last year killed off the enthusiasm for almost everybody. we know we are unlikely to have a team that good again in the cronin era, for it to end the way it did makes it hard to get excited again.
not much basketball posting at that other site either.
My guess is the site picks back up when the games start.
I went to the scrimmage last night. A ton to be excited about
Can you give us a update ? What did you see ? Thanks !!!
Some notes from the game:
-Jarron Cumberland was good as always; his team won and he posted a double double ( 25 pts and 11 assists)
-Trevon Scott.. WOW. He literally developed an insanely good mid range game in just one offseason. It felt like he couldn't miss from mid range. He finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
-Cane Broome was electric and wowed the crowd on multiple occasions. His team was down late, in the last 2 minutes he hit 3 3's, including a buzzer beater and was driving to the lane.
-Keith Williams dominated the first half and then slowed down in the 2nd. He's maybe the best athlete and straight line driver on the team. He was great. Finished with 15 points and 8 boards
-Trevor Moore didn't see a lot of touches in the 1st half and i'm pretty sure all of his points came in the 2nd half and they came in a quick flurry of 3 threes and a mid range jumper. One of the best looking jumpers I've ever seen
-Nysier Brooks dominated the offensive glass and came away with 15 boards. He always looks good in practice but it doesn't translate to the games. Here hoping what he did tonight halfway transalates. He added 17 points
-Justin Jenifer wasn't all that impressive. He ran the offense and did his job but nothing to write home about. finished with 13 points
-Logan Johnson--WOW!!! Dude started the game with a steal that lead to him dishing out an assist for a dunk, then followed that up by pinning Justin Jenifers layup against the backboard. He was all over the floor on Defense and is lightning quick and really athletic. He only finished with 11 points, but every one of them was impressive. Motor is off the charts. Going to be the next Bearcat star
-Mamadou Diarra has the length to disrupt the game on defense. And his shot selection and decision making are much better. Overall though, it may not be his year to make an impact. had 11 points
-Rashawn Fredericks had a decent performance, but was on multiple occasions stuffed at the rim by our bigs. But he has a nose for the ball and rebounds well. I think he contributes this year, but its still going to take time to adjust at this level. 8pts and 7 rebounds
-Eliel Nsesome was solid, he played good defense but didn't stick out on the offensive end. Finished with 7 points and 7 rebounds
-Laquill Hardnett is a freshman who looked like a freshman. He traveled because he was so wide open for a shot. Probably should redshirt.
Overall it was really entertaining game that seemed to get better as it went on.
Red team starters : Cane, Logan, keith, Diarra, Brooks
Black Team: Jarron, Jenifer, Moore, Scott, Nsesome
Hardnett was a red team reserve
Fredericks was a black team reserve
Black team won 85-84 (though it was 85-81 before Cane's buzzer beating half court 3 point shot)
Black team shot 10-18 from 3. Red team outscored the black team 50-28 in the paint
Sounds like Moore and Scott are hitting their shots which is going to be a big part of how good this team can be. I think we all know Cane and Jarron won't have issues scoring since they can do it in a variety of ways. Scott and Moore are limited in how they can get their points.
The question is...can they both make these shots in games. Not practices or patsy games. I always thought Scott had a nice mid range shot but he was either afraid to take them or he didn't seem to make them at a high clip when it counted. He needs to take about 4-6 of those per game and make 50%. Moore kind of faded down the stretch last year. I am sure he probably makes over 50% from deep in practice. We need him to make around 40% in games if that is his main weapon.
I think both of these guys will drop these shots this year. I think they will have the full green light (Scott mid range and Moore deep) this year giving them some confidence. Last year they probably had to wonder if they should take shots given we had 4 options we wanted to look to first (Clark, Evans, Cumb, Wash). It probably creates a lot of doubt about when you should be shooting and when you should try to get it to one of the star players. You don't want to be thinking too much when you are shooting it has to be natural. This year we are going to need to find players who are willing to take some of the shots. We can't play hot potato until it gets to Cumberland or Broome.
Mick’s biggest challenge is going to be trying to fit all this talent into 200 minutes.
I have 100% confidence in Trevor making his 3’s. His form is too pretty to not start dropping
As for trevon, he was confident last night. His foot work was great and he just looked like a guy who was going to really help us.
If I had to rank the players in this team in how much they contribute this year, I’d go:
1. Jarron
2. Cane
3. Tre Scott
4. Keith Williams
5. Nysier Brooks
6. Fredericks
7. Jenifer
8. Trevor
9. Eliel Nsoseme
10. Johnson
11. Diarra
12. Hardnett
13. Prince
Damn. That is a hard list to make because I feet 1-11 can have positive impact on this team.
Mick’s biggest challenge is going to be trying to fit all this talent into 200 minutes.
I feel pretty good about the OSU game at this point
Really hope Johnson moves up that list very fast!! I think Nas may still struggle when we go against capable bigs. He didn't show much last year so if he didn't make any major improvements I don't expect a lot this year either.
I do too but I have a feeling with two senior guards it will be tough for Johnson to move up.
I think Brooks will be a situational big. I don't think he will be someone that will play against teams that spread the floor and go small. The good news is, we have plenty of players that can play against that style.
Mick said he is most worried about defense, which makes sense since Gary is no longer here. I think with our length and athleticism we will be fine on D. We may not be #2 D in Kenpom but we will be tough.
I expect jarron’s Defensive numbers to be down compared to last year.
He just can’t be aggressive on that end bc he needs to stay on the floor.
But man, last night I watched Logan work jarron on a one on one iso situation and drove to the hoop and later it in over either eliel or Tre Scott.
Dude is unlike any other bearcat guard we’ve had.
Agreed. And that does not even mention his anticipation of the outlet pass in the first 2 minutes. Or his block of Jenifer against the glass. Or his jump shot being really smooth. He was so impressive. I just want him to play because I think he can grow this season in November and December and then be a guy that can make game winning plays in February and March.