Gameday Thread: St. John's (MN)

[brewcity77]

At the game with my iPhone, so no flash chat for me. DJO's coast to coast was sick, but 3-point defense is shoddy.

[brewcity77]

Thoughts so far...

--Otule looks like a useful piece. Rebounding well, has some points on putbacks, most important he's not holding the ball long. Looks like a decent space-eater.
--Reggie Smith can shoot the 3? I expected pace and vision, if he can add any offense, he could get more time than expected.
--Not liking 3-point defense, they look slow when rotating to the perimeter. Also not sure about Otule spending so much time on the defensive perimeter. Didn't like Mbao out there last year either.

[jfmu]

Anything wrong with junior?

[brewcity77]

He's in the game now. Just found Buycks on a nice assist.

[chren21]

Vander will be starting soon.  Clearly he is a pure athlete and has a great basketball 2 man body.

[brewcity77]

He seems to have a high basketball IQ. Good defender, though his offense is still a work in progress. It'll be interesting to see who gets the bulk of the backcourt time with DJO.

[chren21]

I think the offense will come quickly after he gets a few games under his belt

[chren21]

I was referring to vander

[#MUBB]

Nothing too impressive. A little sloppy at times but that's expected. Funny how Reggie and Junior have had the most convincing 3-PT strokes. Hopefully Jamail gets decent minutes in the 2nd half I'm anxious to see him. SJU have held their own for a DIII team.

[chren21]

Crowder will start over fulce soon too.

[NersEllenson]

St John's looks like Wisconsin..swinging the ball well side to side, limited dribbling..their offense looks pretty crisp.  MU's on the other hand..well..it looks like not a lot has been practiced with regard to our offense.  Clearly Buzz is trying to get different looks as far as NOT playing a true point...

Sloppy so far

[NersEllenson]

Todd Warner is "quite" the color commentator...not sure he really sees the game very well, nor understands that just because you are 6'10"..Otule..if you don't have the best angle to a rebound or ideal rebounding position..you aren't going to grab every rebound..just cause other guys are only 6'6"...

[brewcity77]

Sloppy, but not turning the ball over much. Seems more execution than anything. On the positive, Crowder looks good, and not just the hair. Aggressive rebounder and decisive with the ball.

Jamail Jones in now.

[VwArrior1]

Is Otule the leading scorer?

[brewcity77]

Otule leads with 12, DJO and JFB both have 8.

[Desert_warrior]

Score?

[rocky_warrior]

Score?

63-37 MU, 8:58 left

[chren21]

63-37.  Last timeout buzz laid into junior bigtime for his subpar D.

[brewcity77]

Gardner looks much better physically than he did at the Pro Am. Guessing he's down to the 260-270 range.

Though he's clearly no point guard

[MarquetteDano]

In terms of the newcomers I am most excited by Crowder.  Good passing, defense, and rebounding.  He had a lot of easy baskets today wide open undernearth... those will be harder to come by against better teams.  Still, he is going to be good.  He should play at least 25 min a game for us.

Also, nice to see Vander on defense and Smith on offense.  When they get better on the other side of the ball (Vander on offense and Smith on defense) they are going to contribute a lot.

Erik Williams body language is not good.  He just seems disinterested out there.

[ErickJD08]

Todd Warner is "quite" the color commentator...not sure he really sees the game very well, nor understands that just because you are 6'10"..Otule..if you don't have the best angle to a rebound or ideal rebounding position..you aren't going to grab every rebound..just cause other guys are only 6'6"...

One of the announcers talked about Fulce's corner shot being the bread and butter.  Fulce airballed but the announcer continued to say that the corner shot is where Fulce "made all his money last year"... poor choice of words.

[flash]

I really liked what i saw from Reggie Smith, if he can knock down his open 3's and play a solid back up point guard, he will be getting a lot of minutes.  I was a little confused to see Cadougan not starting.  Jae Crowder looked like a man amoung boys out there, I wouldnt be suprised if he startes by the middle of the year. 

[chren21]

Why wait till the middle of the year. It's obvious he is much better than fulce

[NersEllenson]

I really liked what i saw from Reggie Smith, if he can knock down his open 3's and play a solid back up point guard, he will be getting a lot of minutes.  I was a little confused to see Cadougan not starting.  Jae Crowder looked like a man amoung boys out there, I wouldnt be suprised if he startes by the middle of the year. 

By no means do I think Junior Cadougan has won the starting point guard slot...think Reggie Smith has a very legitimate chance at starting at PG come Big East season.  Buzz REALLY likes Reggie....and he sure did not disappoint today.

[Brewtown Andy]

By no means do I think Junior Cadougan has won the starting point guard slot..

Especially since he didn't start today...