Who is better than advertised?

[Nicknack]

Obviously it's EXTREMELY early and a lot will change. However, what guys so far seem better than last year or for the transfers - better than you expected? I'm including the two exhibition games as well.

For me, on the positive side:

- Cuffe: he has shown to be better than I expected. I really like what he does on the court. Very good player.
- Taylor: I really like JT's game as well. Not sure if he looks better than last year, but is a really solid player all around.

No better than last year or less than I expected:

- Judah: looks a lot like early last year Judah so far. Last night Devo pointed out two of the biggest issues... 1) lack of consistent effort on D; 2) not looking for other players enough
- JJ: his outside shooting is much worse than I expected. He looks like an explosive player but 3-13 from the field last night? Oh my. Just not a shot that looks very good.
- Copeland: exciting player and love his energy and size. However, seems very limited in what he can do with no outside shot.
- McLeod: I'd actually put him in the middle. I wasn't expecting all that much from him so for me, he's doing about what I figured he would do early on.
- Benny: big negative so far (for obvious reasons)
- Brown: looks the same.
- Bell: worse? Chris is supposed to be our sharp shooter from the outside.

Even with some improvements (which are likely to happen) with guys like Judah, JJ maybe, and Bell... I'm worried about this team even if Benny comes back and plays well. Our inability to drain 3s at a reasonable clip is likely going to be a problem.

 

[Wrinkle]

Chill

I agree Judah had a bad game. Luckily, we've seen an entire season from him and know he's much better than that.

Starling is big, strong, fast and hit a couple pullups jumpers. He disappeared with the rest of the team in the great scoring drought which was disappointing -- I wanted him to take over. He is still going to be good.

Copeland played with savvy and confidence and is clearly an important piece. The jumper didn't fall. I still really like him

I think there was more good than bad last night. First half showed us how we want to play

 

[Cusefan0307]

I'd say Carey is way better than advertised. The way some of the board views him you would think he couldn't walk and chew gum, but he has much more skill and ability than Hima. I also think his energy could help us rebounding. Obviously strength is his biggest issue.

 

[CusefanATL]

I missed the first 15 min of the game but THE ONLY THING I saw that stood out last night was effort. When effort was good, we were the better team by far.

But then effort was not there - we were not good at all. And I do think Brown, Bell and Mintz were probably 3 of the guiltiest but I saw moments where Carey was just watching in the 2nd half.

Based on the highlights looks life defensive effort was 100% that took us to a big lead... and then we thought we could coast.

 

[721Comstock]

Obviously it's EXTREMELY early and a lot will change. However, what guys so far seem better than last year or for the transfers - better than you expected? I'm including the two exhibition games as well.

For me, on the positive side:

- Cuffe: he has shown to be better than I expected. I really like what he does on the court. Very good player.
- Taylor: I really like JT's game as well. Not sure if he looks better than last year, but is a really solid player all around.

No better than last year or less than I expected:

- Judah: looks a lot like early last year Judah so far. Last night Devo pointed out two of the biggest issues... 1) lack of consistent effort on D; 2) not looking for other players enough
- JJ: his outside shooting is much worse than I expected. He looks like an explosive player but 3-13 from the field last night? Oh my. Just not a shot that looks very good.
- Copeland: exciting player and love his energy and size. However, seems very limited in what he can do with no outside shot.
- McLeod: I'd actually put him in the middle. I wasn't expecting all that much from him so for me, he's doing about what I figured he would do early on.
- Benny: big negative so far (for obvious reasons)
- Brown: looks the same.
- Bell: worse? Chris is supposed to be our sharp shooter from the outside.

Even with some improvements (which are likely to happen) with guys like Judah, JJ maybe, and Bell... I'm worried about this team even if Benny comes back and plays well. Our inability to drain 3s at a reasonable clip is likely going to be a problem.

Uh, Q is leading us in rebounding - no way anybody had that on their Orange bingo card.
And he's a fairly capable defender too.
So, I'll have to beg to differ, and add him to the positive side.

Bell is giving better effort and playing with more energy.
He's getting some steals, a few boards (more than a dead man), but he's still just not great on D, and it hurts the team, when he doesn't get the steal or swat.

I have no doubt Red is gonna talk w Judah about distributing more, and calling his own # a LOT less.
He improved over last season in that regard, so it's not like he cannot do that.
And during his NBA Draft workouts he was a solid facilitator, since I'm sure that's what he was told they need to see from him, if he's to have any shot in the Association.

 

[Newhouser]

I expect Cuffe to be good. Kansas develops guys. Personally I think McLeod is better than I thought. Better athlete and the one post move he was allowed last night was at least practiced. We don't need Bob Lanier down there but if he can at least play like a college player when he gets the ball down low...positive. JJ has left me unimpressed thus far.

Too early to tell on the returning guys - none have jumped off the page as improved in the limited opportunities thus far.

 

[TheHaze315]

I'd say Carey is way better than advertised. The way some of the board views him you would think he couldn't walk and chew gum, but he has much more skill and ability than Hima. I also think his energy could help us rebounding. Obviously strength is his biggest issue.

The one thing he needs to learn is straight up defense. There was one play last night a small guard drove in on him and he lowered his hands down to try and strip the ball resulting in the easiest called foul of the game. Stay straight up there and let the smaller player take a tough shot over your length.

 

[Nicknack]

Uh, Q is leading us in rebounding - no way anybody had that on their Orange bingo card.
And he's a fairly capable defender too.
So, I'll have to beg to differ, and add him to the positive side.

Bell is giving better effort and playing with more energy.
He's getting some steals, a few boards (more than a dead man), but he's still just not great on D, and it hurts the team, when he doesn't get the steal or swat.

I have no doubt Red is gonna talk w Judah about distributing more, and calling his own # a LOT less.
He improved over last season in that regard, so it's not like he cannot do that.
And during his NBA Draft workouts he was a solid facilitator, since I'm sure that's what he was told they need to see from him, if he's to have any shot in the Association.

Yeah, you're right about Cope. Even though his outside shot doesn't fall much, he does a LOT of other very good things.

With Bell though, if he's not making shots, he's hurting us and someone else should be in for him. He doesn't do many other things (like Copeland for example).

I also believe Judah will do a better job at involving others but last night's game was really poor in that regard.

 

[nycfan]

Agree 100% on Cuffe (and I don't disagree on Taylor, but I already really liked him from last year). But getting back to Cuffe for a second -- during the summer (before Westry got hurt), saw some posts on here that there might not be enough minutes to go around for him to play much this year. But from what I have seen thus far in the three games, I haven't noticed a big disparity in talent between Cuffe and Starling (despite all the hype that JJ came here with). And he brings a nice spark (and energy) off the bench. I think it is safe to assume now that he will be in the rotation all season (even in the tight conference games).

 

[FrancoPizza]

I have no doubt Red is gonna talk w Judah about distributing more, and calling his own # a LOT less.

This is more of a hope than anything. We don’t know how Red is handling things. I’m concerned that JM is not being talked to during the game. JB would’ve pulled him aside and given him an earful.

 

[Cusefan0307]

This is more of a hope than anything. We don’t know how Red is handling things. I’m concerned that JM is not being talked to during the game. JB would’ve pulled him aside and given him an earful.

Red screamed at Judah at least once last night very much in JB style walking onto the court during a dead ball. It happened pretty much right in front of me. I don’t think we have to worry about Red being soft with these guys.

 

[two3zone]

I'd say Carey is way better than advertised. The way some of the board views him you would think he couldn't walk and chew gum, but he has much more skill and ability than Hima. I also think his energy could help us rebounding. Obviously strength is his biggest issue.

The countless Hima posts are weird.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

The countless Hima posts are weird.

I honestly don’t understand what people saw from Hima that makes them think he can contribute in any meaningful way.

 

[MikeSU02]

Going to take a while for the team to get its footing. Really wish Westry was healthy. Here is my cautious take so far:

The good: when locked in, this team can push tempo, get to the rim, get to the FT line and has a lot of guys that can dribble.

The bad: when we took our foot off the gas or got tired, we did some really dumb stuff.

So with that:

I liked Cuffe and Carey in terms of raising my ceiling on those guys from what I saw.

Red needs to get Judah to know his second level decision making is what will get him drafted and that has to be better. I think that will come.

Q may have got a ton of rebounds, but he had numerous chunks of time during the game where he had abysmal decision making that his rebounding doesn't make up for. The dude did a jab step three for the love of everything holy.

No one is magically going to start making threes. We need to continuously pressure the rim and get to the FT line and work out from there.

I do think Brown will be fine once he's healthy.

 

[23Zone]

Here is my opinion. This team needs to run. They are not built for a half court slugfest, nor 3 point shooting. Play 10, press, run like hell, and drive to the basket. It's not complicated and fairly easy to see.

 

[mark79]

Here is my opinion. This team needs to run. They are not built for a half court slugfest, nor 3 point shooting. Play 10, press, run like hell, and drive to the basket. It's not complicated and fairly easy to see.

Agree. I’ll add that I thought we would press more. They showed a little of it, but it didn’t seem effective. Hoping they are hiding the “real” press but I doubt it.

 

[AlaskaSU]

Given that foul shooting is a leading indicator for 3 pt. shooting, perhaps Cope has upside from the arc. Conversely, JJ seems to be not the player he once was before his shoulder woes from last yr. A big question is how much run to give to Bell? He seems smooth but the production is awfully spotty.

 

[cusefan88]

Huge fan of Cuffe. He's barely played the last two seasons. I think he's going to get stronger as the season continues.

 

[baggerbob]

Given that foul shooting is a leading indicator for 3 pt. shooting, perhaps Cope has upside from the arc. Conversely, JJ seems to be not the player he once was before his shoulder woes from last yr. A big question is how much run to give to Bell? He seems smooth but the production is awfully spotty.

If Bell doesn't get better defensively, and rebounding, he will go father down the bench. He might be the least likely player to get an assist. If he was a Devo, or Rautins type of player he could play.
He isn't that great a shooter to be on the floor very often.

 

[Nicknack]

Huge fan of Cuffe. He's barely played the last two seasons. I think he's going to get stronger as the season continues.

I'm in agreement. I knew very little about Cuffe prior to the exhibition games and last night. He's looked more like a starter than JJ, in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I really like JJ's explosiveness, but his shot (oof). Cuffe just seems like a more complete player. It's great that we have him as he can easily fill in for Judah or JJ at times and still should get a lot of minutes.

 

[kingtidge]

Here is my opinion. This team needs to run. They are not built for a half court slugfest, nor 3 point shooting. Play 10, press, run like hell, and drive to the basket. It's not complicated and fairly easy to see.

I think they want to but when they do that and play M2M, they tired pretty quickly.

 

[mark79]

Playing intense defense for 40 minutes is very physically demanding and takes discipline. When they went up 23 I think this young team let down and had trouble getting the same intensity back.

 

[LAOrange]

JJ appears to be a steadying, non-emotional team leader-type. He has a nice mid-range shot that just hasn't been falling. Judah turned into Tyus Battle, taking everything on his own. I hate when we have guys auditioning for the NBA. Cuffe has a great upside - he's surprisingly athletic. McLeod is not our typical big man. He doesn't foul, doesn't clank his free throws, seldom brings the ball down and can catch. He's going to be good. I liked Bell's effort (after the first exhibition game). He's learning. Q is one of the spazziest guards I've seen. ACC guys are going to eat him alive. However, against UNH, if he wasn't the rebounding machine he was we may have been in real trouble.
Two major factors to winning:
JT needs to look for his shot and his teammates need to set him up better. If Mintz and Starling don't figure out a way to run the team properly, we won't win 20 games.

 

[oTTo113445]

Q and Justin because of offense. Cuffe and Benny the question is +- and outscoring opponents not running. Agree with Carey, his speed and vision on both ends are better than I expected for a soph who barely played last year. Brown and Westree injuries. Mcleod jj Judah Bell will live up to the hype.

 

[DoctahLexus]

If Bell doesn't get better defensively, and rebounding, he will go father down the bench. He might be the least likely player to get an assist. If he was a Devo, or Rautins type of player he could play.
He isn't that great a shooter to be on the floor very often.

Think he actually did a pretty decent job in man to man defense. Got beat a couple times but so did everyone, including guys he is competing with for mins like Taylor and Copeland. 4 rbs 1 block 1 steal 1 assist in 19 mins is solid.