Maine Thoughts

[brewcity77]

I'm sure tower will be along before too long, but I thought I'd chip in my two cents until he gets here.

• Dominant performance. Yes, this was a cupcake, but 37 points is still impressive.
  
• Turnovers were improved. I didn't track numbers by half, but 14 turnovers in an 82 possession game (17.1%) isn't bad.
  
• Cupcake level...better. Maine in stretches looked like a decent team, they just couldn't deal with our interior strength. Once Wally and Luke sat, they played us pretty even.
  
• Block party today. Four guys with multiple blocks, Luke with 4.
  
• Hot long range shooting continued, 7/13 today.
  
• Effort definitely declined in the second half. Granted, a comfortable lead, but a few too many sloppy turnovers, also allowed a few too many chances on the offensive glass. We can do this today, but they need to get used to 40 minutes of effort for conference play.
  
• Free throws still shaky. 65.4% isn't quite terrible, and only Cohen missed more than 1 FT (0/2), but I hate leaving points at the line.
  
• Speaking of Cohen, I really liked his contributions today. Only 5 points, but did a bit of everything. Hit a two, a three, grabbed 3 boards, had 2 blocks, only 1 turnover, and led the team with 8 assists. He's growing into the type of guy that can quietly make the team better.
  
• We looked better against the press and broke it a few times, but that will continue to be a struggle for these young ballhandlers. Honestly hope to see more cupcakes press us so we get more comfortable with it. At least we know Bucky won't press.
  
• For Maine, that Devine Eke kid is pretty darn good. Scoring, rebounding, blocking shots, and being forced to play bigger than he is. Enjoyed watching him.
  
• Good to see Cam Marotta get his first point. Brought a smile to my face.

[PGsHeroes32]

Definitely better team than grambling.

We just came out on first nailing jumpers with the easy dunks and things snowballed since they started cold.

As game went on they had some guys who could knock down shots and get some boards

Still not much a test though. Hopefully we keep shooting well

[tower912]

Fighting fire, doing reports.   Unable to watch a single minute. 

[GGGG]

• Effort definitely declined in the second half. Granted, a comfortable lead, but a few too many sloppy turnovers, also allowed a few too many chances on the offensive glass. We can do this today, but they need to get used to 40 minutes of effort for conference play.
  

You know though, Wojo got pissed at them and they responded.  A young team is going to lose focus.  It was good that they got it back.

[Stretchdeltsig]

Congratulations Warriors on the big win!

[brewcity77]

You know though, Wojo got pissed at them and they responded.  A young team is going to lose focus.  It was good that they got it back.

Very true. As it was winding down, I was pleased with some of the defensive stops and the last few minutes, even with walk-ons out there, were better.

Also thought dribbling out the clock and taking the violation was pretty classy.

[nyg]

Agree with Devine Eke.  Looked him up and he was not even ranked by any service in high school last year.  Played in New Jersey and don't know how that kid flew under the radar.

Only thought of day is...... I hope Wojo has a bigman up his sleeve for next year or following.  Matt Heldt is not going to be the answer when Luke graduates, or even as a backup next year. 

[GGGG]

Agree with Devine Eke.  Looked him up and he was not even ranked by any service in high school last year.  Played in New Jersey and don't know how that kid flew under the radar.

Only thought of day is...... I hope Wojo has a bigman up his sleeve for next year or following.  Matt Heldt is not going to be the answer when Luke graduates, or even as a backup next year. 

A back up point guard would be nice too. 

[connie]

Hard to argue with a 37 point win, but  I remain skeptical of how much we can take away from these games.  I was glad to see Wojo get a bit fired up when things got sloppy in the second, and the team respond.   

[tower912]

A back up point guard would be nice too.

He's currently red-shirting.

[brewcity77]

I'm not putting too much in Heldt's performances just yet. He still looks very young and isn't nearly as developed as our other freshmen. Definitely needs to grow into his body. Who knows what a full year of maturation with a collegiate workout program will do for him? Even if he never develops into more than a Dwight Burke or Chris Otule type player quality wise, those are still valuable guys to have on your roster as upperclassmen.

[GGGG]

He's currently red-shirting.

Yeah that's true.  That can likely wait until 2017 then.

[wadesworld]

He's currently red-shirting.

Our backcourt is going to be very good next year if Cheatham and Carter develop like I think they will.  From what I've heard, Rowsey may be the best backcourt player on our roster right now.

[brewcity77]

Hard to argue with a 37 point win, but  I remain skeptical of how much we can take away from these games.  I was glad to see Wojo get a bit fired up when things got sloppy in the second, and the team respond.

On the upside, Pomeroy had MU as an 18 point favorite. We eclipsed our predicted margin before Maine scored a point, and I'm not sure they ever got it closer than 18 once we were up 22-0. At least we're outdoing expectations against the cupcakes we are playing. (Trying to put on the happy face)

He's currently red-shirting.

Not sure he'll play the PG. His usage rate and percentage of shots taken at UNC-Asheville was higher than any MU player this year including Ellenson. Last year he took an even higher percentage of his team's shots than Matt Carlino did for us. I think he'll more likely be an undersized 2 with the staff hoping Cheatham can indeed develop into a reliable secondary PG option.

[PGsHeroes32]

Rowsey is not jumping Haanif and Duane so idk how he's gonna be playing the 2.

[wadesworld]

On the upside, Pomeroy had MU as an 18 point favorite. We eclipsed our predicted margin before Maine scored a point, and I'm not sure they ever got it closer than 18 once we were up 22-0. At least we're outdoing expectations against the cupcakes we are playing. (Trying to put on the happy face)

Not sure he'll play the PG. His usage rate and percentage of shots taken at UNC-Asheville was higher than any MU player this year including Ellenson. Last year he took an even higher percentage of his team's shots than Matt Carlino did for us. I think he'll more likely be an undersized 2 with the staff hoping Cheatham can indeed develop into a reliable secondary PG option.

Or Wojo will go with 3 small guards like he's shown he's willing to do at times this season (Carter, Cheatham, and Duane have all been on the floor together for extended minutes I believe in NYC).  Cheatham is proving he's a very good option off the ball.  If I had to guess it'd be Carter starting at the point with Rowsey backing him up for 8-10 minutes per game and then playing 15-20 minutes off the ball at the 2, with Cheatham, JJJ, Cohen, and Duane splitting up the rest of the 2/3 minutes between them, plus JJJ and Cohen getting a few very limited minutes at the 4.

[wadesworld]

Rowsey is not jumping Haanif and Duane so idk how he's gonna be playing the 2.

Last I've heard Rowsey was clearly head and shoulders above both Haanif and Carter, and Haanif has been head and shoulders above Duane so far this season (at least since moving off the ball).

[ChicosBailBonds]

Happy to see Cam get in, get his point.  Nice dunk by Wally. 

[Earl Tatum]

A Cupcake. But, Good to see the lesser players on the team get experience. Wally, Sacar, Mache,
Cam, and even Matt getting valuable time for him. We'll need him this year.

[Earl Tatum]

I hope Rowsey is as good as advetised.

[Herman Cain]

Agree with Devine Eke.  Looked him up and he was not even ranked by any service in high school last year.  Played in New Jersey and don't know how that kid flew under the radar.

Only thought of day is...... I hope Wojo has a bigman up his sleeve for next year or following.  Matt Heldt is not going to be the answer when Luke graduates, or even as a backup next year.

He was a string bean in high school and PG'd
http://highschoolsports.nj.com/news/article/3486692034668602007/boys-basketball-union-catholics-devine-eke-will-take-postgrad-year-at-robinson-school-reopens-recruitment/

[Jay Bee]

Agree with Devine Eke.  Looked him up and he was not even ranked by any service in high school last year.  Played in New Jersey and don't know how that kid flew under the radar.

He was seen PLENTY. I think a part of it was he was an extremely seldom used guy in EYBL play... he played a lot of minutes, but we're talking sub-10% usage. Nice FG% of 70%+ (didn't shoot treys) there and was great from an efficiency perspective, but tiny usage...

...however, those guys he was playing with included Kentucky's Boogie Briscoe and the Seton Hall kids (Whitehead, Desi Rodriguez, Michael Nzei)... Briscoe was at 37% usage, Whitehead at 28%, Desi 23%... playing with great teammates can be fun, but also ... and in this situation, mute your production.

[keefe]

Fighting fire, doing reports.   Unable to watch a single minute.

Life is about setting priorities.

I question your loyalty to our beloved alma mater.

[bilsu]

The team is still terrible against the press. Carter would of had a triple double, if he got to play 10 more minutes.

[dgies9156]

1) It was the closest game we had to an "everything comes together" game. We developed a game plan, stuck to it and did well.

2) We took advantage of a height differential and pounded the ball inside. More importantly, we did dribble drives, penetration and hit outside shots.

3) Jujuan is playing against cupcakes but he continues to look solid. Hope this lasts through Big East schedule.

4) Traci is the real thing. Period. Love him already.

5) See number 4 for Haniff Cheatham.

OK, this cupcake was nice. It's part of a conference where the teams will occupy seeds 13 to 16 in the NCAA tournament. Not as good steam as we are by a long shot. But that said, it was nice to watch a game where it all came together.