Observations after one practice & a scrimmage

[wizard1]

I attended the open practice and the scrimmage. Here's what I saw.
* We will not finish 10th in the MVC!
* BW is very intense and runs a highly organized practice. He is "hands-on" in teaching and is all over the floor.
* Players are very serious in practice ...no joking & little laughter...They seem very focused!
* Assistants are also very involved in the practice and they also teach.
* We have good team quickness running the court and in the half court.
* Offense built around quick passes and little dribbling. Lots of inside/outside passes and we sometimes seem to force these too much.
* Okafer and Luc Van Bree are going to be great players for BU. Okafer could be all conference by his soph. year. Luc is a true 6'9" runs very well and handles the ball quite well. He is also a good shooter.
* Scottie James is a player. He jumps very well, shoots well, and goes hard inside. Hope he grows into those size 18 feet!
* D Lo can play the point and did well against Okafer. He has a really good court presence.
* Barker can be a force inside even though he is only a freshman. He will get even stronger as time goes by and could become a dominint center in the MVC in a year or two.
* The players appear to be "together" and bonded well.
* We will need to gain confidence in our offenses in the half court.
* We can score in transition using our team speed. We seem to have good defensive quickness.
* While we will probably have a tough year overall, this team will be fun to watch.
Wiz

[tornado]

I will add my observations for anyone who might be interested...


-we are rusty & raw on offense so don't expect putting up 100 pts soon, but we are pleasantly further along on defense...

-we play at fast pace when able so don't expect walk-it-up and Molinari type offense
Lotta turnovers & missed shots - a couple airballed three's - but it's early!

-Ka'Darryl was absent - heard he had a funeral in family - but for any fan who came to see the new players, I am sure Ka'Darryl is the one guy they already knew the best so it allowed the new guys even more minutes

-the blind ref routine by Coach Wardle was a little funny but it didn't last long...
even tho he designated the assistants & Mike Shaw to coach the individual squads - Wardle was into it and shouting instructions from the get-go
Appreciate the Cheerleaders & KaBoom made it!!
(btw - for those who say that they should hire an acrobatic guy to play the KaBoom part and have him do tricks, dunks, trampoline, etc - it's impossible - the costume would not allow it and it costs $4000+)

-the crowd was OK - not huge - maybe 400 or more, with people still arriving after 11am...
If this is going to be a yearly event - Hilltop Hoopin' then it HAS to be moved to the evening but NOT Halloween evening.
If we do it year after year - then in time fans will come, get familiar & like it and we'll have those big crowds again.
Maybe once it's an evening event - do the $1 hot dogs & beverages

-Every single player had some good play and some freshman play...

I will comment on each player then kinda rank them in order of where they are likely to fit in the playing rotation.


Ka'Darryl Bell- had not improved much between freshman and junior but will need to step up and give us some experienced play at both shooting guard & point guard.

Donte Thomas - seems bigger - listed at 6-7, 213 lbs..pleasantly improved offensively - athletic, active, hit a few shots

Antoine Pittman - very athletic - a small SG but shoots OK and can get to the rim

Joel Okafor - the best PG we have decent shooter huge upside

Davante Cooper - a little laid back - developing - but his body - 6-10 with really long arms - will be very valuable once he gets stronger, more experienced

D'Angelo McBride - can give some minutes if needed, certainly didn't embarrass himself.

Luuk van Bree - can play at this level - smart, creates shots might be a hard matchup if on the floor with 2 other big guys like Barker & James

Peter Hanley - kind of a tweener - at 6-6 too small to battle down low but not really a guard. Did hit a few 3's in shootaround.

Ronnie Suggs - seemed like his right knee bothered a bit but shot well except that one airball

DLO - big & strong and gets into the paint. He has a chance to be one of our better scorers

Scottie James - pretty smooth and athletic, kinda reminds me of Roger Phegley (not that skinny) - does a little bit of everything. Smart kid and shot ok except the one airball.

Callum Barker - has the body of and junior of senior and is our best low post player right now. Gotta think he starts.

Alex Foster - does a little bit of everything yet a few bad decisions and inability to finish need to improve.


Here's who I think fit at each position several guys can fit more than one spot..The guy I llist as Starter is just a pure guess- don't hold me to it.

PG- Starter: Okafor, then Bell, DLO
SG- Starter: Donte Thomas, then DLO, Bell, Suggs, Pittman, McBride
SF- Starter: Scottie James, then van Bree, Thomas, Suggs, Hanley
PF- Starter: van Bree, then James (if he gets stronger), Hanley
C-- Starter Barker, then Cooper
Foster when eligible in 2016-17 will be SF/PF



Overall - I loved it - KUDO's.......
this is EXACTLY what I have been wanting to see for 5 years - a MEN's only Red-White without the knockout contest, without the women's scrimmage, without having to go first into the other room and grab spaghetti, JUST the players and a little scrimmage to show the fans what they have.
From the comments I overheard - I think everyone else in attendance also enjoyed the event.
As noted, the ways to improve would be move to evening and stay away from Halloween, maybe add the $1 concessions maybe combine the event (like it always was) with the FIRST DAY of ticket pickup so fans have double the reason to show up and stay for the Red-White....
..then keep doing it for a few years without wholesale changes and cow-towing to the PC crowd and it has the potential to draw like the old Red-Whites used to (3,000 to 4,000).

[bigjimmy]

I think being able to pick up your season tickets and watching the scrimmage at the same time was a really good idea. It's a great way to build up the excitement for the upcoming season. As we get better, and we will get better, I think we can continue to build on something like this. As for the scrimmage I thought Okafor was the most impressive player on the floor. Very physical and can handle the rock. Should be a 4 year starter. Looks like guys have the green light to shoot and we'll be pressuring the guy bringing the ball up the court. I don't think we have anyone on the team who won't be able to contribute when they are in the game. Too early to tell if we have anyone who will be all MVC but looking forward to seeing how it all unfolds.