UTM Thoughts

[tower912]

1.  Every win should be celebrated.
2.  Great balance
3.   Fouls and rebounding are going to be an issue all year.
4.  If MU gets 3's from this many players every game, I may have to reconsider their potential.
5.   Sandy belongs.
6.   Love the consistent defensive effort and hustle.
7.   I am not loving the half court offense yet.
8.   I do like them feeding Steve down on the block.
9.   Get well soon, Derrick.  
10.  Carlino, you are a senior.   One guy not playing due to injury,  the whole team in foul trouble, and you pick up your 4th foul arguing about your 3rd foul?!?!?    Dumb.

[ChicosBailBonds]

It was nice seeing a team play for a coach. 

[geps]

What if JJJ would have played like this AT ALL last year?

[Blackhat]

Guys looked damn good actually.   Like the length combined with the improved shooting.   Our help defense was pretty good too.


We might have something here folks.

[brandx]

1.  Every win should be celebrated.
2.  Great balance
3.   Fouls and rebounding are going to be an issue all year.
4.  If MU gets 3's from this many players every game, I may have to reconsider their potential.
5.   Sandy belongs.
6.   Love the consistent defensive effort and hustle.
7.   I am not loving the half court offense yet.
8.   I do like them feeding Steve down on the block.
9.   Get well soon, Derrick.  
10.  Carlino, you are a senior.   One guy not playing due to injury, one guy not playing, the whole team in foul trouble, and you pick up your 4th foul arguing about your 3rd foul?!?!?    Dumb.

The season isn't official until we get Tower's thoughts

Seriously though, you always do a good job.

[rico49]

 Youth...Potential...Energy!  They will be frustrating this year, but you can see a visible energy lacking last year.  Steve t and Juan are hungry.  Fasten your seat belts, fans!

[NersEllenson]

Guys looked damn good actually.   Like the length combined with the improved shooting.   Our help defense was pretty good too.


We might have something here folks.

Don't think we should be surprised if this team finishes close to 20 wins/NCAA berth, some* here who felt we were going to have a disaster of a season.

There's a lot of talent on this club (thanks Buzz), with a coach that will actually coach well and play his best players, and not mindf*ck the crap out of his team.

[brandx]

I noticed we didn't have guys coming in for 1 or 2 minute runs at all. Good to see Wojo let the guys work up a sweat when they were on the floor.

[PGsHeroes32]

First positive is no one looked terrible. Everyone had good moments. I also liked feeding steve but wish he would have done more with it. The dish to Cohen for 3 was nice though.

JJJ and Juan, boy do I hope this is a sign of good things this year. I know it was just UTM but I think we can already put this in the loss column for Buzz. How did JJJ get so many DNP's?

Depth and height are still going to be a killer but this team will be pretty fun to watch. Just a shame we have so many "tests" before Luke is available.

As someone mentioned on the game thread. The best part about 9 guys is everyone will contribute. They are all going to get a chance and with only 3 seniors..we will have 7 guys back with EXPIERENCE.

This year is the development year. All big wins are gravy. If we shock everyone and fight for a tourney spot then heck yes. But man we have potential to be dangerous in the coming years.

[brandx]

One thing that stood out for me that buzz never ever did.

When MU got the ball with 51 seconds left in the 1st half, they came down and got off a shot within 8 seconds so as to give them 2 possessions for 1. The fact that they gave up an offensive rebound denied the opportunity, but it gave us a look at Wojo's thought process as opposed to what the previous regime did (over and over and over).

[tower912]

I noticed we didn't have guys coming in for 1 or 2 minute runs at all. Good to see Wojo let the guys work up a sweat when they were on the floor.

Tough to play in short stints when you have foul trouble, 9 guys dressed, 1 injured.    The remaining guys have to play and try not to foul out.  

[brandx]

Tough to play in short stints when you have foul trouble, 9 guys dressed, 1 injured.    The remaining guys have to play and try not to foul out.  

True, but it was the same in the 1st half.

[noblewarrior]

I think Deonte sat most of  the 2nd half due to his lack of discipline on the offensive end (though he still looks like he can score at will and missed some chippies) and his disinterest in rebounding on the D boards.   Work in progress.  


Edit..  Sorry, guess he had foul trouble...

[rico49]

After Tommy "I'm" Terrific and Buzz "Mind Games" Williams it is a pleasure to see a coach who COACHES HIS KIDS on the sidelines and is not the SHOW.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

1.  Every win should be celebrated.
2.  Great balance
3.   Fouls and rebounding are going to be an issue all year.
4.  If MU gets 3's from this many players every game, I may have to reconsider their potential.
5.   Sandy belongs.
6.   Love the consistent defensive effort and hustle.
7.   I am not loving the half court offense yet.
8.   I do like them feeding Steve down on the block.
9.   Get well soon, Derrick.  
10.  Carlino, you are a senior.   One guy not playing due to injury,  the whole team in foul trouble, and you pick up your 4th foul arguing about your 3rd foul?!?!?    Dumb.

11.  Loved all the non-scoring stats from JJJ
12. Juan has shown flashed in non-conf before; this definitely looks different, but I won't get too excited until we see it against better competition
13.  Come on Deonte, we need you in the game, not sitting with 4 fouls
14.  Sandy much better than expected
15. Steve with an OK game, I think he can do better
16. Duane looked MUCH better than during the exhibition.  Still a bit raw but looking promising with only 4 halves under his belt.
17.  Derrick, we need you to make free throws at least

[Texas Western]

JJJ is a special player. He is going to have a big year. Team chemistry is good. We are making things happen on defense again. We need more discipline on fouls. With 9 guys we can't afford foul trouble. Having multiple 3 point threats makes the game a lot easier on the eyes.

[NersEllenson]

JJJ is a special player. He is going to have a big year. Team chemistry is good. We are making things happen on defense again. We need more discipline on fouls. With 9 guys we can't afford foul trouble. Having multiple 3 point threats makes the game a lot easier on the eyes.

Agree.

Also think the coaching this year will be infinitely better than what Buzz gave us last year.  Having guards who can actually shoot the ball from all spots on the floor made this game a lot easier on the eyes.

But....it is only TN Martin....but the team has a lot of potential and I suspect will have very good chemistry going forward unlike last year's mess.

[warriorstrack]

Agreed

[Johnny B]

1. Need to work on lazy passes?turnovers
2. Defnese looked a little sloppy.
3. Finishing
4. At  times guys looked a bit lost on offence, but that wont be a problem with some experience.
4.Get Luke out there ASAP, We need some SIZE!

[T-Bone]

Sandy looked good on D. It seemeed like freshmen in previous years have been "lost", but that may have been the system.

I liked the energy, but with a short bench it seems like it is going to be hard to sustain?

[BM1090]

Video from tonight:

Juan Postgame: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D4-9WFf3Kk&list=UUjbANOIkx9gio5f24p4yeEg

Wojo Postgame: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okPOOl3er5o&index=1&list=UUjbANOIkx9gio5f24p4yeEg

Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_AhtLbCT-g&list=UUjbANOIkx9gio5f24p4yeEg&index=2

[Dr. Blackheart]

1.  Looking for a rotation.
2.  Less end to end pressing.
3.  UTM better than RPI
4.  MU will be abused inside against better teams until Fischer gets back.
5.  Duane with more time at point and looked good.

[Daniel]

Rebounding and fouls are issues.. Some break downs on defense. But overall,  I think a pretty nice performance with lots of contributors.  Higher energy, decent ball movement. Good coaching the kids up as subs came out, and Wojo was animated on the sidelines. I like.

[keefe]

The season isn't official until we get Tower's thoughts

Seriously though, you always do a good job.

Concur. There is something about those lists that says MU post game wrap. Similar to what Keith Jackson was to college football

[willie warrior]

1.  Looking for a rotation.
2.  Less end to end pressing.
3.  UTM better than RPI
4.  MU will be abused inside against better teams until Fischer gets back.
5.  Duane with more time at point and looked good.

Agree with most of this, except UTM is not good.
Du. Wilson is definitely a versatile Guard. He can handle the Point, and is probably the quickest guy on the team. If Derrick gets more than 5-8 minutes, something is not right.

[MU82]

The things I took from the game:

1. If we really can shoot 3s like this, we will be in most games and could steal a win or two from better, deeper, taller teams.

2. Easy baskets on steals/fastbreaks? Welcome back ... we missed you!

3. Juan was so much more in control. He still showed great energy but he wasn't the same spastic pinball he had been his first three years.

4. Wow, I'm hoping that was really Jajuan's game. Very impressed by his offensive efficiency and his defense.

5. Sandy Cohen was much better than advertised. It will be interesting to see how that develops.

6. Dawson clearly is the 9th man, light years behind Cohen, and will be the 10th man when Luke starts playing.

7. I don't wish injuries on anybody, but Derrick being limited did let Duane get a nice run at PG. I thought Duane looked very comfortable there but he did play bouncy-ball a little too much. I couldn't get over how skinny his arms were!

8. Must get better, smarter play from Carlino and, especially, Burton.

9. We will have trouble -- probably serious trouble -- in the rebounding, interior defense and foul realms against some of the teams on our schedule. Although that will be the case even after Luke starts playing, the Ohio State, Wiscy and Orlando tourney games could be especially ugly.

10. It was only one game against a cupcake, but I am more excited about 2015-16 (and beyond) than ever, and I think this season's team will be both fun and frustrating. Here's hoping folks don't get too bent out of shape as we go through the inevitable growing pains.

Scoopers getting bent out of shape about anything? What am I thinking?

[Anti-Dentite]

Confirmation of the fact we are athletic, quick and small, although some of the smallness is negated by the how our guards attack at both ends. Going to have to be a group effort on the boards. I thought we got the shots we wanted at will minus a rough patch in both halves where it got disjointed for a few minutes. Defensively, thought that went well also, got beat inside a couple times early and responded with more ball pressure forcing them to start their offense farther out on the perimeter. That of course led to UTM breaking us down on occasion for easy hoops but I'll take that as a significant part of our offense was takeaways and easy buckets on the other end. Nice effort to build on.

[Litehouse]

Duane is obviously extremely quick, but I was concerned he was letting his guy drive past him too much, especially during a short stretch in the middle of the 2nd half in which he got beat 3 times in a row.  Maybe he was trying to avoid fouling, but hopefully he's able to stop that penetration better in the future.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Agree with most of this, except UTM is not good.
Du. Wilson is definitely a versatile Guard. He can handle the Point, and is probably the quickest guy on the team. If Derrick gets more than 5-8 minutes, something is not right.

I said UTM "better than their RPI". Their KPom rating coming in was 330/351 schools. Don't think they looked that bad. I think they can be sub-300 as they have some talent which may help MU if this team is on the bubble. So, in conclusion, they are bad, just not horrid.  Loved the unis though.

[ecompt]

This team will steal a game or two but will get clobbered by the bigger, stronger teams. But watching JJJ and Duane and Deonte and Sandy develop will be worth it. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

[bilsu]

I thought they were well coached and fun to watch. However, according to the stats shown on the statdium board at the end of the game they were out rebounded by 9 against what will probably be the smallest team they will play all year. That lowers my my expectations for the year. Right now I am assuming Ohio St. will out rebound us by 18.

[GooooMarquette]

Loved the performances of JJJ and Juan.  Sandy clearly belongs.  Duane and Deonte will be very good, but need to play smarter and more consistently.  Steve looks ready to play, but it'll be tough going until he can move from 5 to 4.

Rebounds will be a huge issue, especially until Luke plays, but we can make some of that up with steals and tight D.

It was only UT-Martin, but I'm feeling better this morning than I thought I would.  This team has the potential to finish in the 4-5 range in the BE, with a shot to be on the bubble.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

It was nice seeing a team play for a coach. 

I like this.

[Lighthouse 84]

Given his team's size, and being -9 on the boards last night really demonstrates this, the Warriors have got to make more of their free throws.  65% isn't going to get it done against a better team.

[Blackhat]

we musta started practicing free throws again.

[GGGG]

I thought they were well coached and fun to watch. However, according to the stats shown on the statdium board at the end of the game they were out rebounded by 9 against what will probably be the smallest team they will play all year. That lowers my my expectations for the year. Right now I am assuming Ohio St. will out rebound us by 18.

Yeah I noticed this too.  The problem with Taylor is that he is a below the rim type of player.  Guarding a decent 5 is going to be hard for him.

The other issue I thought was at times their shot selection seemed rushed.  I don't know if Wojo wants them to do that to speed up the game though.  

I think they end up getting beat bad at OSU.  The key to this year is consistent improvement however, and I am confident that this team will be better at the end.

[MU82]

Duane is obviously extremely quick, but I was concerned he was letting his guy drive past him too much, especially during a short stretch in the middle of the 2nd half in which he got beat 3 times in a row.  Maybe he was trying to avoid fouling, but hopefully he's able to stop that penetration better in the future.

This is an excellent point. His on-ball defense reminded me a little of JJJ's defense (when he actually got to play) last season. There is no reason Duane shouldn't be able to stay with his man -- he's got the speed, so it's more about technique and "want-to." JJJ demonstrated as much last night.

[cheebs09]

My main excitement is watching this team grow up. We have a lot of talent. It's just young and not tall.

One thing I really liked seeing is everyone's first move wasn't a pump fake. Juan did it a few times, but not as bad as last year. Good to see them having confidence to go right into a shot. I think that's a positive result of the coaching change.

[AZWarrior]

While it's only one real game, the team is playing better than I expected.  Last year, the team generally played worse than I expected.  It's more fun to be pleasantly surprised.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Since Scoop likes to malign them, I have to say the students were outstanding last night...upper bowl full 3/4ths up...cheers, loudness, rowdy. The sweater vests on the other hand were MIA...

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Since Scoop likes to malign them, I have to say the students were outstanding last night...upper bowl full 3/4ths up...cheers, loudness, rowdy. The sweater vests on the other hand were MIA...

If we could the sweater vests off their rears and cheering during games...we would have the most dominant home court advantage of any team in the nation.

[Lennys Tap]

JJJ was outstanding. Juan was very good. Cohen started slow, finished strong - I can see why Wojo is so high on him. Burton made a couple of shots, Duanne a couple of moves but neither played well. Carlino also had more bad moments than good. Teve made his lay ups (big improvement from last year) and got some rebounds but his post defense was poor. Derrick was hurt and looked like it. John D hardly played - I expect that to continue.

Overall, fun to watch. We'll need to shoot it well and rebound it better to have a shot at a good season. Hopefully Luke will help with the rebounding.

[Anti-Dentite]

If we could the sweater vests off their rears and cheering during games...we would have the most dominant home court advantage of any team in the nation.

Not gonna happen, I of course, sit by a bunch of sweater vests and have often been the victim of icy glares and comments to dial down my enthusiasm while cheering on MU. I ignore them and am hated in my section by many.

[NersEllenson]

Not gonna happen, I of course, sit by a bunch of sweater vests and have often been the victim of icy glares and comments to dial down my enthusiasm while cheering on MU. I ignore them and am hated in my section by many.

It probably has nothing to do with your enthusiasm Chip.

[Anti-Dentite]

It probably has nothing to do with your enthusiasm Chip.

Come on man

[jsglow]

Since Scoop likes to malign them, I have to say the students were outstanding last night...upper bowl full 3/4ths up...cheers, loudness, rowdy. The sweater vests on the other hand were MIA...

Students were quite good.  They usually are for opening night.  It's always invigorating to see excited Freshmen at their first college hoops game.  As for the season ticket holders, I understand that you might not show the same enthusiasm.  But there were far too many empty seats in the lower bowl for my taste, especially for a Friday night.  I believe the announced attendance was around 12.9K.  I'd personally guess 10K in the building.

[NersEllenson]

Come on man

Just had to haze you a little Chip.  Shake it off.  It was a joke...and appears you took it well.   

[Anti-Dentite]

Just had to haze you a little Chip.  Shake it off.  It was a joke...and appears you took it well.   

It's all good, I'm feeling the love.

[tower912]

If we could the sweater vests off their rears and cheering during games...we would have the most dominant home court advantage of any team in the nation.

The student section actually used to boo the sweater vests back in the 80's.

[mu03eng]

I think it was a solid first game but I don't think we should take too much from it.  The defensive side of the ball was solid with outstanding help rotation but UTM was slow to rotate the ball as well.  The offense looked ok and hopefully the shooting continues.  I think we get killed at Ohio State but there will be improvement every game.

I look forward to being wrong, there is definite talent on the team, but I didn't see anything last night given the opponent that changes my mind about it being about a 0.500 season.

[brandx]

The things I took from the game:

1. If we really can shoot 3s like this, we will be in most games and could steal a win or two from better, deeper, taller teams.

2. Easy baskets on steals/fastbreaks? Welcome back ... we missed you!

3. Juan was so much more in control. He still showed great energy but he wasn't the same spastic pinball he had been his first three years.

4. Wow, I'm hoping that was really Jajuan's game. Very impressed by his offensive efficiency and his defense.

5. Sandy Cohen was much better than advertised. It will be interesting to see how that develops.

6. Dawson clearly is the 9th man, light years behind Cohen, and will be the 10th man when Luke starts playing.

7. I don't wish injuries on anybody, but Derrick being limited did let Duane get a nice run at PG. I thought Duane looked very comfortable there but he did play bouncy-ball a little too much. I couldn't get over how skinny his arms were!

8. Must get better, smarter play from Carlino and, especially, Burton.

9. We will have trouble -- probably serious trouble -- in the rebounding, interior defense and foul realms against some of the teams on our schedule. Although that will be the case even after Luke starts playing, the Ohio State, Wiscy and Orlando tourney games could be especially ugly.

10. It was only one game against a cupcake, but I am more excited about 2015-16 (and beyond) than ever, and I think this season's team will be both fun and frustrating. Here's hoping folks don't get too bent out of shape as we go through the inevitable growing pains.

Scoopers getting bent out of shape about anything? What am I thinking?

You're no Tower when it comes to analysis (sorry, gotta keep our "feud" going).

Agree with all the points except, I though Duane looked better at SG than PG. As you said, he played bouncy-ball a little too much. But he will learn, I'm sure he was able to do that at will in HS because of his quickness.

I also liked that we have a lot of options to score. There will probably be 7 or 8 different guys who will be the leading scorer in games this year.

[Vander Blue Man Group]

Video from tonight:

Juan Postgame: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D4-9WFf3Kk&list=UUjbANOIkx9gio5f24p4yeEg

Wojo Postgame: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okPOOl3er5o&index=1&list=UUjbANOIkx9gio5f24p4yeEg

Highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_AhtLbCT-g&list=UUjbANOIkx9gio5f24p4yeEg&index=2

Enjoyed listening to Juan's postgame, especially the answer to the question on leadership.  I'll be rooting for him this year as it sounds like he's persevered through some tough times.  

I also found his comments on JJJ interesting in terms of how not knowing if you are going to get consistent minutes can have a huge impact on your performance (obviously) as well as Wojo encouraging the team to shoot the ball when open without having to worry about coming out of the game.  I don't want this to devolve into a conversation about Buzz but it's hard not to see the connection.

Overall I was satisfied with how the team looked.  As most have mentioned, there will be some rough patches this year, especially with our lack of size until Luke is eligible.  All I want to see is continued progress of the guys that can be huge factors over the next couple of years (JJJ, Burton, Duane, Cohen, STJ, Luke).  I don't expect a tourney appearance but if we can improve enough throughout the season to at least be a threat to win the conference tourney in March that would qualify as a successful season, IMO.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Students were quite good.  They usually are for opening night.  It's always invigorating to see excited Freshmen at their first college hoops game.  As for the season ticket holders, I understand that you might not show the same enthusiasm.  But there were far too many empty seats in the lower bowl for my taste, especially for a Friday night.  I believe the announced attendance was around 12.9K.  I'd personally guess 10K in the building.

Bingo. Lots of empty money seats. Granted, it may be a little late for some of us Vestables, but some of us still make the drive up from Chicago and back.

While I am a bit restricted in my swearing, standing, boisterous chanting due to young ears around me, I am still able to get out of my seat once is a while.  That said, I am of the mind that the students should own certain aspects of the event, and I am glad they have been unbridled a bit from the Thought Police.  They were having a lot of fun last night, and they weren't too oiled.

[WarriorFan]

I liked not hearing the words "Paint Touch" for the entire game.
I liked not seeing random excursions into the paint to get a "paint touch" but not a basket.
I liked that our offensive system generated open 3's.
I liked that nearly everyone was "green light" for 3's.
I liked a defensive system that was simple and effective.

One thing I saw in the game that concerned me, was how Burton was used offensively.  When he's in, he needs the ball.  I'm OK with using him only 15 mins per game if his defense is not good, but he needs the ball during those periods.  The offense needs to change slightly when he's in so he can drive and slash.  Pick and Roll would also work.

[brandx]

I liked not hearing the words "Paint Touch" for the entire game.
I liked not seeing random excursions into the paint to get a "paint touch" but not a basket.
I liked that our offensive system generated open 3's.
I liked that nearly everyone was "green light" for 3's.
I liked a defensive system that was simple and effective.

One thing I saw in the game that concerned me, was how Burton was used offensively.  When he's in, he needs the ball.  I'm OK with using him only 15 mins per game if his defense is not good, but he needs the ball during those periods.  The offense needs to change slightly when he's in so he can drive and slash.  Pick and Roll would also work.

You won't see any more 15 minute games from him.

[tower912]

If he gets in foul trouble and doesn't rebound, you may. 

[jsheim]

Agree with most of this, except UTM is not good.

l agreed with all of it, read up a little on UTM. they will get better. Also a first year coach who is a winner...lots of raw talent...they just need to develop chemistry and discipline...implication for MU is a 50-100 win not the worthless 200+ win we sometimes have.

[BM1090]

l agreed with all of it, read up a little on UTM. they will get better. Also a first year coach who is a winner...lots of raw talent...they just need to develop chemistry and discipline...implication for MU is a 50-100 win not the worthless 200+ win we sometimes have.

I don't think they will be top 100. Hopefully better than 200 though.

[mattyv1908]

One thing that stood out for me that buzz never ever did.

When MU got the ball with 51 seconds left in the 1st half, they came down and got off a shot within 8 seconds so as to give them 2 possessions for 1. The fact that they gave up an offensive rebound denied the opportunity, but it gave us a look at Wojo's thought process as opposed to what the previous regime did (over and over and over).

Thank you for bringing this up, as I cannot recall being that excited at the end of a half solely based on a coaching decision.

The team looked good.  Everybody looked like they wanted to play hard.  They will need to with their lack of size.  This may be a frustrating season in a completely different way than last year as the flashes of 'what lies ahead' with these kids' talent is met with the reality of 'where they are now'.

[brandx]

Thank you for bringing this up, as I cannot recall being that excited at the end of a half solely based on a coaching decision.

The team looked good.  Everybody looked like they wanted to play hard.  They will need to with their lack of size.  This may be a frustrating season in a completely different way than last year as the flashes of 'what lies ahead' with these kids' talent is met with the reality of 'where they are now'.

Buzz would have had Derrick dribble near center court for 20 seconds and then called a timeout.

Good to see Wojo will take advantage of a situation.

[MU82]

I also liked that we have a lot of options to score. There will probably be 7 or 8 different guys who will be the leading scorer in games this year.

Agree. Adding legit 3-point shooting and the ability to score off turnovers really helps the offense, and we appear to have several guys who can score in those ways.

As for our feud, I'm sick and tired of you claiming that your 12-year NBA career gives you a leg up on the rest of us. Ten-time All-Star ... big whoop!