Alabama A&M

[Queens_NYC]

Tuesday, November 16th, 2021
7:00 PM
Fifth Third Arena
ESPN+

The Bulldogs (KP #329) won their first game against Tennessee State (KP #318) 82-73 and followed that up with a 70-47 loss at Jacksonville State (KP #124) in what will be the first of 12 consecutive road games.

Alabama A&M just happened to be our 3rd game of the season two years ago, and served as victims of the greatest beat-down of the Brannen era when they lost 85-53.

4 key players from that 19-20 team remain: 6'7 F Jalen Johnson, 6'0 G Garrett Hicks, 6'1 G Cameron Tucker, and 6'10 C EJ Williams from Middletown, OH.

Alabama A&M are the first of 3 SWAC teams to visit Fifth Third this season with Florida A&M and Texas Southern set to come to town in mid-December.

Hopefully we see our best offensive output of the season and are able to give end-of-the-bench players some extended minutes.

 

[waterhead]

Ado off to a bad start again. Just don’t get it right now

 

[Queens_NYC]

Getting good looks from 3 and we're nailing them early on. Exactly what you want to see.

I've tried to stay optimistic about him so far, but Ado does not look like a capable starting big. I wonder if he's fighting an injury.

 

[waterhead]

I can see him doing better against guy’s like Kofi coming up but right now not a positive presence

 

[TheLivingLegend]

Yikes. To that first half.

 

[Queens_NYC]

If that 1st half was anything, it was a wake up call.

Need better effort on defense and better execution on offense.

 

[skyblade]

We weren't particularly good at FG% defense against Georgia either, we just forced a bunch of TO's and didn't give up many offensive rebounds. Johnson using he size and better positioning to dominate Davenport (who he has a pretty big size advantage on) and Ody (who doesn't know how to box out). Koval may be the best defender on him.

We really need Lakhin to get and stay healthy. Ody and Ado have not been good so far this season and Davenport is undersized and struggles with some bigger guys.

 

[Queens_NYC]

We were 12-16 on 2-point FGs and 13-14 from the FT line in the 2nd half - just goes to show that this team can be halfway decent offensively when they really lock in.

 

[waterhead]

Dead board aweful

 

[sedziobs]

I'm surprised that Ado can have as many career blocks as he does with such limited mobility. He will be useful against some teams with strong low post players, but I'd much rather have Koval in the starting lineup. Newman's strengths should become more apparent when we play teams with guards and wings who like to iso.

Mason saw a lot of time at the 3 tonight, which I think is his best position. He's a little slow and has poor handling for a guard. With DDJ's shooting looking a lot better, we have two guys that can create their own jump shot. If we pair them with MAW and Davenport who are good catch and shoot guys, we can space the floor and the offense works. Saunders had some nice drives while playing alongside DDJ and Mason.

Ody and Hensley are out of control on offense and defense. That works out at times, but they need polishing before they play extended minutes IMO.

 

[sedziobs]

I think this is my preferred rotation after three games:

DeJulius 15 / Saunders 25
MAW 20 / DeJulius 10 / Mason 5 / McGinnis 5
Newman 20 / Mason 10 / Davenport 10
Davenport 15 / Lakhin 10 / Ody 10 / Hensley 5
Koval 20 / Lakhin 10 / Ado 10

The nice thing about our depth is we can play very different lineups. We can go very big or very small, all shooters or all defense.

 

[Queens_NYC]

Presuming Lahkin and McGinnis are still out with injuries, here's a breakdown of how I'd like to see the minutes on Thursday.

MAW 18 / Saunders 22
DeJulius 28 / MAW 5 / Mason 7
Newman 25 / Davenport 8 / Mason 7
Davenport 20 / Koval 10 / Hensley 10
Ado 12 / Ody 20 / Koval 8

 

[TheLivingLegend]

Here is to hoping Vik can play and be healthy.

Also. Newman has a role.... But it's not shooting.

Mason has been struggling early. We need him and his shooting.

Ody was great tonight. Dd making shots was nice to see.

 

[waterhead]

I think this is my preferred rotation after three games:

DeJulius 15 / Saunders 25
MAW 20 / DeJulius 10 / Mason 5 / McGinnis 5
Newman 20 / Mason 10 / Davenport 10
Davenport 15 / Lakhin 10 / Ody 10 / Hensley 5
Koval 20 / Lakhin 10 / Ado 10

The nice thing about our depth is we can play very different lineups. We can go very big or very small, all shooters or all defense.

That seems pretty close to me

 

[skyblade]

Rumor on the 247 board is that Ado has a thumb injury, doesn't really excuse his slow feet, but may be why his hands are so bad. He really has not impressed.

I think Mason just needs to learn to stop taking bad threes. He has shown he can make them at a high rate when he has his feet set and an opening to shoot. He has shown a nice ability to drive to the basket and distribute as well (ended up with 4 assists this game). He seems to let the crowd and his own emotions bait him into taking bad threes, especially after a big play on defense.

I agree with Sedz on Ody/Hensley. They both play out of control at times, Hensley more so on offense and Ody more so on defense. Hensley looks like the game hasn't slowed down for him yet (and like he will be a very good player once it does). Ody seems like he tries to do too much and get by on his mobility and athleticism, rather than playing within the system and using his athleticism to really excel within the system.

 

[waterhead]

Something tells me this is the Dejulius they have been seeing in practice but never really translated to games. So hopefully he can keep it rolling when we hit better competition. If he can hit shots even moderately well it changes our outlook when you also consider adding Lakhin back into the mix.

 

[TheLivingLegend]

Rumor on the 247 board is that Ado has a thumb injury, doesn't really excuse his slow feet, but may be why his hands are so bad. He really has not impressed.

I think Mason just needs to learn to stop taking bad threes. He has shown he can make them at a high rate when he has his feet set and an opening to shoot. He has shown a nice ability to drive to the basket and distribute as well (ended up with 4 assists this game). He seems to let the crowd and his own emotions bait him into taking bad threes, especially after a big play on defense.

I agree with Sedz on Ody/Hensley. They both play out of control at times, Hensley more so on offense and Ody more so on defense. Hensley looks like the game hasn't slowed down for him yet (and like he will be a very good player once it does). Ody seems like he tries to do too much and get by on his mobility and athleticism, rather than playing within the system and using his athleticism to really excel within the system.

Mason can take any three he wants. He is the only guy on the team with that green light.

 

[waterhead]

I can see the talent there with Hensley and why he has probably had some impressive moments in practice. But I'm not sure the consistency will be there to keep him in very long. He can make a big play or a mistake and that is not really a good recipe. McGinnis has a very nice 3 ball but something is holding him back as the last guy on the floor. Defense or turnovers probably. Either way they both are young and have time to clean that up this year. Ody has some things to clean up as well but probably not as many.

Overall I am more impressed than I thought I would be as a team.

 

[skyblade]

I can see the talent there with Hensley and why he has probably had some impressive moments in practice. But I'm not sure the consistency will be there to keep him in very long. He can make a big play or a mistake and that is not really a good recipe. McGinnis has a very nice 3 ball but something is holding him back as the last guy on the floor. Defense or turnovers probably. Either way they both are young and have time to clean that up this year. Ody has some things to clean up as well but probably not as many.

Overall I am more impressed than I thought I would be as a team.

Ody has a lot to clean up, he almost never boxes out, doesn't communicate well on screens and gets out of position on defense. There's was a point in the game where MAW got hit on a screen and went over to Ody and told him he's got to call those out. He uses his athleticism to overcome a lot of his mistakes, but if he just stops making the mistakes he will be a lot better (and he's already pretty good). The main thing he does well on defense is on ball defense.

On offense he looks more polished though, has a nice ability to finish close to the rim and uses his athleticism to grab rebounds. He also is excellent at anticipating where the ball is going and getting there for rebounds.

 

[Queens_NYC]

I can see the talent there with Hensley and why he has probably had some impressive moments in practice. But I'm not sure the consistency will be there to keep him in very long. He can make a big play or a mistake and that is not really a good recipe. McGinnis has a very nice 3 ball but something is holding him back as the last guy on the floor. Defense or turnovers probably. Either way they both are young and have time to clean that up this year. Ody has some things to clean up as well but probably not as many.

Overall I am more impressed than I thought I would be as a team.

Hensley looks pretty uncomfortable when we run our regular half-court offense. We caught a quick glimpse of how dangerous he can be in transition and he appears to have the nicest free throw stroke on the team. I'd consider him the most intriguing "project" we've had in some time.

I hope that a lot of Ody's current issues can be corrected with good coaching. His raw ability, motor, and athleticism really separate him from our other front court players. If he can figure it our soon we'll be a much more competitive team.