Pro-Am Wednesday Games?

[ATL MU Warrior]

Weren't there some games last night?  According to the website there were four games scheduled.  Anybody go?  Would love to get some actual basketball chatter going on here.

[PJDunn]

Dodds' website is loaded with info on the pro-am.  Sounds like it has been quite a show.

[MUfan12]

Here's what I posted over there-

DJO was unbelievable after that 1st quarter. Made pro threes look like layups, that easy. Had a couple of sweet moves to the basket.

Cadougan looks more and more confident every week. Very assertive with the ball, makes good decisions, and is powerful to the basket. Just needs that jumper to come along a bit.

Vander had a tough assignment with Wesley guarding him, but did pretty well. Had some nice drives, hit a couple threes. His outside shot needs some work though. He has a low, inconsistent release. Could have some trouble getting shots off.

Williams looked better. Game still needs to slow down a bit for him, but he hit some nice midrange jumpers. Had a couple putbacks/bunnies that just rolled out.

Smith is silly quick. Showed pretty good ballhandling ability, hit some jumpers, and threw a couple of absolutely perfect lobs to teammates.

Liked what I saw from Otule/Gardner. Chris looks like his hands are improved. Also noticed he went right to the block and posted his guy up on the break. Got some easy buckets from that. Gardner has great hands and footwork. Can't wait to see him once the staff can really work with him. Can see the potential. Also, LOVED that both of them didn't take unnecessary dribbles in the post, especially after rebounds. Both went up strong and didn't bring the ball down.

Jones and Buycks were a mixed bag, since neither of them had a good shooting night. Jones seemed to rush his outside shot a bit, and missed a few badly.

Another enjoyable night, looking forward to this weekend!

[MUMBA]

I was there last night for the late games.  I popped back and forth between the two games.  A few takeaways for the basketball hungry...

Davante's footwork really impressed.  I saw him pin guys on his hip and then seal them off for an easy score.  I saw hip drop step guys and as well as the old kevin mchale up and under move.  He has a natural feel in the post.  He misdirects his defender to create space and open shots.  His ability to use his size to post up makes the entry pass easier for the guards.  And he pulled these moves off without a single travel call, offensive foul, or turnover (as far as I saw).  High field goal percentage too.  As an admirer of post play, I was impressed. 

Davante also took a rebound coast to coast on several occasions.  I don't see that happening once the season starts, but watching him rumble down the court like a 270 lb field general prompted Jamil Wilson cheer chants of "Take it DD!  Take it DD!"  On one occasion he drove from the top of the key when his defender didn't seem to think he was a threat to drive.

Jamil Wilson also gave Dwight B some heat for failing to finish at the rim, kindly suggesting that he get his a$$ back to the weight room.  Personally, I think Dwight looks a lot stronger than he did last year.  He may not have had a great shooting night, but he's fun to watch.

Junior facilitates the offense well.  He and Davante are on one of the league's top teams, and I think Junior's pass first approach and Davante's inside scoring have something to do with that.  Jamil was giving Junior heat for his low scoring titles, and Junior chided back (in his Q-Tip-esque tone), "Hey, we're winning.  How's your team doin'?"  Junior gets into the lane but he had a few shots blocked.

After the first weekend of the pro-am I posted my wish to see Chris O emerge from a rebound scrum with a few strong dunks, and he delivered last night.  I think I saw him put down three dunks over a couple of quarters of play.  I only saw one instance where he had the ball slapped away.

Wes gave Vander some ribbing during an inbounds play, and Vander took the ball into the lane the next time he touched it.  Wes stopped him and vander kicked it out.  It was fun to see a little Mad Memorial rivalry.   To Vander's credit, he played hard through the end of regulation despite the fact his team was behind by 20pts.  He helped close the gap towards the end.

Lastly, as the games I watched came to an end, both featured some outrageous missed dunks.  Reggie Smith tried a dunk-contest worthy try off a bounce that bounced out.  In the other game, a very slightly built guard from Concordia (?) attempted several highlight worthy dunks including one where he appeared to levitate.  Impressive.  I thought to myself "why is he playing at Concordia?", buit then I saw his jump shot.  Mystery solved.

[Mr. Nielsen]

I've been to every day of the Pro-Am and I'll be their on Friday night.

Homer was in the house and George Thompson was their as well.

My thought I'll make are a bit different, I'll go with the glass half-empty.

Dwight Buycks game was off with no Joe Fulce running with him last night. He was getting mad at no calls going his way and walk back on D. Having DJO in the stands to yell out to him, come'on Buycks.

Jamil Jones needs to work on his mid-range jumper and need to drive to the hole, too many three's.

Eric Williams needs to hit the boards.

Chris Otule needs to improve on his footwork in the paint. Gets called for walking alot in the Pro-Am, HELLO.

Jamil Wilson, he will learn in due time this isn't Oregon anymore.

Talk with Rob Frozena and Junior Cadougan both told me that the new guys have no idea in how hard Buzz's boot camp will be for them.

[Mr. Nielsen]

P.S. Friday night games start at 6:15