky smooth jump shooter. Want to bet he slept well Thursday night? And here's why: Temple, a 6-5 freshman guard for LSU, put on a defensive clinic that frustrated Redick into one of his worst shooting nights of his career. That proved to be the key component for the fourth-seeded Tigers to upset the top-seeded Blue Devils in the Atlanta Regional, winning a defensive battle 62-54 at the Georgia Dome. Redick made just 3 of 18 from the field, all three makes coming from outside the 3-point line, and was held to 11 points, 16 below his season average. Temple followed him around from start to finish, playing all 40 minutes, 38 of them on Redick. Temple did have help from his long, athletic teammates who jumped out on Redick when he did find a crack. Redick came into the game averaging 24.5 in two previous tournament games. "My coach told me before the year that I wasn't going to be the first, second or third option," Temple said. "But he said I could be a defensive stopper. I definitely relish that. I help my team with defense. I held him to 17 points under his average, so that's like me scoring 17." Temple scored just three points himself, but that mattered little to his teammates. "I went to him as soon as we got in (the locker room) and told him we were giving him the game ball," LSU point guard Darrel Mitchell said. The Tigers used a physical style against Duke, something Temple said some of his friends in the ACC told him would affect the Blue Devils, and especially Redick. "They told me he doesn't like the physical play," Temple said. At times, Redick had the frustration of his horrid shooting night showing all over his face, his body language also telling the story of player who just couldn't get anything going. He was even heard complaining to the officials. Advertisement Redick praised the defensive effort of Temple after the game. "He's long and it was just a physical game," Redick said. "So he was physical with me, I had a few looks that were pretty good, but they just didn't go in. Overall, you know, he did a good job of contesting my jump shots, and when I did drive they had shot-blockers back there." Redick is constantly moving, which makes guarding him so tough. He comes off screens, he has a quick release and he knows how to pump fake defenders into the air. Think Reggie Miller moving when he was in the NBA, non-stop, going all the time. That's why Temple watched so much film this week to prepare, Redick his top course for the week, but don't tell that to his professors. "He didn't move as much as I thought he would, but I've never covered a guy who moves as much," Temple said. "He's definitely the toughest I've had to defend." The rest of the LSU team did their share on defense, too. They had to when their two top players, Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Tyrus Thomas were both saddled with fouls early and each had four early in the second half. So they turned to the defensive end to win this one, forcing Duke to shoot 27.7 percent from the field, including 19.2 percent from outside the 3-point line. "Unless we guarded Duke collectively as a team, and everybody carried out the assignment they had, we weren't going to be able to guard them effectively for 40 minutes," Tigers coach John Brady said. "But that may have been the best defensive effort that we have had or that I've seen my teams have. We knew we had to not let J.J. Redick get into the offense." The Tigers led 31-27 at the half, but Duke battled back to take a 5-point lead at 45-40 with just over eight minutes left. It looked like Duke was ready for a run, and when Redick spotted up for a 3-point try from the right angle, it looked like it would be an eight-point game. But it rimmed out and Mitchell followed with a 3 on the other end to make it a two-point game. Thanks to the suffocating defense, the Tigers outscored the Blue Devils 17-9 to close out the game, ending Redick's impressive career in disappointing fashion. LSU was certainly the more athletic of the two teams, and it showed. They had nine blocks on the night, including five by Thomas. His late-game block on Greg Paulus proved to be a key play. The most impressive defense belonged to the kid who didn't sleep well Wednesday night. "I thought about Redick all night," Temple said. "I'm not going to lie." That's OK. You can bet Redick will be thinking about him all year long.
Thanks for sharing that! I loved the look of frustration on Redick's face all night. To me, that was the key. Even though TT played an outstanding game, Temple did his job to perfection! Kinda reminds me of our banner!
