Things we are seeing | The Boneyard

Things we are seeing

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Duke made some more things clear and brought out more things which need immediate improvement:

Sam Jr needs to be able to guard to be on the court. He couldn't and therefore we lost a shooter in a game we needed one.

Minus Mr Facey, we can't rebound the basketball on either end unless it's a team rebound or the guards compete. This is a major issue along with the fact our stick figures allow people to physically abuse them and it look relatively easy.

I wish TSam and Sam Jr could morph into one. One you need on the court because he can shoot the other because he can defend. Problem is they both kill us on the end of the court of which is their weakness.

DHam is a super athlete but needs to tighten his handle going through the middle. Smooth and able to get to the rim, he lost it 2 or 3 times by not keeping his body closer to the ball while finding his way. Love his game and he'll be fine but yo need to pick your spots better.

Rodney gets killed here because of expectations, "ferrari-like" as they are he needs some time. If you didn't see a couple of good things then you weren't watching. But I agree with many he needs to make shots. But he also needs to rebound. Too good of an athlete not to stick his nose in more and get some loose balls and/or rebounds.

Boat was a one man show, truly great in keeping us in the game. But 5 TO's is too much because a couple were not when we needed him to do what he did at the end of the game, but instead during Duke's run which catapulted them to the W. He is the man and needs to do a lot, but let's not shield him from criticism, he can't force things when the other team gains momentum instead needs to be the calming force. Again, he was great, but he also needs to take better care of the ball.

Facey was tremendous. I think he is a lot better in the open court as he followed 2-3 misses on breaks and such, he gets up and down the court like a gazelle finishing with his left and right. But he HAS to box out on that FT. (by the way none of them do, saw Nolan and Brimah jump to the ball also) If we get that board as we should down 6 and a chance to really elevate the crowd getting it to 4 or 3 ya never know. Hate to pick on him, he was so good, but that's a key moment and as KO said, "we need to make winning plays" - can't take any time off.

Fishy said some things best - KO needs more 4-5 star kids. I mean Duke is loaded and we still were there with a mish mash of players who play hard for the uniform and KO. Our kids will all get better no doubt and be here for a while. But you need kids that know how to play the game and are basketball intelligent. We have some and we have a few who are learning the game as they grow. It would seem to 4-5 stars have that advantage and hence, more stars! Diamond and Tyler D I am talking to you!!!;)

On a positive note, they do compete. KO can make them play hard enough to make a real solid team like Duke look ragged at times on offense. They will need to play that way against everyone though because they can win on defense alone in the AAC.
 
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DHam welcome to the big leagues. He looked frazzled and he hasn't yet perfected his handle on his spin move to the basket.

Purvis had zero confidence and looked indecisive as he continually hesitated when he had the open shot choosing to either pass or take a challenging drive to the hoop.

Both centers were non-existent.

If the above gets fixed we are a very good team. I will say that DHam is not a concern, but Purvis and our bigs are this season. Especially Purvis he needs confidence, hoping he can get a 20 point game in soon.

Calhoun sighting was also encouraging.

People got to remember this was the #2 team in the nation. We just weren't ready right now (early season/new components) to win the game.
 
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"Rodney gets killed here because of expectations, "ferrari-like" as they are he needs some time. If you didn't see a couple of good things then you weren't watching."

I was watching, and I saw nothing from Purvis. That was a crap performance. He throws line drives from the perimiter, doesn't seem to see the court very well, got outmuscled underneath last night, and is lacking in the poise department (to be nice about it). Not saying he won't improve, but this ain't no Ferrari, folks.
 

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If we find anyone, other than Boat, who can knock down a 3, then lots of things begin to open up.
 
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Purvis' mistakes felt crushing to me. For now all it seems he's capable of is driving to the hoop, but he did do that as well as I've seen him do it, so it coming against Duke was a plus.

Tough game... we missed so many makeable shots, missed too many FTs, Brimah got called on a lot of cheap fouls that I just didn't think were fouls. Am I alone there? I didn't think the officiating was awful, they werent hacking us and getting away with it, but it felt a little too slightly bad in the opposite way. Felt like as soon as Okafor touched the ball on a rebound or interior pass, they'd call a foul. There's legitimate stars in the NBA who don't get that much respect, and this kid has played 10 games now.

I'm thinking of one where he spun in the low post away from facey and facey's hand rested near his side, instant foul. Lubin had one where Okafor got a board, and lubin raised his arm straight up, and got some ball and a little wrist while okafor wasn't even shooting, whistle. In many cases these wouldn't offend me so much, but the last few games we played in it seemed like the refs were letting guys bang down low, so how sweet and nice of them to totally flip the script on that from second 1 and have all of our bigs just basically there until they get their next foul.
 
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1. UConn is a better team with Purvis on the floor.
2. Sam Cassell Jr looked really slow.
3. Calhoun looked like the Calhoun of old. Encouraging........really? I haven't seen the kid hit a 3 in two years.
 
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1. Ryan Boatright played outstanding last night my only concern for him is that to make it to the league he has to play pg and last night as good as he played only managed 2 assists in front of the scouts.

2. I am not sold on Daniel Hamilton the way some of our fans are he turns the ball over way way to much doesn't shoot when he's open let's his defender close the gap and his handle is suspect but our fans swear up and down he's a lottery pick.

3. Amida Brimah tired of people using the excuse " he's just started playing basketball' the guy has been playing ball for years. If not for his 2-3 blocks per game I say let Ryan Boatright play center yeah why not is not like our bigs can defend a capable center or rebound or boxout or.... wait what exactly do our bigs do? Okay back to Brimah some say here he's a lottery pick LOL

4. Kentan Facey what can I say well he reminds me of Josh Boone the way he goes after offensive rebounds and tries to eat off of putbacks. I can see him developing a go to post move he's going be fun to watch the next couple of years.

5. Rodney Purvis I feel for the guy as everybody and their mama hyped the kid up. It's a tall order to live up to expectations I even remember Jim Calhoun last year saying he was the best best player in the gym and that including DD, Bazz and Boat. I hope it's just a lack of confidence for Rodney
 
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1. Ryan Boatright played outstanding last night my only concern for him is that to make it to the league he has to play pg and last night as good as he played only managed 2 assists in front of the scouts.

2. I am not sold on Daniel Hamilton the way some of our fans are he turns the ball over way way to much doesn't shoot when he's open let's his defender close the gap and his handle is suspect but our fans swear up and down he's a lottery pick.

3. Amida Brimah tired of people using the excuse " he's just started playing basketball' the guy has been playing ball for years. If not for his 2-3 blocks per game I say let Ryan Boatright play center yeah why not is not like our bigs can defend a capable center or rebound or boxout or.... wait what exactly do our bigs do? Okay back to Brimah some say here he's a lottery pick LOL

4. Kentan Facey what can I say well he reminds me of Josh Boone the way he goes after offensive rebounds and tries to eat off of putbacks. I can see him developing a go to post move he's going be fun to watch the next couple of years.

5. Rodney Purvis I feel for the guy as everybody and their mama hyped the kid up. It's a tall order to live up to expectations I even remember Jim Calhoun last year saying he was the best best player in the gym and that including DD, Bazz and Boat. I hope it's just a lack of confidence for Rodney


I think we all know that Jim Calhoun can sometimes be prone to hyberbole. He exaggerates a time or two!
 
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We are young and have a solid foundation that will only get better over next season. I'm not worried but we do need more top 100 players and I'd like to see us with 13 scholarships next year not 10. We can't keep banking scholarships every year. The staff needs to zero in on guys that fill a need i.e shooting, and we have a realistic chance to land. There's no reason VCU and Providence should ever have more top 100 players than us.
 
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We are young and have a solid foundation that will only get better over next season. I'm not worried but we do need more top 100 players and I'd like to see us with 13 scholarships next year not 10. We can't keep banking scholarships every year. The staff needs to zero in on guys that fill a need i.e shooting, and we have a realistic chance to land. There's no reason VCU and Providence should ever have more top 100 players than us.
Actually we don't have a solid foundation yet. Boat leaves after this season and we have to hope Adams is a real PG and not some combo guard hybred. We have enough of those already. Ready or not Adams has to start at PG next season because we really have nobody else except Tsam and we will be in big trouble if Tsam has to play most of the game. As Mau said in an earlier post if we could blend the best of Tsam and Sam Jr. our problem would be solved.
That said, our front court looks promising and I expect Brimah and Facey to be improved.
 
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"Rodney gets killed here because of expectations, "ferrari-like" as they are he needs some time. If you didn't see a couple of good things then you weren't watching."

I was watching, and I saw nothing from Purvis. That was a crap performance. He throws line drives from the perimiter, doesn't seem to see the court very well, got outmuscled underneath last night, and is lacking in the poise department (to be nice about it). Not saying he won't improve, but this ain't no Ferrari, folks.

When purvis was outmatched as you say its because he was playing the 4 with Nolan and Brimah on the bench in foul trouble....
 
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