Fine-buff

[tower912]

1.  UAPB is not good.
2.  Theo played with a broken wrist last year.   He played like a brute tonight.   Liked how he tried to be a peacemaker during that little dust up.
3.  Ball movement was superb. 
4.  Bad things still happen when Cain dribbles.
5.  Garcia was a natural at the high post against the zone.  A keeper.
6.  Lewis is just a big kid who will need to grow into it.   Should be fun to watch.  I hope he is ok.   Ugly fall.
7.  I thought Greg still looked like he is recovering.
8.  All 10 scholarship players scored.
9.  Playing time is going to work itself out.   I hope Wojo keeps spreading the minutes around.
10.   Where would Dexter's minutes come from?
11.  Would have liked to have seen some 4 guard stuff.   Or Cain at the 4.
12.   The zone never seemed to confuse a young team.   Perhaps because UAPB was so small.
13.  Defensive intensity was nice.
14.  It was UAPB.   It was fun.

[wadesworld]

Dexter's minutes would come from Cain and Symir. I think those two will struggle to give us much against high major talent.

But it'll be hard to get minutes with him missing this much time.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Or even Koby. I don't think he played poorly, but he just seems to be the odd one out in this offense right now.

Then again, it's one game against a terrible team. It's like trying to dissect Marquette madness.

[chicagowarrior]

Any MU basketball on TV is fun

Good game

[forgetful]

My two and a half take home messages.

1. We will be a tough team to zone. Great interior passing and Garcia in the high post is great.

2. We shouldn't have any problems handling the full-court press this year. Carton and Symir can break a press.

2.5. It was great to watch basketball again.

[CAGASS24]

Gonna love the perimeter d and size and we looked long up and down the roster - yet still stroked pretty well - gonna be a fun year

[MU82]

It was Pine Bluff ... but it still was fun to have some MU hoops to watch.

Very excited to see more from the new guys. Garcia would start for any school in the country. Carton got out of control a couple of times, and one time I worried he hurt himself; thankfully he hadn't. Can see he is extremely talented, though.

I liked our defensive length and hands. Will be interesting to see if it still looks impressive against a real team.

Theo was like a man among boys.

[mug644]

So fun to have MU ball again, and to see so many positives, despite the opponent.

I agree with Tower's concern about Cain dribbling, and one concern I have about his good output tonight is that he'll think he can do all he was able to do tonight against any team. I've always thought that he gets into trouble when he is too ambitious.

Love Garcia. I think Koby will find a solid role on this team. DJ, yes. Symir, steady presence and hit his open shots (won't have so many in BEast play).

MU b-ball!!

[5DollarPitcher]

I may regret saying this later on in the season but this team passes the eye test. I saw defensive effort like I have never seen from a Wojo team. I will leave open the possibility that Pine Bluff is the worst team in Division 1 because they certainly played like it.

[mileskishnish72]

Hard to take much away from a game against a small bad team. Great to see MU basketball again.

[DoctorV]

Any MU basketball on TV is fun

Good game

Plus one.

It was fun.
Theo was a beast, let's see it in conference
Dawson was what we hoped he would be, plays more veteran than you'd expect
Cain was great, just less threes please
Lewis has it inside, watch the fouls
Carton is the biggest revelation imo- he had a crapty stat line but he affected the entire game a ton for a line like that. On the flip side, I don't see where the scoring will come from from him?

Koby, Ellitott, Symir, Greg, Perez all what I would expect, but Perez more

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Glad to see Tower's post game back.

[Heisenberg]

The last time a freshman started the first game of the season and led in scoring, like Garcia did tonight  ... Henry Elllenson in 2015 against Belmont.

The difference is MU lost against Belmont.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Glad to see Tower's post game back.

Plus 1977

[Big Papi]

Dawson is going to be a stud.  Love his all around game.
Same Theo defense, much improved free throw shooting.
Expected more from DJ although he had a solid game.
Not a fan of Torrence's shot but I liked his awareness in the open court.
I don't see much improvement from Koby.
Perez looks slow.
Oso looks uber athletic.
Cain looks confident which is a plus.
Elliott needs to get and stay healthy.
Lewis has some inside game already.
Loved the ball movement.
Loved the unselfishness
Defense looks improved.
This team has upside.

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

Think Perez will come into his own around conference time.

He's probably been practicing with the scout team the majority of the time since I don't think anybody expected him to get a waiver.

[DoctorV]

"Perez looks slow"

Yes absolutely, and that is my favorite part about him.

Old man Perez will have more and more moxie as the season gets deeper and deeper

[MUfan12]

As the owner of plenty old man game I prefer crafty to slow.

[The Sultan]

This may as well have been a D3 exhibition game.  It was nice to see some things but really am not drawing conclusions until I see better competition.  Friday will be tougher.  Next week much tougher. 

[tower912]

Under different circumstances, I would have lamented the lack of walk  ons.   Last night, it was important to get the new guys as many minutes as possible.

[muwarrior69]

15. I didn't like the fake crowd noise on TV.

[The Sultan]

15. I didn't like the fake crowd noise on TV.

My understanding was that noise was pumped in at Fiserv.  And yeah it was terrible.  Someone mentioned in the game thread that it sounded like crowd noise from a 20 year old video game.  I really hope that ends.

The fake crowd noise at all these sporting events is dumb.  It doesn't sound right, and its obvious no one is in the stands.

[HutchwasClutch]

This may as well have been a D3 exhibition game.  It was nice to see some things but really am not drawing conclusions until I see better competition.  Friday will be tougher.  Next week much tougher.

Yes to all. APB is exhibit A there are way too many schools masquerading as D1. They were one of the worst opponents in recent memory.

Garcia is so smooth and talented.  Looks like he may like up to hype and then some. 

Maybe some returning guys will end up playing more confident out of Howard's shadow too. That's how it appeared last night, but won't know until we play some bona fide programs.

[Uncle Rico]

Covered.  Next

[We R Final Four]

14 TOs and several other tipped passes against that team is waaaaay too many.