Chief’s Briefs - Buffalo Edition

[Chief00]

Sometimes it is easy to forget, we are missing 2 of our 3 top players. That will change though against better competition if they don’t return 100% soon. But, let’s enjoy it while it last.

Despite missing shots early Tristen Newton showed how he can fill up a boxscore: 15 points, 11 assists,10 rebounds and 4 steals. He definitely made his case tonight for starting point guard with a triple double.

Two other guys Chief was impressed with was Joey California, who displayed why he has one of the best shooting strokes on the team and tonight scored 13 points in the flow of the game. Karaban shot 50% from the field and was leading the team in blocks (3). He just plays well with teammates - does what it takes to win games.

One thing that makes us different from last year is when Adama goes to the bench our heart keeps beating. Donovan definitely will present challenges to our opponents. Chief never gets tired of Bigs who dunk and block shots.

Chief always looks at a weakness from last game and if it got corrected. We shot about 80% tonight from the line, much better than the 54% last game.

 

[CL82]

The thing to remember is that this is an incredibly young team, in terms of being a part of Hurley’s system. The team we are looking at now is probably as bad as they will be all year. As the transfers and freshmen get used to playing we will have better flow. And that’s even before we get Jackson and Jordan back.

 

[Chief00]

The thing to remember is that this is an incredibly young team, in terms of being a part of Hurley’s system. The team we are looking at now is probably as bad as they will be all year. As the transfers and freshmen get used to playing we will have better flow. And that’s even before we get Jackson and Jordan back.

Agree, that’s why an effort should be made to schedule elite OOC in late December, or late January/early February. I realize not easy with big conferences and early season tournaments but definitely a huge risk having all elite OOC games before 12/7.

 

[Kolumbo]

I know it's early but all of these new guys have been fun to watch. Shows you how valuable transfers will be going forward. Looks like a lot of options and combinations.

 

[coachn]

Look forward to your Briefs, Thought our 3 pt shooting was bad. Sonogo is so fixed on shooting that he misses wide open teammates.

 

[Chief00]

Look forward to your Briefs, Thought our 3 pt shooting was bad. Sonogo is so fixed on shooting that he misses wide open teammates.

Thank you. We will only be as good as Adama’s inside/out game. He is a hard worker and you can see the progress on what he works on. Adama needs lots of inside out drills in practice. Due to language barriers (English is like his 3rd or 4th language), Adama learns best by doing.

 

[Hoops91]

And the one big difference I see with the guards this year is they penetrate and kick when they need to. The days of our guards staying outside the 3 line all game stalling the offense is done. Even Joey penetrates, I like his game.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

After the burst out of the gate, the sluggish and sloppy play that let Buffalo back in was annoying. The last six minutes of the first half saw excellent ball movement, court smarts, good defense and they pushed the ball up the court all game. That's the type of play you like to see. Newton was all over the court and found the openings for himself and others much better tonight.

Getting the missing players back will raise the ceiling higher.

 

[businesslawyer]

I don’t know how much you can learn playing against an overmatched opponent with three starters in street clothes. I know this — Hurley needs a plan to have Sanogo and Clingan on the floor at the same time. Because Clingan is way too good to only be getting 8 minutes a game once we start conference play.

 

[Kitaman]

The storyline developing will be rotations and playing time. As competition gets stronger, this should work its way out. But from what I see everyone, including our freshman, are D1 ready. This means foul trouble will be less of an issue, allowing our D to be fiercely played.

If Hurley is a 'chess' type coach, he can easily exploit opponents weaknesses. We've certainly got options, and when the competition rises, we will find out if we have matching weapons.

 

[jibsey]

Against better competition we absolutely need Hawkins to be what he is supposed to be. Look at what happened in the first half, we couldn’t make a 3, 1-14. Not acceptable regardless of how we won and by so much. I hope that Joey C doesn’t lose his minutes because he can stop the shooting bleeding as he did last night. Defensively he did some good things last night.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled to have this much overall talent but we could be a top 10 team and in the mix for a title with a great Hawkins.

 

[NotADime89]

Despite missing shots early Tristen Newton showed how he can fill up a boxscore: 15 points, 11 assists,10 rebounds and 4 steals. He definitely made his case tonight for starting point guard with a triple double.

You jipped Tristen out of 7 points. He put up 22 not 15

 

[CL82]

Against better competition we absolutely need Hawkins to be what he is supposed to be. Look at what happened in the first half, we couldn’t make a 3, 1-14. Not acceptable regardless of how we won and by so much. I hope that Joey C doesn’t lose his minutes because he can stop the shooting bleeding as he did last night. Defensively he did some good things last night.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled to have this much overall talent but we could be a top 10 team and in the mix for a title with a great Hawkins.

I agree. That ugly sluggish period in the first half disappears with a consistent shooter. As rough as we looked yesterday against a grossly overmatched opponent, we aren’t all that far away from being a very good team.

 

[Chief00]

I don’t know how much you can learn playing against an overmatched opponent with three starters in street clothes. I know this — Hurley needs a plan to have Sanogo and Clingan on the floor at the same time. Because Clingan is way too good to only be getting 8 minutes a game once we start conference play.

I was thinking the same thing, would Hurley use the Double Bigs look? The answe was no last night. Clingan is a guy who impacts the game and has skilled hands. Ironically, perhaps Adama can learn from him in regards to the inside out pass.

Perhaps Danny should have an NBA scout talk to Adama about how they evaluate Bigs. I think then he might feel less pressure to score. If he understood how they value Bigs who can pass. Now that he has improved his outside shot and has some good drive moves; the things he needs to work on are the inside out pass, the unselfish pass and avoiding silly fouls.

Chief also agrees Hawkins and Jackson absence will be much more noticeable soon.

 

[coachn]

No reason why AS and DC can't be on the floor at the same time. They could definitely complement each other. Short spurts.
Any way you can get DC on the floor is a good thing. I have seen (BlueWhite) etc. and they have a chemistry that needs to be explored.

 

[AntG168]

Observation: in shoot around Clingan made about 8-10 threes. I can’t wait for him to show that face up ability in games

 

[ClifSpliffy]

Observation: in shoot around Clingan made about 8-10 threes. I can’t wait for him to show that face up ability in games

we covered this, last year. at least some of us did.
i learned almost nuthing from this game, other than expecting danny to ramp up the 'tris needs to jack it up more' angle. he did. people got to learn to anticipate his shot, so they can figger out where to be if it misses.
standing around with their thumb up their keyster, waiting for a pass that is not reasonably coming, is a waste of time.
'buffalo gals go round the outside, round the outside' was not news.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

I was thinking the same thing, would Hurley use the Double Bigs look? The answe was no last night. Clingan is a guy who impacts the game and has skilled hands. Ironically, perhaps Adama can learn from him in regards to the inside out pass.

Perhaps Danny should have an NBA scout talk to Adama about how they evaluate Bigs. I think then he might feel less pressure to score. If he understood how they value Bigs who can pass. Now that he has improved his outside shot and has some good drive moves; the things he needs to work on are the inside out pass, the unselfish pass and avoiding silly fouls.

Chief also agrees Hawkins and Jackson absence will be much more noticeable soon.

also covered long ago.
adama is an easy read.
he realized early that
1. people pay u cash money to play this game, and
2. those people notice when u score a lot of points.
ergo, im playing this game, and im gonna score a lot of points.
mebbe, just mebbe, part of his kerfuffle last night was living in the 'tris needs more shots' reality, yet 'i got to get mine too' since no downside in trying against a team who lost before opening tip. no harm, no foul.
the man is a winner, and such thoughts will not cloud his brain when the stakes get higher, but i have no problem with his possible 'make hay while the sun shines' thinking. none. it's this edge that makes him special. smart dude.

 

[alphasigko]

One thing to note is that in 3 games they are 21 of 68 on 3-point attempts, just under 31%. That % was helped by their 10 3's in the BU game. IMO they certainly need Joey CA's production from beyond the arc as no one else appears able to match his accuracy at this time.

 

[Chief00]

Observation: in shoot around Clingan made about 8-10 threes. I can’t wait for him to show that face up ability in games

Donovan is an interesting book to open up. There are many good chapters. Some of which, will surprise us.

 

[Palatine]

One thing to note is that in 3 games they are 21 of 68 on 3-point attempts, just under 31%. That % was helped by their 10 3's in the BU game. IMO they certainly need Joey CA's production from beyond the arc as no one else appears able to match his accuracy at this time.

The team is at 31% and Joey is at 54%.

 

[Chief00]

One thing to note is that in 3 games they are 21 of 68 on 3-point attempts, just under 31%. That % was helped by their 10 3's in the BU game. IMO they certainly need Joey CA's production from beyond the arc as no one else appears able to match his accuracy at this time.

I couldn’t agree more. The 3 point shooting has been very poor, except Joey C and Adama. One of the keys will be can Joey California stay on the floor for 3’s by not hurting us too much on defense. Donovan’s unusual size I think helps against teams trying to post or drive on Joey California.

 

[Get a Job]

Chief also agrees Hawkins and Jackson absence will be much more noticeable soon.

Not if they're not absent anymore.

 

[pj]

The team is at 31% and Joey is at 54%.

Joey 6 of 11 for 54.5%, Adama 3 of 4 for 75%, rest of team 12 of 53 for 22.6%.

But those percentages will change.

 

[alphasigko]

Joey 6 of 11 for 54.5%, Adama 3 of 4 for 75%, rest of team 12 of 53 for 22.6%.

But those percentages will change.

Hopefully for the better....