Frustrating game, for sure, but I'll say we at least know that Colgate is well-coached and will maximize whatever talent they have. So, for as long as Langel is there and we are not a top 25-type team, these games will be tests. That's the silver lining. Some good and some bad to chew on until our next time out:
The Good
Eddie Lampkin on offense: I'm not sure Eddie is a phenomenal offensive player but everything we do makes more sense when it either runs through him in the high/low post or starts with him setting a big screen up top. Even his off-ball screens were effective. He also grabbed four offensive rebounds. The five assists are a credit to his passing. He's a solid player on that end and we just have to remember to not stand and watch him when he gets the ball down low.
Bell did some nice things: Not getting Bell enough open looks from three was not great for us, but I give him credit for finding ways to put the ball in the basket and impact the game in other ways. Couple nice blocks and decent defense overall. Had a possession in the second half where he tried to go backdoor off a Lampkin screen, then sprinted back out to the top around lampkin to try and get a look and then cut back off Lampkin again and freed himself up for a layup. Really nice activity.
Freeman did some nice things: Really nice activity from Freeman in his 16 minutes. He lost a bit of time because he's still a little lost on the defensive end, but he was really active on the glass and I love what he had working in the low post. Need to convince him to work inside-out ... start down low and use your athleticism, then hit up that mid-range, then if you want to pop a three now and then great. He kind of does that in reverse at the moment.
Moore is a scorer: Didn't love all of Moore's shots but he has some swag on that end and will likely be a good scorer at this level. He's got more in the bag than shooting threes.
We won the rebound battle: Didn't do this much last year, so nice to see us off to a good start on the glass.
The Bad
No cheap buckets: We scored 74 points and it felt like we had to scratch and claw for every one of them. Two fast break points is brutal, 8 total FTs including, I think, five when Colgate was fouling at the end is not pretty. Now the officials were letting quite a bit go on both ends and neither team got to the line much, but we don't have a lot of guys who force the issue and play through the contact. It showed.
This team's athleticism is dicey: Five blocks and 2 steals after not really doing much to turn LeMoyne over in our first game. Yuck.
Thought this really showed up most in transition where Colgate outscored us 22-2 (I think). Colgate beat us down the floor all night, often after made baskets. We got lucky that they missed at least five or six bunnies, otherwise things could have gotten very dark here. Even when we had opportunities in transition, we had some really ugly attempts to finish, one by moore, in particular, was brutal. He tied himself in knots.
Offensively, Bell and Choppa are scorers but not really attack the rim, lead the break, finish with athleticism guys. Carlos and JJ might get one here or there, but they sure didn't last night. If we have Lampkin on the floor, he's unlikely to either finish as a trailer on the break nor to get back quickly and get the defense set. Majstorovic isn't a high-end athlete. I don't know -- we just saw limitations on this front on both ends.
The biggest issue in my mind is that we are really short on guys who can make an impact on both ends. Carlos, JJ, Eddie, Moore, and Bell are all good offensive players (Moore is young, but you can see he can get to his spots) but really struggle on the defensive end. I thought Majstorovic actually had some decent moments defensively he may be more of an offensive guy. Freeman has a ton of talent but is figuring it out on both ends. And Taylor and Cuffe bring something defensively, as does Davis, but the first two bring little offensively (at leas that we've seen yet) and I'm not seeing Davis as a difference-maker defensively.
It's the biggest issue with seeing Brown/Copeland/Mintz walk out the door. All were flawed but capable of bringing something on both ends. Not sure with this group how many of those guys we have.
Our defensive system: We really don't do a lot. Devendorf points this out a lot. We say we play pressure man, but we really don't pressure the ball consistently. We rarely help and when we do, the secondary and tertiary slides aren't there so we give up wide open kick-out threes.
But we need to do something here on the coaching side. I know people hate the dreaded z-word, but this defensive is paper thin. Don't see us living on Man all year.
Did we get a dunk? I don't remember one. Again, not the end of the world but not a great sign.
I don't know. When it's all said and done it's only two games, but i'm really struggling to see this team as a factor in the ACC and a tourney squad. At least not without Freeman putting it all together, our defense coming around and JJ turning into the veteran alpha. It's a bit rough looking, all things considered.
The Good
Eddie Lampkin on offense: I'm not sure Eddie is a phenomenal offensive player but everything we do makes more sense when it either runs through him in the high/low post or starts with him setting a big screen up top. Even his off-ball screens were effective. He also grabbed four offensive rebounds. The five assists are a credit to his passing. He's a solid player on that end and we just have to remember to not stand and watch him when he gets the ball down low.
Bell did some nice things: Not getting Bell enough open looks from three was not great for us, but I give him credit for finding ways to put the ball in the basket and impact the game in other ways. Couple nice blocks and decent defense overall. Had a possession in the second half where he tried to go backdoor off a Lampkin screen, then sprinted back out to the top around lampkin to try and get a look and then cut back off Lampkin again and freed himself up for a layup. Really nice activity.
Freeman did some nice things: Really nice activity from Freeman in his 16 minutes. He lost a bit of time because he's still a little lost on the defensive end, but he was really active on the glass and I love what he had working in the low post. Need to convince him to work inside-out ... start down low and use your athleticism, then hit up that mid-range, then if you want to pop a three now and then great. He kind of does that in reverse at the moment.
Moore is a scorer: Didn't love all of Moore's shots but he has some swag on that end and will likely be a good scorer at this level. He's got more in the bag than shooting threes.
We won the rebound battle: Didn't do this much last year, so nice to see us off to a good start on the glass.
The Bad
No cheap buckets: We scored 74 points and it felt like we had to scratch and claw for every one of them. Two fast break points is brutal, 8 total FTs including, I think, five when Colgate was fouling at the end is not pretty. Now the officials were letting quite a bit go on both ends and neither team got to the line much, but we don't have a lot of guys who force the issue and play through the contact. It showed.
This team's athleticism is dicey: Five blocks and 2 steals after not really doing much to turn LeMoyne over in our first game. Yuck.
Thought this really showed up most in transition where Colgate outscored us 22-2 (I think). Colgate beat us down the floor all night, often after made baskets. We got lucky that they missed at least five or six bunnies, otherwise things could have gotten very dark here. Even when we had opportunities in transition, we had some really ugly attempts to finish, one by moore, in particular, was brutal. He tied himself in knots.
Offensively, Bell and Choppa are scorers but not really attack the rim, lead the break, finish with athleticism guys. Carlos and JJ might get one here or there, but they sure didn't last night. If we have Lampkin on the floor, he's unlikely to either finish as a trailer on the break nor to get back quickly and get the defense set. Majstorovic isn't a high-end athlete. I don't know -- we just saw limitations on this front on both ends.
The biggest issue in my mind is that we are really short on guys who can make an impact on both ends. Carlos, JJ, Eddie, Moore, and Bell are all good offensive players (Moore is young, but you can see he can get to his spots) but really struggle on the defensive end. I thought Majstorovic actually had some decent moments defensively he may be more of an offensive guy. Freeman has a ton of talent but is figuring it out on both ends. And Taylor and Cuffe bring something defensively, as does Davis, but the first two bring little offensively (at leas that we've seen yet) and I'm not seeing Davis as a difference-maker defensively.
It's the biggest issue with seeing Brown/Copeland/Mintz walk out the door. All were flawed but capable of bringing something on both ends. Not sure with this group how many of those guys we have.
Our defensive system: We really don't do a lot. Devendorf points this out a lot. We say we play pressure man, but we really don't pressure the ball consistently. We rarely help and when we do, the secondary and tertiary slides aren't there so we give up wide open kick-out threes.
But we need to do something here on the coaching side. I know people hate the dreaded z-word, but this defensive is paper thin. Don't see us living on Man all year.
Did we get a dunk? I don't remember one. Again, not the end of the world but not a great sign.
I don't know. When it's all said and done it's only two games, but i'm really struggling to see this team as a factor in the ACC and a tourney squad. At least not without Freeman putting it all together, our defense coming around and JJ turning into the veteran alpha. It's a bit rough looking, all things considered.
