armory
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- Aug 29, 2011
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5) Kris Joseph's knees
I was one of the people last season constantly preaching that 'something must be wrong with K-Jo'. We saw him get to the hoop at will throughout his Sophomore season, then struggle to do so last year while appearing to have lost a step. He was seen favoring his knee on multiple occasions and after the season the suspicions proved true. Well, now he has had his surgery and reports have come out that "K-Jo is back" ... but then there was the phantom absence from practice... and the report that it was because of his other knee. The questions surrounding Joseph's health are too vague and unanswered. If we want to make a deep tourney run this year we will need him to provide a significant amount of scoring, so I want to see first-hand tonight whether K-Jo is really back or not.
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4) Front-court Offense
This is in my opinion by far the #1 weakness of this team now that Ricky is gone. Last year we saw no semblance of any offense from BMK or Melo except a few short stretches during a couple games last year. That needs to change if this team wants to score in the half court which is where we struggled last year even with Jackson. The inability to score in the post allows defenses to extend further out on the perimeter and lets opposing forwards/centers be free to help defend against penetration ... which would really hurt Joseph's & Waiters' ability to score.
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3) 3-pt Shooting
I always try to look one or two layers deep into a team's weakness when evaluating them, and as mentioned above I fear that the lack of front-court offense will lead to teams daring us to score from beyond the arc. While we won't be any worse at 3pters than last year that doesn't say much. We struggled mightily against zones last year and that could repeat this year if we can't consistently hit the open shots from deep. Additionally, for the times when losing or have the need to get back momentum, the best ways are quick post points or 3-pters ... since the former seems unlikely we will need the latter to recover from periods when our defense is faltering.
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2) Rakeem's Defense & Rebounding
While it will be nice to get a glimpse of the future from Cooney and MCW, reality suggests that Rak will be the only Freshman to contribute significant time. Scouting reports lead us to have no expectations offensively so if Rak is to play a lot he needs to prove his worth in two areas: Defense and Rebounding. Defense: How much time will he play on a wing? How much at the 5? How quick is he in getting out to shooters? Will he get beat baseline? How well does he help from the weak-side? How good of a shot blocker is he? All of these questions are wide open. Rebounding: Without much front-court offense we are likely to see a lot of 3-pters, mid-range shots, and drives to the basket ... which leads to a lot of rebounds. I'm a big believer in the rebounding theory of "some players just 'have it' and the rest don't". Does Rak 'have it'? Does he seem to be in the right places at the right times? Does he time his jumps well? Does he have the confidence where he believes "every rebound is mine" or not? These questions will define how much of an impact he will have this year.
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1) Dion & the Thickburger (& J-So)
We know what Scoop can do, we know what Triche is capable of, and we've seen what Joseph brings... but we have yet to see who makes the perennial 'Sophomore-Surge'. I really believe that this team will go as far as these two players take us. K-Jo will have his bad games and without anyone picking up that slack we would have to rely 99% on our guards, which makes defending us very easy. CJ needs to take the next step where he looks to score & has the confidence to create his own opportunities... and he also needs to show he can play big as he may be needed to play the 4... same applies to Southerland. Dion needs to be the explosive scorer he can be, but not force the issue as he did last year. He must let the offense come to him & exploit opponents' mistakes rather than trying to do too much on his own. More importantly though he needs to be the positive shot of emotional adrenaline to complement Joseph/Triche's stoic & monotonous demeanor - I consider emotion & momentum vastly under-rated team qualities. Lastly, he needs to mature & outgrow the drama. The sky is the limit for Dion but he needs to keep any frustration from weighing him down.
I was one of the people last season constantly preaching that 'something must be wrong with K-Jo'. We saw him get to the hoop at will throughout his Sophomore season, then struggle to do so last year while appearing to have lost a step. He was seen favoring his knee on multiple occasions and after the season the suspicions proved true. Well, now he has had his surgery and reports have come out that "K-Jo is back" ... but then there was the phantom absence from practice... and the report that it was because of his other knee. The questions surrounding Joseph's health are too vague and unanswered. If we want to make a deep tourney run this year we will need him to provide a significant amount of scoring, so I want to see first-hand tonight whether K-Jo is really back or not.
___
4) Front-court Offense
This is in my opinion by far the #1 weakness of this team now that Ricky is gone. Last year we saw no semblance of any offense from BMK or Melo except a few short stretches during a couple games last year. That needs to change if this team wants to score in the half court which is where we struggled last year even with Jackson. The inability to score in the post allows defenses to extend further out on the perimeter and lets opposing forwards/centers be free to help defend against penetration ... which would really hurt Joseph's & Waiters' ability to score.
___
3) 3-pt Shooting
I always try to look one or two layers deep into a team's weakness when evaluating them, and as mentioned above I fear that the lack of front-court offense will lead to teams daring us to score from beyond the arc. While we won't be any worse at 3pters than last year that doesn't say much. We struggled mightily against zones last year and that could repeat this year if we can't consistently hit the open shots from deep. Additionally, for the times when losing or have the need to get back momentum, the best ways are quick post points or 3-pters ... since the former seems unlikely we will need the latter to recover from periods when our defense is faltering.
___
2) Rakeem's Defense & Rebounding
While it will be nice to get a glimpse of the future from Cooney and MCW, reality suggests that Rak will be the only Freshman to contribute significant time. Scouting reports lead us to have no expectations offensively so if Rak is to play a lot he needs to prove his worth in two areas: Defense and Rebounding. Defense: How much time will he play on a wing? How much at the 5? How quick is he in getting out to shooters? Will he get beat baseline? How well does he help from the weak-side? How good of a shot blocker is he? All of these questions are wide open. Rebounding: Without much front-court offense we are likely to see a lot of 3-pters, mid-range shots, and drives to the basket ... which leads to a lot of rebounds. I'm a big believer in the rebounding theory of "some players just 'have it' and the rest don't". Does Rak 'have it'? Does he seem to be in the right places at the right times? Does he time his jumps well? Does he have the confidence where he believes "every rebound is mine" or not? These questions will define how much of an impact he will have this year.
___
1) Dion & the Thickburger (& J-So)
We know what Scoop can do, we know what Triche is capable of, and we've seen what Joseph brings... but we have yet to see who makes the perennial 'Sophomore-Surge'. I really believe that this team will go as far as these two players take us. K-Jo will have his bad games and without anyone picking up that slack we would have to rely 99% on our guards, which makes defending us very easy. CJ needs to take the next step where he looks to score & has the confidence to create his own opportunities... and he also needs to show he can play big as he may be needed to play the 4... same applies to Southerland. Dion needs to be the explosive scorer he can be, but not force the issue as he did last year. He must let the offense come to him & exploit opponents' mistakes rather than trying to do too much on his own. More importantly though he needs to be the positive shot of emotional adrenaline to complement Joseph/Triche's stoic & monotonous demeanor - I consider emotion & momentum vastly under-rated team qualities. Lastly, he needs to mature & outgrow the drama. The sky is the limit for Dion but he needs to keep any frustration from weighing him down.
