The Downside

[SWC75]

- That wasn’t Connecticut out there. or even Virginia Tech.

- Kris Joseph tweaked his knee again in practice and was a non-factor with 4 points- all from the foul line- and a single rebound.

- Fab Melo is skinnier and quicker but his line score looked more like last year when it came to foul trouble. He got in the ref’s doghouse early and eventually fouled out. And he didn’t do much when he was in there, 2 points, 3 rebounds and a single block in 17 minutes.

- The guy with the best offensive moves of our centers, Baye Moussa Keita, somehow played 15 minutes and never attempted a shot.

- If you find Mookie Jones’ shot, (2 for 13, 2 for 11 from the arc), please send it to him by overnight express. He won’t have too much more time to use it.

 

[HoustonCuse]

Yeah not a great outing for Melo. The tough part is he will really need a coach who has experience with big men to help him.

 

[Madbiker]

While Fab is slimmer and quicker he still doesn't do anything on the offensive end of the court...and that is against horrible competition like Colgate. Meaning when he gets in against BE teams don't expect much. Hopefully he can at least play decent defense this year and get a few rebs but who knows.

 

['72 Orange]

I agree about Melo. He attacted at least one BS call against him but overall Fab was not into the game today. I think the ESPN box score must be wrong for BMK. I seem to recall a nifty drop step move down low where the shot did not go in. In fact the announcers commended him on the move saying that was not part of his game last year.

 

[Gonzo]

the one downside to this game and actually the other early season games is too much willingness to settle for an outside shot early in the possession instead of trying to get the ball down low for the bigs to work on their inside game. Melo, Keita and Xmas all show much more skills in this area than I expected but still need work in this area. These games are perfect opportunities to do this. We really havent been shooting that well on the jumpers and wont be able to dominate the glass on the misses when we face Big East and title contending teams. It would be nice to see the team try to work the ball down low early in the possession. More positives than negatives though for sure so far.

 

[AlaskaSU]

Yes, Keita made a nifty move, but he was fouled. I think he has the tools (hand, foot and coordination) to become more offensive. XMAS and Melo lack footwork: no spins, drop steps, step back etc., up and under, hook etc, although XMAS looks smooth once he has possession. An inside offensive presence is my only concern for this team. It would be soo nice to have a go-to big man. If Bernie is out for the season, Melo's and XMAS's development will be ed.

On the downside, I would add MCW. Disruptive on defense and not scared to mix it up underneath, but poor decision making, low percentage passing and I expect that he would have trouble bringing the ball up against a good defender. Fortunately, Waiters is now a big time talent.

 

[Orangezoo]

I was not surprised to see fab struggle. Honestly with all the players this is probably hitting fab the hardest. With Bernie working with fab so much on his game and life and family being such an important factor in south american culture fab is probably a bit shellshocked. Hopefully the guys can help hin through this.