Winona St Wins At Drake

[DUBulldog]

WSUfan....were you at the game last night? If so, how do you think WSU played? Was that a good game for them? bad? average?

I thought Drake had two players play well (Josh Young and Nick Grant), a couple played ok, and the rest poor. Overall, I was somewhat disappointed with Drake's play, but it's hard to judge a team when they're missing their starting point guard. A couple of guys who got significant minutes for DU last night will not got any playing time once Al Stewart returns.

Officiating was horrible. Both teams' fans were left shaking their heads on multiple occasions.

[squeaky]

I was surprised to see Josh Young had 21 points and 6 assists. He is from a small high school, and most of his games were against a very low level of competetion. I can't believe he is ready to put up numbers like that in his freshman season, but if he is, he should play ahead of Stewart.

What was the reason Heemskerk only played just 2 minutes? Is he hurt?

Leonard Houston only played 11 minutes and Chris Bryant 15 min. Is this from injuries or are they in Coach TD's doghouse?

The other surprise was that Coach Davis played Aliou Keita and A.J. Calvin at the same time for much of the time. He started out last season doing that, but stopped as the season progressed. They seem like too similar players, and not very good shooters to play a lot together. I expect we won't see as much of that as the season progresses.

Also, only 10 players saw action. Coach Davis is known for playing a lot of players. Last year he played 12 or more every game.

[Bravesguy]

Klayton Korver made his return from major knee surgery.
In one respect , he had a pretty good game with 30 minutes and 11 rebounds.

On the other hand, he took 15 shots, made only 3 and was 2-9 from 3-pt. As a team, DU was 25% from beyond the arc.
No way Drake can win in the Valley with this kind of outside shooting.

Also, there were 76 missed shots (Drake missed 43 of 69)
and a lot of rebounds (90) to grab, so the rebound numbers reflect that.

[Da Coach]

This is too bad, because now if BU can win Wednesday, there will be spin from the usual sources saying that the game was meaningless because Winona was playing back to back.
Mark my word on this one.

It has already started to happen.

[tornado]

Ha, ha, ha...I saw that...........
Now the next thing to look for is after the game, if BU wins, the same people will say that the win is irrelevant and that BU would win because of the fatigue, back-to-back issue.

[it's boogie time]

I honestly don't care if we win or lose tonight. I'm concerned about seeing how the new guys can play together. I'm happy it is a tough opponent. If there is a flaw, they will exploit it and BU can work on it. It's all about preparing for DePaul.

You gotta think that John Smith is coming to Peoria with something to prove.

[BradleyBrave]

I honestly don't care if we win or lose tonight. I'm concerned about seeing how the new guys can play together. I'm happy it is a tough opponent. If there is a flaw, they will exploit it and BU can work on it. It's all about preparing for DePaul.

You gotta think that John Smith is coming to Peoria with something to prove.

Honestly, there aren't that many truly 'new' faces to worry about. 4 of the 5 starters were here last year and played together quite a bit. How Salley fits in and contributes will be important, and Jassey to a lesser extent. But other than Warren's spot minutes off the bench, everyone was there last year in some capacity.

What interests me the most is seeing the transition from a frontcourt-oriented offense to a 3 to 4 guard backcourt-oriented offense. But to somewhat tie in with what boogie was saying, I am also interested to see the continued progressions of guys like JC and SJ.

[it's boogie time]

I'll agree there aren't too many new faces, but two guys like Zach Andrews and Will Franklin rarely saw the floor at the same time last year. Zach got the majority of his time in the non-conference part of the schedule and Will it the final 1/3 of the season. They are going to be spending a lot of time on the court together this year.

It'll definately be a different type of tempo on the court this year. Hopefully they can pull it together.

[BradleyBrave]

I'll agree there aren't too many new faces, but two guys like Zach Andrews and Will Franklin rarely saw the floor at the same time last year. Zach got the majority of his time in the non-conference part of the schedule and Will it the final 1/3 of the season. They are going to be spending a lot of time on the court together this year.

It'll definately be a different type of tempo on the court this year. Hopefully they can pull it together.

Agreed. From what I hear the group seems to be meshing better than perhaps even the coaches thought at this point. I certainly noticed that on Friday. Lets hope it continues.

[DUBulldog]

I was surprised to see Josh Young had 21 points and 6 assists. He is from a small high school, and most of his games were against a very low level of competetion. I can't believe he is ready to put up numbers like that in his freshman season, but if he is, he should play ahead of Stewart.

Drake needs to have both Stewart and Young in the game as much as possible. I don't think it is Stewart's playing time that Young will take. More likely Chris Bryant's.

What was the reason Heemskerk only played just 2 minutes? Is he hurt?

He is not hurt. For whatever reason, I don't think Heemskerk has progressed as much as the staff had hoped. He's not physical enough to be a force in the paint, and not quick enough for the perimeter.

Leonard Houston only played 11 minutes and Chris Bryant 15 min. Is this from injuries or are they in Coach TD's doghouse?

Actually, 11 minutes is probably more than Houston has averaged in the past. Bryant's game has not progressed at all from his freshman season. He's weak on defense and ballhandling, and his shot has actually gotten worse. It's mostly a confidence thing with him (as far as his shooting)....and right now, I don't think he has much.

I wouldn't say in the doghouse, I just think that Stewart, Young and Grant are going to get almost all the minutes at the '1' and '2', and Houston and Bryant will fight it out to get minutes at the '3' (behind Korver)

The other surprise was that Coach Davis played Aliou Keita and A.J. Calvin at the same time for much of the time. He started out last season doing that, but stopped as the season progressed. They seem like too similar players, and not very good shooters to play a lot together. I expect we won't see as much of that as the season progresses.

Calvin is a very good mid-range shooter, and is a slasher. Keita is strictly a low-post player. Unless somebody else steps up, those 2 will both get a lot of playing time. I expect Keita, Calvin and Cox to get the vast majority of the minutes at the '4' and '5' spots.

Also, only 10 players saw action. Coach Davis is known for playing a lot of players. Last year he played 12 or more every game.

I think you're going to see Dr Tom go with a smaller rotation of players this season. He substituted quite a bit in the first half, not nearly as much in the second. Also, you have to remember that 2 of the guys who would have normally gotten minutes didn't play for Drake. Of course, it's possible that if they had played, then a couple of the other guys wouldn't have gotten any minutes.

[tornado]

Using 10 - 12 different players in a rotation is fine if you have the recruiting power of a Big East team or Iowa U., because you are going to get kids who are all staters, etc.

At Drake, the talent thins out by your 10-12th player and that style isn't as effective.

Is it any wonder that Dr. Tom's winning pct. at Drake is nowhere close to his career winning pct. at the BCS schools?

[DUBulldog]

Using 10 - 12 different players in a rotation is fine if you have the recruiting power of a Big East team or Iowa U., because you are going to get kids who are all staters, etc.

At Drake, the talent thins out by your 10-12th player and that style isn't as effective.

Is it any wonder that Dr. Tom's winning pct. at Drake is nowhere close to his career winning pct. at the BCS schools?

In the past, Dr Tom could use a 10-12 man rotation to wear down other teams. Now, with so many media time-outs + regular time-outs, other teams have plenty of chance to rest their players without going deep into the bench. I think it would be counterproductive for Davis to continue going that deep on his bench.

I see these 8 guys being the 'regulars' for Davis this season: Keita, Calvin, Cox, Korver, Houston, Grant, Young, Stewart. Bryant maybe, when they need another zone buster. However, with Korver and Young, Bryant won't be the 'designated shooter' anymore.