Mid (sort of ) Season Report Card

[Bradleyguy10]

so since Osiris was everyone's preseason Player of the Year, and since he really hasn't lived up to the hype, and even his own fans have blasted him as selfish and are looking forward to him being gone next year, and in their own thread NONE have him as POY, then I guess he'd get a D or D- ?

I disagree with you.


Give him an F MINUS!

[real fan]

We are 3 blown games at home from being 13-6 and 6-3 in the valley which would be good for a tie for 2nd place, I think all of us would be happier if that was the case and more then likely would have given this team a B+ or A- had this happened;
I never have been big on grades only because they are to subjective, DSE has done everything you could ask for and yet his stats don"t show it plus Chris Roberts usually guards the toughest man on defense and that stat will never show up, think how much his offense suffers from using up so much of his energy chasing the opposing players best shooter all over the court and thru multiple screens, their is no stat for that;
Andrew Warren may not be the most vocal player but he does a good overall job of scoring, rebounding and playing defense .
Sam M. has taken his game to another level and is the true leader and point guard that this team needs.
Will Egolf is now playing like a man in the paint.
Taylor Brown is an awesome talent that needs to figure out a way to stay on the floor for 30 minutes as he is his worse enemy.

[thefish7]

For me:

Starters (B-):
1. Maniscalco - C+*, The season taken on the whole is a bit disappointing, but I put that "*" in there because I firmly believe SM was very slowed by the ankle/foot injury. Last 4 games from SM have been more like an A-.

2. Warren - B+, He's been a little inconsistent, but he's playing very well considering he's coming off injury. In the running for All-MVC/POY type honors depending on how he closes the season out. Defensively, he's a bit of a mixed bag, with some mistakes but also a propensity to steal the ball and disrupt offense with his length. His rebounding has been very strong and is a pleasant surprise.

3. Roberts - B, Great defense on most nights and against our toughest matchup, usually. I think his offense has suffered a bit, or at the least not improved in his transition from Junior to Senior. I think this may be because of his focus on defense, but whatever the cause he's just a competent offensive player for the most part, this season.

4. Brown - C, Brown's getting graded down for missing so many games and for some inconsistency. Offensively, if he can keep out of trouble, he may be one of the better players to come through the Hilltop. The jump he's made from Freshman to Sophomore has been incredible. He's a very good rebounder and a great scorer... His on the ball defense seems like it could use some work at times, but he shows flashes of great disruptiveness also. I think Taylor could turn himself into a consistent A performer, before this season is over, particularly with the recent play of our center.

5. Egolf - B, Will's really stepping it up and delivering numbers and efforts night in and night out. He's the best post presence we've had since at least Zach Andrews. I agree with the assessment that says he'd be better suited to the 4 than he is to the 5 but as he's currently playing he's one of the top centers in the MVC, in my opinion. A little like SM above, Egolf's recent games have been in the A range.

Bench (F):
1. Simms-Edwards - A, DSE has arrived. He makes some mistakes as you'd expect from a freshman, but he's already backing up Roberts as Bradley's 2nd on-ball defender-- drawing assignments like Freeman in the SIU game. His driving ability is a reminiscent of Daniel Ruffin, and being a little bigger and most probably stronger, DSE finishes better at the rim than Ruffin did. He also passes better than anyone I remember of late, with, again like Ruffin, the occasional creative pass that the receiver can't believe just came to him. He's also tough as anyone could ask and completely fearless. He needs to work on his outside shooting and free throw shooting and may challenge for All-MVC honors before we knew it. I'd have to check other freshmen in our league, but he may be in the running for an all-MVC freshman already.

2. McCain - D, Eddren's sophomore season has been a disappointment for me. He'd played so well in the second half of his freshman season that I thought it would surely continue this year. His defense is still very good, but his offense has really suffered. Perhaps it was the pressure of having a player like DSE show up... But whatever it was, Edge looked like he was pressing in the beginning of the season and that his confidence left him soon after. He had been playing better lately before a hand injury has him inactive at game time. I'm going to say EM has accepted his revised role for this season, and will continue to play better after his hand heals-- and then I'm going to hope he is back on track for his junior season, building on that solid foundation he'd put together last season.

3. Singh - D-, Sam Singh has really regressed. I'm not sure of the cause, and it's really a shame because I've always liked Sam. It could be the injuries have finally robbed him of the physical edge he needs for D1 ball, or that he's having trouble focusing in his last campaign, but last year SS had established that he was a post player good for 10-15 minutes of reasonable post play. This season, unfortunately, it seems he's exposed within a couple of minutes of stepping on the floor in most games. I keep hoping to see ithe ship come around, but it hasn't yet, and at this point, I don't think it will. Regardless of the how the rest of the season goes, I am looking forward to Sam stepping into the booth for our radio/TV broadcasts.

4. Eastman - C+, Expected to redshirt, Jake had to come in when DSE had his injury. I'm convinced Jake will be a good player for us during his career. He's tough and has the innate coach's son basketball IQ that makes him look a step ahead at times. Haven't seen much of the outside shooting we apparently recruited him for. It's a bit unfortunate that that redshirt didn't work out, because I think Jake isn't quite ready for the role he's been asked to play... But it'll make him better for next season, and as it sometimes comes to pass, maybe before this season is done.

5. Thompson - F, Thompson is clearly talented and physically gifted. I think he's better than Singh when he sees the floor in all phases of the game except low post defense. Because I think he's the better player, his not seeing minutes means that he's not giving the necessary effort in practice which is disappointing. This team could really really use another post player.

6. Knezevic - C, Contributing fine for a freshman. He is a good offensive player, but does get exposed on defense. I suspect he's not showing the progression or effort the coaches would like to see as his minutes have really fallen off.

Summary:
Overall, the team is about a C performer. The problem, as far as I'm concerned, is the bench. We just aren't deep enough-- the injury to Dodie has definitely been a big deal for us. We're especially thin in the post, so the decline in Singh's game and the failure of Thompson to emerge are hurting us badly. Overall, the two freshman guards are playing very well, but a 7-man rotation with no reserve post players isn't going to handle the bill.

[romar]

I believe grades should be based on the same criteria for everyone. That's the only fair way, IMO.
If we grade based on expectations, the better players will never be able to get As and Bs, because even if they play extremely well, they are "just meeting expectations".
If we graded academically this way, the smart people could get 100% on tests and would still get a C because that's what their teachers expected them to do.

DC - I have kids in school now & pretty much the grades are becoming more & more based on their potential and where their standard testing scores place them. But, I guess the best way I can put it is I graded them based on the production I know each is capable of with good effort, it's only fair because I thought his Jr & Sr years JJ would have graded out with A to A- but he didn't bring the statistics that would have given HH all A's. See what I'm saying?