Quick thoughts

[TinyManInside]

Let me preface this by saying that these are observations based on a single game, and so should be taken with a grain of salt. IMO you really need to see a player multiple times to get a good assessment, and also teams tend to change identity during the course of a long season. So, with those caveats, here are my hasty first impressions...

Really impressed with Gillon. All the highlights I had seen of him made him look like a shoot-first point guard but yesterday he did a great job of creating and getting his teammates good looks at the basket. His court vision was impressive. There were 3 or 4 assists that he had that didn't seem like a big deal in 'real time', but on replay you realized that he had looked off the defense and delivered the passes right on time and on target. Great touch. What did worry me is that he doesn't shoot a jumpshot. Not sure how effective he can be from the perimeter in ACC player when you account for his lack of size and lack of jumpshot. We'll see...

The other kid who really stood out last night to me was Thompson, at least in the way of exceeding expectations. I had seem some game footage from his SR year in high school and thought he would come in and be at least a year, and maybe even two years away from contributing. I felt like the hype around his recruitment was due to the fact that he was one of the last remaining unsigned top 100 players, we needed more scholarship players, and he was basically 'the best still on the board'. I was wrong. I was super impressed with his poise, disposition, skillset, and size. He looks like a legit 6-10 and moves very well. Never seemed flustered, gathered himself well before making his moves. Not sure he will play much once we get to the meat of the schedule this year but it's nice to know he's on the roster in case of injury or unforeseen circumstances. If there weren't so many experienced players in front of him, I have little doubt that he could contribute this year. Looking forward to watching his development.

I thought Howard looked improved from last year, but overall he didn't have the impact that Gillon had. He wasn't very comfortable at the start of the game (the 15-3 start was pretty dreadful) but he got better as the game went on. He did try to force too much. There's no doubt that he has great vision but just because you see a teammate in a scoring position doesn't mean you have to force the ball through an ancillary defender or two that are in between you and that teammate. Most of the forced looks were tipped or deflected by secondary defenders, not the guy guarding the player the pass was intended for. He needs to clean this up. Defensively he had really active hands last night. Nice to see. Howard's shot did look more fluid than last year. I'm taking a 'wait and see' approach to assessing its effectiveness though. He'll shoot better percentages than he did last year (hard not to), but how much better remains to be seen.

The PG position will probably be in flux throughout the season. To me it looks like Howard and Gillon's playing time will be based on matchup and situation. This is a nice problem to have.

Battle looked athletic and explosive. Very disruptive defensively - lots of tipped balls. I know people are blown away by the 4-5 3pt shooting, but I was actually disappointed that we didn't see him drive more. He has a bit of a weird hitch in his shot mechanics, and while he shot the 3-ball well yesterday I don't expect him to be consistent. I'd like to see what else he can do, hopefully he'll show more in transition and driving the ball against LeMoyne. Overall he was just super solid and poised for a freshman playing in his first game. Good understanding of the game, high bball IQ, as far as I can tell from only one game. (I want to clarify that I wasn't disappointed in his play, just that I wanted to see him put the ball on the floor more. We'll get an opportunity to see that soon, I'm sure).

Roberson looked like Roberson. I thought he looked more polished offensively, but I'm not sure how that will translate against better, more athletic, stronger teams. He still picks up his pivot foot before he drives EVERY time (luckily he didn't get called for it yesterday) and he still had a few flatfooted jumpers that didn't look good at all, but he sprinkled in some nice aggressive moves as well. And we know he can rebound.

Lydon looked like Lydon but bigger and stronger. Not much to say here, I already knew he could dunk on teams with 6-6 centers. His outside shot looked nice and fluid even though none of them went in. They'll start to fall soon enough.

White... hmmm... hard to tell from just one game, but to me he didn't look as polished as I expected for a guy that has already played 4 years of college ball and averaged nearly 17 ppg in the Big Ten last year. I thought he rushed several of the outside shots he took. I was surprised by how much he put the ball on the floor given the early practice reports. Didn't like the way he kept the ball on the fastbreak, and he wasn't as quick as you'd like at the top of the zone. Rebounded better than I expected. I think his outside shot will come around once he settles in but I expected more from him than what I saw last night. Hopefully it's just that he's getting a feel for playing with new teammates.

Coleman - not much to take away from this game. He looked active and a little quicker than last year, but he was clearly physically overmatching the IUP players.

Chukwu will be an important situational player for us this year. He just poses problems for the opposition when he is out there due to his freakish size and long arms. Still needs to get bigger and stronger but he's got time.

Moyer - tough to get a read on him - he clearly looked like the 10th man out there last night, but it's always dangerous to make assessments based on a single game. I don't think he has much chance to play this year with all the size and talent in front of him, so it might make sense to redshirt him so he doesn't burn a year? Looking forward to watching him more closely against LeMoyne.

I liked the use of the press as a weapon and not a last resort. The m2m defense looked pretty awful - White in particular had back to back possessions where he didn't know who he was guarding.

Looking forward to seeing how this team gels. There is a lot of talent here.

-Mason

 

[General20]

Let me preface this by saying that these are observations based on a single game, and so should be taken with a grain of salt. IMO you really need to see a player multiple times to get a good assessment, and also teams tend to change identity during the course of a long season. So, with those caveats, here are my hasty first impressions...

Really impressed with Gillon. All the highlights I had seen of him made him look like a shoot-first point guard but yesterday he did a great job of creating and getting his teammates good looks at the basket. His court vision was impressive. There were 3 or 4 assists that he had that didn't seem like a big deal in 'real time', but on replay you realized that he had looked off the defense and delivered the passes right on time and on target. Great touch. What did worry me is that he doesn't shoot a jumpshot. Not sure how effective he can be from the perimeter in ACC player when you account for his lack of size and lack of jumpshot. We'll see...

The other kid who really stood out last night to me was Thompson. I had seem some game footage from his SR year in high school and thought he would come in and be at least a year, and maybe even two years away from contributing. I felt like the hype around his recruitment was due to the fact that he was one of the last remaining unsigned top 100 players, we needed more scholarship players, and he was basically 'the best still on the board'. I was wrong. I was super impressed with his poise, disposition, skillset, and size. He looks like a legit 6-10 and moves very well. Never seemed flustered, gathered himself well before making his moves. I think he's going to be a good one down the road. Not sure he will play much once we get to the meat of the schedule this year but it's nice to know he's on the roster in case of injury or unforeseen circumstances. Looking forward to watching his development.

I thought Howard looked improved from last year, but overall he didn't have the impact that Gillon had. He wasn't very comfortable at the start of the game (the 15-3 start was pretty dreadful) but he got better as the game went on. He did try to force too much. There's no doubt that he has great vision but just because you see a teammate in a scoring position doesn't mean you have to force the ball through an ancillary defender or two that are in between you and that teammate. Most of the forced looks were tipped or deflected by secondary defenders, not the guy guarding the player the pass was intended for. He needs to clean this up. Defensively he had really active hands last night. Nice to see. Howard's shot did look more fluid than last year. I'm taking a 'wait and see' approach to assessing its effectiveness though. He'll shoot at better percentages than he did last year (hard not to), but how much better remains to be seen.

The PG position will probably be in flux throughout the season. To me it looks like Howard and Gillon's playing time will be based on matchup and situation. This is a nice problem to have.

Battle looked athletic and explosive. Very disruptive defensively - lots of tipped balls. I know people are blown away by the 4-5 3pt shooting, but I was actually disappointed that we didn't see him drive more. He has a bit of a weird hitch in his shot mechanics, and while he shot the 3-ball well yesterday I don't expect him to be consistent. I'd like to see what else he can do, hopefully he'll show more in transition and driving the ball against LeMoyne.

Roberson looked like Roberson. I thought he looked more polished offensively, but I'm not sure how that will translate against better, more athletic, stronger teams. He still picks up his pivot foot before he drives EVERY time (luckily he didn't get called for it yesterday) and he still had a few flatfooted jumpers that didn't look good at all, but he sprinkled in some nice aggressive moves as well. And we know he can rebound.

Lydon looked like Lydon but bigger and strong. Not much to say here, I already knew he could dunk on teams with 6-6 centers. His outside shot looked nice and fluid even though none of them went in. They'll start to fall soon enough.

White... hmmm... hard to tell from just one game, but to me he didn't look as polished as I expected for a guy that has already played 4 years of college ball and averaged nearly 17 ppg in the Big Ten last year. I thought he rushed several of the outside shots he took. I was surprised by how much he put the ball on the floor given the early practice reports. Didn't like the way he kept the ball on the fastbreak, and he wasn't as quick as you'd like at the top of the zone. Rebounded better than I expected. I think his outside shot will come around once he settles down but I expected more from him than what I saw last night. Hopefully it's just that he's getting a feel for playing with new teammates.

Coleman - not much to take away from this game. He looked active and a little quicker than last year, but he was clearly physically overmatching the IUP players.

Chukwu will be an important situational player for us this year. He just poses problems for the opposition when he is out there due to his freakish size and long arms. Still needs to get bigger and stronger but he's got time.

Moyer - tough to get a read on him - he clearly looked like the 10th man out there last night, but it's always dangerous to make assessments based on a single game. I don't think he has much chance to play this year with all the size and talent in front of him, so it might make sense to redshirt him so he doesn't burn a year? Looking forward to watching him more closely against LeMoyne.

I liked the use of the press as a weapon and not a last resort. The m2m defense looked pretty awful - White in particular had back to back possessions where he didn't know who he was guarding.

Looking forward to seeing how this team gels. There is a lot of talent here.

-Mason

Great post!

I think there is a good reason Howard looked confused early and Battle didn't drive to the hoop, and its the same reason. IUP was playing a match up zone. I guarantee when Battle has a guy one-on-one he'll be taking that guy to the hoop. I was really encouraged, actually, that he recognized the zone and didn't force anything, but instead got himself in good position to hit jumpers (both 3's and mid range) or get the ball down low to guys who could score inside.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Let me preface this by saying that these are observations based on a single game, and so should be taken with a grain of salt. IMO you really need to see a player multiple times to get a good assessment, and also teams tend to change identity during the course of a long season. So, with those caveats, here are my hasty first impressions...

Really impressed with Gillon. All the highlights I had seen of him made him look like a shoot-first point guard but yesterday he did a great job of creating and getting his teammates good looks at the basket. His court vision was impressive. There were 3 or 4 assists that he had that didn't seem like a big deal in 'real time', but on replay you realized that he had looked off the defense and delivered the passes right on time and on target. Great touch. What did worry me is that he doesn't shoot a jumpshot. Not sure how effective he can be from the perimeter in ACC player when you account for his lack of size and lack of jumpshot. We'll see...

The other kid who really stood out last night to me was Thompson. I had seem some game footage from his SR year in high school and thought he would come in and be at least a year, and maybe even two years away from contributing. I felt like the hype around his recruitment was due to the fact that he was one of the last remaining unsigned top 100 players, we needed more scholarship players, and he was basically 'the best still on the board'. I was wrong. I was super impressed with his poise, disposition, skillset, and size. He looks like a legit 6-10 and moves very well. Never seemed flustered, gathered himself well before making his moves. I think he's going to be a good one down the road. Not sure he will play much once we get to the meat of the schedule this year but it's nice to know he's on the roster in case of injury or unforeseen circumstances. Looking forward to watching his development.

I thought Howard looked improved from last year, but overall he didn't have the impact that Gillon had. He wasn't very comfortable at the start of the game (the 15-3 start was pretty dreadful) but he got better as the game went on. He did try to force too much. There's no doubt that he has great vision but just because you see a teammate in a scoring position doesn't mean you have to force the ball through an ancillary defender or two that are in between you and that teammate. Most of the forced looks were tipped or deflected by secondary defenders, not the guy guarding the player the pass was intended for. He needs to clean this up. Defensively he had really active hands last night. Nice to see. Howard's shot did look more fluid than last year. I'm taking a 'wait and see' approach to assessing its effectiveness though. He'll shoot at better percentages than he did last year (hard not to), but how much better remains to be seen.

The PG position will probably be in flux throughout the season. To me it looks like Howard and Gillon's playing time will be based on matchup and situation. This is a nice problem to have.

Battle looked athletic and explosive. Very disruptive defensively - lots of tipped balls. I know people are blown away by the 4-5 3pt shooting, but I was actually disappointed that we didn't see him drive more. He has a bit of a weird hitch in his shot mechanics, and while he shot the 3-ball well yesterday I don't expect him to be consistent. I'd like to see what else he can do, hopefully he'll show more in transition and driving the ball against LeMoyne.

Roberson looked like Roberson. I thought he looked more polished offensively, but I'm not sure how that will translate against better, more athletic, stronger teams. He still picks up his pivot foot before he drives EVERY time (luckily he didn't get called for it yesterday) and he still had a few flatfooted jumpers that didn't look good at all, but he sprinkled in some nice aggressive moves as well. And we know he can rebound.

Lydon looked like Lydon but bigger and strong. Not much to say here, I already knew he could dunk on teams with 6-6 centers. His outside shot looked nice and fluid even though none of them went in. They'll start to fall soon enough.

White... hmmm... hard to tell from just one game, but to me he didn't look as polished as I expected for a guy that has already played 4 years of college ball and averaged nearly 17 ppg in the Big Ten last year. I thought he rushed several of the outside shots he took. I was surprised by how much he put the ball on the floor given the early practice reports. Didn't like the way he kept the ball on the fastbreak, and he wasn't as quick as you'd like at the top of the zone. Rebounded better than I expected. I think his outside shot will come around once he settles down but I expected more from him than what I saw last night. Hopefully it's just that he's getting a feel for playing with new teammates.

Coleman - not much to take away from this game. He looked active and a little quicker than last year, but he was clearly physically overmatching the IUP players.

Chukwu will be an important situational player for us this year. He just poses problems for the opposition when he is out there due to his freakish size and long arms. Still needs to get bigger and stronger but he's got time.

Moyer - tough to get a read on him - he clearly looked like the 10th man out there last night, but it's always dangerous to make assessments based on a single game. I don't think he has much chance to play this year with all the size and talent in front of him, so it might make sense to redshirt him so he doesn't burn a year? Looking forward to watching him more closely against LeMoyne.

I liked the use of the press as a weapon and not a last resort. The m2m defense looked pretty awful - White in particular had back to back possessions where he didn't know who he was guarding.

Looking forward to seeing how this team gels. There is a lot of talent here.

-Mason

Nice report! Thanks for doing that.

A question I have for you and the rest who watched the game about Howard - do you think the forcing the ball was indicative of him trying to win the spot, just getting too amped because it's the first game, or just a case of knowing he was playing against lesser talent?

And yes, I know I'm asking you to guess

 

[SoBeCuse]

Nice report! Thanks for doing that.

A question I have for you and the rest who watched the game about Howard - do you think the forcing the ball was indicative of him trying to win the spot, just getting too amped because it's the first game, or just a case of knowing he was playing against lesser talent?

And yes, I know I'm asking you to guess

I'm going to chime in with hard to say. I will say he looked like a confident player who wasn't playing passively. Just simply looked like he was forcing things. Not sure why.

 

[bballbeadle]

I would say otherwise than SoBeCuse. He seemed to be an unconfident player and I was surprised to see his mistakes and hesitancy. However, we have seen many reports of how he is doing in practice and by all accounts, he is vastly improved. It may be that last night he was playing not to get yanked, which is never good. Then Boeheim yelled at him at least once; he denied that this negatively affected him. I have never understand how verbal abuse, er, I mean coaching has successfully motivated people in sports and in the armed services. It makes no sense to me (who has had experience with neither).

I liked how Franklin played better in the second half and had some sweet baskets. But I would say in the first half he played with one eye on the bench.

So much for my subjective opinion. :noidea:

 

[TinyManInside]

Great post!

I think there is a good reason Howard looked confused early and Battle didn't drive to the hoop, and its the same reason. IUP was playing a match up zone. I guarantee when Battle has a guy one-on-one he'll be taking that guy to the hoop. I was really encouraged, actually, that he recognized the zone and didn't force anything, but instead got himself in good position to hit jumpers (both 3's and mid range) or get the ball down low to guys who could score inside.

I get that and agree 100%. I'm just looking forward to seeing him in a situation where he can be more aggressive in the halfcourt going to the basket.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Nice report! Thanks for doing that.

A question I have for you and the rest who watched the game about Howard - do you think the forcing the ball was indicative of him trying to win the spot, just getting too amped because it's the first game, or just a case of knowing he was playing against lesser talent?

And yes, I know I'm asking you to guess

To me, particularly in the second half, I thought he forced 2 or 3 passes inside through a maze of arms because he was competing with Gillon. I don't recall Frank trying to force things quite so much last year.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

To me, particularly in the second half, I thought he forced 2 or 3 passes inside through a maze of arms because he was competing with Gillon. I don't recall Frank trying to force things quite so much last year.

I was a little afraid of that. I was hoping it was a case of knowing it was the Globetrotters vs. the Generals.

 

[RF2044]

I was a little afraid of that. I was hoping it was a case of knowing it was the Globetrotters vs. the Generals.

I think there was a little of that. And as you know, even against inferior competition, you can't always just physically impose your way to positive plays. Sometimes you can, but often bad things happen when you force plays that just aren't there.

Comparatively, I was reading the articles from this afternoon, where Boeheim was chastising Gillon for not looking to score / shoot more. Him holding back was quite evident. In contrast to Frank, he didn't force much of anything, sublimated his scoring, and just let the game come. He made plays within the flow of what was happening on the court.

Frank pressed a bit last night. It will get straightened out.