One Big Positive

[Towney007]

Yeah I mean I like Cobb. He'd be a legit contributor on a good UConn team, even. No issues there. Few less fouls would be nice, but the refs did him no favors last night.

Don't get me wrong - I think we've got some pieces - legit ones at that; but just not enough that we can keep over an extended period of time to make a dent in things.

I like Vital as a scrappy sparkplug guy who'll be dumb now and then and turn in the occasional steaming pile - but for the most part can contribute and provide value over time. Adams is a really good, but flawed player. He can flat out score the ball. He can legitimately take over games at times. But like some folks have said here - he can't play point, makes bad decisions distributing the ball and can't really play defense. Gilbert - is our best player - hands down. He's just not healthy, ever. And then of course Cobb - who I think is much better than I expected him to be. Plays hard, wonderful passer and can score and rebound. He's nowhere near an elite guy, but he's a good player. Diarra would be the last guy i'd have here. I like everything about his games and his flaws to me are absolutely fixable. I'm just not sure Ollie can develop him.

Those guys though - they're all good enough to be here - can do things to win you games and would be in any consistent rotation on any good team in the country I think. There's just not enough of them.

Everyone else just isn't good enough to be here. I'm almost to that point with Larrier who I think has bad hands and just gets caught in between too much. Like there are NBA tools there, but his shooting isn't consistent enough, he lacks size and his dribble penetration is awful. I really can't believe he's an NBA prospect guy. I think Polly stinks. I don't like saying that about any kid, but I don't think he should be here, either.

Anderson is a perfectly fine fourth/fifth guard type at this level. Carlton is green as can be. Big-O probably shouldn't be here. Williams is bad.

But we lack a dominant big and with Gilbert out - we're at a point yet again where we don't have a competent point guard type. So we're playing without two huge ingredients and then guys who should only be guys who are seeing 5-7 minutes are getting half the game because they have to. I think some of these guys are capable of becoming shooters, but again - it's so easy to scout this team and clamp down on the pieces we have - that we just lack the talent elsewhere to make up for it...

That's really the problem right now. What talent we have is talented - there's just not anywhere near enough of it.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

I know this is not in keeping with the general boneyard mood, but I did see a couple positives yesterday.
1. Cobb showed some offense and good passing for a big. I'm definitely happy with him at the free throw line when the opponent is in a zone.
2. There were times that the ball was moved fairly quickly, though not frequent enough for my liking. It does show potential. A couple times it got too fast and we looked out of control, but the hope is there.
3. Diarra was bothered by the length, but he did get some rebounds and continues to find open space. Free throws are an issue.
4. After the team pooped the bed to start the game, they stayed with cuse. Lead got big but they chipped away a few times, so there's some heart and guts in there.
5. Anderson played some tremendous man D. His 3 pt shooting concerns me, but his D could be a weapon.

My concerns are that the guards are essentially playing the full game. That will wear them down at some point.
Bring it the whole game. They show signs of being a good (not great team), but they need to defend and execute for 40 minutes. More getting into the D and kicking to the open guy. The assist to turnover ratio has to get better.
Let's see how the Coppin State game goes.