Niastri
Two Time Iggy Award Winner: Edwards for Three!
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- Aug 28, 2011
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We can't really say too much about Kyle's ability to catch and dunk bad alley oop passes. I think it will result in occasional turnovers as players trust him too much, but man it is amazing watching him find the ball, adjust and make a highlight dunk with such frequency.
Kyle is an all around good player on offense. For a guy who can't shoot at all, he has good passing, draws defenders well when he has the ball close to the basket and finds the correct open man for a three. He was only credited with one assist, but I have counted two he should have had, and a couple second assists if such a thing existed in basketball.
Sadiq White is almost in Kyle's league accepting alley oop passes. He hasn't shown the ability to adjust in the air like Kyle, but in height above the rim, he is about equal. We hear a lot about Kyle's huge vertical, I wonder what White's actual measurement is... Both guys are also really good finishing near the basket.
There was a period of time where Anthony was bringing up the ball, even when George was out there. I imagine that is both to give Anthony experience doing it, and to give George a little "on court rest" when he isn't doing everything. Smart of Red, as he knows both things might be helpful going forward. We only have one true point guard we want out there, and giving George less responsibilities will help him avoid wearing down.
Somebody mentioned White's ability to be kind of a one man press. I wonder if we can use that to strategic advantage. If White can be used to hound the other teams backup point guards when they are out there, it might force opposing coaches to play their starter more than they would like, or even put two point guards out there instead of the normal rotation. In either case, we are forcing opposition to adapt to our lineup. With a backup. White seems to be a special player, and is another guy who can really affect the game without needing to score. We haven't had two guys like that on the same roster (Kyle being the other) in quite a while.
Freeman wasn't great in this game, he missed a bunch of shots, and had 4 turnovers. But in a "bad game" he still wound up drawing a ton of fouls, made them at a high rate, and came away with 18. He also had 7 d rebounds, 3 assists, a block and a steal. His floor game is getting better and better, though he still sometimes was slow on the occasional defensive rotation that he was getting right in previous games. I hope that isn't a sign of wear and tear.
I thought Starling, other than the yips on free throws, looked really good in his first game in a while. He looked healthy and like he wasn't trying to do too much. Took 6 shots, scored 11 points, did a couple of other things well. I actually thought he was bad on defense. He went the wrong way on screens a few times, which might just be an instinctual thing you can't remedy. There is no clear cut way to beat a screen, it's situational a lot of the time, and he might just not have that instinct. I think he's a net positive if he plays within himself and continues to draw fouls. His ability to beat his man off the dribble and draw fouls could really hurt Houston, even if he misses them at too high a rate.
Overall, Monmouth was a sloppy game against a team we should have beaten handily. I think the team was looking ahead as much as I was, and we were breaking in a ball dominant starter who missed a bunch of games. It was ugly and ragged. I won't take too much away from it.
On to the biggest games on our schedule.
Kyle is an all around good player on offense. For a guy who can't shoot at all, he has good passing, draws defenders well when he has the ball close to the basket and finds the correct open man for a three. He was only credited with one assist, but I have counted two he should have had, and a couple second assists if such a thing existed in basketball.
Sadiq White is almost in Kyle's league accepting alley oop passes. He hasn't shown the ability to adjust in the air like Kyle, but in height above the rim, he is about equal. We hear a lot about Kyle's huge vertical, I wonder what White's actual measurement is... Both guys are also really good finishing near the basket.
There was a period of time where Anthony was bringing up the ball, even when George was out there. I imagine that is both to give Anthony experience doing it, and to give George a little "on court rest" when he isn't doing everything. Smart of Red, as he knows both things might be helpful going forward. We only have one true point guard we want out there, and giving George less responsibilities will help him avoid wearing down.
Somebody mentioned White's ability to be kind of a one man press. I wonder if we can use that to strategic advantage. If White can be used to hound the other teams backup point guards when they are out there, it might force opposing coaches to play their starter more than they would like, or even put two point guards out there instead of the normal rotation. In either case, we are forcing opposition to adapt to our lineup. With a backup. White seems to be a special player, and is another guy who can really affect the game without needing to score. We haven't had two guys like that on the same roster (Kyle being the other) in quite a while.
Freeman wasn't great in this game, he missed a bunch of shots, and had 4 turnovers. But in a "bad game" he still wound up drawing a ton of fouls, made them at a high rate, and came away with 18. He also had 7 d rebounds, 3 assists, a block and a steal. His floor game is getting better and better, though he still sometimes was slow on the occasional defensive rotation that he was getting right in previous games. I hope that isn't a sign of wear and tear.
I thought Starling, other than the yips on free throws, looked really good in his first game in a while. He looked healthy and like he wasn't trying to do too much. Took 6 shots, scored 11 points, did a couple of other things well. I actually thought he was bad on defense. He went the wrong way on screens a few times, which might just be an instinctual thing you can't remedy. There is no clear cut way to beat a screen, it's situational a lot of the time, and he might just not have that instinct. I think he's a net positive if he plays within himself and continues to draw fouls. His ability to beat his man off the dribble and draw fouls could really hurt Houston, even if he misses them at too high a rate.
Overall, Monmouth was a sloppy game against a team we should have beaten handily. I think the team was looking ahead as much as I was, and we were breaking in a ball dominant starter who missed a bunch of games. It was ugly and ragged. I won't take too much away from it.
On to the biggest games on our schedule.
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