Phantom Warrior
11-12-2016, 12:39 AM
A lot of nice ball movement but also player movement. Not a lot of standing around. Not a lot of meaningless dribbling. Seems like a very unselfish group.
On defense there was a lot of energy. Players helping each other out on picks and if teammates were beaten off the dribble.
Vandy was pretty careless with the ball at times, but we also showed quick hands and decent on-b all pressure.
A few comments on individuals:
It certainly appears as if Sandy is 11th man right now. Last one to get in the game and played only 5 minutes in a blow-out win. He didn't seem to help his cause with 2 turnovers in those 5 minutes.
Matt had a pretty forgettable game - 4 fouls in 3 minutes. That's not easy to do. Very disappointing. Did he have two illegal screens or just one? Either way, I mean he has to be smarter than that. Wasted possessions. I just don't see Matt being able to help all that much this year against quality competition. He just seems awfully slow on defense. I hope I'm wrong.
Markus did a couple of nice things on offense, especially his two assists. That floater could easily have gone in. He looks comfortable on offense, but his defense was pretty porous. He gave up an open lay up after being beaten off the dribble. Plus 4 fouls of his own in only 11 minutes. I can't see him earning more mpg than Traci unless his defense improves dramatically.
Rowsey looks comfortable on offense, but his decision to go to the Vandy player that Katin was already on was pretty silly. We ended up giving up an easy two-footer. Plus, the box score has him with 0 turnovers, but he lost the ball going up for a shot, and Vandy got the ball. Isn't that a turnover, or did they say it was a missed shot? It would have been nice to see him bury one or two of his shots, but maybe he'll do that against Michigan. He still doesn't seem like a point guard to me even those he has a pretty decent handle.
Katin looks like a solid player despite his shooting woes in the first half. Has a nice feel for the game, but 14 shots in 26 minutes is an awful lot of shots. It seems his rep as a solid defender is valid.
Sam is going to be a hell of a player for us. His shot was falling, but overall he had a nice game. He played the 5 for about five minutes and handled it pretty well. I'd like to see more of that when Luke has to sit for awhile.
Also thought Duane had a productive game. Pretty amazing that after averaging 28 mpg his first two years he got only 14 tonight. He can't be happy about that, but he appears to be a team-first kind of player. Kudos to him. I doubt we'll hear any whining from him this year. It's nice to know we got a guy coming off the bench who is as talented as Duane is. Shows our depth.
JJ, Haanif, and Luke all had really nice games. All three of them just seemed more mature out there than they were last year.
Hell of a way to start the season. I certainly did not anticipate a 24-point win, and it should have been 26 points had we bothered to defend that last possession.
One final comment: we were rebounding by committee, which we will have to do. Vandy's not a great rebounding team, but we did get two more boards than they did. We'll have to see how we hold up against bigger, badder teams.
On defense there was a lot of energy. Players helping each other out on picks and if teammates were beaten off the dribble.
Vandy was pretty careless with the ball at times, but we also showed quick hands and decent on-b all pressure.
A few comments on individuals:
It certainly appears as if Sandy is 11th man right now. Last one to get in the game and played only 5 minutes in a blow-out win. He didn't seem to help his cause with 2 turnovers in those 5 minutes.
Matt had a pretty forgettable game - 4 fouls in 3 minutes. That's not easy to do. Very disappointing. Did he have two illegal screens or just one? Either way, I mean he has to be smarter than that. Wasted possessions. I just don't see Matt being able to help all that much this year against quality competition. He just seems awfully slow on defense. I hope I'm wrong.
Markus did a couple of nice things on offense, especially his two assists. That floater could easily have gone in. He looks comfortable on offense, but his defense was pretty porous. He gave up an open lay up after being beaten off the dribble. Plus 4 fouls of his own in only 11 minutes. I can't see him earning more mpg than Traci unless his defense improves dramatically.
Rowsey looks comfortable on offense, but his decision to go to the Vandy player that Katin was already on was pretty silly. We ended up giving up an easy two-footer. Plus, the box score has him with 0 turnovers, but he lost the ball going up for a shot, and Vandy got the ball. Isn't that a turnover, or did they say it was a missed shot? It would have been nice to see him bury one or two of his shots, but maybe he'll do that against Michigan. He still doesn't seem like a point guard to me even those he has a pretty decent handle.
Katin looks like a solid player despite his shooting woes in the first half. Has a nice feel for the game, but 14 shots in 26 minutes is an awful lot of shots. It seems his rep as a solid defender is valid.
Sam is going to be a hell of a player for us. His shot was falling, but overall he had a nice game. He played the 5 for about five minutes and handled it pretty well. I'd like to see more of that when Luke has to sit for awhile.
Also thought Duane had a productive game. Pretty amazing that after averaging 28 mpg his first two years he got only 14 tonight. He can't be happy about that, but he appears to be a team-first kind of player. Kudos to him. I doubt we'll hear any whining from him this year. It's nice to know we got a guy coming off the bench who is as talented as Duane is. Shows our depth.
JJ, Haanif, and Luke all had really nice games. All three of them just seemed more mature out there than they were last year.
Hell of a way to start the season. I certainly did not anticipate a 24-point win, and it should have been 26 points had we bothered to defend that last possession.
One final comment: we were rebounding by committee, which we will have to do. Vandy's not a great rebounding team, but we did get two more boards than they did. We'll have to see how we hold up against bigger, badder teams.