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Message: [QUOTE="sutomcat, post: 1926489, member: 27"] I was in Boston for the football game. Saw some of the ESPN broadcast. Quick thoughts: Moyer rebounded the ball really well on the defensive end, and is a much better ball handler and passer than I was expecting at this point in his career. His shooting range needs work and he could get stronger but he is physical, is going to be one of those heady high basketball IQ types and is ready to play now. That being said, I don't see him getting a lot of PT this season. Not with TRob, Lydon and AW playing his position(s). Battle and Gillon give us the option of dramatically changing our style of play as they will both be among the fastest players in college basketball in 2016-17. It will be interesting to see if JB opens up the offense and lets the team run. It will also be interesting to see how much these guys can contribute shooting the ball from the 3. Pretty sure we are going to see a lot of bodies packed into the paint this year. That means a lot of playing time for AW and Tyler to open things up. If Battle or Gillon can also help, it will make this offense really tough to stop. Howard indeed looks improved. His added strength will really help him get into the paint and score or dish from there. Good defenses will take away his ability to penetrate and leave him open. One of the keys that will determine whether this team emerges as elite is whether Frankie can hit 15-18 foot jumpers. He will get a lot of them, at least until he proves he can hit them. If he does, the team becomes much harder to defend. If he doesn't, we have the 5 guys coveriing Chukwu is the real deal as far as size and athletic ability go. His hoops savvy needs work and we are going to need to be patient with him. As we were reminded of with Rak, the big guys usually take the longest to develop. Thought TRob played with more confidence than I have ever seen from him. Don't know if it is because of his great play down the stretch of last season, the added competition from others for playing time or just the fact he is a senior, but he looked really good. AW is more than just a shooter. Looked like a solid rebounder and more athletic than I was expecting. DC3 looked looser and more confident down low. I suspect he is going to get more PT than Chukwu and have a strong senior season. Not Rak strong but a major step up from where he has been so far in his career. Thompson is definitely an athlete and it looks like he understands the game (not just a cat rescuer). As with Moyer, while he might be ready to contribute right away, not sure he is going to get that chance, at least against the top opponents. But I am impressed with what he brings to the table. Might be the more advanced big guy we have brought in offensively since AO. This team is going to be really good on the boards. Really good. Looked like both teams played man, so I missed the chance to see the new guys trying to play the 2-3. Too bad, that was one of the biggest things I was wanting to see. From the defense I did see played, I think Battle is going to be better than Gillon up top; a lot better. Didn't see enough to make a judgement on AW and where he can play. I am sure he will be okay on the baseline defensively. Not sure how he will do at the top of the zone. That is going to be a focus for me watching the Indiana (Pa) game. [/QUOTE]

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