(EXHIBITION) Towson, Sat., Oct. 18, 2p, ESPN+

I went to the game and watched most of pre game warmups. Darling didnt miss a shot and his stroke looked great.
During the game he didnt look comfortable handling the ball under pressure. He never really looked to shoot so defenders
locked down on him and his passing. If he can make some shots, that should free him up a liitle. We will find out more on
Saturday
 
I remember those teams and games . Mostly Players who had played pretty high level of College ball and had graduated .

Not NBA prospects but , not Palookas either .

Who remembers the NY Tuck Tapers ?
 
logen said:
Did not say he did; I didn’t even mention defense. All I said was the team played better with him on the court, which they did.
But, for the record, I thought he played excellent D in the 2nd half, as did the entire team.
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Agree that the defense was good overall from an observational perspective. I was especially pleased with Hopkins. But on the other hand we were playing a mid-major that plays at a slow tempo, so it is somewhat hard to judge. Michigan game will be an interesting barometer for that.

The offense was not good, by anybody, except for Hopkins and Ayo. It was in fact atrocious and was saved by one good stretch (and 3 T's on Towson, which should change it's name to TTTowson, perhaps).
 
lawmanfan said:
Agree that the defense was good overall from an observational perspective. I was especially pleased with Hopkins. But on the other hand we were playing a mid-major that plays at a slow tempo, so it is somewhat hard to judge. Michigan game will be an interesting barometer for that.

The offense was not good, by anybody, except for Hopkins and Ayo. It was in fact atrocious and was saved by one good stretch (and 3 T's on Towson, which should change it's name to TTTowson, perhaps).
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Well, if you know ball as well as you seem to, then you are well aware that offense always lags behind the defense.
Reasons? Defense is more predicated on raw effort, not totally, but certainly more, since it is largely reactionary; while offense more predicated on system, roles within that system and the ensuing player chemistry which takes time to put in place and “ferment” if you will.
So the fact that the offense lagged behind the defense is true for virtually every team at this time of the year, especially in this era of “new” teams every year.
As for Towson, you play who you play. If you want to caveat what you saw, be my guest. This smells a bit to me like there is a “Jenkins” element to this. Pick a player to be nitpick critical while explaining away why the good things they do really aren’t good.
The team did take a slim lead with Sellers but they blew the game open with Darling so one doesn’t get praised and the other criticized where I come from. It is a team game and that’s how I view and analyze it.
 
logen said:
. This smells a bit to me like there is a “Jenkins” element to this. Pick a player to be nitpick critical while explaining away why the good things they do really aren’t good.
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Since both you and MJM brought it up - no, there is no connection between Jenkins and Darling. At least thus far, they are completely opposite players - the guy who tried to do too much versus the guy who may not be able to do enough. My criticism of one was mostly attitudinal; my concern about the other is whether he will be able to be productive at this level. And at the moment that's based on one scrimmage against a mid major, so it's a very small sample size and there is plenty of room for growth. Clearly your eye and mine led us to different (preliminary) leans - we will see how it goes from here and I certainly hope your eye proves to be better than mine.

I will be thrilled if Darling turns out to be a serviceable point guard playing against the likes of Demary. We are going to need that to be the case for the team to reach the sky high preseason expectations.
 
logen said:
Facts, baby, facts.
For those fans of WBB, particularly UConn WBB, the program brought in a PG from Croatia, Nika Muhl, same year as Bueckers. Muhl wound up starting at PG their freshman year, the year Bueckers won the NP of the year award. Many UConn fans were up in arms because although Muhl went on to set the UConn career assist record and was two time BE DPOY, her freshman year her stats were nothing at all to write home about. When Auriemma was inundated in press conferences as to why she was starting at “Bueckers position”, he stated several times that “the team plays better when she is on the court and we win.”
The team played better with Darling on the court in the 2nd half which is not only a PG’s primary job but also why Pitino kept him in. And no, Darling does not get sole or even primary credit for the 2nd half performance but he was certainly an important part of it as Mase’s numbers above attest to.
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Pitino singled out Darling in the post-game presser as one of the guys who didnt play well.

It's an exhibition game against a lesser opponent, so confidently saying he was playing well so he left him in makes no sense when "he knows what he has in Jackson, he wanted to get an extended look at Darling regardless of how each was playing" is just as plausible an explanation. Especially in light of his post-game criticism.
 
lawmanfan said:
Since both you and MJM brought it up - no, there is no connection between Jenkins and Darling. At least thus far, they are completely opposite players - the guy who tried to do too much versus the guy who may not be able to do enough. My criticism of one was mostly attitudinal; my concern about the other is whether he will be able to be productive at this level. And at the moment that's based on one scrimmage against a mid major, so it's a very small sample size and there is plenty of room for growth. Clearly your eye and mine led us to different (preliminary) leans - we will see how it goes from here and I certainly hope your eye proves to be better than mine.

I will be thrilled if Darling turns out to be a serviceable point guard playing against the likes of Demary. We are going to need that to be the case for the team to reach the sky high preseason expectations.
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I have no lean on Darling, absolutely none. I merely posted he played a good 2nd half. You obviously decided to refute that with arguments that IMO held no water. I have no idea how effective Darling will be over the course of a season snd never ventured anything resembling a guess.
 
lawmanfan said:
Since both you and MJM brought it up - no, there is no connection between Jenkins and Darling. At least thus far, they are completely opposite players - the guy who tried to do too much versus the guy who may not be able to do enough. My criticism of one was mostly attitudinal; my concern about the other is whether he will be able to be productive at this level. And at the moment that's based on one scrimmage against a mid major, so it's a very small sample size and there is plenty of room for growth. Clearly your eye and mine led us to different (preliminary) leans - we will see how it goes from here and I certainly hope your eye proves to be better than mine.

I will be thrilled if Darling turns out to be a serviceable point guard playing against the likes of Demary. We are going to need that to be the case for the team to reach the sky high preseason expectations.
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Here is my opinion. In finance I can get fixated when I lose on a stock and never go back to it no matter how well it does. Just my opinion I think LMF can do the same thing with players heck me too. I think Daniss is one and Darling is the other now ( not just LMF but others now too ) but if he’s right I have no problem saying I’m wrong
 
mjmaherjr said:
Here is my opinion. In finance I can get fixated when I lose on a stock and never go back to it no matter how well it does. Just my opinion I think LMF can do the same thing with players heck me too. I think Daniss is one and Darling is the other now ( not just LMF but others now too ) but if he’s right I have no problem saying I’m wrong
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I'm not going to keep going on this thread but if you think where I'm coming from on Darling is similar to where I was coming from on Jenkins then you are dead wrong. Darling is exactly the sort of player that I love - guys who give 100% and maximize their ability. The problem with this team is that it looks like he is going to be asked for a lot more than is reasonable to ask of him - which is not in any way a knock on him, it's a commentary on the roster construction.

Again I'm done commenting on this for now, but I felt the need to clarify that. There is definitely at least one and potentially two players on the roster for whom I might wind up having Jenkins-esque feelings - I'm not sure yet. But Darling ain't it.

You may recall that I am also "players develop" guy - who they are when they start is not always who they are in the end. OTOH there are some who have certain playing characteristics that don't change at all.
 
lawmanfan said:
I'm not going to keep going on this thread but if you think where I'm coming from on Darling is similar to where I was coming from on Jenkins then you are dead wrong. Darling is exactly the sort of player that I love - guys who give 100% and maximize their ability. The problem with this team is that it looks like he is going to be asked for a lot more than is reasonable to ask of him - which is not in any way a knock on him, it's a commentary on the roster construction.

Again I'm done commenting on this for now, but I felt the need to clarify that. There is definitely at least one and potentially two players on the roster for whom I might wind up having Jenkins-esque feelings - I'm not sure yet. But Darling ain't it.

You may recall that I am also "players develop" guy - who they are when they start is not always who they are in the end. OTOH there are some who have certain playing characteristics that don't change at all.
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What ranking did you give Darling Saturday ? Once you say it tell me if it was fair when you look at his stat line compared to others and hoe did he run our team went when he entered the 2nd half
 
lawmanfan said:
I'm not going to keep going on this thread but if you think where I'm coming from on Darling is similar to where I was coming from on Jenkins then you are dead wrong. Darling is exactly the sort of player that I love - guys who give 100% and maximize their ability. The problem with this team is that it looks like he is going to be asked for a lot more than is reasonable to ask of him - which is not in any way a knock on him, it's a commentary on the roster construction.

Again I'm done commenting on this for now, but I felt the need to clarify that. There is definitely at least one and potentially two players on the roster for whom I might wind up having Jenkins-esque feelings - I'm not sure yet. But Darling ain't it.

You may recall that I am also "players develop" guy - who they are when they start is not always who they are in the end. OTOH there are some who have certain playing characteristics that don't change at all.
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If we had gotten a bonafide starting PG and Darling, then I'd be really excited for the 12-16mpg from Darling
 
dk423 said:
If we had gotten a bonafide starting PG and Darling, then I'd be really excited for the 12-16mpg from Darling
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Guys I didn’t see the first game so defer to your first hand impressions. But seems crazy to me to be too worried when we have two legit all big East guys in Zuby and Bryce; two guys who can get their shots (and make them) at any time in Jackson and Sanon; a great do it all forward in Mitchell and a steady Eddie who doesn’t miss in Sellers. Dylan, Ayo and Ruben will do their thing well off the bench and we will get there on the point guard issue imho. This team has lots more potential than last years team and that is enough to make us all optimistic unless real results prove otherwise. But I’m super optimistic at 11 pm in Portugal so maybe it’s grain of salt talk.
 
NCJohnnie said:
Guys I didn’t see the first game so defer to your first hand impressions. But seems crazy to me to be too worried when we have two legit all big East guys in Zuby and Bryce; two guys who can get their shots (and make them) at any time in Jackson and Sanon; a great do it all forward in Mitchell and a steady Eddie who doesn’t miss in Sellers. Dylan, Ayo and Ruben will do their thing well off the bench and we will get there on the point guard issue imho. This team has lots more potential than last years team and that is enough to make us all optimistic unless real results prove otherwise. But I’m super optimistic at 11 pm in Portugal so maybe it’s grain of salt talk.
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I didn’t watch it either, but the context should be said. I think we’re a legit top 16 team and Sweet 16 should be the floor for expectations. Getting into that uber-elite echelon with our group primary ball handlers is what worries me
 
lawmanfan said:
Since both you and MJM brought it up - no, there is no connection between Jenkins and Darling. At least thus far, they are completely opposite players - the guy who tried to do too much versus the guy who may not be able to do enough. My criticism of one was mostly attitudinal; my concern about the other is whether he will be able to be productive at this level. And at the moment that's based on one scrimmage against a mid major, so it's a very small sample size and there is plenty of room for growth. Clearly your eye and mine led us to different (preliminary) leans - we will see how it goes from here and I certainly hope your eye proves to be better than mine.

I will be thrilled if Darling turns out to be a serviceable point guard playing against the likes of Demary. We are going to need that to be the case for the team to reach the sky high preseason expectations.
Click to expand...
When you say your criticism of Jenkins was attitudinal I take that as you are referring to your attitude 🤪
 
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