First Night observations | Page 2 | The Boneyard

First Night observations

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James said:
there is nothing to take away from this. at all. other than cassell hype which i find intriguing yet a little strange. I saw him at nd prep many a times, didn't seem athletic enough to be a starter/ game changer at uconn. more like the elite 6th man, a la rashad.
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Robertelamin said:
I'll take another Rashad in a heartbeat.
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This team is set up similar to the 04 team. The 04 team was physically bigger with Taliek, Gordon and Okafor, but the similarity is that all of those 04 guys were lightning fast for their position.

I keep going back to last year where UConn made ISU, Nova, MSU, Florida and Kentucky all seem pedestrian. Ten minutes in to each of those five games and it was very apparent that UConn was faster than the opponent.

And this year's UConn team is faster than last year's.
 
david said:
What I took from the scrimmage:

Boat: Too much razzle-dazzle. Needs to play with better fundamentals. No shot at the NBA
Purvis: Showboating with the dunks. A lay-up is worth just as many points.
Terrence Samuel: Proved that his tournament play was a fluke
Sam Cassell: In a boot already? Selfish.
Omar Calhoun: Don't get me started. Was hoping he'd transfer to a mid-major or dIII school
Daniel Hamilton: Pointed at his last name during his intro which probably means he steals from jimmy fund jars at local restaurants too.
Facey: Why didn't he shoot 90% from three like in his video???
Phil Nolan: Still needs to gain about 30 lbs on top of the 50 he's gained since his freshman year.
Lubin: Jeff Adrien would have blocked that girls lay-up
Brimah: Nothing bad to say about him. Will be a top 5 pick this year.
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I would guess that the average is 4.5 players before Boneyarders realize you were joking around. I sniffed it out by Purvis, but needed the Cassell one for confirmation.
 
Thoughts on the uni's? At first I was disappointed with no horizontal red stripe on the shorts, but after seeing them in action I might actually like them more than the original versions and their variations that ran from 96-06.
 
I notice that the men's and women's uniforms were slightly different, the men's are clearly better looking.
 
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The intro was very well done, particularly the drummers.

Ray is decked out and he is going to the NBA hall of fame, and Sue Bird shows up in jeans?

If they are going to bother with the men/women scrimmage, they need to work harder to get Breanna Stewart a dunk.

Other than getting to see what the new players look like, I don't know what is projectable from this scrimmage.

A few people near me were wondering whether Calhoun would be there or mentioned. Other than Auriemma's joke (which I thought was decent), nothing. It is Ollie's team and Ollie's program now. Calhoun to Ollie will be the standard by which "legend to successor" transitions will be measured in college basketball for the next 30 years.
 
One other thing. I don't pay that much attention to women's basketball. I will watch the Final Four or a really big midseason game, but otherwise don't need to see a 50 point beatdown. I don't remember the last time I went to a game.

Anyway, watching them warm up, I saw that the mechanics of their shots are very different than the men's. The release point seems much lower. Eckmark, who is a freshman (had to look up her name), almost releases the ball from under her chin.

Is there a reason for that?
 
nelsonmuntz said:
One other thing. I don't pay that much attention to women's basketball. I will watch the Final Four or a really big midseason game, but otherwise don't need to see a 50 point beatdown. I don't remember the last time I went to a game.

Anyway, watching them warm up, I saw that the mechanics of their shots are very different than the men's. The release point seems much lower. Eckmark, who is a freshman (had to look up her name), almost releases the ball from under her chin.

Is there a reason for that?
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Women definitely tend to release the ball much lower than men. Because defenders in the men's game are longer and more athletic, more elevation is required.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
One other thing. I don't pay that much attention to women's basketball. I will watch the Final Four or a really big midseason game, but otherwise don't need to see a 50 point beatdown. I don't remember the last time I went to a game.

Anyway, watching them warm up, I saw that the mechanics of their shots are very different than the men's. The release point seems much lower. Eckmark, who is a freshman (had to look up her name), almost releases the ball from under her chin.

Is there a reason for that?
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You have probably never been known as the life of the party....have you?
 
Does anyone else see a little bit of Glen 'big baby' Davis in Lubin?
 
nelsonmuntz said:
One other thing. I don't pay that much attention to women's basketball. I will watch the Final Four or a really big midseason game, but otherwise don't need to see a 50 point beatdown. I don't remember the last time I went to a game.

Anyway, watching them warm up, I saw that the mechanics of their shots are very different than the men's. The release point seems much lower. Eckmark, who is a freshman (had to look up her name), almost releases the ball from under her chin.

Is there a reason for that?
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I cant tell if this is a bad joke or not.
 
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Two certainties from last night:
1. Omar looked 100x more explosive
2. I am ready to call Lubin the rock. I am 5'11. 175 lbs. if I ran full speed from 1 baseline into Lubin standing at the other, I would fall back 5 ft. The rock wouldn't move an inch.
 
I guess I am from the Calhoun's old school, I have been a season ticket holder for 25 years and never been to first night. But, heck it seems to be fun for lots of people and gets the casual fan interested. I watched some minutes on TV. I agree the difference between being a good team this year and a great team is for 2 or 3 guys to steps up as three point shooters. Who will that be? I don't know?

Hamilton but who else? Sam Jr? I think we have a lot of guys who can score - but when the defense claps down - do we have guys who can shoot over the defense - that will be key.
 
We're gonna be stairmasters, this team has talent and depth at every position.
 
KingOPancakes said:
Unfortunately the main thing I took away tonight was Omar's shot was off. Like wayyyy off. Hopefully it was just first night jitters, but he didn't look good at all.
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I can't tell if this is serious or not. If you are really critiquing Omar's performance in a co-ed scrimmage based on some missed jumpers, have you considered the fact that he was shooting a women's ball?
 
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UconnBoston said:
I can't tell if this is serious or not. If you are really critiquing Omar's performance in a co-ed scrimmage based on some missed jumpers, have you considered the fact that he was shooting a women's ball?
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They play with a mens ball and Omar did miss one 3 very ugly but nobody should walk away w conclusions (other than the curious projected starting lineup excluding Purvis).
 
nelsonmuntz said:
The intro was very well done, particularly the drummers.

Ray is decked out and he is going to the NBA hall of fame, and Sue Bird shows up in jeans?

If they are going to bother with the men/women scrimmage, they need to work harder to get Breanna Stewart a dunk.

Other than getting to see what the new players look like, I don't know what is projectable from this scrimmage.

A few people near me were wondering whether Calhoun would be there or mentioned. Other than Auriemma's joke (which I thought was decent), nothing. It is Ollie's team and Ollie's program now. Calhoun to Ollie will be the standard by which "legend to successor" transitions will be measured in college basketball for the next 30 years.
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Nobody else in my group was concerned enough about Sue Bird in Jeans. I wasn't having any of it.

@UconnBoston , I don't see it in Calhoun either. There is just something that isn't there. I dunno just my opinion.

Saw Brimah warming up and his short jumper has a nice new stroke to it.

I feel bad that Terrence Samuel might be the odd man out. That kid came up big in so many games last year. He can drive to the bucket with the big boys. He looks bigger (muscles) than last year too.
 
ScottBonz said:
Nobody else in my group was concerned enough about Sue Bird in Jeans. I wasn't having any of it.

@UconnBoston , I don't see it in Calhoun either. There is just something that isn't there. I dunno just my opinion.

Saw Brimah warming up and his short jumper has a nice new stroke to it.

I feel bad that Terrence Samuel might be the odd man out. That kid came up big in so many games last year. He can drive to the bucket with the big boys. He looks bigger (muscles) than last year too.
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I only saw the ESPNU stuff and first of all, Sue looked just fine! ;)

I feel for Omar even after last night - he looked quicker but admittedly we will be watching every shot and he threw some mason's up. But he looked hesitant and hopefully that's because he's afraid to shoot too much and not give it up the girls or something in that format? It will be interesting to see.

If AB can make shots that opens up the court.
 
I noticed Phil dribbling a lot, and he has an improved handle. Also he took a couple 3's. 99% sure it was just bullshiit, but could he play the stretch 4?
 
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walker11 said:
Based on last nights observations, I have now heard that DHam is taller than expected, shorter than expected, skinnier than expected, more bulked up than expected and more athletic than expected.
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And he sucks! LOL
 
caw said:
Ask Goodman, he was there, supposedly.
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He was sitting in press row with Steve Alford and Lew Alcindor, in between Warde Manual and cardboard cutout of John Wooden that Steve brought along.
 
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