The view from my computer

[SWC75]

Between rustling up some grub, listening to Dino Babers explain the loss and watching baseball and football games, I managed to take a few peeks at the basketball game. My observations:

- Elijah Hughes is an NBA player.

- Robert Braswell is not going to ride the pines this year.

- Buddy Boeheim is maturing into much more than just a shooter. He had a spinning move for a tunr-around 10 footer that was a joy to watch. he's a good passer, too.

- Brycen Goodine has some great range on his shot.

- Joe Girard hand handle the ball very well. he's clearly shorter than his teammates but his dribble is the lowest and quickest of them, making it hard to take the ball away.

- Jalen Carey made some bad plays at the beginning of the second half. I suspect that he'll frequently be in the coach's dog house. But he won't be benched. I do like the higher arc on his jump shot.

- Quincy Guerrier seemed slow and didn't play very well. But he'll play.

- Marek Dolezaj didn't play well, either but he'll play, too.

- I was impressed with Jesse Edwards' play in the first half on both ends. He was an active defender and rebounder and converted some plays inside. He was less effective in the second half. John Bol Ajak did make as much of an impression.

- All these guys can play but JB said he's going to work down to 8-9 for the season. Who gets left out of the rotation? I think it's most likely to be Howard Washington and the two freshman centers. it's obviously not going to be Sidibie, Dolezaj, Hughes or Guerrier. I don't think Braswell will be left out. certainly Buddy won't. Carey and Goodine will battle it out at the point and Girard can play either guard position.

 

[bozophobe]

Marek may be pushed this year.

 

[SWC75]

The players are up and down like a bank of elevators but we've got a lot of them and if we can get 3-4 going per game we'll be fine.

Elijah Hughes was a man among boys in the first half, then cooled off in the second but still had great numbers with 15 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and three steals. He had 22 "net points" in 33 minutes, an all-american level of play if he can do it consistently and I think he will. East Carolina must be wondering how this guy only scored 7.8ppg for them.

Buddy Boeheim also had a big first half. Jimmy Satalin said he expects him to get off 15-20 shots a game. That might be a lot but Buddy's turning into a good all-round player. He scored 12 points and had 4 assists.

Joe Girard was great, nailing 3 of 4 treys and 2 of 3 two pointers and a free throw for 14 points. He had no assists and a couple turnovers on warding off calls on drives to the basket. But he showed a good handle and proved he could play either guard position. We reduced our turnovers from 20 to 12 against better opposition.

Brycen Goodine was good, too, hitting 3 of 5 shots for 8 points and handling and passing the ball well.

Jalen Carey had a difficult first half, (but no turnovers, then played well in the second half. But he'll be in a battle with Girard and Goodine for the point guard job.

JB benched Guerrier in the first half for taking too many three pointers, (he was 0 for 5). I recall him saying in an interview that he was a better three point shooter than Oshae was. i'm not seeing evidence of it. he's an inside guy and JB made it clear that's where he wants him to play. he followed orders in the second half and wound up with 8 points and 5 rebounds in just 16 minutes of play.

Robert Braswell played 10 minutes but couldn't get a jump shot off. the Carlton coaches had obviously seen what he did against Daemon and made sure he was closely guarded. He did get a nice -looking layup but he also had a couple of turnovers.

JB had little use for what he saw of his centers. Carlton, as good as they may be, had little size and Sidibie, Edwards and Bol Ajak were letting shorter players get inside and score.

We are a work in progress. But so is everybody else at this point in the season.

 

[Orangefan1]

Girard ll could of scored 30 last night. I feel very confident with the ball in his hands.

 

[OrangeAl]

No, Girard II is a little too old to be scoring big points.

 

[Trueblue25]

girard and goodine were very very good lands for us.