RF2044
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I qualify all of this by pointing out up front that there are two reasons not to attach too much significance to this afternoon's performance. First, the level of competition was exceedingly low [no disrespect intended toward the McGill team], and the team was tiny. Second, many of our players were coming off only 6 practices. This wasn't as big of a deal for the vets, but it shouldn't come as a surprise that several of the frosh looked a bit out of synch.
That said, here's a couple of things I observed:
That said, here's a couple of things I observed:
- Ennis is for real: Ennis glided all over the court today. Obviously, McGill didn't have players to pressure the ball, but the kid penetrated at will, eluded McGill defenders several times with slick spin moves or behind the back dribbles, and had what I thought was the highlight of the game with a driving left-handed layup in the first half. He also knocked down a deep three and hit his free throws. I don't expect him to be as good as MCW right off the bat, but there is no doubt in my mind that Ennis has the talent to be a difference maker at lead guard, sooner rather than later. Kid can really distribute.
- The bigs struggled a bit: Like many early season contests, this wasn't a game suited for the bigs to strut their stuff. Each of them flashed, but also struggled in various ways. Coleman brought the ball down low a lot, and had several instances where he got stuffed by smaller guys [conjuring up visions of last year] or stripped, and he picked up several early fouls. But he also scored the first four points on a pair of free throws and a put back. DC also ran the floor well and drilled a pretty turn around jump shot from about 10 feet. Rak was active and rebounded reasonably well, but forced some bad shots and didn't look appreciably better than last year. Keita provided lots of energy, and in general was predictably solid, but he forced a couple of long jump hooks that were off the mark. I'm not too worried about those type of looks, because those probably aren't field goal attempts Baye would look to put up in "real" games. So there was a mix of good and bad from this trio, and it will be interesting to see what [if any] improvement they show over the next couple of games.
- CJ Fair looks like a pro: Fair had a great first half. He showed off an improved physique, but the added size sure didn't affect his shot. CJ came out and performed like his usual efficient self, knocking down several long shots, including at least one three, en route to 13 points on 6-8 shooting. He also rebounded well and triggered the transition several times with quick outlet passes. The only downside was that he sustained a minor injury when he turned his ankle late in the second quarter, and didn't play in the second half for precautionary reasons.
- Ditto Grant: Grant took over the game in the second half in CJ's absence. He scored 17 points in every imaginable way--dunks, putbacks, and even drilled a pair of threes. Kid looks very confident offensively, and seems to have the same CJ-esque judgement for taking good shots, so I actually expect him to be a solid complimentary three point shooting threat by choosing his spots. Kid looks like he has the chops to be an above average rebounder, as well. I'm really disappointed about the mono situation that caused him to lose 18 pounds. I read that he's gained about 10 of that back, but he could really use the additional strength--he got knocked down several times, but was aggressive and the best player on the floor for long stretches today.
- Cooney couldn't find the range for 90% of the game: It was exciting to see Cooney in the starting lineup after reports about how well he'd been performing in summer practice, and some of the improvements he'd made in the offseason. He got a nice look early on a fast break feed from Ennis, where he had time to step into the shot [a la Southerland]--clank. That set the tone for much of the game, with Cooney missing his first 9 field goal attempts. TC looked visibly shaken in the second half as the misses continued to mount up. But then something happened: he got a steal at the defensive three point line and had a breakaway fast break that he threw down for a double handed slam--his first basket of the game. A few possessions later he got a driving layup in a transition situation. Next time we got out and ran, he got the ball again out near the three point line--bang! And now that the lid was off of the basket, he drilled his next three, as well. 10 quick points on 4-4 shooting, after the 0-9 start. We'll see tomorrow whether the 0-9 or the more confident kid we saw over the last 10% of the game.
- Gbinije solid but unspectacular: MG got his first taste of game action in Orange, coming off of the bench to primarily spell Ennis. He looked comfortable handling the ball [again, albeit without much ball pressure]. He also had a nice three, but misfired on a couple of other long jumpers. Solid performance. Will be interesting to see what he can do with more consistent run, and maybe playing alongside Ennis instead of replacing him.
- Buss / BJ first game jitters: Patterson and BJ got quite a bit of PT, and both hustled and were active. Neither had a particularly good offensive display, but that's not surprising considering they only have 6 practices under their belts, and were a little out of synch offensively out there. Nothing to worry about--that's the benefit of this four-game summer tour, to help them get their sea legs.
- Offense was sloppy overall: Again, not surprising that a team with lots of new players will be a bit out of sync after only 6 practices, with the best player not playing the second half. Despite all that, we still scored 80. This team has the raw materials to be a better shooting and more potent offensive team than last year's squad.
- Defense didn't look quite up to par compared to last year: Its not fair to compare the defense from our postseason run to how we looked after a lone week of practice, but there were multiple times throughout the game where guys were out of position on their rotations, or got caught watching the ball instead of moving their feet...and we STILL held them to 40 [and that was after they got a late bucket to break out of the thirties]. There were also several nice traps, and in general we exploited an inferior offensive team, so it wasn't due to lack of effort. I also think that the substitution pattern, with JB running so many guys in and out of the rotation, along with having so many new faces led to some inconsistency. I don't think it will be a problem area once the season starts, but it bears paying attention to--these guys have big shoes to fill from last year's team defense.
- The summer tour will pay dividends: We haven't done one of these summer junkets since 1990. And there couldn't be a better time for us to have the opportunity to do this. At the end of the day, three of the four opponents we face will be thoroughly overmatched, but just being able to give the frosh an early immersion into the system on both sides of the ball, and to get our inexperienced backcourt four scrimmages worth of game experience instead of them having to go through some of the growing pains in November will put this squad that much further along the developmental curve. Kudos to JB and the athletic department for capitalizing on this opportunity to get both some extra practice time and some valuable game experience.