New Mexico (MSG), Sun., Nov. 17, 12 Noon, FS-1

This is going to be a fun season. They are just starting to scratch what they can be. Guys like Brady and Wilcher and Prey will have their days where they come up big. Today Rj, Scott and Smith seemed to come up with a big play when NM made a run. Richardson is a bully. Happy he's with us. Zuby got the message. Can't wait for the finished product but for now I will enjoy the process
 
The key to RJ's game is not the things he does well. It's when he DOESN'T do stupid things. He didn't do that today and if that continues it will be a huge boost.

Ejafor brought his lunch pail today and against a long and athletic NM front line played the entire second half and did excellent work inside.

Smith is fast, tough and good but can be exposed on D against taller players.

I think some folks just don't understand Kadary or his game - if you're worrying about him, stop. Uncharacteristic turnovers today but he will do what is needed to win games, period.

Scott is an outstanding defender.

Main concern is we need more from the bench going forward. Not looking at a box score but I think the starters accounted for all but maybe 8 points and that is not sustainable.

Good win against good competition, helps get ready for the Bahamas!
 
Shannon said:
it is one game, as Dinkins mentioned it is situational/match ups. Lets see what happens over the next few games to get a clearer picture on our bench.
Click to expand...
That may be the case but the level of athleticism is going to go up over the next few games so I don’t know if we will see too much of a difference in playing time for the bench. I really liked Prey in the game and thought he earned a few more minutes. As someone mentioned above, Wilcher and Dunlap will have to adjust to the physicality cause this team needs them.
 
Great win

RJ was fantastic, Scott and Zuby had great games.

Kadary gets himself into trouble sometimes with a loose handle, but it’s clear he’s the guy down the stretch. He’s composed and the one you want to run things late game. Sure, he has this demeanor about him that makes me you wanna run up to him and shake him by the shoulders and tell him to wake up, but you take that over him being rattled

Was impressed with the way we handled things when the lead got cut to 4. Scott biggest shot of the game.

The bench didn’t do much today but I trust ricks development over the course of the season. It will get there
 
Silly Donovan said:
That may be the case but the level of athleticism is going to go up over the next few games so I don’t know if we will see too much of a difference in playing time for the bench. I really liked Prey in the game and thought he earned a few more minutes. As someone mentioned above, Wilcher and Dunlap will have to adjust to the physicality cause this team needs them.
Click to expand...
It wasn’t the athleticism, it was the bulk. Noland is 6’4 and looks more than his listed 220 lbs. NJJ is 6’10 245. Sacko is 6’6 240. The Serbian kid is 6’9 220. Amzil 6’9 215. Not the game for our toothpicks.
 
I believe the big difference in our start this game from the past two slow starts was the insertion of Smith into the starting line up. His speed/energy kept NM in their toes and didn’t allow them to fast beak us much.
 
Prey to me has risen the ceiling of this group exponentially. I know this was just a 2 point performance. I think he’s already as good a Defensive rebounder as Zuby. He looked so comfortable catching the ball in the paint. He does great job working before the screens to set up and communicate. He is a great option to have on nights when Zuby doesn’t have it, and Vince is by no means a bad bench option.
 
With all that Richmond killed us, check his #s out:
14pnts, 5dimes, 8boardss (5 of those were offensive) & 4 steals.
Yes he definitely killed us today. :unsure:

Real good game today, and covered the spread..

Now the real fun begins. Guess SJU flies out on Tuesday?
Lets go 3-0, that could get us atleast to the top 12 I'd say.
 
Last edited:
My take on the bench is that they just weren’t needed. No foul trouble, well rested starters, nobody played poorly enough to need a seat. There was no bench production because there were no bench minutes. But in 26 minutes they were 4-6 from the field with no real negatives.
 
Great game from both teams. RJ Luis had a few insane acrobatic moves. He was stinky smooth and the best player on the court.
Nice game by Zuby against Nelly who is agile and big but Rick didn't need any scouting reports on him.
Smith was an excellent floor general today and the fastest player on the court.
Scott finally emerged as the player we expected.
Kadary Richmond had a good game overall except for 7 turnovers, 5 of which were converted into points. As Paultzman said, he needs to clean things up with his dribble.
Pitino wanted this one badly and it showed by him playing his money players most of the game.
 
Silly Donovan said:
That may be the case but the level of athleticism is going to go up over the next few games so I don’t know if we will see too much of a difference in playing time for the bench. I really liked Prey in the game and thought he earned a few more minutes. As someone mentioned above, Wilcher and Dunlap will have to adjust to the physicality cause this team needs them.
Click to expand...
I think Pitino, at a critical early season juncture, wanted to see our starting 6-7 play 2 good halves of basketball. That is why I think we were very starter-heavy. I think our depth is actually fantastic and will be our overall strength down the stretch this season. Right now is the time to power-up and try to grab coveted OOC wins inthe early season. Bench will be expanded soon enough once Rick is confident in our core being able to win games and not look disjointed.

I don’t think our depth is overrated in the least though. We only found out today that we have 3 guys at center that will contribute and give us different looks. I guarantee our depth will be a big strength as the season wears on.
 
Pretty workmanlike game. Not spectacular but good and even.

Luis was terrific on all counts. Made some very nice passes along with his scoring and rebounds. I honestly didn’t think he could be such a good playmaker. Made very good decisions for the most part.

Zuby was tough and rebounded very well.

Scott showed clutch. Richmond is urgently lackadaisical. Meaning he sees everything, usually makes the right decision but seems like not paying attention. I’ll get used to that. He had a few errant passes but a few doozies too.

I think that we need a little more consistent shooting from the 3 to be really dangerous.
 
Amaseinyourface said:
Prey to me has risen the ceiling of this group exponentially. I know this was just a 2 point performance. I think he’s already as good a Defensive rebounder as Zuby. He looked so comfortable catching the ball in the paint. He does great job working before the screens to set up and communicate. He is a great option to have on nights when Zuby doesn’t have it, and Vince is by no means a bad bench option.
Click to expand...
I agree with Amase.

Prey is a more finished player than I had expected.
 
otis said:
I agree with Amase.

Prey is a more finished player than I had expected.
Click to expand...
I think he was behind a bit, starting late and a lot to learn. I think we probably don’t have the lack of center depth with better quality than we anticipated early on. Biggest learning curve is for our bigs as well, so they will likely show the most improvement throughout the season.
 
Stevep502 said:
Vince no minutes today ? I saw no mention last 2 days of injury or other ?
Click to expand...
In first half coach decided to go with Prey as first big off the bench, perhaps he had a better week practicing. The way Zuby played once he came back in we didn't need to go to anyone else.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top