The Official “Regular Posters of the Basketball Forum” Thread

[Col_Cathcart]

Shot 49.2% FG & 41.2% 3PT but only 60% FT

I think we all agree the biggest problem last night was just being careless with the ball. 19 turnovers is way too many.

Somehow they had 20 fouls called on them to our 18 called on us, but we shot just 15 FTs to their 21...

I think the TOs will come down with time. We lost basically everyone who could dribble or pass from last year’s team. All of the returners just finished lobs and made putbacks. It’s going to take time for the all new perimeter personnel to gel.

 

[cardvolfan]

Brown sees the game WAY faster than your typical freshman.

Just tons of little things. Like, once he grabbed a rebound and super quickly turned and threw a pass to get us into transition.

just watch him on the court and you’ll see it.

I watched him closely at the game last night. He is gifted. He sees things quickly, as you mentioned. He processes on the court even better than many other guys out there with more experience. He busts his tail running up and down the court.

I’m not sure if any other fans there who are in their 60’s noticed this, but he moves on the court like Bernard King did. I’m not necessarily talking about his game specifically, but the way he glides down the court, quickness to a rebound, etc. it really was quite interesting.

 

[berryvol]

Missed the last 10-15 mins of game time last night and just got to watch it back. Still very high on this team and, while we looked very rusty last night, I still see a lot of good on both ends that we can grow into a great team from. Like Mookie said, I think this will likely be a later-blooming team than we’ve had in the last few seasons, but the depth may give them a higher ceiling.

That said, and I hate to continually beat on this, if Boswell is still the answer at 2 guard by conference play… I’ll be greatly reducing my optimism. I’m waiting on the Houston/Rutgers games before I really start worrying about this at all - CRB always plays some wacko lineups in buy-games and that may be more needed this year than ever, for a lot of reasons. Burg has really looked good in the backup PG role, but I also love the versatility he gives us playing with Kobi. I really hope (and think) we see him take a lot of Boswell’s minutes as he grows into the system and gets more comfortable with the American game. I often forget how late he arrived here, so thinking about him improving every time he takes the floor makes me very excited to see his final form, later this season and beyond.

 

[StoneokeyVol]

Missed the last 10-15 mins of game time last night and just got to watch it back. Still very high on this team and, while we looked very rusty last night, I still see a lot of good on both ends that we can grow into a great team from. Like Mookie said, I think this will likely be a later-blooming team than we’ve had in the last few seasons, but the depth may give them a higher ceiling.

That said, and I hate to continually beat on this, if Boswell is still the answer at 2 guard by conference play… I’ll be greatly reducing my optimism. I’m waiting on the Houston/Rutgers games before I really start worrying about this at all - CRB always plays some wacko lineups in buy-games and that may be more needed this year than ever, for a lot of reasons. Burg has really looked good in the backup PG role, but I also love the versatility he gives us playing with Kobi. I really hope (and think) we see him take a lot of Boswell’s minutes as he grows into the system and gets more comfortable with the American game. I often forget how late he arrived here, so thinking about him improving every time he takes the floor makes me very excited to see his final form, later this season and beyond.

Brown and Burg are some welcome additions to this year's squad. I love Aments game and think he will rise to the occasion in the big moments. The depth this team has gives me a lot of optimism. I'm happy for these first five games to get chemistry going and hopefully to work out lineups

 

[berryvol]

Brown and Burg are some welcome additions to this year's squad. I love Aments game and think he will rise to the occasion in the big moments. The depth this team has gives me a lot of optimism. I'm happy for these first five games to get chemistry going and hopefully to work out lineups

Yeah once ament gets his outside shot going, I think he’s gonna gain a lot of confidence. Much like Burg, he’ll be improving every game and should be a monster by February. Brown is just a beast, I didn’t expect him to be a factor this season, but he’s tailor made for the physical nature of the SEC.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Missed the last 10-15 mins of game time last night and just got to watch it back. Still very high on this team and, while we looked very rusty last night, I still see a lot of good on both ends that we can grow into a great team from. Like Mookie said, I think this will likely be a later-blooming team than we’ve had in the last few seasons, but the depth may give them a higher ceiling.

That said, and I hate to continually beat on this, if Boswell is still the answer at 2 guard by conference play… I’ll be greatly reducing my optimism. I’m waiting on the Houston/Rutgers games before I really start worrying about this at all - CRB always plays some wacko lineups in buy-games and that may be more needed this year than ever, for a lot of reasons. Burg has really looked good in the backup PG role, but I also love the versatility he gives us playing with Kobi. I really hope (and think) we see him take a lot of Boswell’s minutes as he grows into the system and gets more comfortable with the American game. I often forget how late he arrived here, so thinking about him improving every time he takes the floor makes me very excited to see his final form, later this season and beyond.

I’ve been very loud and vocal about Boswell not needing to play and my disappoint when he started against Duke and last night also, with that said I actually thought he played pretty well last night. Looking at it this morning and that belief is backed up, he far and away had a team best +19 overall, now sometimes those numbers don’t tell a whole story so it’ll be something to monitor, but it matches what my eyes saw in the moment also. With that said, if you’re going to play him it limits some other guys minutes imo, you can’t really play Boswell with Phillips, and really even with Okpara is some issues, better suited with Carey and Estrella for sure as they bring more offensive game.

 

[StoneokeyVol]

Yeah once ament gets his outside shot going, I think he’s gonna gain a lot of confidence. Much like Burg, he’ll be improving every game and should be a monster by February. Brown is just a beast, I didn’t expect him to be a factor this season, but he’s tailor made for the physical nature of the SEC.

Absolutely. It's nice to have some Freshman that are ready to contribute. I'm interested if we will see a lot of Troy this season as well. Especially, if he is hitting the three.

 

[berryvol]

I’ve been very loud and vocal about Boswell not needing to play and my disappoint when he started against Duke and last night also, with that said I actually thought he played pretty well last night. Looking at it this morning and that belief is backed up, he far and away had a team best +19 overall, now sometimes those numbers don’t tell a whole story so it’ll be something to monitor, but it matches what my eyes saw in the moment also. With that said, if you’re going to play him it limits some other guys minutes imo, you can’t really play Boswell with Phillips, and really even with Okpara is some issues, better suited with Carey and Estrella for sure as they bring more offensive game.

I agree he looked better last night, but the rest of your post still tells the story of why my stance on him hasn’t changed. He’s an offensive black hole and we’ve seen nothing to suggest he won’t be totally overwhelmed against a team with a pulse. You acknowledged +/- doesn’t always tell the whole story, so no need for a diatribe on that, but I think a big reason his is so high from last night is attributed to him being on the floor when the offense found its footing some in the 1H - we were playing solid D and our big men were all getting whatever they wanted at the rim.

 

[cardvolfan]

Agree with this is a team and coaching staff trying to find itself. It just seems like the offense is way too congested with a starting lineup of Okpara/Boswell/Carey.

I don't think Barnes will ever not start Okpara unless he really falls off because he's senior second year in program. Boswell played pretty well and at least knocked down a 3 point shot. Carey to me seems like better suited Tobe type player off the bench when getting bullied by another team and needing physicality.

Efficiency-wise, Brown is better than Carey. Early sample size, though.

 

[berryvol]

Absolutely. It's nice to have some Freshman that are ready to contribute. I'm interested if we will see a lot of Troy this season as well. Especially, if he is hitting the three.

Troy looked very capable offensively last night in his limited minutes. Not sure we see much of him once the season ramps up, but he seemed like someone that’s gonna come on and play with confidence anytime CRB calls his number. Complete opposite of Boswell.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

I agree he looked better last night, but the rest of your post still tells the story of why my stance on him hasn’t changed. He’s an offensive black hole and we’ve seen nothing to suggest he won’t be totally overwhelmed against a team with a pulse. You acknowledged +/- doesn’t always tell the whole story, so no need for a diatribe on that, but I think a big reason his is so high from last night is attributed to him being on the floor when the offense found its footing some in the 1H - we were playing solid D and our big men were all getting whatever they wanted at the rim.

Is that a result of him though or would the same have happened with Abram out there say? Nobody knows and will be worth watching, but his defense does appear to be exceptional which can’t be totally discounted as we saw with Mashack, his shot looks improved as he was 1-2 from deep and 2-2 from the line, hit another 3 after the whistle blew also. I’m not making any definitive claims based off this one game, but he was better than I anticipated and I’m a bit more open to watching it play out.

 

[berryvol]

Is that a result of him though or would the same have happened with Abram out there say? Nobody knows and will be worth watching, but his defense does appear to be exceptional which can’t be totally discounted as we saw with Mashack, his shot looks improved as he was 1-2 from deep and 2-2 from the line, hit another 3 after the whistle blew also. I’m not making any definitive claims based off this one game, but he was better than I anticipated and I’m a bit more open to watching it play out.

First sentence was my point exactly. But I don’t disagree with any of that. A lot of my, and I would assume your, issues with Boswell stem from the fact that he’s looked completely overwhelmed every time he touches the floor. He honestly looks terrified most of the time. He didn’t last night, but he certainly did most of the time against Duke. With that being an exhibition and him being a sophomore now, I’m just out on him until he proves me wrong against a few good teams. May be unfair, but it’s where I am.

 

[Skooter]

Abram doesn’t look like he can give what we need. Looks a step slow on both ends. Rotation will have to be reduced and right now he’s one I don’t expect to see in a few weeks. Plus his XXXL wrinkled T-shirt looks awful

 

[MoCo_Vol]

Not sure it's been mentioned, but the team all got here different times too.

Transfers came end of spring semester. Massamba, Evans, & Brown June 1st enrollment. Ament & Troy September 23rd enrollment. Burg I thought was a late arrival as well.

Still 9 new players on the team in one off season is a lot, gonna have some growing pains. Just keep winning during them and watch as the squad gets better over time.

 

[Sugaray13]

Shot 49.2% FG & 41.2% 3PT but only 60% FT

I think we all agree the biggest problem last night was just being careless with the ball. 19 turnovers is way too many.

Somehow they had 20 fouls called on them to our 18 called on us, but we shot just 15 FTs to their 21...

Need to be much better on the defensive end of the floor as well.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

Need to be much better on the defensive end of the floor as well.

They shot 30% from the field and 21% from 3, not gonna get much better defensively than that…they had 16 points off our turnovers, take care of the ball and they don’t break 45 points, but that’s not on the defense.

 

[MoCo_Vol]

61 points is a pretty damn good defensive night.

As bTo said, 16 off turnovers and then 15 came at the FT line. Now 2nd half defense, I can agree should have been better.

1st half 21.2% FG & 5.9% from deep
2nd half 38.2% FG & 41.7% from deep

but we also saw more of the inexperienced guys in the 2nd half as well.

 

[Lefteye]

I’ve been very loud and vocal about Boswell not needing to play and my disappoint when he started against Duke and last night also, with that said I actually thought he played pretty well last night. Looking at it this morning and that belief is backed up, he far and away had a team best +19 overall, now sometimes those numbers don’t tell a whole story so it’ll be something to monitor, but it matches what my eyes saw in the moment also. With that said, if you’re going to play him it limits some other guys minutes imo, you can’t really play Boswell with Phillips, and really even with Okpara is some issues, better suited with Carey and Estrella for sure as they bring more offensive game.

Agree. I think his minutes are being used more in a teaching and motivating manner for the new backcourt guys than an indication of his minutes against the meat of the schedule. Even though doesn’t have the talent of a Berg, Abrams or Henderson he’s the most familiar w/ CRBs system, specifically what he demands on the defensive end. Jmo

 

[CamVol8]

Saw that Cam Carr had 28 points in their season opener… that one still pisses me off so much

 

[Sugaray13]

They shot 30% from the field and 21% from 3, not gonna get much better defensively than that…they had 16 points off our turnovers, take care of the ball and they don’t break 45 points, but that’s not on the defense.

I understand that and I am sure you realize they missed a ton of open shots that SEC caliber teams probably will not miss. Not sure we can contribute their shooting percentages to great defense. We had a hard time staying in front and didn't defend ball screens very well. It is not the same tough, hard nosed defensive teams we have had in the past.

 

[Czarcasm]

Saw that Cam Carr had 28 points in their season opener… that one still pisses me off so much

Maybe if he could play defense and not quit on his team he would still be here.

 

[bleedingTNorange]

I understand that and I am sure you realize they missed a ton of open shots that SEC caliber teams probably will not miss. Not sure we can contribute their shooting percentages to great defense. We had a hard time staying in front and didn't defend ball screens very well. It is not the same tough, hard nosed defensive teams we have had in the past.

They’re a poor shooting team, something tells me that was probably more the scout than it was our defense suddenly sucking under Barnes.

 

[Sugaray13]

They’re a poor shooting team, something tells me that was probably more the scout than it was our defense suddenly sucking under Barnes.

I never said they sucked defensively. We are just not the same defensive team we have been in the past at this time.

 

[omghulkhands]

Shot 49.2% FG & 41.2% 3PT but only 60% FT

I think we all agree the biggest problem last night was just being careless with the ball. 19 turnovers is way too many.

Somehow they had 20 fouls called on them to our 18 called on us, but we shot just 15 FTs to their 21...

The numbers are deceiving because IMO, we played TERRIBLE from an offensive execution standpoint.

Our FG% was so high IMO, because we were so much bigger and stronger than them. JP got most of his with straight up backyard dad bully ball. And Ament was just backing guys down and shooting over them.

Basically. Lots of free points we won’t be so lucky to have against better competition.

Now defense I thought was fine besides not rebounding as well as I’d have liked.

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

I watched him closely at the game last night. He is gifted. He sees things quickly, as you mentioned. He processes on the court even better than many other guys out there with more experience. He busts his tail running up and down the court.

I’m not sure if any other fans there who are in their 60’s noticed this, but he moves on the court like Bernard King did. I’m not necessarily talking about his game specifically, but the way he glides down the court, quickness to a rebound, etc. it really was quite interesting.

Yes, I noticed the manner in which he covers the court but I never thought about Bernard because of the body difference. That is a similarity though