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- Aug 26, 2011
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Without even having looked at the box score yet, I will say that it appears we have been treated to the rare irony where we can feel as if maybe we are understating our overreactions from earlier because they still seem kind of valid but at the same time they were dumb because they were from a November game that we won.
A lot of same old problems for most of it. Onuorah ended up playing his part, but for a while there it seemed like we were banging our head into a wall using him as a primary screener in high pick and roll situations. It's clear that he's going to be our best defensive option at the five, which will make it tricky to navigate the fact that he's a zero on offense.
Maybe when Jalen Adams is in magician mode that doesn't matter as much. We really got the full cycle of the Jalen Adams experience tonight. You wonder where he's at mentally and then all of a sudden you remember that he has some Kyrie in him with the way he can finish at the rim (Kyrie can do it with both hands though). I'll also say this: kid is no mental midget. The way he processes and then subverts the motives of the hedge man is uncanny and indicative of somebody who knows his craft, studies film, and has the gift for the game. He may not have all of his ish together but the dude plays like Dyson on game day and won't back down from any fight.
Gilbert has quite a bit of work to do defensively. He also struggles to shoot the ball and overcompensates by playing out of control. Pretty ordinary stuff for a player of his prototype, but you live with it because he has the invaluable skill of being able to get wherever he wants on the court. Slightly different than Boatright but a lot o similarities.
Anderson is very solid defensively and appears just good enough on the other end where the positives will outweigh the negatives. Great addition.
Vital was far from good, but I still don't quite understand the short leash. He deserved to be on the court as much or more than Gilbert, and while I understand that Gilbert is a McDonald's all-American, I'd prefer that Ollie demonstrate a bit more faith in him, not because Vital can't handle the tough love approach but because I don't think it's warranted here.
Larrier...hey, the guy can just put the ball in the basket. There are times (like the travel late) where he'll struggle to get separation against a smaller defender, but I think through time the offense will strongly resemble the '14 team where it will operate through Adams/Larrier pick and pop + Larrier post ups on switches. To be honest with you, after having gone through the last few years with some guys (Hamilton, Facey, Purvis) who often seemed scared to shoot, I'll take the chucker mentality that guys like Gilbert and Larrier come in with.
Whaley is a very intriguing prospect. Definitely needs to put on some muscle and acclimate a bit more to where he is supposed to be on the floor, but the wingspan and versatility jumps off the screen, same with Polley to a lesser extent.
I don't agree with Ollie on everything. In fact, I was ready to give him quite a bit of blame had they lost. The approach is awfully cavalier for somebody who is at least vaguely in the vicinity of the hot seat.
The guy knows what he's doing, though, and whether he's right or wrong I respect the process and the conviction with which he has gone about fixing the program. Some of the stuff he runs almost feels too idealistic...like it would work great with NBA players but maybe not college guys. It clicked with the '14 team though, and it can click in the future even if the approach is more roundabout. Right now that approach has led us to an undefeated record so now we can troll Providence fans, at least for now.
A lot of same old problems for most of it. Onuorah ended up playing his part, but for a while there it seemed like we were banging our head into a wall using him as a primary screener in high pick and roll situations. It's clear that he's going to be our best defensive option at the five, which will make it tricky to navigate the fact that he's a zero on offense.
Maybe when Jalen Adams is in magician mode that doesn't matter as much. We really got the full cycle of the Jalen Adams experience tonight. You wonder where he's at mentally and then all of a sudden you remember that he has some Kyrie in him with the way he can finish at the rim (Kyrie can do it with both hands though). I'll also say this: kid is no mental midget. The way he processes and then subverts the motives of the hedge man is uncanny and indicative of somebody who knows his craft, studies film, and has the gift for the game. He may not have all of his ish together but the dude plays like Dyson on game day and won't back down from any fight.
Gilbert has quite a bit of work to do defensively. He also struggles to shoot the ball and overcompensates by playing out of control. Pretty ordinary stuff for a player of his prototype, but you live with it because he has the invaluable skill of being able to get wherever he wants on the court. Slightly different than Boatright but a lot o similarities.
Anderson is very solid defensively and appears just good enough on the other end where the positives will outweigh the negatives. Great addition.
Vital was far from good, but I still don't quite understand the short leash. He deserved to be on the court as much or more than Gilbert, and while I understand that Gilbert is a McDonald's all-American, I'd prefer that Ollie demonstrate a bit more faith in him, not because Vital can't handle the tough love approach but because I don't think it's warranted here.
Larrier...hey, the guy can just put the ball in the basket. There are times (like the travel late) where he'll struggle to get separation against a smaller defender, but I think through time the offense will strongly resemble the '14 team where it will operate through Adams/Larrier pick and pop + Larrier post ups on switches. To be honest with you, after having gone through the last few years with some guys (Hamilton, Facey, Purvis) who often seemed scared to shoot, I'll take the chucker mentality that guys like Gilbert and Larrier come in with.
Whaley is a very intriguing prospect. Definitely needs to put on some muscle and acclimate a bit more to where he is supposed to be on the floor, but the wingspan and versatility jumps off the screen, same with Polley to a lesser extent.
I don't agree with Ollie on everything. In fact, I was ready to give him quite a bit of blame had they lost. The approach is awfully cavalier for somebody who is at least vaguely in the vicinity of the hot seat.
The guy knows what he's doing, though, and whether he's right or wrong I respect the process and the conviction with which he has gone about fixing the program. Some of the stuff he runs almost feels too idealistic...like it would work great with NBA players but maybe not college guys. It clicked with the '14 team though, and it can click in the future even if the approach is more roundabout. Right now that approach has led us to an undefeated record so now we can troll Providence fans, at least for now.
