Back from the Red - White Scrimmage

[tornado]

Don't know where to start........
HUGE crowd....I am guessing over 4000, maybe pushing 4500 since folks milled about the lobby all night.

Zach Andrews and JJ Tauai were there.

The special surprise was that Jim Les was dressed as "Soulja Brave"
and danced with the cheerleaders before introducing the players.

The womens game preceded the mens, and I'll let Mike Radigan describe the womens' game as I didn't see all of it.

The mens game was Red vs. White and it started with Maniscalco, Austin, Egolf, Thornton, Phillips, Crouch, Salley, and Lavin on red....
and Ruffin, Sweatman, Singh, Warren, Wilson, Thompson, Cole-Scott, Collins on white.

Intense defense was played with lots of active hands, so the game was a little sloppy. It appears that they do play intense.

The guys scoring the best were Ruffin, Salley, Crouch, with Cole-Scott looking to score a lot as well, but his shots went in and out a lot.

This team...what can I say...is so athletic, that the BIG GUYS like Singh & Collins will have a hard time keeping up.
Ruff, Sammy M. and Ty Cole-Scott are absolute blurs.
I don't think we can expect too much scoring from the big guys except Salley and Austin looked to score. With our size we will rebound as well as any team in the Valley.
Egolf's shot was shaky but we know he can shoot better....probably just jitters.
Also, trying to blend in the walk-ons probably hurt the continuity of the game.

There is no doubt that 10 or 11 guys (Ruffin, Warren, Crouch, Salley, Singh, Austin, Collins, Wilson, Cole-Scott, Egolf, Maniscalco) will battle for spots in a 9-10 man rotation.
Maybe Thompson is a year away, and even Egolf and Collins might take a while to feel comfortable playing at this pace.
Maniscalco can play at this level now and can match the effort and ability of most starting D-I PGs at the mid-major level or possibly higher. He will be a fan favorite.
They are going to be fun to follow.

[brocks]

Don't know where to start........
HUGE crowd....I am guessing over 4000, maybe pushing 4500 since folks milled about the lobby all night.

Zach Andrews and JJ Tauai were there.

The special surprise was that Jim Les was dressed as "Soulja Brave"
and danced with the cheerleaders before introducing the players.

The womens game preceded the mens, and I'll let Mike Radigan describe the womens' game as I didn't see all of it.

The mens game was Red vs. White and it started with Maniscalco, Austin, Egolf, Thornton, Phillips, Crouch, Salley, and Lavin on red....
and Ruffin, Sweatman, Singh, Warren, Wilson, Thompson, Cole-Scott, Collins on white.

Intense defense was played with lots of active hands, so the game was a little sloppy. It appears that they do play intense.

The guys scoring the best were Ruffin, Salley, Crouch, with Cole-Scott looking to score a lot as well, but his shots went in and out a lot.

This team...what can I say...is so athletic, that the BIG GUYS like Singh & Collins will have a hard time keeping up.
Ruff, Sammy M. and Ty Cole-Scott are absolute blurs.
I don't think we can expect too much scoring from the big guys except Salley and Austin looked to score. With our size we will rebound as well as any team in the Valley.
Egolf's shot was shaky but we know he can shoot better....probably just jitters.
Also, trying to blend in the walk-ons probably hurt the continuity of the game.

There is no doubt that 10 or 11 guys (Ruffin, Warren, Crouch, Salley, Singh, Austin, Collins, Wilson, Cole-Scott, Egolf, Maniscalco) will battle for spots in a 9-10 man rotation.
Maybe Thompson is a year away, and even Egolf and Collins might take a while to feel comfortable playing at this pace.
Maniscalco can play at this level now and can match the effort and ability of most starting D-I PGs at the mid-major level or possibly higher. He will be a fan favorite.
They are going to be fun to follow.

T . . . Jitters and whatnot aside, did you come away with any impressions about JL's assertion that this is his most talented team at BU?

[dogsrus]

They are changing the name from the Red and WHite to the Danny Ruffin show. Other than that...ouch. I dunno. I wasn't too impressed but I will give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it was good D.

Sam M. looked good. Salley looked good at times. We ARE quick and tall but I didn't see alot of offensive skill. We don't look to feed Collins like we did POB.

Not alot of good outside shooting.

Lots of work to do......

[MacabreMob]

Lots of work to do......

Yea, I know... I just hope we are .500.

[ryeguy212]

DRuff dominated! He looked unbeleivable. I like how Les said he underestimated when he said he was the best pg in the valley, now he's the best pg in the country...

[dogsrus]

Yea, I know... I just hope we are .500.

We are .500. Red 1-0 White 0-1.....

[georgethedog]

As always, the JUCO guys have a long way to go... and a short time to get there.

[mike radigan]

The special surprise was that Jim Les was dressed as "Soulja Brave" and danced with the cheerleaders before introducing the players.

[brocks]

Yikes. Sounds like the hype was wrong.

[AE Braves Fan]

I really hope the guys were just nervous.

Ruffin, Crouch, Salley and Warren are 4 starters IMO from tonight's play.

Ruffin had his way with Sam M all night - but Ruffin tends to do that against whoever is guarding him.

[mike radigan]

More photos.

I'm not sure why the Soulja photo will not display unless you click on it. It happens with Photobucket at times.

As far as the women go there are a lot of new faces. BU picked up a lot of speed. I think some playing time for vets will diminish. They could be exciting. Good to see Skye Johnson back after a year off with knee problems. Devyn Flanagan will miss a few weeks with tendenitous (sp?). Also Monica Rogers and two others did not dress with injuries.

[Da Coach]

Here is why I think the guys didn't play so well tonight. They ate chicken and spaghetti with the fans at around 5:30-6:00, then signed autographs for a while a left for the game. While the women played, the men just milled around the fieldhouse, or sat back in the locker room. They had nowhere to warm up, so when they were introduced after the women finished, they ran a layup drill for about 5 minutes then started the scrimmage. They were not fully warmed up and hadn't taken any warmup shots at all other than layups.


It's obvious this team has athleticism and size beyond any previous team. But even Jeremy Crouch wasn't hitting his shots tonight, and we know he will.
As tornado said, the guys all played intense, in-your-face defense, and the refs called a lot of touch fouls. There were numerous, rapid substitutions, so there was never a chance for any group to play together for more than a possession or two.


I will have a lot of video clips loaded later tonight.

However, I will not be posting links publically.

If anyone wants to see the video clips of the game, and the slam dunk contest (won by Theron Wilson in convincing manner), send me a PM.

[dogsrus]

Yikes. Sounds like the hype was wrong.

It really is hard to get a feel for anything at these games. I wouldn't be too worried but I also would say we got a dose of reality tonite.

Our post play didn't appear to make up for what will probably be an average 3 point shooting team.

I have concerns. Randall Falker will have his way with anyone we have right now. OK he should as a Senior but I mean I hope we can stop him at least a little bit. Right now I don't think we can.

Hate to say it but I'm worried. Only good thing is I have a terrible track record for this kind of stuff.

[dogsrus]

[QUOTE=Da Coach;45339]

It's obvious this team has athleticism and size beyond any previous team. But even Jeremy Crouch wasn't hitting his shots tonight, and we know he will.
As tornado said, the guys all played intense, in-your-face defense, and the refs called a lot of touch fouls. There were numerous, rapid substitutions, so there was never a chance for any group to play together for more than a possession or two.


Good point....these are not typical game situations. Lots of subbing and now flow.

[brocks]

I really hope the guys were just nervous.

Ruffin, Crouch, Salley and Warren are 4 starters IMO from tonight's play.

Ruffin had his way with Sam M all night - but Ruffin tends to do that against whoever is guarding him.

What the heck is going on? Is this serious? Our new guys can't make a dunk during a dunk contest? Can anyone else confirm this?