Scrimmage on 10/14

[MUfan12]

Brew has a great thread on Twitter you should check out- https://twitter.com/brewcity1977/status/1448784569851912193?t=HIpmXT8J5H7QH37B3vZR6w&s=19

I'll add a couple of things-

-Unlike past teams, this group has the ability and mindset to guard. Shaka was really getting into the finer points of positioning/timing/cohesion with them.

-Physically this looks way more like a Big East team, and the young guys aren't filled in yet. Kur, O-Max, Joplin, and Morsell are dudes.

-He was dogging Ellis pretty good. Challenging him quite a bit during the middle part of the practice.

-Emphasis on finding the corners when running their transition stuff. Guys were loudly encouraged to shoot if they were open and it was a clean look.

-Lewis looks like he's in terrific shape.

[forgetful]

I'm going.  What questions should I ask Shaka? 

Wrong Answers Only...

Should Beef N' Cheddars come on a regular role instead of the onion role?

[brewcity77]

A few thoughts...

• This team has some practice shooters. We'll see how it translates, but Kolek, Joplin, Greg, O-Max, and Jones all looked like capable shooters.
  
• Everything starts with defense. Transition drills, press, 5-on-5 "playing for stops" drills, and the defensive effort in practice is higher than anything I've seen in a good 7-8 years.
  
• Morsell is a dog on defense. Really good at getting through screens, active hands, but his offense ended the practice when he scored a driving lay-up & three on consecutive possessions.
  
• Kam Jones and O-Max Prosper were the guys that looked better than I expected. Both look ready for minutes now.
  
• Ellis is an athlete, but he needs work, especially if he's going to play PG. Too many turnovers, errant passes, loose handle. But then he'll make a play that drops your jaw.
  
• Here's my Twitter thread on the night for more: https://twitter.com/brewcity1977/status/1448784569851912193?s=21

[Shooter McGavin]

A few thoughts...

• This team has some practice shooters. We'll see how it translates, but Kolek, Joplin, Greg, O-Max, and Jones all looked like capable shooters.
  
• Everything starts with defense. Transition drills, press, 5-on-5 "playing for stops" drills, and the defensive effort in practice is higher than anything I've seen in a good 7-8 years.
  
• Morsell is a dog on defense. Really good at getting through screens, active hands, but his offense ended the practice when he scored a driving lay-up & three on consecutive possessions.
  
• Kam Jones and O-Max Prosper were the guys that looked better than I expected. Both look ready for minutes now.
  
• Ellis is an athlete, but he needs work, especially if he's going to play PG. Too many turnovers, errant passes, loose handle. But then he'll make a play that drops your jaw.
  
• Here's my Twitter thread on the night for more: https://twitter.com/brewcity1977/status/1448784569851912193?s=21

Thanks Brew!  Kam's name continues to come up in preseason. Could be an under the radar freshman who contributes more than expected. 

[Daniel]

Good stuff!   Thanks!

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

A few thoughts...

• This team has some practice shooters. We'll see how it translates, but Kolek, Joplin, Greg, O-Max, and Jones all looked like capable shooters.
  
• Everything starts with defense. Transition drills, press, 5-on-5 "playing for stops" drills, and the defensive effort in practice is higher than anything I've seen in a good 7-8 years.
  
• Morsell is a dog on defense. Really good at getting through screens, active hands, but his offense ended the practice when he scored a driving lay-up & three on consecutive possessions.
  
• Kam Jones and O-Max Prosper were the guys that looked better than I expected. Both look ready for minutes now.
  
• Ellis is an athlete, but he needs work, especially if he's going to play PG. Too many turnovers, errant passes, loose handle. But then he'll make a play that drops your jaw.
  
• Here's my Twitter thread on the night for more: https://twitter.com/brewcity1977/status/1448784569851912193?s=21

I got a different impression on the shooters. Kolek and Elliott looked like good shooters. Jones and O-Max were good in spurts. The rest really struggled.

The defense is refreshingly good. Extremely aggressive. Very few teams will be comfortable playing us. Coach said that the team's goal is 32 deflections a game. Seemed possible. The offense is all about transition, at least it was this practice. When the defense managed to stall the transition, the offensive results weren't pretty.

Kam Jones was the biggest surprise for me as well. Confident with the ball, a creative scorer, and a pest on defense.

Joplin isn't afraid to shoot but his defense looked to be the farthest behind of anyone.

Ellis had a rough practice overall. Didn't do much well and seemed gassed all practice.

Kuath will try to dunk on everyone but also showed a few softer offensive moves. Swats everything on defense. Fans will love him.

Elliott wasn't allowed to do sprints with the team due to injuries but did all the other drills. Shot is still great, drive is still not so much.

Oso has filled out a lot and is a strong defender. He won't have trouble guarding  most of the 5s in our league. His offense is non-existent. There was one possession Shaka was screaming at him to demand the ball and he couldn't even get into good position.

Morsell's D is as good as advertised. His offense was slow for most of practice but really came on at the end. Will be able to get to the basket on his own.

Stevie in a boot, Shaka says it shouldn't be for long.

Keeyan didn't practice with the main group except for a 2 minute stretch where Oso needed a breather. But in that stretch he had a nice putback. Seems like he's already been relegated to the back of the bench. I don't know if Shaka is planning on redshirtting anyone but he would probably be the best candidate.

O-Max has nice skills on both sides of the ball. I think he's a year away but has a really high ceiling.

Kolek is my pick for starting PG day 1. Best shooter along with Elliott and made some really great finds off his drives. Most intense. First on the floor going after loose balls.

Justin looked fine. Shot was off most of the practice. Didn't look like the breakout candidate we hope he is but it is one practice.

Shaka couldn't work in enough references to "growth", "development", "building year" into the Q and A afterwards.

[Warrior2008]

No idea how the talent gels when games count or how many wins will come, but fans will love watching the type of basketball Shaka is pushing this team to play. We're longer, quicker, and more athletic than recent teams and it shows on defense, especially with the intensity the guys were playing at. 

Very much looking forward to the season.

[MuggsyB]

A few thoughts...

• This team has some practice shooters. We'll see how it translates, but Kolek, Joplin, Greg, O-Max, and Jones all looked like capable shooters.
  
• Everything starts with defense. Transition drills, press, 5-on-5 "playing for stops" drills, and the defensive effort in practice is higher than anything I've seen in a good 7-8 years.
  
• Morsell is a dog on defense. Really good at getting through screens, active hands, but his offense ended the practice when he scored a driving lay-up & three on consecutive possessions.
  
• Kam Jones and O-Max Prosper were the guys that looked better than I expected. Both look ready for minutes now.
  
• Ellis is an athlete, but he needs work, especially if he's going to play PG. Too many turnovers, errant passes, loose handle. But then he'll make a play that drops your jaw.
  
• Here's my Twitter thread on the night for more: https://twitter.com/brewcity1977/status/1448784569851912193?s=21

Ty Brewcity.  Overall take on O-Max? 

[brewcity77]

I got a different impression on the shooters. Kolek and Elliott looked like good shooters. Jones and O-Max were good in spurts. The rest really struggled.

The defense is refreshingly good. Extremely aggressive. Very few teams will be comfortable playing us. Coach said that the team's goal is 32 deflections a game. Seemed possible. The offense is all about transition, at least it was this practice. When the defense managed to stall the transition, the offensive results weren't pretty.

Kam Jones was the biggest surprise for me as well. Confident with the ball, a creative scorer, and a pest on defense.

Joplin isn't afraid to shoot but his defense looked to be the farthest behind of anyone.

Ellis had a rough practice overall. Didn't do much well and seemed gassed all practice.

Kuath will try to dunk on everyone but also showed a few softer offensive moves. Swats everything on defense. Fans will love him.

Elliott wasn't allowed to do sprints with the team due to injuries but did all the other drills. Shot is still great, drive is still not so much.

Oso has filled out a lot and is a strong defender. He won't have trouble guarding  most of the 5s in our league. His offense is non-existent. There was one possession Shaka was screaming at him to demand the ball and he couldn't even get into good position.

Morsell's D is as good as advertised. His offense was slow for most of practice but really came on at the end. Will be able to get to the basket on his own.

Stevie in a boot, Shaka says it shouldn't be for long.

Keeyan didn't practice with the main group except for a 2 minute stretch where Oso needed a breather. But in that stretch he had a nice putback. Seems like he's already been relegated to the back of the bench. I don't know if Shaka is planning on redshirtting anyone but he would probably be the best candidate.

O-Max has nice skills on both sides of the ball. I think he's a year away but has a really high ceiling.

Kolek is my pick for starting PG day 1. Best shooter along with Elliott and made some really great finds off his drives. Most intense. First on the floor going after loose balls.

Justin looked fine. Shot was off most of the practice. Didn't look like the breakout candidate we hope he is but it is one practice.

Shaka couldn't work in enough references to "growth", "development", "building year" into the Q and A afterwards.

I agree with most of this. As far as the shooters, I used the word "capable" because they all showed they could hit outside shots, but hitting a few in practice isn't the same as doing it in a game. I'm not convinced they'll all be good shooters in games, but the ability to grow into good shooters seemed to be there.

I thought it was interesting that we didn't really have a point guard. Get it in, get it to the nearest guard, go up court. Didn't matter if it was Kolek, Elliott, Ellis, Morsell, Jones, all of them brought it up.

Muggsy, I would say O-Max was one of my favorites to watch. He did some of everything, including leading fast breaks and making 50-foot heave passes that hit the mark. It was just one practice, so I don't want to read too much into it, but he looked like he could compete for starting minutes. That said, Justin's shot was also off and like TAMU said, he (Lewis) didn't have a great night so part of this is likely just O-Max having a good showing by comparison.

I also watched Prosper a little in the FIBA stuff last summer and was less impressed then, so I'm trying not to put too much stock in tonight, but I do think the upside is there.

[MuggsyB]

I agree with most of this. As far as the shooters, I used the word "capable" because they all showed they could hit outside shots, but hitting a few in practice isn't the same as doing it in a game. I'm not convinced they'll all be good shooters in games, but the ability to grow into good shooters seemed to be there.

I thought it was interesting that we didn't really have a point guard. Get it in, get it to the nearest guard, go up court. Didn't matter if it was Kolek, Elliott, Ellis, Morsell, Jones, all of them brought it up.

Muggsy, I would say O-Max was one of my favorites to watch. He did some of everything, including leading fast breaks and making 50-foot heave passes that hit the mark. It was just one practice, so I don't want to read too much into it, but he looked like he could compete for starting minutes. That said, Justin's shot was also off and like TAMU said, he (Lewis) didn't have a great night so part of this is likely just O-Max having a good showing by comparison.

I also watched Prosper a little in the FIBA stuff last summer and was less impressed then, so I'm trying not to put too much stock in tonight, but I do think the upside is there.

I've sort of had a long day and will go back and read the in depth comments but defensively do you think we're most likely to go small or big to close games?  In other words can an O-Max, JLew, Khartoum Kaboom line-up potentially work?

[MuggsyB]

It seems to me that JLew putting up 12-15 could elevate this team to pretty formidable.  I've already determined from the reports that I will love Kuath. 

[brewcity77]

I've sort of had a long day and will go back and read the in depth comments but defensively do you think we're most likely to go small or big to close games?  In other words can an O-Max, JLew, Khartoum Kaboom line-up potentially work?

It was one practice with no traditional scrimmage but I expect you'd see a three-guard lineup. The thing with guys like Ellis and Jones is they have the length to make things difficult on a lot of people. I would guess three guards, a rebounding forward, and Kuath.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Thanks for these detailed observations. I went back and read these tonight and appreciate the analyses.

I will say this: Scoop blusters, jokes, meanders, goes off the rails, argues incessantly, is off color, trolls, but man, there are some damn good basketball thoughts on this site.

Eff COVID! We need some basketball jonesing in our lives again. I have a feeling Charleston is going to drunk dry of Miller Lite.

[Shooter McGavin]

Thanks for these detailed observations. I went back and read these tonight and appreciate the analyses.

I will say this: Scoop blusters, jokes, meanders, goes off the rails, argues incessantly, is off color, trolls, but man, there are some damn good basketball thoughts on this site.

Eff COVID! We need some basketball jonesing in our lives again. I have a feeling Charleston is going to drunk dry of Miller Lite.

Amen, brother!!  Go Marquette!!

[MarquetteMike1977]

It seems to me that JLew putting up 12-15 could elevate this team to pretty formidable.  I've already determined from the reports that I will love Kuath.

Agree was at the practice. Also Kur looked way better than I heard he looked in the warehouse games. Shaka said David made 11/22 shots in shots taken during practices prior to the scrimmage.