SCSU Analysis

[bmayuc]

Well, That was a trip!

Always tough to gauge a team after 40 minutes against a bunch of D2 players, but here are some opinions about our team that have been rattling around in my head. Let me know what you guys think.

1. You are being very un-dude : We will be fine, I am not concerned at the closeness of the game or the sloppiness or the missed shots. The shots will fall, the turnovers will decline, and KO will clean up the playing style/organization issues.

2. Play-Makers - We have a bunch of them, and I am most excited about our best passer, Daniel Hamilton. I think Boat, TSam, and even Purvis, Cassell will be able to create offense off the dribble. However the revelation was the 4 assist performance of our 6'7 Freshman wing. The handle, mobility, savvy, and passing are as described. I am not worried at all that he didn't light up the scoreboard. As I said, those shots will start to fall. By February, this kid will be a MONSTER. Those two passes to Brimah were A++.

3. GlassEaters - We went from a very suspect rebounding team last year to a definite + rebounding team this year. Hamilton is one of those wiry guys that finds/fights for the ball, and Strength/Health upgrades to Brimah/Nolan should pay dividends. Add in big minutes for Facey, who is a beast on the boards, and Lubin means we are going to get a ton of rebounds this year. That will be a nice change

4. Defense, yikes - Ok, so heres the downside. We were helter skelter all game. Cheap fouls, Brimah giving up cheapies, and our guards jumping at every ball-fake were not positive development. I'm going to mark it down to first game jitters, but will be something to watch. We SHOULD be upgaded here with bigger guards, Boatright locking down, and Brimah with another year of development. However, not a good first showing.

5. Its going to be damn fun this year. Lace up your shoes and enjoy the ride!

 

[Yankees32123]

I was very upset with the fouls. Cheap fouls that really prevented the game from flowing. I just hate watching sloppy play. Hoping KO can clean it up. I think he spent the first month of practice driving home the importance of rebounding, which worked. Once shots start falling and we are more confident and accurate with passes then we should be in good shape. Lots of talent, especially Sam Cassell Jr. The kid is actually the oldest player on the team (go figure) and it clearly shows. Going to be great to have another mature, level-headed guard out there this year.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Knowing full well this is going to sound like a Debbie Downer post, I have to say the following:

Isn't it a little disingenuous to say "this was just an exhibition game, so don't read into the negatives" while at the same time saying "let's read heavily into all these positives!", particularly about a game that, by all accounts, should have been easier than the games we will have in the regular season?

It would be OK to say "eh, we can't take anything away from this game", but choosing to latch onto the bright spots while ignoring the troublesome signs is a bit naive.

I do think Daniel Hamilton will be a stud, and Sam Cassell looks like he should be able to replace some of Bazz's basketball savvy/IQ. On the flip side, Purvis looks more Jerome Dyson than Ben Gordon, and the big leap we were hoping to see out of Facey and Nolan does not appear to have happened.

Of course, there's a long season to figure things out, but let's be honest about what the starting point is.

 

[CallMeBruce]

I saw everything I wanted from Facey. Got rebounds and avoided fouling. Done. Check. Next player.

 

[pnow15]

UConn has no big who can hit an outside shot consistently. Last year we had Daniels at 6'9 and
Giffey 6' 7. Purvis is afraid of his jumper. TSam is weak.

That leaves Boat, Hamilton and Cassell, none are close to Bazz yet. Teams will stack the paint squeezing Brimah and keeping penetration to a minimum. Huskies will need to run to score a lot.

Ollie will figure it out.

 

[Cheeky]

Knowing full well this is going to sound like a Debbie Downer post. . . .On the flip side, Purvis looks more Jerome Dyson than Ben Gordon, and the big leap we were hoping to see out of Facey and Nolan does not appear to have happened.
. . . let's be honest about what the starting point is.

Well, I'll respectfully disagree. We missed a good amount of open shots that were well set up, that, if they fell, would have made it a 20 point blow out. Other team pretty much made their open shots. It happens.

Judging Purvis based on his first game back after a huge layoff is way too small of a sample size. If he is regularly shooting 2 for 10 and making bone head plays in late December, then I'd revisit it. As it is now, the guy was probably bouncing off the walls inside of his head when the tip went up - can't expect him to play smooth and relaxed.

In terms of "big leap" for Facey - I'm not sure we were all aware of what his starting point was from last year. When did we see him get meaningful minutes? It's tough to know how far he has come without knowing from whence he came. He had 9 boards in 18 minutes and a steal, with 1 turnover. Let me ask you - if the guy played 40, played very good D, got 20 boards, with 2 turnovers and no points, would you want him?

Regarding Nolan - not sure how many people around here were expecting a "big leap." I don't think people thought Phil would become the second coming of Josh Boone just because 180 days have passed since we pimp-slapped Kentucky.

I for one will be very happy with steady, marked improvement. That's all we need from Phil.

In any event, let's revisit this conversation after a few more games RE: Purvis.

 

[joober jones]

I think PN's biggest issue is confidence. If he goes up harder and more collected he'd have been 3-4 from the field last night. In the KU game it was a lack of physical strength, but right now I think it's more psychological.

 

[mauconnfan]

Geez the Ferrari was parked in the garage for 18 months and when it came out it it was driven too fast everywhere......I expected it to be rev'd up too much! relax........