Sorry to take so long to put in my 2cents - had a couple bad days of chemo reaction.
Luckily, like Tom, I also get ESPN3 - and the game is on archive there
General impression - the team seemed to be "under wraps" - don't KNOW that it's the case, but Lavin teams in the past have sacriced "showtime" exhibition wins to work on specific things - in other words, Exhibitions are PRACTICE. Again, just me, but a lot of things the guys were able to do against Post were there, but we seemed to exchew taking adavantage, instead attacking or defending in ways we DIDN'T vs. Post. If we wanted to show off, get an easy win, I think we could have gone Man for the whole game and taken these kids apart. Instead, we stayed i multiple zones, almost literally playing into what strentghs STM has - solid perimeter shooting, GREAT intelligence throughout the lineup (take a look a their sites roster/bios - almost every kid is an academic honor student). IT really looked to me like the staff sat on our kids and forced them to work on the areas they're going to need to improve. And then with 5 minutes left, Dunlap turned them loose - "okay Dom, go get the ball".
Player observations (with a grain of salt, and will change from game to game!)
Moe - Really impressed with the maturity he shows for a frosh - I mean maturity in his game. Great skill AND control - have no doubt he'll be the go-to guy in crunch time. Much bigger than I anticipated = he's creeping up on David Greenwood size. Seems to play smart, Solid on the boards, Shows great scoring ability midrange in. Look forward to seeing that 3 pt stroke I've read that he possesses. Watching him I hear one of coach Wooden's mantra's - "be quick, but don't hurry" - I see that executed in Moe's play.
Gift - Hoping Moe really IS almost 6'9 now, because Gift is definatley an inch or more shorter. But WIDE as truck. Hey, I'd settle for some Truck Robinson ability. Or maybe Shaq of the Mac?. Very much a man among boys so far. His running, motor and HANDS have already been discussed ad nauseum, but...wow. Can't wait to see him vs. Arizonas WAY overrated frontcourt!. An aside. Good thing SJU is a non-football school. That kid would have been raided by the football coaches first day he stepped on campus.
Malik - Earlier in the thread "malik is still malik". Agree. After two exhibition games, it's obvious his and Greene's rolls need to be reversed. Green is bigger, stronger, better shooter, better defender, and has a higher BBall IQ. 1 play really stood out watching malik. There was a double team of the ball at the top of the key (he and Nuri defending. The ball got tipped way to Malik. Nuri broke downcourt, and (I think) Moe broke from he other sideline. Malik had the ball, hesitated, took 3 dribbles before deciding to pass the ball up court. We got the basket, but it was close as the defenders had time to close. That was a freshman error - especially for a pg, you've got to see the opportunity and strike - But Malik is a freaking Junior now. Watched Malik closely after that - while not as obvious, there were several situations where you realize there is a hesitation in his decision making. He's a decent backup guard. But we have better options for starter minutes.
Nuri - Need to see a bigger data sample on his shooting. Horrendous at the line, but the form ISN'T that bad, so I'm willing to wait. First year is difficult. Beleive it or not, Jason Kapono - one of the best shooters EVER - a 90% FT shooter his last 3 years for Lavin, was barely 60% from the line his first year at UCLA. Phisically, Nuri acctually reminds me VERY much of another former Overbrrook High guard - Andre McCarter. Wirey, Strong and both Quick and Fast. And since Andre has 2 NCAA title rings, and reached the NBA (ok cup of coffe, but he made it!), that ain't a bad thing.
Sir Dom - My favorite on the team. I really think the sky is the limit for this kid. Turns out he's much bigger than I originally thought, but still have no doubt he can defend the 1 thru the 4 (depnding on the 4). I think he has bigger, stronger Michael Cooper potential. Fast, strong, quick and fearless is a NICE combination!
Phil Greene - I think he needs to start of Malik in a 3 guard rotation. As noted above, Bigger, stronger, quicker, faaster, batter shooter and better decision maker. Maliks only advantage is experience - but I don't think it outweighs those other traits. Again using my UCLA references, Green reminds me a little of Mike Holton as a frosh - and Mike QB'ed the Bruins to an NCAA title game back in 1980 - as part of an all frosh backcourt (teamed with Rod Foster). Mike lost his job as a soph, and played 3 years as a reserver PG behind a "super recruit pg" named Ralph Jackson, but he was still good enuf to eke out a 6 year NBA career, get hired as a D-1 assistant by come clown named Lavin, and go on to be a D1 head coach (he's now a broadcaster for the Trailblazers)....Like Greene, Holton wasn't the big name out of high school, and a guy you still might recruit over at his position, but I think he's a 4 year guy who's going to provide incredible value in the coming years.
D'Angelo - Still too early to tell. Everything LOOKS good - good size, good quickness, good hustle, seems able to get his shot. Seems to make good decisions with the ball. Pretty good rebounder for a 2guard. But he's a shooter, and the shot isn't falling yet. And he seems to need the most work on his D. But the tools are definately there to BECOME a solid defender. And his history says he CAN shoot, so I'm going to assume he WILL shoot as he gets settled in....
Sorry to take so long to put in my 2cents - had a couple bad days of chemo reaction.
Luckily, like Tom, I also get ESPN3 - and the game is on archive there
General impression - the team seemed to be "under wraps" - don't KNOW that it's the case, but Lavin teams in the past have sacriced "showtime" exhibition wins to work on specific things - in other words, Exhibitions are PRACTICE. Again, just me, but a lot of things the guys were able to do against Post were there, but we seemed to exchew taking adavantage, instead attacking or defending in ways we DIDN'T vs. Post. If we wanted to show off, get an easy win, I think we could have gone Man for the whole game and taken these kids apart. Instead, we stayed i multiple zones, almost literally playing into what strentghs STM has - solid perimeter shooting, GREAT intelligence throughout the lineup (take a look a their sites roster/bios - almost every kid is an academic honor student). IT really looked to me like the staff sat on our kids and forced them to work on the areas they're going to need to improve. And then with 5 minutes left, Dunlap turned them loose - "okay Dom, go get the ball".
Player observations (with a grain of salt, and will change from game to game!)
Moe - Really impressed with the maturity he shows for a frosh - I mean maturity in his game. Great skill AND control - have no doubt he'll be the go-to guy in crunch time. Much bigger than I anticipated = he's creeping up on David Greenwood size. Seems to play smart, Solid on the boards, Shows great scoring ability midrange in. Look forward to seeing that 3 pt stroke I've read that he possesses. Watching him I hear one of coach Wooden's mantra's - "be quick, but don't hurry" - I see that executed in Moe's play.
Gift - Hoping Moe really IS almost 6'9 now, because Gift is definatley an inch or more shorter. But WIDE as truck. Hey, I'd settle for some Truck Robinson ability. Or maybe Shaq of the Mac?. Very much a man among boys so far. His running, motor and HANDS have already been discussed ad nauseum, but...wow. Can't wait to see him vs. Arizonas WAY overrated frontcourt!. An aside. Good thing SJU is a non-football school. That kid would have been raided by the football coaches first day he stepped on campus.
Malik - Earlier in the thread "malik is still malik". Agree. After two exhibition games, it's obvious his and Greene's rolls need to be reversed. Green is bigger, stronger, better shooter, better defender, and has a higher BBall IQ. 1 play really stood out watching malik. There was a double team of the ball at the top of the key (he and Nuri defending. The ball got tipped way to Malik. Nuri broke downcourt, and (I think) Moe broke from he other sideline. Malik had the ball, hesitated, took 3 dribbles before deciding to pass the ball up court. We got the basket, but it was close as the defenders had time to close. That was a freshman error - especially for a pg, you've got to see the opportunity and strike - But Malik is a freaking Junior now. Watched Malik closely after that - while not as obvious, there were several situations where you realize there is a hesitation in his decision making. He's a decent backup guard. But we have better options for starter minutes.
Nuri - Need to see a bigger data sample on his shooting. Horrendous at the line, but the form ISN'T that bad, so I'm willing to wait. First year is difficult. Beleive it or not, Jason Kapono - one of the best shooters EVER - a 90% FT shooter his last 3 years for Lavin, was barely 60% from the line his first year at UCLA. Phisically, Nuri acctually reminds me VERY much of another former Overbrrook High guard - Andre McCarter. Wirey, Strong and both Quick and Fast. And since Andre has 2 NCAA title rings, and reached the NBA (ok cup of coffe, but he made it!), that ain't a bad thing.
Sir Dom - My favorite on the team. I really think the sky is the limit for this kid. Turns out he's much bigger than I originally thought, but still have no doubt he can defend the 1 thru the 4 (depnding on the 4). I think he has bigger, stronger Michael Cooper potential. Fast, strong, quick and fearless is a NICE combination!
Phil Greene - I think he needs to start of Malik in a 3 guard rotation. As noted above, Bigger, stronger, quicker, faaster, batter shooter and better decision maker. Maliks only advantage is experience - but I don't think it outweighs those other traits. Again using my UCLA references, Green reminds me a little of Mike Holton as a frosh - and Mike QB'ed the Bruins to an NCAA title game back in 1980 - as part of an all frosh backcourt (teamed with Rod Foster). Mike lost his job as a soph, and played 3 years as a reserver PG behind a "super recruit pg" named Ralph Jackson, but he was still good enuf to eke out a 6 year NBA career, get hired as a D-1 assistant by come clown named Lavin, and go on to be a D1 head coach (he's now a broadcaster for the Trailblazers)....Like Greene, Holton wasn't the big name out of high school, and a guy you still might recruit over at his position, but I think he's a 4 year guy who's going to provide incredible value in the coming years.
D'Angelo - Still too early to tell. Everything LOOKS good - good size, good quickness, good hustle, seems able to get his shot. Seems to make good decisions with the ball. Pretty good rebounder for a 2guard. But he's a shooter, and the shot isn't falling yet. And he seems to need the most work on his D. But the tools are definately there to BECOME a solid defender. And his history says he CAN shoot, so I'm going to assume he WILL shoot as he gets settled in....
Good summary but I'll have to take your word on all the UCLA comparisons. I was at the game and there was nothing overt between Dunlap and the team that sparked the change in defensive pace at the end but something clearly was changed even if it was just turning Pointer loose. He's a game changing defender who's a little wasted in the zone IMO. They did stick to their scheme all night almost ad nauseum. There was hustle on "D" but St Mary's seemed pretty comfortable on offense. Whether that was execution or just the system remains to be seen but, like I said, if we spot BE teams a dozen threes we lose hands down. Small point but from next to them, third row center, Moe is not taller than GG. It's a posture thing on TV. Pointer comes in next about 1 1/2 " shorter. Length is always most important and they all seem about equal in that dept. Best wishes to you for the season and beyond..
