RF2044
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Apologies for not posting the practice summary this morning as promised—had a couple of unanticipated work-related issues pop up this morning that prevented me from typing it up until now.
As mentioned yesterday, my father had the opportunity to head up to the Melo Center yesterday afternoon to take in part of hoops practice. My dad used to be a regular practice attendee back when practices were conducted in Manley Field House, but things are much more restrictive these days at the Melo Center. He managed to get past "security" by going up with a good friend of his who is one of the PS beat writers covering SU basketball. Based upon circumstance, he was only able to take in an hour or so of practice, but he had some interesting observations about the players that I thought I’d share.
Practice is usually divided into four components. Pre-practice, groups of players will be out on the various courts working with team managers and each other to get some extra work on specific skills, like three point shooting or free throw shooting. The second phase is where they stretch and get put through the paces by the trainer to get everybody warmed up properly. Then, they’ll usually break into positional groups [guards, forwards, centers] and go through a bunch of position specific drills. Lastly, they’ll close practice with scrimmaging.
Unfortunately, my father wasn’t able to stay long enough to watch them scrimmage, so I don’t have any game play observations. But he was there to see them working through drills, etc.
Shortly after he got there, Seth Davis showed up, and my dad got introduced to him by his friend working for the PS. Making idle chat on the sidelines while the players warmed up, Davis observed [paraphrasing] that SU could be poised for a big year, that we are a top 10—possibly a top 5—type of team. He also made a comment that he tweeted out yesterday about SU having lots of good, but possibly no great players. All in all, seemed like a personable guy who was engaging to chat with.
General Observations:
· My dad thinks that all of the frosh looked more physically impressive than what he expected. Trevor Cooney is really built for an incoming frosh—the kind of physique many of us hoped that GMac would eventually develop during the course of his career. Broad shoulders, big arms and muscular calves. In other words, a kid who looks physically mature already. Christmas isn’t a finished product at this stage of his developmental curve, but he’s starting off with a great frame. Isn’t difficult to imagine this kid being a strong 235 in another year or two. He said that the biggest surprise was MCW, who wasn’t nearly as skinny / scrawny as what he expected. Make no mistake—not suggesting that he is “jacked,” just that he looks like he added some good weight and isn’t the 175 bean pole that we saw on TV last spring.
· Speaking of MCW, my dad’s friend from the PS suggested that the coaches are very, very high on Carter-Williams game / potential, and the general consensus around the program is that he’s a future NBA player.
· The centers: Fab Melo has lost an appreciable amount of weight. His face is noticeably less chubby, and he looks lankier and slimmed down overall. It’s paid off with better lateral mobility and stamina. Keita looks about the same, and is not the type of kid who is ever going to pack on a ton of weight, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t “strong.”
· Waiters and Triche both looked in peak shape; both are jacked and play with a lot of energy.
· For the Mookie fans out there, apparently he practiced exclusively with the forwards, which could be attributable to him being the #6 player in the guard rotation [a good sign in terms of the backcourt’s potential]. There’s a lot of competition at forward, as well, but as a fourth-year junior who’s got some game experience under his belt, he might be a darkhorse to emerge and get some consistent playing time at the 3 as a designated shooter off the bench.
· Fair looks like he’s filled out a bit [perhaps the result of weight lifting moreso than weight gain], and looks strong in the drills. Looks very active out there—always in the right spot for rebounds, good timing / anticipation deflecting passes, etc.
· Again, since it was mostly drill work my dad saw, he didn’t get a feel for the floor game of any of the players, but he said that Scoop looked serious / focused / vocal. That’s a good sign—hoping that he takes it to the next level recognizing this is his last go around, like Rick took it to the next level last year. I don’t think that Scoop needs to do more statistically to be “better” this season; just cutting down on unforced turnovers, taking better care of the ball, etc. would make him an exponentially more effective lead guard.
Wish he could have stuck around for the scrimmage portion to see the players in action and get some game play observations, like the old days. Oh well…
As mentioned yesterday, my father had the opportunity to head up to the Melo Center yesterday afternoon to take in part of hoops practice. My dad used to be a regular practice attendee back when practices were conducted in Manley Field House, but things are much more restrictive these days at the Melo Center. He managed to get past "security" by going up with a good friend of his who is one of the PS beat writers covering SU basketball. Based upon circumstance, he was only able to take in an hour or so of practice, but he had some interesting observations about the players that I thought I’d share.
Practice is usually divided into four components. Pre-practice, groups of players will be out on the various courts working with team managers and each other to get some extra work on specific skills, like three point shooting or free throw shooting. The second phase is where they stretch and get put through the paces by the trainer to get everybody warmed up properly. Then, they’ll usually break into positional groups [guards, forwards, centers] and go through a bunch of position specific drills. Lastly, they’ll close practice with scrimmaging.
Unfortunately, my father wasn’t able to stay long enough to watch them scrimmage, so I don’t have any game play observations. But he was there to see them working through drills, etc.
Shortly after he got there, Seth Davis showed up, and my dad got introduced to him by his friend working for the PS. Making idle chat on the sidelines while the players warmed up, Davis observed [paraphrasing] that SU could be poised for a big year, that we are a top 10—possibly a top 5—type of team. He also made a comment that he tweeted out yesterday about SU having lots of good, but possibly no great players. All in all, seemed like a personable guy who was engaging to chat with.
General Observations:
· My dad thinks that all of the frosh looked more physically impressive than what he expected. Trevor Cooney is really built for an incoming frosh—the kind of physique many of us hoped that GMac would eventually develop during the course of his career. Broad shoulders, big arms and muscular calves. In other words, a kid who looks physically mature already. Christmas isn’t a finished product at this stage of his developmental curve, but he’s starting off with a great frame. Isn’t difficult to imagine this kid being a strong 235 in another year or two. He said that the biggest surprise was MCW, who wasn’t nearly as skinny / scrawny as what he expected. Make no mistake—not suggesting that he is “jacked,” just that he looks like he added some good weight and isn’t the 175 bean pole that we saw on TV last spring.
· Speaking of MCW, my dad’s friend from the PS suggested that the coaches are very, very high on Carter-Williams game / potential, and the general consensus around the program is that he’s a future NBA player.
· The centers: Fab Melo has lost an appreciable amount of weight. His face is noticeably less chubby, and he looks lankier and slimmed down overall. It’s paid off with better lateral mobility and stamina. Keita looks about the same, and is not the type of kid who is ever going to pack on a ton of weight, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t “strong.”
· Waiters and Triche both looked in peak shape; both are jacked and play with a lot of energy.
· For the Mookie fans out there, apparently he practiced exclusively with the forwards, which could be attributable to him being the #6 player in the guard rotation [a good sign in terms of the backcourt’s potential]. There’s a lot of competition at forward, as well, but as a fourth-year junior who’s got some game experience under his belt, he might be a darkhorse to emerge and get some consistent playing time at the 3 as a designated shooter off the bench.
· Fair looks like he’s filled out a bit [perhaps the result of weight lifting moreso than weight gain], and looks strong in the drills. Looks very active out there—always in the right spot for rebounds, good timing / anticipation deflecting passes, etc.
· Again, since it was mostly drill work my dad saw, he didn’t get a feel for the floor game of any of the players, but he said that Scoop looked serious / focused / vocal. That’s a good sign—hoping that he takes it to the next level recognizing this is his last go around, like Rick took it to the next level last year. I don’t think that Scoop needs to do more statistically to be “better” this season; just cutting down on unforced turnovers, taking better care of the ball, etc. would make him an exponentially more effective lead guard.
Wish he could have stuck around for the scrimmage portion to see the players in action and get some game play observations, like the old days. Oh well…
