Interesting game for a bunch of reasons.
- Saw a bunch of guys off the bench early. This will be depressing for the folks who love nothing more than complaining about the rotation. The bench's first go-round in the first half was, not surprisingly, a little less than great as the lead shrunk from 19 (22 after Woody's three) to 10 before a couple starters came back and it went back up to 14 at the half. That said, at least we can all agree it is nice to have at least a game where this isn't the primary point of discussion.
- Joe's clearly not right, at least right now. His intensity on the defensive end, admittedly not exactly his calling card anyway, has been brutal. I know he's going to be on the shorter side forever and that will be an issue at times, but he needs to be active. He wasn't and had a tough game. On the plus side I thought his shot selection was good and those are shots he can make. But hopefully he gets right sooner than later, though if it is COVID-related, that can be a looooonnnngggg recovery period for some so who knows?
- Kadary's offense was good, but really liked his play on the defensive end. His play on the defensive end was Rautins/MCW-like for at least this game. Makes in-bounds passes dangerous, covers a ton of ground and is a constant pest there. Moves his feet well to slow down penetration. Just a really impactful defender. Offensively, the shooting looks like it could be a limitation but he has a nice change of speed/direction that allows him to create problems in the paint. Solid passer too. Lot to like here.
- Woody! Breakout game for Woody, which is great b/c it's another player for people to complain about P/T. Not sure we'll see him in real games (though that may change with COVID stuff) but another guy who defensively made an impression. Moves his feet really well for a guy that big and got some time at the top of the zone. That's a game-changer for him. Drained the three but was really active in general. Really impressed me in a short time.
- We get so little out of offensive sets. It was interesting watching Niagara run their offense and get a bunch of decent looks, particularly the first 10 minutes. They didn't convert a lot but they got looks. Thought Gminski made a really good point that we, on the other hand, do an awful lot of dribbling and one-on-one. He's right. We had some decent assist numbers (15) but most of those came in transition. That's fine -- it's good to be able to run, but there is not a lot of ball movement or opportunities coming off those half-court sets. That's an issue for a team that won't be particularly dynamic in that setting against better teams.
- Marek is such a good complimentary player. The stat line wasn't eye-popping but he's one of those guys who doesn't need the ball in his hands to make an impact. Unselfish, hustling when we're up 30 or down 30. Really love watching him play even though he won't go down as one of our best players.
- Tough one for Bras. The missed shots are one thing but he got stripped going to the basket four times. That said, thought he was active and moved well. Might see some time here if there are COVID issues, so hope he settles in and plays better.
- Dominated the glass. Obviously we should against a team like Niagara (small, not very athletic) but it was a drubbing on the boards. If we can get a healthy Sidibe back at some point (encouraging that he was walking with a sleeve on his knee), then we could hold our own on the glass, which is would be nice.
