Italy Tour

#203      
Yes it looks all easy when you look it up on Google. In practice, things don't always work out the way they're supposed to. Last fall, my girlfriend booked herself and her US born son on a trip to China to see her family there. His visa got rejected, over complete BS reasons on the embassy's end. It was too late to reapply by the time she found out. So sometimes these things are just out of your hands.

That's kinda my point though. My guess is they didn't take the first leg of their flight before finding out there were issues. That's the part I have problems with. I've witnessed business visa issues that have taken 6 months to work out. I understand that it can be difficult.

I don't want to sit here and bad mouth the school, so I won't harp on it, but I just feel bad that someone let those players down.
 
#207      
Watched Rob’s full game post on his website. A couple things... (TLDR: rebounding, Ayo dunks!, zone)

1. DMW and Allen are such great rebounders in the guard spots. Accounting for the fact they were playing a small undersized team, they both just attack the glass in the way you want your 4 and 5 to. It’s beautiful to watch and we need to appreciate that as fans.

2. Ayo dunked like 3-4 times. He looked like he was going up to dunk the ball as opposed to lay it up, which appears to be a shift in his philosophy from last year. One dunk late in the game was in transition with some authority. He still had a couple of those crafty Ayo layups too. We’ll see what he does vs bigger teams.

3. We played a good amount of zone in the second half. I’m kind of a zone nerd so I loved it. Mostly 1-3-1 with some 2-3 mixed in as well. BU has consistently gone to a 3-2 (with the exception of our amazing 1-3-1 run in the Gonzaga game) when he’s gone zone, so they are definitely mixing it up. He’s also talked about zone a bit in interviews.

In the 1-3-1 they were mixing guys all over the place. Good length allows for some interchangeable parts. I’d love to see what it looks like with Kofi eating up space in the middle with length around him. I was surprised by Trent on the wing though. Figured he’d be on the baseline for his corner to corner speed.

The 2-3 had a mix of basic 2-3 principles and some of the Boeheim principles at times as well. Some of the Syracuse stuff is a little aggressive for me, but that’s BU’s defensive style too. We finally have some length and athleticism out there too, so hopefully that helps us do it well.


More please.

Come on Giorgi, still waiting on a 3! And like (interim) coach said yesterday, “You know what you’re getting in Williams.”
 
#213      
He definitely does some good things, but if he can't score against these teams I think we can give up on the idea of him ever being able to score at the Big Ten level.
If Ayo, Trent, Griffin, Tevian, Feliz, Giorgi, and Kofi can all flirt with double digit scoring it doesn’t hurt us to have DMW playing solid D even if he can’t score (as long as he keeps getting 8 assists or 10 boards or 5 steals I won’t complain).
 
#215      
That's kinda my point though. My guess is they didn't take the first leg of their flight before finding out there were issues. That's the part I have problems with. I've witnessed business visa issues that have taken 6 months to work out. I understand that it can be difficult.

I don't want to sit here and bad mouth the school, so I won't harp on it, but I just feel bad that someone let those players down.

Yeah that's the joke. You don't take the flight to Miami unless you think you're going all the way to Italy. The DIA liaison who was in charge of logistics is accountable as well as the travel agency who arranged everything. Unacceptable.
 
#221      
He definitely does some good things, but if he can't score against these teams I think we can give up on the idea of him ever being able to score at the Big Ten level.
Don't need the scoring if we get defense and rebounding. Don't think scoring will be our problem. Tevian looking like backup to Alan but not because he is bad.
 
#222      

TEYPAY

Springfield
35 Turnovers in two games, against less than mediocre opponents.
I hope it’s not a trend that continues into the regular season.

Tempo -- # of turnovers should be considered in conjunction with # of possessions. 10 turnovers in a 50 possession game (ie -- 58-52 final) is worse than 20 turnovers in a 110 possession (125-100 win).
 
#223      
Don't need the scoring if we get defense and rebounding. Don't think scoring will be our problem. Tevian looking like backup to Alan but not because he is bad.

We definitely need scoring. We were 83rd in the country on offense according to Kenpom. I'd rather have a guy on the court that can defend, rebound, and score. Hopefully we can find that guy. Damonte's minutes being reduced could only be a good thing for the team.