I’m not going to say everyone who was at the scrimmage tonight will agree with what I saw, but I thought I would do recap ofor everyone who could not make it where the Orange team beat white 69-60.
White Team First:
Oshae- had the best scrimmage by far despite losing. He hit 4 or 5 threes, finished at the rim, hit a couple of mid range buckets and defensively he is long and will get his hands on a bunch of passes in the zone. I can’t understand why the scouting services had him ranked so low. He looks like a top 30ish player to me. I think he can have just as big an impact as Tyus had last year or Mal/Lydon the year before. Heck I wouldn’t rule out him being better.
Tyus-Everyone assumes he’s our best player and I am sure he will be, but he struggled a bit tonight, especially with Frank guarding him. He probably finished with around ten points, but if I had to guess he went about 4-15 and struggled both at the rim and from 3. Nothing to be concerned about. It could
mean Frank is better than we thought.
HW-Another kid who I think the scouting services underrated. He’s not going to blow anyone away athletically, but he makes the right play every time and is a good passer. I think he has a lot of shooting potential. His form is consistent and he’s nevergoing to be a guy we would have to worry about making a bad play. I would trust him with the ball in his hands.
Marek- Looks a year away to me. You can see flashes of potential off the dribble, shooting, and on the break, but man is he skinny. I don’t know how much he will be in the rotation this year at that weight. Moyer bullies him a bit in the scrimmage. I think he needs a year to develop his body.
Chukwu-Trying to be nice here, but he looked worse than last year. He still struggles catching the ball, brings it down, and consistently got stripped. On defense I thought he gave away the paint way to easily and Bourama had his way with him. Maybe PC turns it around, but I wouldn’t be the on it. I think he’s the 9th man on this team.
Orange-Thorpe didn’t play
Frank- I’m sure he still will frustrate people as he missed a few bunnies during the scrimmage, but he shot it well both from three and midrange. He also really played hard on defense like he took it personally against Tyus and made a few nice passes to both Moyer and Bourama. I know it’s going to be hard for him to win some fans back, but if he plays like he did tonight he will have a good season.
Moyer-I don’t think it will always be pretty, but this dude plays hard and never gives up. He started out struggling then scored a bunch of points in the middle of the game before he started struggling again on offense at the end. One thing you will never have to worry about with Moyer is a lack of hustle. He went after every rebound and loose ball. He also appears a lot stronger than advertised. I could see him struggling a bit against better athletes, but it won’t be for not trying. His shot has improved, but it’s still a bit flat and could use more refining. I think he fits better at the 4 compared to where you could see Oshae play the 3.
Bourama-He’s a bit raw, but you can see that he oozes potential. I think by next year or the year after we can have a post game again through him that we haven’t had in a few years. He should be able to contribute this year. He plays hard at both ends and is easily better than Pascal. I hope JB starts him at center because I think he will help us there at both ends of the court.
Hughes-Athletic kid who can shoot and looks like he has potential in the zone, but he needs to work on his handle a bit in order to be a playmaker in our system. I think he could be a great shooter for us down the line, but I don’t know if that will be at the 2 or 3. Right now I think he’s a 3.
It should also be noted that walking Braedon Bayer playing for Thorpe hit 3 or 4 3’s for Orange and reminded me of one of those kids Pitino always used to have sitting on his bench at Louisville.
To summarize, I think we have enough to be a sold team, but not all these guys will be in the rotation by the time ACC starts.
If I had to guess I would say the rotation gets down to 6.5 with:
Battle
Thorpe
Oshae
Moyer
Bourama
Frank
Then you play Marek or Howard W. based on the situation. I just can’t see Pascal helping us after what I saw tonight.
