Your Most pleasant Suprise Least pleasant suprise and what surprised you least (Cal St)...

[orangefan13]

I know another post to talk about what has already been said,
But only one game to go back and watch(which I have about 4 times).
Has anyone hit the 7-8 time mark yet?

1. The most pleasent suprise for me was Fab Melo, Keita's, and Raks offense. All three of them hit atleast one confident hook, bank shot, or jump shot. Question is whether they will be able to do that against better defenders and I am not throwing out the possibilty they can. Keita is not small for a center and Rak is a big guy for a PF.

Usually we pound it inside through hard work and tough slower bumping. But they did a great job through fluent motions, speed and the transition physicallity of our bigs. That says Alot. We haven't had 1 big do it like that since Hak was around. Scoop and Melo flowed like Marshmelo's over a Scoop of chocolate ice cream and it wasn't a Rocky Road.

2. Least pleasent for me was Kris Josephs injury. JB said in the presser he needs about another week of practice to get back closer to where he needs to be. Curious what JB meant by that.

With CJ, Southerland and Rak leaving us somewhat shaky on the wings offensively, Kris offense is expected to carry lots of the slack. Im not sure people realize that. I think there is a gross ignorance on Kris by alot of people due to the media's preseason expectations last year, and his play last year. Sadly with his injury it has rolled into talking more about are youth, long bench, and ignoring our senior leaders. He may not be the most flamboyant guy but if there is anyone at the 3 or the 4 that you would expect to take over as a Forward for us this year it has got to be Kris.

Psychologically, I hope he is not moved one bit by the youth. With Fair and a Freshmen Christmas that are competing with him on the wings. I hope he is centered mentally, and expeted to recover fully. Already walking through in practice his midrange game, stronger arms to use when attacking the paint, and more efficient shooting percentages. I expect him to have a huge year as a swingforward. if he gets back to health he could be like a cannonball atacking the oppositions defense.

3. What surprised me the least was some playground ball. With Rick leaving, Kris' injury, and Dion being Dion I wasn't to surprised. We played alot of man to man. Scoop and Melo flowed together offensively. Triche put up alot of shots and when hes missing it looks like playground ball as opposed to veteran ball. Netherless him putting up twice as many shots in 20 minutes of play seemed to please JB.

 

[stuckinbig11]

Surprised the least by Cooney hitting his first 3. Surprised the most by MCW seeming a bit wild. Least pleased by Dion trying to go it alone.

 

[SoBristol]

Surprised by Triche. Hoped he would be improved -- of course, this was a meaningless game.

Pleased by all three bigs. Was pretty sure Melo would be much better (weight loss was the key), Keita would have added some scoring skills, and there had to be a reason why Rak was starting. So, not surprised, just pleased.

Not sure what to make of MCW. Expect he will play for sure, but his high handle looks a turn over waiting to happen.

 

[cytolliver]

my biggest disappointment was southerland, all the other players seem improved in atleast one way. He just looks the same

 

[fanfanclubclub]

most pleasant surprise: Melo's mobility and health. Not only did he look very productive, but he seemed to have shed many of the red flags (poor body control, poor timing, etc) that made future injuries seem likely.

least pleasant surprise: Triche chucking bricks.

surprised me least: JB's hair style.

 

[OrangeCrush22]

I wasn't surprised by Fab at all. I always knew he had it in him.

Biggest surpises:

1.) Rakeem Christmas, he played much better than expected. His offense needs a year or two to develop, but his defense and rebounding are superb. He'll be a solid starter, especially if Fab can carry the offensive load like he did against CSULA.

2.) Scoop Jardine, he played like a real point guard and leader. Distributing the ball nicely, and scored when he "had to".

3.) Michael Carter-Williams, showed some flashes of what he can do, but isn't as far along as I had hoped. Both he and Rakeem Christmas should be here for another year or two, to develop their skills. They'll both be big time soon.

 

[OrangeMuskyFish]

Most pleasant surprise..... despite a little too much one on one, some sloppy habits, and a lid on the hoop that kept a lot of good looking shots from falling, this team seemed pretty darned efficient.

Least pleasant surprise..... aside from Joseph's knee, I'd have to get picky and go with MCW's jitters. He is so lanky that his coordination doesn't seem to be all there yet. Don't get me wrong, a ton of upside, and I think he will leave here as one of the most talented PGs we ever had... but it's going to be tough for JB to find him playing time against legit BE teams if he doesn't play under control.

Surprised me the least... Fab's improvement. Hindsight being 20/20, the hype was just ridiculously unfair, and a lot of people around here said a lot of harsh things that were incredibly premature. His problems from last year aren't the kind that disappear overnight.

Surprised me the most... the board's reaction to Dion. I have already seen a bunch of negative posts and I really think it's kind of stupid. When you combine the off-season work, his showing against Marquette, and his natural ability, you are left with perhaps the one player on the team that has the talent and mentality to be a "last shot" kind of guy. He didn't have a great game, but you would think the guy went 2-22 from the field.

 

[arbitragegls]

SURPRISE: FRONT COURT MAY BE GOOD...of course it is Melo, Keita and Christmas from a view of what may become a terrific front line...more mobile; better defense; with some offense thrown in...
GOOD AND BAD...Triche was both positive and negative...more aggressive, took the shots..unfortunately missed the shots...but that may/may not be long term trend...we will need him to score to win...and he is one of the leaders in the Ziggy award for top scorer
HAS NOT CHANGED: all the athletic ability, and Dion still screams its me; its I...he is not a team player...he is overly confident; he will win it on his own because he needs to be the eye of the storm...he dribbles into 2 or 3 defenders and he hasnt shown a better jump shot...hopefully not a continued trend
CONCERNED: KJ'S health and mental state...will he return to two years ago or has he lost some bounce and mobility with knees and also lost some confidence...did not see KJ of old even with 11 pts in a few minutes
That-a- boy: Scoop appeared to be a PG for a change...he passed, didnt dribble continuously, and shot the ball okay. Still want him to look and choose Triche as first option once in a while...but just maybe Scoop has matured into a PG role
WHAT HAVE WE FOUND: MCW AND COONEY...backcourt going to be good in the future...maybe the best ever!
WHAT WE HAVE LOST: SUTHERLAND with all the athleticism...just seems not to have improved...

Still have another exhibition and them some supposedly easier competition to start out the season...some of the above could change for the better or worse over the next 4-6 games.

 

[RoysRunts]

Fabs Conditioning/running the court
Mookie not shooting

 

[cuseincincy]

1. Most pleasant was obviously Fab. If he is who we thought he was before last season...wow!
2. Least pleasant this board's reaction to Triche and Waiters. Triche goes 2-11 in 15 minutes and Dion goes 4-8 in 23 minutes yet Dion's the selfish one? Brandon lost me at the tip off when he got the ball in the back court and waived off our point guard so he could bring the ball up court. Also didn't like the 3 on none break where he didn't give it up to Melo. Got to reward the big fella's when they run. BT shooting more needs to be a positive for this team but I'm not sold on him creating his own shot.
3. Least surprised about Scoop's pass first mentality. I think Scoop learned a lot about playing point guard this summer when he was not one of the first scoring options. I hope Scoop continues this by feeding Fab down low and also getting the ball to Triche in positions where he can go straight up. Those are the shots I see BT making.
4. One more least surprised about the over reaction by many (self included) to a meaningless exhibition game. Forgive us but the WVU football game seems a long time ago.