Drake

[waterhead]

McNeal has not made his 3's since the exhibition game but he does a lot on the floor on both ends. He has led in steals both games. He has rebounded well for his size. He made 4 of 5 two point shots tonight. He defends well. He had 4 assists tonight with 0 turnovers. Perhaps the play of the night with the Flash Gordon layup. This kid was an extremely good pickup and I can't even remember the PG's on the transfer board at the time!!

Often times you expect a bit of a delay for a transfer. He's ahead of the game and I think Jaevin is as well. Both are tough as nails gamers IMO.

 

[waterhead]

I know a lot of fans are happy with the 5's so far. I am definitely content with how they have played. I still worry a lot. I don't think there has been a lot of focus on them so far and that may continue but if there is focus it's going to get worse. In particular with Vogt and his back down dribble...that is going to get picked very soon and often from the back side. It's awkward but so far has worked.

Remember Ellis? Well he was much better than either of these two but he got picked a lot and turned it over. I think they have done a very good job and they are ahead of where I thought they might be...but I don't think this will be an all year thing. Sooner or later we will learn their limitations. I will still be content if they can keep doing something similar to what they have so far...if they do it all year long.

 

[waterhead]

This game could have been a 30-40 point blowout if we played as hard as we could with the "starters" in the game (I include Jaevin as a starter).

The line was 10-12. I think this was a success all the way around! If we can strangle these teams in the 100-200 range we will be looking good in metrics very soon.

 

[KennyFreaselefteye]

The fact that people support Mick is a joke . I watched better basketball tonight than the entire Cronin tenure. Our defense was stifling, and we actually ran some offensive sets. Vogt is 20 times better than Nsoseme.

Mick recruited Diarra, and my god he’s going to have to find a different school. I watched him for 10 minutes straight, just him. He doesn’t rebound. He’s not aggressive on defense. He’s soft. Literally as useless as Quadri Moore. And he will not figure it out. Some people just don’t have the brain for the game. Seems like a great kid and obviously I want him to succeed. But damn, it’s no wonder Mick was looking to bolt. He recruited the likes of Hardnett, Diarra, Nsoseme and Fredericks to be the future. And that Curtis kid who can’t see the floor at Nebraska. John Brannen is a damn good breath of fresh air. Mick Cronin can enjoy the LA sun with his SPF 300. This team is very nice, and this Coach was the answer.

Disclaimer: Mick was a very good coach with what he had. The fact that he took a team with Farad Cobb and Kevin Johnson in the starting lineup to the round of 32 proves that. But he was taking us nowhere. Brannen is that guy.

 

[waterhead]

The fact that people support Mick is a joke . I watched better basketball tonight than the entire Cronin tenure. Our defense was stifling, and we actually ran some offensive sets. Vogt is 20 times better than Nsoseme.

Mick recruited Diarra, and my god he’s going to have to find a different school. I watched him for 10 minutes straight, just him. He doesn’t rebound. He’s not aggressive on defense. He’s soft. Literally as useless as Quadri Moore. And he will not figure it out. Some people just don’t have the brain for the game. Seems like a great kid and obviously I want him to succeed. But damn, it’s no wonder Mick was looking to bolt. He recruited the likes of Hardnett, Diarra, Nsoseme and Fredericks to be the future. And that Curtis kid who can’t see the floor at Nebraska. John Brannen is a damn good breath of fresh air. Mick Cronin can enjoy the LA sun with his SPF 300. This team is very nice, and this Coach was the answer.

Disclaimer: Mick was a very good coach with what he had. The fact that he took a team with Farad Cobb and Kevin Johnson in the starting lineup to the round of 32 proves that. But he was taking us nowhere. Brannen is that guy.

A couple of things. I think Curtis will get some good time at Nebraska and be good for them. You can't just do that in game 1 or 2 usually. And it terms of Diara getting aggressive on D...I don't know anyone more aggressive. He challenges EVERY shot! He may get out of position but he is aggressive in his approach. He may be TOO aggressive!!

 

[Queens_NYC]

If his best position is a 4 than he is in big trouble. He would have gotten dominated as a 4 against either OSU or Drake. I know he was forced to play the 4 at times (albeit a very, very small sample) but I'm surprised people have ran with this idea that he'd be any bit effective there.

Against a frontcourt of Kaleb Wesson and Kyle Young, throwing Moore on either of them would be far less than ideal, but based on how much a healthy Diarra played in his place (3 minutes), Brannen didn't have much confidence in him either.

As for last night, you're absolutely wrong to say Moore would've gotten physically dominated by Drake's "4" man. They literally played 4 true guards the entire game. Their starting "4" was a 6'5 wing who grabbed 3 rebounds in 24 minutes, and aside from the guy spelled their center, they didn't bring anyone off the bench over 6'3 (or who had any semblance of a post game).

A healthy and confident Moore could've had a positive impact on last night's game and I hope we see some positive strides made against a very bad Alabama A&M team.

Going forward, regardless of whether Moore plays the 3 or the 4, I trust our team's +/- better with Moore on the court over Diarra. Less foul prone, less turnover prone, can space the floor better, and won't leave his man for open rebounds to contest every shot that goes up within 5 feet of him.

 

[skyblade]

The fact that people support Mick is a joke . I watched better basketball tonight than the entire Cronin tenure. Our defense was stifling, and we actually ran some offensive sets. Vogt is 20 times better than Nsoseme.

Mick recruited Diarra, and my god he’s going to have to find a different school. I watched him for 10 minutes straight, just him. He doesn’t rebound. He’s not aggressive on defense. He’s soft. Literally as useless as Quadri Moore. And he will not figure it out. Some people just don’t have the brain for the game. Seems like a great kid and obviously I want him to succeed. But damn, it’s no wonder Mick was looking to bolt. He recruited the likes of Hardnett, Diarra, Nsoseme and Fredericks to be the future. And that Curtis kid who can’t see the floor at Nebraska. John Brannen is a damn good breath of fresh air. Mick Cronin can enjoy the LA sun with his SPF 300. This team is very nice, and this Coach was the answer.

Disclaimer: Mick was a very good coach with what he had. The fact that he took a team with Farad Cobb and Kevin Johnson in the starting lineup to the round of 32 proves that. But he was taking us nowhere. Brannen is that guy.

I don't know what you were watching, are you sure you weren't watching Sorolla? Diarra is consistently aggressive and fighting for the rebound. His issue is with understanding the game, he boxes out the wrong man and goes for the block when he should go for the rebound. It's not that he doesn't have the brain, it's that he started playing basketball later than most guys.

I'm still in wait and see mode. I didn't think our half-court offense looked that good. The main part that looked good was because of Drake defensive breakdowns (doubling off the Cumberland's and going under screens on the Cumberland's) and our defense forcing TO's. Blowing out bad teamstends to make teams look good, even Cronin's teams generally scored in the 70s-80s against bad teams.

McNeal looks good, but seems like a poor 3-point shooter if not wide open. Sorolla and Vogt continue to look like liabilities once we start facing good teams. Jaevin looks like the real deal, but could be negated by having a defender stay in his face. Scott needs to show up more on offense (though he has an impact through rebounding).

Some of the freshman looked good (MAW especially), but we will see once competition level increases. Brannen didn't trust any of them vs OSU.

 

[cincyguy13]

We just played a good team and our centers were fine. Not saying they are great or even good but they were fine against a good team not even a week ago. I’m not putting too much stock in the drake game but I think they could show strides and gain confidence the next couple weeks.

 

[TheLongHaul]

you crack me up Skyeblade. You literally cannot say one good thing about this team without hedging it. Javein "could be negated by having a hand in his face"...okay, so like any shooter? good call. Javein ran around a screen, caught and launched a 3 with a defender right on him and it was nothing but net. By far the best shooter we have had since Huggins years, yet he "could" be negated by a hand in his face. lol.

 

[waterhead]

you crack me up Skyeblade. You literally cannot say one good thing about this team without hedging it. Javein "could be negated by having a hand in his face"...okay, so like any shooter? good call. Javein ran around a screen, caught and launched a 3 with a defender right on him and it was nothing but net. By far the best shooter we have had since Huggins years, yet he "could" be negated by a hand in his face. lol.

He doesn't need much space to get a shot off. He makes very quick decisions and never hesitates. And he can launch long bombs. He creates his shots seemingly very easy as well. Good luck guarding that. So pretty!!

If he heats up Jarron is going to appreciate that because it will take some focus off of him. Jaevin may not even have to heat up to get attention.

He needs to be on the floor a LOT because you cannot ignore him. He is a much more dangerous weapon than Keith is.

 

[waterhead]

If I am starting 5 players right now it's Jarron, Jaevin, Chris, and Trevon. Then either Vogt or Williams depending on the matchup. Keith has done pretty well so far but he gets a bit lazy at times and Jaevin seems to have a much higher BB IQ. He's obviously a shot maker but he's not too shabby creating other baskets than the 3 ball. Contrast his dangerous shooting with a decent ability to play basketball off the dribble and one can see why he is miles ahead of guys like Kevin Johnson or Trevor Moore who haven't shown deep ball accuracy or the ability to put the ball on the floor to make a play.

 

[waterhead]

For those of us thinking we haven't hit the 100 mark yet in points need to factor in that Kenpom has us as 34 in adjusted offense right now. Not to mention 25 in adjusted D.

It's early I know but we have faced a VERY good OSU team and a pretty good Drake team. We ranked 49th in adjusted offense (on Kenpom) when we had our 2 seed with 3 NBA caliber players (not to mention Kyle Washington and Jenifer who was quite efficient).

Only 40% of offense installed so far and Brannen is still not pleased overall with our pace. Defense is clicking. When we put the 2nd team in we gave up point spread. The starters can play some D it seems.

 

[Loser Mentality]

Decent game yesterday. Drake was obviously over matched.

Last Game I was hard on Jarron, and last night you could see a small light bulb coming on for him in regard to this new offense. Every pass he catches on offense has him in position to make a play for team or self, he's just got to take the opportunity to be great against all competition and think less. He could avg. 20+ pts easy in this offense. Has to continue to buy in.

I need at least 8 more games from all newcomers, Moore, Scott, and Diarra before I have a true read on what these guys are going to give us.

Scott's numbers in points will continue to dwindle, you can tell he's not use to movement, and we don't incorporate him in the offense like the bigs, which means, he's got to be aggressive on drives to the basket, because he has no moves lol.

 

[waterhead]

Interesting that MAW did not play against OSU and Davenport did. Last night MAW played 14 minutes and Davenport 9. Mika was 2nd on team in defensive rebounds with 5 rebounds in 14 minutes. 3 assists, 1 steal and 0 turnovers.

He has looked very good (for a frosh) in the only 2 competitions he's played in regular season and exhibition.

 

[cincrulz11]

The big thing that really stuck out to me last night was how much better our defense was vs the style that Drake plays. That style typically gave us headaches and would lead to many wide open 3's. Last night drake only got a couple good looks and we shut down the 3 point shooting of a team that can light it up.


The few times we did give up an open one it looked like the defender got caught ball watching and sunk in more than they should have.

 

[cincrulz11]

Scott's numbers in points will continue to dwindle, you can tell he's not use to movement, and we don't incorporate him in the offense like the bigs, which means, he's got to be aggressive on drives to the basket, because he has no moves lol.

this is the 2nd game in a row Scott looked bad on defense. It appears he just might not be a good man defender. Young ate him alive and whichever guy he was guarding last night took him to the rim a few times. I didn't expect any of their guys to be able to take him like that.


He's grabbed a lot of boards, but he can't get beat like that every game, its gonna be trouble.

 

[waterhead]

this is the 2nd game in a row Scott looked bad on defense. It appears he just might not be a good man defender. Young ate him alive and whichever guy he was guarding last night took him to the rim a few times. I didn't expect any of their guys to be able to take him like that.


He's grabbed a lot of boards, but he can't get beat like that every game, its gonna be trouble.

I think Scott will be fine on D. Young made some tough buckets and the rest were on hustle plays and put backs. Last night Tre had to guard some speed and he won't have to do that a lot this year when we get to a more traditional lineup.

I am more worried about his offense in this system. He is perfect for the top of the key passing that Vogt and Sorolla are getting right now. He would be great in pick and roll. But he has to be one of the perimeter guys because Vogt and Sorolla can't shoot. If Diara could play it would alleviate all of that stuff but it doesn't look like that will be the case. Scott will suffer a bit unless we play small ball. He's the guy we need at the top of the key.

 

[cincrulz11]

I think Scott will be fine on D. Young made some tough buckets and the rest were on hustle plays and put backs. Last night Tre had to guard some speed and he won't have to do that a lot this year when we get to a more traditional lineup.

I am more worried about his offense in this system. He is perfect for the top of the key passing that Vogt and Sorolla are getting right now. He would be great in pick and roll. But he has to be one of the perimeter guys because Vogt and Sorolla can't shoot. If Diara could play it would alleviate all of that stuff but it doesn't look like that will be the case. Scott will suffer a bit unless we play small ball. He's the guy we need at the top of the key.

im gonna stand firm on the idea that a 6'4 non athletic guy should never ever be able to take scott to the hole. it happened multiple times last night.

 

[waterhead]

im gonna stand firm on the idea that a 6'4 non athletic guy should never ever be able to take scott to the hole. it happened multiple times last night.

He ended up on the backside of some players going to the hoop for sure. Probably even got away with a foul on a block...he was draped over the guy. Not good...but there are not a lot of guys his height that are as mobile as he is. Maybe his instincts are poor? I don't worry too much about him on D

 

[justinhub2003]

Last night was fun to watch.

And it shows how much functional depth we have.


it shows you how good OSU defended us and rarely made mistakes which is what this offensive depends on.
Drake didn't provide much resistance at all. They didn't gamble. But still to execute your offense in a live game is great for getting better.


But I do think it remains to be seen how this style of offense works against teams like Xavier, Tennessee and even Iowa. We know it works at the mid major level. But how it functions against good defense is still something Im curious about. \

Regardless, it was fun.. we should have an even easier ride on Thursday against Alabama A&M