Haven’t posted in a while but wanted to give some thoughts...
1. GB was tremendous. Knocked down a few threes, guarded relatively well on the perimeter, and seemed very comfortable with the ball breaking the press, along with in the pinch post. My favorite thing I saw from him (besides the scuffle) was when he caught the ball in the pinch post and immediately attacked the basket with his left. Wish i saw more of those quick decisions from Black/Nichols last year.
2. Ayo looked like he was really rushing things last night. Had some jitters, but saw a glimpse of what he can do in the open court, along with his ability to get to the rim. However; he seemed to try and force too much one-on-one in the half court. Once him and the other freshman understand the system more he will excel and look even better as he lets the offense flow more. Not worried about him.
3. Andres doesn’t necessarily have to start, but he needs to see at least 25 minutes a night. Made so many good plays, lead the offense, made great decisions, plays with a bulldog mentality. Reminds me of Abrams but with a higher IQ and patience. Missed his 3’s, but if he can knock down 1 or 2 a game that’ll be gravy.
4. Griffin showed some nice flashes, plays hard, seems to be ahead of Tev right now. I like him at the top of our 3/4 press. If teams start playing 2-3 zone against us, would love to see a lineup with Trent/Feliz, Jordan and Griffin.
5. Tev looked lost defensively and rushed on offense. He has the tools and potential to be an outstanding player. Just needs to let the game come to him. If he doesn’t figure it out, he could be a DJ Williams 2.0, but i’m not going to overreact yet, maybe i’m just suffering from post-Groce PTSD still.
6. Not much to say about Samba, mostly because i don’t remember what he did. Had a nice put back, but that even looked uncomfortable. Kid has potential, he’s long, athletic. Might be a year away from making a big impact, but we have a great big mans coach. If he can make similar strides that Greg did last year, that’d be huge for this team.
7. The score could’ve been 90-60 if we wanted, when our top 7-8 guys were on the court together, we seemed to really clique. Each time Tyler came in the lead started to evaporate, and as soon as Drew came in, they made their run. I’m not too worried about the score of this game solely based on that.
8. Kipper 1/10. not worried. he did some things well on the glass and defensively. He played hard, first game jitters might have got to him. If he makes a few more of those bunnies, we have no issues with his play. He’s going to be a big piece to our success this year.
9. Damonte and AJ did what they had to do. Didn’t force it, played within themselves. Would like to see a little more aggressiveness from both, but if AJ can knock down threes when he’s open, and Damonte continues to be a pest defensively/on the glass, i’m happy. We have 4 pretty solid options offensively ahead of them right now.
10. All in all, there’s clearing things to work on. GB seemed to overhelp the passing lanes a few times. Wouldn’t be upset if BU tells him to sag off a bit more or we might get busted backdoor a lot this year. Liked the 3/4 zone press, hopefully we see more. Allows us to play half court for 4-5 seconds less, which will help with our interior defense. Can’t wait for Evansville, and for Adonis to get back because we need that depth. I-L-L!
