Report Card vs St. Michael's

[Report Card]

A. Gilbert- 8.5: Our most injury prone player is one of our most physical, tough, and competitive guys on the court. Gotta love his heart and mindset. Played a sound game all around, should have picked up a few more assists on his dish & drives that resulted in wide open misses.
C. Vital- 8.0: No surprises here, hardest playing player on the court. Great first game, after the first few minute jitters were out, he couldn't make a mistake. Suffocating defense.
I. Whalley- 8.0: Poppers! Liked his efforts on the glass and his urgency to contest every shot. Let's see if his shots fall on the bigger stages.
A. Akok- 7.0: One of my favorite plays of the game was his field goal from the elbow. Seemed comfortable putting the ball on the floor. Great instinct for rebounding. Got killed guarding the 3 ball, but cleaned up everything else.
T. Polley- 7.0: His added strength looks like it may help him on his shot-fake/drive this year. Also showed more potential on defense. It would be too easy to criticize his lack of rebounding, but alas, here we are. More rebounds please.
B. Adams- 6.5: Looked like a different player. Handled the ball well and made some sweet passes. Still had trouble knocking down the open 3.
J. Carlton- 6.5: Had some nice passes off the double team along with some good familiar post moves when he finally got the 1on1 opportunities. Though, upon first impression, it seems his added weight has slowed down his movements pretty significantly? Unless it's a needed sacrifice against the bigger competition? Someone tell me it's the latter please.
S. Wilson- 6.0: An overall improvement. Hit the boards appropriately. Could be a big year of growth for him as he starts to find his place on the court.
J. Gaffney- 4.0: Looked like a true Freshman who's missed some practices due to an ankle injury. He'll be just fine.

Player of the Match: A. Gilbert (nice catch @Hans Sprungfeld )
Game Notes: -Every possession St. Michael's had seemed like it could result in a turnover. Granted it's an obvious result of their Dll level of talent, Hurley's improved suffocating style of defense played a part in it. Mostly though, their Dll level of talent :/
-Nice to see our UConn First Night MC take a break from stuffing his face at the Panda Express to show up at the XL Center and add an extra level of cringe on top of the slick floors.
-Would have been interesting to see what J. Bouknight would have brought to the table tonight.
-Loved the hot mic on the stream.

 

[Burnsbros23]

Thanks?

 

[GHSWolverines]

Carlton definitely looks slow. He was double teamed a lot in the first half. Whaley was very active on the boards and had a nice touch from 8 to 10 feet out. Gilbert still forces the issue with his dribble penetration. Vital looked more in control. Some people are concerned that he is one of our best rebounders. So what...for a little guy he is tough and has a knack for rebounding. Akok looks comfortable out on the court and will score at all 3 levels. He is going to be a good rim protector. It was Gaffney's first experience and he was tentative but IMO will be better than Adam's as a freshman. Adam's is a blue collar player. He could give us some valuable minutes off the bench.

 

[ucawn]

Sid and BA has some really nice drives

 

[djct1999]

Truth is, I can't remember the last time we had an adequate front court. Won't make much out of a scrimmage, but our inability to rebound will be a reoccurring theme all season, as it was last year, as it was the year before, and so on and so on.

 

[RichZ]

Yeah, it's only an exhibition, but Sid, Brendan and Isiah were unrecognizable from their former selves. They looked like basketball players rather than random tall guys out there trying.
Whalley seems to have found the promise that we saw brief glimpses of late in his Freshman year. Sid looked like he is actually part of the game plan instead of just a body to give Tyler a few minutes rest here and there. Brendan? No sign of last year's BADams last night. Not sure he'll ever be a reliable 3 point threat, but everything else looked pretty good.

 

[YearoftheHusky]

Truth is, I can't remember the last time we had an adequate front court. Won't make much out of a scrimmage, but our inability to rebound will be a reoccurring theme all season, as it was last year, as it was the year before, and so on and so on.

Says he won’t make too much out of a scrimmage. Immediately goes on to make too much out of a scrimmage. Classic boneyard.

 

[BGesus4]

Even though he had some defensive lapses, Akok struck me as much further along than I expected. He has more work to do, and I'm sure there will be growing pains against real comp, but he was the only player that was painfully obviously on a different physical level (size and athleticism) than St Michael's.

Definitely strikes me as the likely next NBA draft pick for us.

 

[Palatine]

Carlton had six rebounds in 20 minutes. I would take that pace all year.

St. Mike's double and tripled teamed him. He didn't force anything. Passed the ball back outside when nothing was there and only had one TO. Shot 3 for 4 and the miss was a block from behind. Good stuff from JC.

He will be a force this year. Not every game. But even a small incremental improvement would be huge for us.

Akok has some of the thinnest legs you're see. He moves really well for a guy his size. He almost took a crazy spill. We really need him to stay healthy.

 

[Road2Six]

For those concerned that Akok will be a 1 and done, don’t be. Minimum 2 years, I could see 3.

 

[Candyman]

I don't think Carlton was slower and even if he is a step slower the bulkiness is what everyone wanted right??? He got the ball twice in a row in the 2nd half and made good moves for easy baskets. He will be fine. Also, he looked slower on D as he had to guard a smaller guy by the 3 point line all game.

 

[August_West]

Reportcard trying to get another season out of this?

@Huskybass

 

[CL82]

B. Adams- 6.5: Looked like a different player. Handled the ball well and made some sweet passes. Still had trouble knocking down the open 3.

His 14 points were the most interesting thing in the box score. Last year he often looked lost and slow. In Sal's pictures he looks more fit. Adams making a decent sophomore jump really helps our depth.

(For gods sake man, go with letter grades, your handle is report card.)

 

[ctchamps]

I was really happy to see Al make 3’s. He made some good moves to the basket and only lost control of the ball once. Will remain to be seen if he can do that against better defenders. He needs to improve his passing. Three turnovers on passes against a weak team.

Adams, Sid and Whaley played much better than I expected. All three integrated well with team ball.

Adams would have received the highest marks from me over anyone on the team. He was the overall best passer this game, he created shots for himself and others and made a catch and shoot three. Except for one bonehead play where he left his player to defend AG’s player and didn’t communicate it his defense was on par with CV’s and AG’s. Huge upgrade from last season.

 

[djct1999]

Says he won’t make too much out of a scrimmage. Immediately goes on to make too much out of a scrimmage. Classic boneyard.

Our inability to rebound has nothing to do with yesterday. We couldn't rebound last year. Or the year before, either. Point is, we did very little to improve our front court so expect a similar result. Yesterday meant very little.

 

[ctchamps]

Our inability to rebound has nothing to do with yesterday. We couldn't rebound last year. Or the year before, either. Point is, we did very little to improve our front court so expect a similar result. Yesterday meant very little.

Akok and Springs are additions made to address the issue. Unfortunately we’ll have to wait a year to observe Ritchie.

 

[ThabeetDown]

Giving Adams a 6.5 completely invalidates your "Report Card" for the rest of the season. Unclear how you can be taken seriously, unfortunately. Might want to change your user name.

 

[gampelcrazies]

-Nice to see our UConn First Night MC take a break from stuffing his face at the Panda Express to show up at the XL Center and add an extra level of cringe on top of the slick floors.

Might be the greatest post in boneyard history.

 

[JB75]

Our inability to rebound has nothing to do with yesterday. We couldn't rebound last year. Or the year before, either. Point is, we did very little to improve our front court so expect a similar result. Yesterday meant very little.

Our front court is not improved? Carlton put on 30lbs, Whaley seems like he improved a lot and we added 6-9 akok, plus sid seems more active and involved. I agree we have a ways to go, but if we are equal to last year, I’ll be disappointed

 

[Dooooooomed]

If Sid, Adams, and Whaley can contribute like that vs non-low major competition, we're in for a really good season.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

A. Gilbert- 8.5: Our most injury prone player is one of our most physical, tough, and competitive guys on the court. Gotta love his heart and mindset. Played a sound game all around, should have picked up a few more assists on his dish & drives that resulted in wide open misses.
C. Vital- 8.0: No surprises here, hardest playing player on the court. Great first game, after the first few minute jitters were out, he couldn't make a mistake. Suffocating defense.
I. Whalley- 8.0: Poppers! Liked his efforts on the glass and his urgency to contest every shot. Let's see if his shots fall on the bigger stages.
A. Akok- 7.0: One of my favorite plays of the game was his field goal from the elbow. Seemed comfortable putting the ball on the floor. Great instinct for rebounding. Got killed guarding the 3 ball, but cleaned up everything else.
T. Polley- 7.0: His added strength looks like it may help him on his shot-fake/drive this year. Also showed more potential on defense. It would be too easy to criticize his lack of rebounding, but alas, here we are. More rebounds please.
B. Adams- 6.5: Looked like a different player. Handled the ball well and made some sweet passes. Still had trouble knocking down the open 3.
J. Carlton- 6.5: Had some nice passes off the double team along with some good familiar post moves when he finally got the 1on1 opportunities. Though, upon first impression, it seems his added weight has slowed down his movements pretty significantly? Unless it's a needed sacrifice against the bigger competition? Someone tell me it's the latter please.
S. Wilson- 6.0: An overall improvement. Hit the boards appropriately. Could be a big year of growth for him as he starts to find his place on the court.
J. Gaffney- 4.0: Looked like a true Freshman who's missed some practices due to an ankle injury. He'll be just fine.

Game Notes: -Every possession St. Michael's had seemed like it could result in a turnover. Granted it's an obvious result of their Dll level of talent, Hurley's improved suffocating style of defense played a part in it. Mostly though, their Dll level of talent :/
-Nice to see our UConn First Night MC take a break from stuffing his face at the Panda Express to show up at the XL Center and add an extra level of cringe on top of the slick floors.
-Would have been interesting to see what J. Bouknight would have brought to the table tonight.
-Loved the hot mic on the stream.

No "Player of the Match?"

 

[imno1]

Giving Adams a 6.5 completely invalidates your "Report Card" for the rest of the season. Unclear how you can be taken seriously, unfortunately. Might want to change your user name.

It’s preseason. Even for Reportcard

 

[djct1999]

Our front court is not improved? Carlton put on 30lbs, Whaley seems like he improved a lot and we added 6-9 akok, plus sid seems more active and involved. I agree we have a ways to go, but if we are equal to last year, I’ll be disappointed

We hear the same thing every year on how kids improved. Let’s wait and see Whaley vs real competition. Hopefully I am wrong. I just don’t think I am.

Besides, has anyone ever said a kid regressed over the summer? I am not suggesting he regressed. I am suggesting this front court will still struggle securing rebounds.

 

[Report Card]

Giving Adams a 6.5 completely invalidates your "Report Card" for the rest of the season. Unclear how you can be taken seriously, unfortunately. Might want to change your user name.

His inability to knock down the wide open 3’s were what brought him down to a 6.5. His main role is a knock down 3 point shooter. And keep in mind he had these types of promising performances in the first couple of exhibition games last year, only to produce an underwhelming season. So I’m more worried about his 3 ball than his drive to the basket against weak competition. His assists are what earned him the 6.5: not a bad score. ThabeetDownDeezNuts.

 

[JB75]

We hear the same thing every year on how kids improved. Let’s wait and see Whaley vs real competition. Hopefully I am wrong. I just don’t think I am.

Besides, has anyone ever said a kid regressed over the summer? I am not suggesting he regressed. I am suggesting this front court will still struggle securing rebounds.

I agree we prolly will still struggle but if last year we were a “1-2” on a scale of 1-10, I wud at least expect us to be a “3-4” this year- maybe even a “5”