Thoughts from Madness

[94Warrior]

Thoughts from The AL tonight...

JFB can get to any spot he wants on the floor.  He is stronger and has improved his handle.
DJO is a 20 point a night guy.  He shoots better with someone in his face than when standing by himself.  Look for consistency at a very high level from him.
Junior was not himself last year (not even close).  He can get to the hoop and FINISH.  Excellent distributor, improved shooter and plays with confidence.
Buycks is not tentative and appears to have a better handle.
Blue is smooth and explosive at the same time.  Scores in a variety of ways.  Will fill up the boxscore from Day 1.
Crowder is a beast.  He will have a big impact.  Supremely confident and will do the things necessary to win.
Fulce is a glue guy.  Very important to the team for his rebounding, personality, drive, and hustle.
Williams appears more confident in what he is doing.  He leaves me wanting more, but I am patient.  In the meantime, Todd Smith needs to get a hold of him.
Otule more confident, can rebound, definite improvement.
Smith was impressive.  Very quick, has a presence on the court.  He will push Junior.  They will help each other.
Gardner did some good things.  Doesn't jump which will make rebounding difficult, but has a soft touch.
Jones can shoot it, and was impressive athletically, but needs to join Williams in the weight room.
Wilson is L-O-N-G and talented.  If he improves his shot and shows a mean streak he has a chance to be REALLY good.  I am excited to see him next year.
Ro-Fro is Ro-Fro.
Singleton is in a boot.
Anderson - welcome to MU young man.  

Many recruits in attendance.  Mike Shaw is the only one I could pick out of a lineup.  Hope to have him at next year's Madness, as well.  He was laughing hard when Reggie couldn't throw down a SIMPLE cartwheel-front flip-roundoff-throw it up-between the legs-cradle-double pump-widow maker.

Great night at The AL.

One more thing- There are a couple of 3 point assassins on the women's team.  They put Dwight and DJ to shame.  

[StillWarriors]

Singleton said he has a stress fracture-will be out a couple weeks.

[PaintTouches]

Some things that stood out for me:

When O'Tule began the scrimmage with a pretty jump hook I almost wet myself. Sadly, that was the highlight of his night. He still has weak hands when it comes to rebounding and doesn't have the strength to put back those rebounds under the rim. Still a lot of work to do for him.

Buycks was very aggressive, almost too aggressive though. He took some really bad shots at points where he could have easily made the extra pass. Love the confidence he has, just have to reign in his trigger a bit.

JFB is a man. He will lead the Big East in free throw attempts and free throw makes.

Junior is definitely a different player than last year. He has very sharp passes and sees the floor well.

DJO is a beast, still turnover prone though.

Mellow has a gorgeous jump shot. Makes you feel like every shot he takes will go in.

E-Will will get more minutes than last year, but not many more. He is still missing "it." I will say though, his turnaround fade in the second half shows you the glimpses you ned to see to know he does have "it" in him. 

Blue was very impressive and will be the first off the bench if he doesn't start. You can see he is smooth.

Crowder flat out plays ball. Hardest working player on the floor tonight.

Fulce is Fulce. He can dunk and rebound, and everything else is a bonus.

Wilson definitely is "L-O-N-G" as 94 Warrior put it. He will be a ptp next year.

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Most impressive:

Buycks was real aggressive - good to see.
Junior looked good at PG. Starting job is his to somehow lose in the next 2 weeks.
Otule has good physique and shot, but those hands.... Seemed to get stripped on rebounds.
Gardner has a soft touch, but the body needs work.
Crowder looking good & has great hair.  Seems to be able to do a little of everything well
DJO & JB looked the same as last year, which is good.
There's hope for EWill...has a nice stroke.
Reggie will play to both extremes this year.  I don't see him as a PG yet.

Loved the silhouetted entries for the players!

[Lennys Tap]

In spite of the fact that he's not much of a shooter, Junior looked REALLY good. Thought he was the best player on the floor tonight.

[mu89]

In spite of the fact that he's not much of a shooter, Junior looked REALLY good. Thought he was the best player on the floor tonight.

agreed. he really set the pace.

[kansaswarrior]

Liked a lot of what I saw but especially that E will was crashing the boards. Even though he failed to get a rebound on numerous occasions the fact he was being aggressive spoke volumes. Otules hands need to be either stripped of the coating of oil that covers them or plastered with glue to compensate...liked his hook though. Juniors speed surprised he simply blew by his defender a few times. All in all, a good outing

[jeffreyweee]

My thoughts...

Dwight and DJO were definitely holding on to the ball too long and taking bad shots. I dunno how many times they both took shots spinning around with 3 people around them. Both finished in traffic well and shot the ball well as usual. If they limit their stupid shots / turnovers they'd be perfect.

Junior played hands down the best game of the night and Reggie made some very nice passes. Not nearly as worried about PG as I was at the end of last year.

Jimmy was Jimmy. I'd like to see him shoot more though.

Otule and Fulce both look improved and more confident but I still don't think either of them are solid minute starters yet.

E Will got me really excited on a couple plays. By next year he'll be ready to really contribute.

Crowder made a couple bone-headed plays but he looked like he was having the most fun out there. Played solid all around. Not sure if he'll start or be 1st/2nd off the bench.

Vander played great. A couple plays he was hitting people in the hand with his passes when they weren't expecting them. The shots he missed were pretty high quality as well. If we play 3 guards again I'd expect him to start.

OX is looking trimmer and trimmer every day. Him and Otule are still fouling a bit too much. They both have opposite strengths and weaknesses. I wish we could combine them into a super forward. I'd expect some spotty minutes like we got from E Will out of him this year.

Jamail I think might be riding the bench a bit. His shot looked tasty but he just didn't seem to get after it. Might need another year.

Jamil is going to be an absolute stud if he continues to develop. Looked like he was having a great time out there.

[T-Bone]

I thought Junior was the most in control and confident player out there.  Seemed very composed.

[Wade for President]

Wow.  Love the feedback...curious to see if you feel the same way 48 hrs after the madness is over and the blue & gold kook-aid is gone.  Sounds like a Top 10 program from your report (which I'm fine with)...simply giddy with enthusiasm for this season to start.

Thanks for the report.

[Blackhat]

Thanks for the reports guys..wasn't able to make it last night.

[Mr. Nielsen]

Courtney Weibel had the building on it's feet, the way she was bagging down the 3's!

[Niv Berkowitz]

My thoughts -

• Great to have Fitz back in the house. Surprisingly while judging the dunk contest he only had two fouls in five minutes
• Loved what I saw from Junior. To echo sentiments made, he totally wasn't himself last year. Also looks like he dropped a few lbs. Exploded to the rim with confidence
• Vander's gonna be fun to watch. Looks like he has the makings of a complete PG
• Otule hitting the jump hook was great. Everything after, meh. He looks stronger, but has to improve his hands. I never want to get to pshychological on an intrasquad scrimmage regarding intensity since nobody wants to get hurt and the coaches were just letting everyone play.
• Loved Crowder. Loved him. Will be a fan favorite. It's the hair.
• Bucyks was Bucyks. Took too many shots I thought. Too aggressive. Basically, looked like last season didn't end. Makes me skittish.
• DJO just has the look of a guy that won't be kept down this year.
• JFB. JFB.

It was the biggest Madness crowd I can remember, though. Even the upper corners were packed so that was great to see.

[wadesworld]

• Loved Crowder. Loved him. Will be a fan favorite. It's the hair.

Agreed with pretty much everything everyone else is putting out there, so I feel my thoughts would be pretty redundant.

To this point, though, I completely agree.  And the fact that he is just MASSIVE!  I see him walking to/from class all the time and from a distance he looks like a giant standing like 7' tall, and then you get closer and you realize he's not all THAT tall, but he is just HUGE!  He looks like he should be playing alongside Clay Matthews.

I really think he is going to be a vocal leader starting from day 1.  In all his interviews he just seems to be very focused and very humble.  I'm not sure he'll score many points, my guess is he gets 8-10 points a game simply because we won't need a ton of scoring inside and really never get it, but I think he will be a man among boys on the glass with 8-10 a game, and I think his contributions to the team will be much more than just in the box score.  He just seems like a player who is very focused and who will push his teammates to be the best that they can be.

[NersEllenson]

Watched the live stream - and at times it was hard to make out who was who, but:

Cadougan - As others have said, looked very good - will do a solid job at the point.

Buycks - His outside shot has improved significantly, still takes a few questionable jumpers - but suspect Buzz will coach him on shot selection.  Think he could have a nice year for MU this year.

Crowder - He's a junk yard dog - Buzz's type of guy.  Will be a 10ppg and 10reb/game type of guy this year

DJO - Was actually disappointed with his performance - he's my favorite Warrior - but thought he just played way out of control.  I'm sure the excitement factor had a lot to do with it..but his potential is so great, I think he is still struggling trying to figure out when he should attack/penetrate/create - versus doing so against "stacked odds" which lead to turnovers.

Blue - Very smooth.  Seems to have a good basketball IQ - right place, right time kind of player.  Didn't force bad shots.  Only see him scoring in transition - not much of an outside threat at this point.  Will contribute this year.

Jamail Jones - Hit one nice 3, other than that didn't see a whole lot of him.

Erik Williams - was active going to the glass.  Made a REAL nice move from the perimiter toward the bucket on Devante Gardener - who defended him well - spin move and pull up jumper from about 14 feet..nothing but net.  Seriously - it looked like a move you see an NBA player make.

Reggie Smith - Electric.  Much like what I wrote about DJO - will need to figure out when to use his unbelieveable athleticism/"break you down off the dribble ability" to avoid turnovers.  That said - I am VERY glad he's at MU.

Devante Gardner - Lots of potential.  For the most part liked what I saw.  For only being in the program for 6 weeks..he showed me a lot.  Think he will be a spot contributor this year - as in 5 minutes per game.  By the time he's a junior/senior..I see him being a very solid 4 or 5 man.

Jimmy Butler - looked a lot more explosive off the dribble.  I am interested to see how he gets his points this year - still expect a lot to come from the free throw line..but still not sure if he can shoot it from the perimiter with any consistency.

Joe Fulce - Don't expect much more out of him than we got last year.  Spot minutes, maybe bump his production up 20% statistically form last year.

Chris Otule - Some potential there, but I legitmately can see Devante Gardner pushing him for  the "big man" minutes come Big East play.

[avid1010]

My take:

*Fun event to be at, good to get the season started
*All scholarship players are healthy
*Plenty of recruits in the Al

I get far better insight reading/listening to Buzz give an interview than I do watching a scrimmage like this.

[MUfan12]

My take:

*Fun event to be at, good to get the season started
*All scholarship players are healthy
*Plenty of recruits in the Al

I get far better insight reading/listening to Buzz give an interview than I do watching a scrimmage like this.

That's kind of my thought as well. I love the optimism people have, but they were tired, and not running anything offensively. Outside of Blue and especially Cadougan, no one really impressed all that much. And that's totally fine. It's early, and no expectations should be set after last night.

I have three concerns going into the season- Three point shooting, rebounding, and free throw shooting. Hard to tell anything about rebounding in a scrimmage, but the other two areas were kinda ugly.

[MuMark]

This...........

That's kind of my thought as well. I love the optimism people have, but they were tired, and not running anything offensively. Outside of Blue and especially Cadougan, no one really impressed all that much. And that's totally fine. It's early, and no expectations should be set after last night.

[bilsu]

I do not know how much we should expect from a midnight madness scrimage, But Cadougan was the only plyer that met or exceeded my expectations. Butler was good but he defers to toher players to much. DJO was the biggest disappointment. He took a lot of bad shots. They should redshirt Gradner. He still needs conditioning and fouls way to much to see any significant playing time. My starting lineup based only on last nights scrimage would be Butler and four guards and DJO would not be starting. Cadougan, Blue, Buyckes and Smith. I know that is not going to happen, but they were the five best players out there last night.

[willie warrior]

I do not know how much we should expect from a midnight madness scrimage, But Cadougan was the only plyer that met or exceeded my expectations. Butler was good but he defers to toher players to much. DJO was the biggest disappointment. He took a lot of bad shots. They should redshirt Gradner. He still needs conditioning and fouls way to much to see any significant playing time. My starting lineup based only on last nights scrimage would be Butler and four guards and DJO would not be starting. Cadougan, Blue, Buyckes and Smith. I know that is not going to happen, but they were the five best players out there last night.

You have to be kidding--not starting DJO?

[Clam Crowder]

Otule has to hold on to the ball, otherwise I too could see Gardner challenging him.

[Golden Avalanche]

I have three concerns going into the season- Three point shooting, rebounding, and free throw shooting. Hard to tell anything about rebounding in a scrimmage, but the other two areas were kinda ugly.

Was it bad enough to start doing drills in practice? 

[reinko]

Do your read willie?  In plan english, bilsu, stated "on last nights performance alone".  Obviously, we have a month till the first game.  Slow your roll chief.

[willie warrior]

Yeah--I read. Point is DJO is a stud, and you don't not start him based on last night's performance alone. What about his performance last year?

[NersEllenson]

I do not know how much we should expect from a midnight madness scrimage, But Cadougan was the only plyer that met or exceeded my expectations. Butler was good but he defers to toher players to much. DJO was the biggest disappointment. He took a lot of bad shots. They should redshirt Gradner. He still needs conditioning and fouls way to much to see any significant playing time. My starting lineup based only on last nights scrimage would be Butler and four guards and DJO would not be starting. Cadougan, Blue, Buyckes and Smith. I know that is not going to happen, but they were the five best players out there last night.

DJO did not have a good night..but it is ridiculous to suggest not starting him!  He's a lock starter and will be fine once the season begins.  I also disagree about Gardner - thought he showed A LOT for a guy who's only been on campus for 6-weeks.  Can legitmately see him taking "big" minutes THIS YEAR that most thought would go to Otule.  That said, I don't see Buzz going with a "big" very often - only as needed.  Gardner has A LOT of tools for his size...pass/dribble/shoot/rebound/physical - he's already better than Otule in all of these categories.  He will be a major impact player by his junior year..without a red shirt.