First impressions?

[farmerdoc]

For those of us who had no access to this game, what did you all think?

[Gato78]

Henry is a stud. Haanif is Wesley Matthews-ish. He might be very good in two years, like Wesley good. We are going to be pretty good. We can score again.

[farmerdoc]

Nice concise opinion...I like it.

I realize that the quality of the opponent is meaningful, but JS online said 50 fouls????

Referees calling it really tight?

[MUfan12]

A lot to work on. If they don't lock it up guarding the dribble, Belmont will kill em at the line. A lot of fouls in the first half were due to poor footwork.

[MUwarrior1090]

Need to stop penetration better, don't be so quick to help off of shooters at the 3 point line.

Offense generally looked good. First half was sloppy but that's to be expected. Generally got pretty open shots, didn't knock them down early. Haanif looked good. Henry looked great. Sandy had a very good game. Obviously, not the best opponent but they beat them like they should. Optimistic for the season, we can score the ball in a variety of ways.

[Phantom Warrior]

Thoughts?

Our on-ball defense at times was horrific especially in the first half. JJ got beaten off the dribble a few times; so did Sandy; so did Haanif; so did Duane; so did Traci; so did Wally. I thought Henry played pretty solid defense, especially hedging and recovering. Sacar also played some solid on-ball D and good team D. In the second half we did a better job of talking/communicating, and our rotations and help defense were better.

The number of fouls called was ridiculous. The game had no flow. If this is what we are going to see all year, our #9 and #10 guys are going to get a lot of mpg. Teams that can hit free throws and teams with some depth will have an advantage.

Our second team tonight - Traci, Haanif, Sacar, Matt, and Wally - had some nice stretches, especially on offense.

I think we missed our first seven trey attempts, and then Duane finally found the range, and the team started to hit a few. JJ's trey attempt was ugly, and so was Traci's, which was a bit of a disappointment. Wally nailed one, but he missed badly on a couple of other attempts. Haanif drilled one from the corner, which was encouraging.

I didn't think we were particularly good on the defensive glass. We gave up too many offensive boards despite our having a significant height advantage.

One thing I really disliked tonight was the fact that on a few occasions we came down and put up a quick trey when we had NOBODY within 15 feet of the offensive glass. We seemed a bit trigger happy.

As far as individuals:

Duane started at point. His shot wasn't falling, and he forced a couple of drives to the hoop. His floor game was o.k., and, overall, his defense was decent, but he picked up three quick fouls at the start of the second half. We need him to score more and stay out of foul trouble.

JJ was beaten off the dribble a few times in the first half. Wojo pulled him maybe two minutes into the game. He missed a trey - air ball - but he scored some points off hustle - a fast break lay up, an offensive put back, and some free throws following drives. I don't know the stats, but I don't think he had more than two defensive rebounds, if that many. I don't think he did a lot to help his case for more mpg.

Sandy also got blown past a few times in the first half, but he was attacking the hoop on offense and finished a couple and drew some fouls. He made his free throws, which was a good sign. He scored seven quick points at the start of the second half, which broke the game open - a couple of drives and a trey. I think Sandy had a better game tonight than JJ did. He looked much quicker than last year, at least on offense.

Luke picked up two quick fouls in the first half and sat for much of the half. He didn't do much offensively until it was already a blow out. He needs to stay out of foul trouble, but that won't be easy. It seemed to me he was out of position on defense a few times. Overall I thought he had a pretty mediocre game, at least relative to what I'm hoping to see this season.

Henry was off early in the game and missed a few shots, but he made enough plays where you can see his ability to take over a game. I am guessing he had double-digit rebounds. His ability to start the break after getting a board is pretty amazing. He finished a couple of times himself, and he made a couple of nice passes for assists. I am fairly certain we are the only team in the country that has a power forward pushing the ball up court on the break and a 7'0" center out in front of everyone else for the finish.

As for the non-starters:

I was shocked at how quick Haanif is with the ball. He has blow-by ability, and he did a decent job, overall, at point and at the wing. Most of his points came during garbage time, but he definitely showed his talent. He was much better than I thought he would be.

Sacar played solid defense, and he's a smart player on offense. One time he cut back door and got a nice feed from Duane for a lay up. I also liked the 15-footer he drained nar the end of the game. I think he will get decent mpg because he is pretty solid on D.

Traci had six points but his outside shot was off, including at least one air ball. He also picked up a couple of fouls. But what impressed me about Traci was that he looked to get the ball inside, more so that anyone else in my opinion. He made a couple of very nice assists. I am guessing he had five or six assists in roughly 20 minutes. He looks composed out there. He did force situations a couple of times, but overall I think he played a fairly solid game.

Matt had a nice offensive rebound and put back, and a few defensive boards. He's a decent back-up for four or five minutes each half, which is all I think we can reasonable expect at this time.

Wally had a couple of highlight reel dunks, and he did nail a trey from the corner, but he also missed badly on some other mid-range and long-range shots. He's a nice complementary player who will give us some energy. He's probably better than most other teams' ninth or tenth man.

Bottom line: first half was ugly on both offense and defense; second half was better, and the four "other frosh" all had some solid moments.

One of the guys whom I went to the game with asked me if we win 20 games this year. Good question.

[PDX Warrior]

Thanks Phantom.

For those with no access to the game, that was much appreciated.

[mufan2003]

Last 8 minutes of 2nd half were really good. Carter, Anim, Cheatham seemed to have settled down by that point. Cheatham with several good drives, Carter with a pretty alley-oop to Anim for dunk. Frosh seemed to have some jitters playing first game at BC, understandable. Luke can play much better, he had some early foul trouble.

BTW, hope we never see another attendance like there was tonight. Chalk it up to it being an exhibition game against an NAIA team on a Monday night.

[Halo]

Didn't see the game, but watched the highlights. Saw JJ dunk early on, then not get back on defense. Saw that stuff last year and had hoped he grew out of it. Disappointed to hear his defense was nothing special from Phantom. Henry looked to be the real thing.
Interesting Duane was at the PG. Excited to see the team play Friday night.

[MKE_GoldenEagleFan]

Didn't see the game, but watched the highlights. Saw JJ dunk early on, then not get back on defense. Saw that stuff last year and had hoped he grew out of it. Disappointed to hear his defense was nothing special from Phantom. Henry looked to be the real thing.
Interesting Duane was at the PG. Excited to see the team play Friday night.

The JSO Blog said Duane started at point, but played most of his time off the ball.

Really interesting to read everyone's comments and see everyone with widely different opinions on the game, seems the only consensus was that Henry was good.