RichZ
Fort the ead!
- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 5,263
- Reaction Score
- 22,395
Sorry for the lateitudity and shortness of this. It was a busy weekend around the homestead.
1] Clingan plays tall in the post, while Samson plays 'springy'. Close to the rim, DC's knees are almost locked, while SJ's are cocked. Other than when he gets the ball on the move, Clingan tends to shoot layups from below rim height. When Samson gets the ball in range, whether via rebound or a pass, you can be pretty sure he's going airborne for the dunk at least dunk attempt. Maybe it's just the contrast between him and Samson, or more likely the lack of full speed, full contact practice time resultant from his foot injury, but I don't recall him appearing nearly that stiff last season.
2] There was a play just under the 14 minute mark in the 2nd half, that I described to my wife as the "Hurliest" play I'd ever seen. Shot clock at four, Stonehill guy put up a three with zero rotation on the ball over Castle, who immediately broke for our basket. The ball hit the heel of the rim with a thud, and just fell into Tristen's hands. Three quick dribbles and he was at half court, launching a pass to Castle under the hoop. A move that drew all five Stonehill defenders into the paint. Castle fired the ball to a wide open Spencer at the 3 point line, sending a couple defenders scrambling in that direction. But before they could even get in range, Spencer had passed the ball to an even wider open Karaban, who of course nailed the three, completely uncontested. 3 bounces, 3 passes, 3 pointer -- All in 7 seconds.
3] Unfortunately, not too long after that play, it seemed like the team got really casual, and our play was very sloppy for most of the 2nd half. Especially on D.
4] So far, Castle is a lot more versatile than I expected. Defends better than advertised, and doesn't need to put up a lot of shots to be effective. Appears to care more about the W than his own stat line -- a trait that too many anointed one-&-doners don't seem to share.
5] Hoping that Spencer finds his 3 point stroke before the competition level increases, because so far, it's MIA. Fortunately, he seems to have recognized that, and is showing a lot more distributor skills than we (or at least I) might have thought he had.
6] Stewart, Ball and Ross all contributed and looked like they could all become part of the regular rotation.
7] Assists on 63% of our buckets is a big improvement over the NAZ game's 43%, and equals the dime-to-FG average from last year's NC team.
1] Clingan plays tall in the post, while Samson plays 'springy'. Close to the rim, DC's knees are almost locked, while SJ's are cocked. Other than when he gets the ball on the move, Clingan tends to shoot layups from below rim height. When Samson gets the ball in range, whether via rebound or a pass, you can be pretty sure he's going airborne for the dunk at least dunk attempt. Maybe it's just the contrast between him and Samson, or more likely the lack of full speed, full contact practice time resultant from his foot injury, but I don't recall him appearing nearly that stiff last season.
2] There was a play just under the 14 minute mark in the 2nd half, that I described to my wife as the "Hurliest" play I'd ever seen. Shot clock at four, Stonehill guy put up a three with zero rotation on the ball over Castle, who immediately broke for our basket. The ball hit the heel of the rim with a thud, and just fell into Tristen's hands. Three quick dribbles and he was at half court, launching a pass to Castle under the hoop. A move that drew all five Stonehill defenders into the paint. Castle fired the ball to a wide open Spencer at the 3 point line, sending a couple defenders scrambling in that direction. But before they could even get in range, Spencer had passed the ball to an even wider open Karaban, who of course nailed the three, completely uncontested. 3 bounces, 3 passes, 3 pointer -- All in 7 seconds.
3] Unfortunately, not too long after that play, it seemed like the team got really casual, and our play was very sloppy for most of the 2nd half. Especially on D.
4] So far, Castle is a lot more versatile than I expected. Defends better than advertised, and doesn't need to put up a lot of shots to be effective. Appears to care more about the W than his own stat line -- a trait that too many anointed one-&-doners don't seem to share.
5] Hoping that Spencer finds his 3 point stroke before the competition level increases, because so far, it's MIA. Fortunately, he seems to have recognized that, and is showing a lot more distributor skills than we (or at least I) might have thought he had.
6] Stewart, Ball and Ross all contributed and looked like they could all become part of the regular rotation.
7] Assists on 63% of our buckets is a big improvement over the NAZ game's 43%, and equals the dime-to-FG average from last year's NC team.
