My first time seeing the game so a few observations from an admittedly extremely small sample size:
-- Nice to get a W, but hard to see this team being a big factor in ACC play. Competitive, yes, but rebounding will be an issue all year and I'm not sure the defense/offense combo is quite good enough to overcome that issue against really good teams.
-- Could make a fairly compelling argument that the two most important, if not best, players on this team are Lydon and Richardson. I know Lydon didn't do much offensively vs. Lehigh, but he looked really comfortable offensively and is a huge key defensively. We got killed on the glass but the zone is about 10x better with him on the floor at the 5. Battles hard for a young kid and had a couple nice kick-outs after rebounds, which is nice b/c a few transition buckets will help this team. Richardson is going to be frustrating at times. Has a tendency to over-commit on the wing and get himself in bad spots defensively and is very confident, thus leading to some ill-advised shots on offense. But his ability to knock down an open shot while also being able to beat his man off the dribble and finish is a combo that is desperately needed. Gbinije and Cooney are really solid guys but this team's ceiling rests on those kids' shoulders, IMO.
-- JB and co. will have to do a really nice job scouting opponents for end-of-shot-clock set plays off inbounds. There are going to be a ton of them when this team is locked in defensively and they really struggled with that tonight. At least three solid looks with less than 5 seconds on the shot clock for the Bonnies. Teams are going to be good enough to get the ball to the right guys and get OK looks from time to time in these situations, but if we can pick up tendencies and be ready for those situations it could make the difference in winning and losing a few tight games.
-- Thought KJ looked meh. I know he played well against Lehigh but he struggles to make decisions with the ball in his hands (missed a wide open Lydon in the post in one sequence, through a terrible pass for a turnover in another) and doesn't do much defensively.
-- That said either KJ or Howard stepping up would be nice. Thought Howard, who got out of position and gave up a three at one point, generally looked really good defensively. He's going to be a beast on that end of the floor. Perfect for the zone -- big kid who anticipates and moves well. Good combo. I'm not so down on KJ that I am writing him off by any means but I think he has a long way to go to earn JB's trust.
-- As someone else noted in another thread, DC played much better when he came in with 6 min or so to go after Roberson fouled out. Still dream of a day when we can go to him in a halfcourt set 3-4 times a half and get four buckets a game that way. Not sure we'll see it, but it would be a huge bonus. The look to the post in the first set of the second half was the only post entry that I can remember from that game (there were probably a few more, but not many).
-- A little disappointed in Roberson, who I like generally. Hustled and easily could have finished with 10 and 12 (missed a tip-in and a layup). Also, while he fouled out, thought really the only bad foul was his first, so I'm OK with that. But just thought he might have a little more to offer offensively but he was absent vs. Lehigh and really didn't do anything in this one on that end.
-- G and Cooney are what they are. I was pretty impressed with G even though I've never been the biggest fan of his game. But he handled the 1 pretty well, shot really well from outside and looks pretty confident. Big reason they were in the game while struggling as a team. Still would like to see him maintain this level of consistency before I jump on board. Cooney -- I don't know what to say. Still feel like he'd be the best playing a role instead of being a primary guy. Some awful turnovers and not particularly good shooting. But he had six steals and 18 points, so how can you hammer him? Both are solid players but each has something still to prove going forward.
-- Will be interesting to see if JB abandons the slow-down approach with a decent lead and 5-6 mins left. Gotta figure the shorter shot clock could see him let this team play aggressively for an extra 2-3 minutes. But it worked tonight and I doubt very much he's looking for my advice on the topic.
I don't know, that's it for now. Fun to see them come back and put that thing away.
-- Nice to get a W, but hard to see this team being a big factor in ACC play. Competitive, yes, but rebounding will be an issue all year and I'm not sure the defense/offense combo is quite good enough to overcome that issue against really good teams.
-- Could make a fairly compelling argument that the two most important, if not best, players on this team are Lydon and Richardson. I know Lydon didn't do much offensively vs. Lehigh, but he looked really comfortable offensively and is a huge key defensively. We got killed on the glass but the zone is about 10x better with him on the floor at the 5. Battles hard for a young kid and had a couple nice kick-outs after rebounds, which is nice b/c a few transition buckets will help this team. Richardson is going to be frustrating at times. Has a tendency to over-commit on the wing and get himself in bad spots defensively and is very confident, thus leading to some ill-advised shots on offense. But his ability to knock down an open shot while also being able to beat his man off the dribble and finish is a combo that is desperately needed. Gbinije and Cooney are really solid guys but this team's ceiling rests on those kids' shoulders, IMO.
-- JB and co. will have to do a really nice job scouting opponents for end-of-shot-clock set plays off inbounds. There are going to be a ton of them when this team is locked in defensively and they really struggled with that tonight. At least three solid looks with less than 5 seconds on the shot clock for the Bonnies. Teams are going to be good enough to get the ball to the right guys and get OK looks from time to time in these situations, but if we can pick up tendencies and be ready for those situations it could make the difference in winning and losing a few tight games.
-- Thought KJ looked meh. I know he played well against Lehigh but he struggles to make decisions with the ball in his hands (missed a wide open Lydon in the post in one sequence, through a terrible pass for a turnover in another) and doesn't do much defensively.
-- That said either KJ or Howard stepping up would be nice. Thought Howard, who got out of position and gave up a three at one point, generally looked really good defensively. He's going to be a beast on that end of the floor. Perfect for the zone -- big kid who anticipates and moves well. Good combo. I'm not so down on KJ that I am writing him off by any means but I think he has a long way to go to earn JB's trust.
-- As someone else noted in another thread, DC played much better when he came in with 6 min or so to go after Roberson fouled out. Still dream of a day when we can go to him in a halfcourt set 3-4 times a half and get four buckets a game that way. Not sure we'll see it, but it would be a huge bonus. The look to the post in the first set of the second half was the only post entry that I can remember from that game (there were probably a few more, but not many).
-- A little disappointed in Roberson, who I like generally. Hustled and easily could have finished with 10 and 12 (missed a tip-in and a layup). Also, while he fouled out, thought really the only bad foul was his first, so I'm OK with that. But just thought he might have a little more to offer offensively but he was absent vs. Lehigh and really didn't do anything in this one on that end.
-- G and Cooney are what they are. I was pretty impressed with G even though I've never been the biggest fan of his game. But he handled the 1 pretty well, shot really well from outside and looks pretty confident. Big reason they were in the game while struggling as a team. Still would like to see him maintain this level of consistency before I jump on board. Cooney -- I don't know what to say. Still feel like he'd be the best playing a role instead of being a primary guy. Some awful turnovers and not particularly good shooting. But he had six steals and 18 points, so how can you hammer him? Both are solid players but each has something still to prove going forward.
-- Will be interesting to see if JB abandons the slow-down approach with a decent lead and 5-6 mins left. Gotta figure the shorter shot clock could see him let this team play aggressively for an extra 2-3 minutes. But it worked tonight and I doubt very much he's looking for my advice on the topic.
I don't know, that's it for now. Fun to see them come back and put that thing away.
