Some observations courtside-
Hawkins is a stud. He will go off for 30-40 sometimes, but I can see him being streaky. He seems a little over reliant on 3s off the screen still, but he’s got scoring ability all over the floor. The kid can truly shoot the 3 like a pro.
Clingan was giving Sanogo fits at times, particularly in the first half of the scrimmage. Sanogo settled in later. They seemed quite competitive with each other. Clingan is impressive- he’s very mobile for his size, was a huge presence in the paint on defense at times. He didn’t make as many dumb freshman big man fouls as I was expecting. He will contribute immediately this season I’d imagine.
Our point guard play without Jackson is my main concern. I know Newton got some points but we seem to be lacking something in the backcourt. I think this will be our achilles heel. Hopefully Jackson can save the day, or Newton will settle in a bit more and gain some more toughness. I like Joey but not sure he’s going to be talented enough to have heavy minutes against guards in the BE. Hassan has a great motor and is quite active defensively, but doesn’t seem to have a super reliable shot (even though he likes to heave at times). Maybe we are just spoiled by the PG play in the past for this program.
Samson made some real nice plays, had active hands on defense. He had a great steal and slam at one point. He still made some freshman level errors though.
Richie barely played.
The Greek kid is solid, he’ll be a contributor here sometime in the future I’d imagine.
Alleyne has a nice stroke.
Karaban didn’t really show out, might need more time with injury and all.
