Mintz-Starling-Cuffe-Taylor-Brown

[orange44]

Cuffe has appeared to be the most well rounded and physically strong guard on the team to date. He plays with a ton of discipline and has a great feel and IQ for the game. He also plays like a senior.

Totally agree...really like him.

 

[Cuse_NYC]

Oh come on. He's banged up. This is a ridiculous statement. The H0T Takes are getting out of hand.

Was he banged up last year when he couldn’t cover any power 5 center? He’s undersized and does not block shots at all…

 

[Cuse_NYC]

and McLeod cannot cover ANY 5 with mobility when we're playing m2m

He had to cover a 6’6 guy. And I still would have rather had him in there. They went at the hoop no problem after he came out. This team is going nowhere if we don’t use McLeod for 20mpg.

 

[Orangezoo]

Was he banged up last year when he couldn’t cover any power 5 center? He’s undersized and does not block shots at all…

Take a step back from the ledge- it's clouding your judgment.

 

[Cuse_NYC]

Take a step back from the ledge- it's clouding your judgment.

It’s obvious that we need McLeod in order to have a successful season. Maliq as the main guy at the 5 won’t end well.

 

[Orangezoo]

It’s obvious that we need McLeod in order to have a successful season. Maliq as the main guy at the 5 won’t end well.

You've had half an exhibition and then a banged up game to watch with Maliq at the 5 in mtm. It's absurd to be jumping so quickly to conclusions. We will need them both but we will face more small ball teams this year where he will be forced to switch than we will true bigger front courts. It's modern basketball. Like I said step back for a moment.

 

[RyanCuse44]

Should have gave Edwards what he wanted and not let him walk to WV. I don’t see any leaders on this team right now and that’s part of the problem

They did, but his pops pimped him out to other schools for the highest bidder.

 

[rrlbees]

You've had half an exhibition and then a banged up game to watch with Maliq at the 5 in mtm. It's absurd to be jumping so quickly to conclusions. We will need them both but we will face more small ball teams this year where he will be forced to switch than we will true bigger front courts. It's modern basketball. Like I said step back for a moment.

People are forgetting, or don’t know, that McLeod also did something to his hand. Don’t know if that’s what kept him off the court more but he had ice on it after the game. And Brown was able to go last night after the groin injury but then did something to his lower back. Had to come out and the trainer offered him a wrap but he refused it. Hima might have some knee issues. Our bigs are banged up.

 

[Cuse_NYC]

People are forgetting, or don’t know, that McLeod also did something to his hand. Don’t know if that’s what kept him off the court more but he had ice on it after the game. And Brown was able to go last night after the groin injury but then did something to his lower back. Had to come out and the trainer offered him a wrap but he refused it. Hima might have some knee issues. Our bigs are banged up.

it wasn’t. Red said he wanted to go small. I hope he has a longer leash for McLeod going forward.

 

[Orangezoo]

it wasn’t. Red said he wanted to go small. I hope he has a longer leash for McLeod going forward.

November 7th with so much change and already a hill to die on lol

Also you are wrong.. look at what OX just re-shared regarding Naheem

 

[rrlbees]

it wasn’t. Red said he wanted to go small. I hope he has a longer leash for McLeod going forward.

It wasnt what?

 

[Cusefan0307]

it wasn’t. Red said he wanted to go small. I hope he has a longer leash for McLeod going forward.

Most teams in the league are playing small. If they start a 7 footer they play 10-15 minutes. If you really want McLeod guarding PJ Hall and Norchad Omier on the perimeter you are crazy. Maliq is going to play the 5 a lot. Probably more minutes than McLeod if I had to guess.

 

[two3zone]

Most teams in the league are playing small. If they start a 7 footer they play 10-15 minutes. If you really want McLeod guarding PJ Hall and Norchad Omier on the perimeter you are crazy. Maliq is going to play the 5 a lot. Probably more minutes than McLeod if I had to guess.

People think he’s Nerlans Noel.

 

[mark79]

Suffice to say its not a well oiled machine but there are a lot of great parts. I agree with Devo, I liked the Judah, JJ and Cuffe pairing. We have 3 Swing men along with Maliq and Naheem right now but add Benny and Westry to that mix and I see good things come March. Lots of patience will be necessary for this team. Once Judah and JJ start hitting even mid range jumpers this team changes. And once Judah and JJ start to look to kick also and not just finish, that's when this team becomes scary.

Agree. There is no “I” in TEAM”. I’m chalking it up to a young squad that saw a blowout and figured they would get theirs. It’s a great teaching moment.
Defensive effort and sharing of the basketball must happen for 40 minutes.

 

[kingtidge]

With limited perimeter options the offense will struggle all
season, but I at least thought there was enough athleticism
to play effective defense. Maybe not Virginia level, but better
than we've seen so far. It just comes down to effort and confidence
in the other four on the court.

We need to play smarter and together and we will be better... The first 10 minutes with the M2M was impressive, but we seemed to tire quickly. We'll need improved conditioning to play that at a high level more consistently.

We saw the team go into some bad habits (that we've seen in the past) in the 2nd half in particular last night... Instead of working the ball around and probing for good shots and weaknesses, we settled for ill-advised 3-pointer chuck-ups with no one in position to rebound or ISO hero-ball and forced drive shots.

Mintz has to be smarter... anytime someone hits a good shot or drive, his immediate response on the next drive is to try and make his own clutch hero shot. That's not a winning strategy. It's selfish.

Starling looks talented but looked like a player still trying to figure out where he fits in. It's early. I expect he'll settle-in and get more comfortable and productive.

Copeland has the tools but needs to be smarter as well. He has some spin moves that are really good but does a lot of headless chicken, head-down dribbling with the ball and gets himself into bad spaces that bleed turnovers. I liked his effort rebounding. We'll see if he can continue that against bigger teams.

I really liked Cuffe (as others have stated). He seems to have the athleticism and purposeful focus that we lack as a team sometimes. He looks promising.

Rome wasn't built in a day, so I hope Red is focusing on getting a real team mentality bought-in by these players. I really hope he and his staff get the player development necessary to play smarter and exploit opponent weaknesses. I read that Straughn was brought in because of his recruiting ties and because he's an offensive strategist that builds team focus and purpose. I hope he is successful as this team needs it.

 

[oTTo113445]

9-11 from the free throw line. It's pretty much 5 extra shots. Judahs 5-15 becomes 10-20. Average isnt below average let alone bad. 17 shots a game in the lane is any pf/centers dream.

Nobody on this team warrants a double team at this point.

Being forced to play Help defense every play, is kinda like doubling. I think it's possible that lineup would force constant switching. It's early, but it's obvious this team needs time to learn to play slowed down efficiency ball around half a game. You can throw me in the blender now

 

[FrancoPizza]

People are forgetting, or don’t know, that McLeod also did something to his hand. Don’t know if that’s what kept him off the court more but he had ice on it after the game. And Brown was able to go last night after the groin injury but then did something to his lower back. Had to come out and the trainer offered him a wrap but he refused it. Hima might have some knee issues. Our bigs are banged up.

He was wincing a bit shaking his hand after one play.

 

[shu 49]

Cuffe has appeared to be the most well rounded and physically strong guard on the team to date. He plays with a ton of discipline and has a great feel and IQ for the game. He also plays like a senior.

He is a shorter Dave Johnson. Kid has an easy 40+ verticle

 

[Niastri]

Cuffe has appeared to be the most well rounded and physically strong guard on the team to date. He plays with a ton of discipline and has a great feel and IQ for the game. He also plays like a senior.

Cuffe has made some "wow" plays where his athleticism has really stood out, even among great athletes.

He's just a little off, which could be rust, or it could be he's lost just a tiny bit of his athleticism. Either way, he will adapt and suddenly his wow plays will be explosive dunks instead of wedgies and other near misses.

I thought his broken hand was going to make it very hard for him to be a major contributor this season. He is well on the way to proving me wrong.