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Well, the team is guaranteed 32 games and we've played 8. so, after a quarter of a season here's a few thoughts.

This season has been more like 3 seasons. the strong 3-0 start at home with fluid offense and improving defense. the 0-3 road trip with failing offense and overmatched defense. then, two tough wins. one, a big comeback. and one, surviving a big comeback.

what's good?
1) the rebounding is solid, especially on defense.
2) the overall defensive focus and execution is improved but we've given up a lot of open looks in a few games.
3)marreon jackson's game is as good as it is ugly and that's a good thing.
4) treshaun fletcher's court presence (other than last 3 second defense).
5) Luke's overall development.

what's not?
1) while defense has had some stretches of defending the basket well it does not generate many turnovers.
2) since we are not a great offensive rebounding team we will struggle to win on nights we don't shoot well because we aren't usually generating extra possessions on offense or defense.
2) big game pressure got to us down the stretch in syracuse with our shooting and seemed to affect our overall game vs kansas. rocket's next big game atmosphere won't be until a key game in mac season so ...

what hangs in the balance?
1) Jaelen Sanford's confidence has been very up and down. when he's relaxed and playing fast - even if he's not on fire shooting the ball- the rockets are a pretty good team. when he's at the top of his game and burying jump shots too, we can do damage. but, occasionally, the pressure seems to get to him.
2) Will Willie Jackson will us to be better? The energetic, athletic and familiar forward joins the playing roster in the next 10-12 days after a year practicing with the team and a childhood of playing with Marreon Jackson in Cleveland. Jackson has the ability to make us better in the transition game, offensive boards, and half court defense right away if he adapts smoothly into the rotation from a year out of competition. if he's rusty, we might have chemistry issues.
3) a wide open MAC which could be won at 12-6 or 11-7.

2nd Quarter begins with a 3 game home stand against teams all expected to contend in their leagues. then a 2 game road swing including a game in the historic palestra against a pretty good penn team. MAC play opens with what could be 4 of the top 6 teams in the league - buffalo (east preseason favorite), akron (defending champ playing better than predicted) western (west preseason favorite) and central (best current record in MAC).
Sanford is a bit of a cipher. Inconsistency plagues his game for sure. Fletcher seems settled in now and definitely provides some fire and leadership. Navigato may be our most consistent guy- 12-15 points, 4-6 boards and some hustle plays game in and game out. Knapke still a project but now the objective is to move from solid to elite as opposed to potential to solid. I think, because I’m a shameless homer, that Jackson will be a huge help, especially on defense and on the glass. I see this team winning out and winning the National Championship.
Lololol..... good one H2O !!!!!!!
Never seen the W Jackson play, interesting to see if he starts in place of M Jackson. Hope he can handle the rock.
(12-08-2017 08:24 AM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote: [ -> ]Sanford is a bit of a cipher. Inconsistency plagues his game for sure. Fletcher seems settled in now and definitely provides some fire and leadership. Navigato may be our most consistent guy- 12-15 points, 4-6 boards and some hustle plays game in and game out. Knapke still a project but now the objective is to move from solid to elite as opposed to potential to solid. I think, because I’m a shameless homer, that Jackson will be a huge help, especially on defense and on the glass. I see this team winning out and winning the National Championship.

I'm hoping Knapke can continue his upward trend. Would like to see him play more than 1/2 game. Want to see hm to be more aggressive and get better interior passes from the guards. Adway just seems to be a non factor.
(12-08-2017 09:30 AM)DetroitRocket Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-08-2017 08:24 AM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote: [ -> ]Sanford is a bit of a cipher. Inconsistency plagues his game for sure. Fletcher seems settled in now and definitely provides some fire and leadership. Navigato may be our most consistent guy- 12-15 points, 4-6 boards and some hustle plays game in and game out. Knapke still a project but now the objective is to move from solid to elite as opposed to potential to solid. I think, because I’m a shameless homer, that Jackson will be a huge help, especially on defense and on the glass. I see this team winning out and winning the National Championship.

I'm hoping Knapke can continue his upward trend. Would like to see him play more than 1/2 game. Want to see hm to be more aggressive and get better interior passes from the guards. Adway just seems to be a non factor.

Adway is much less a non-factor than the non-factor he was at this time last year. Does that sound like damning with faint praise?
(12-08-2017 08:24 AM)H2Oville Rocket Wrote: [ -> ]Sanford is a bit of a cipher. Inconsistency plagues his game for sure. Fletcher seems settled in now and definitely provides some fire and leadership. Navigato may be our most consistent guy- 12-15 points, 4-6 boards and some hustle plays game in and game out. Knapke still a project but now the objective is to move from solid to elite as opposed to potential to solid. I think, because I’m a shameless homer, that Jackson will be a huge help, especially on defense and on the glass. I see this team winning out and winning the National Championship.

04-bow
Coach K said after the Detroit game regarding Sanford's recent struggles that sometimes he has confidence issues if he doesn't start a game shooting well. As for Adway, he said that he is "the wildcard" on the team that can really make a difference, but needs to play like he did against Detroit rather then how he has played in previous games.
I think the more we see of M. Jackson, the more we will like him. He's only a frosh, and playing time will help. I wonder what happens when W. Jackson is ready, and how those two might work together since they have history?

Adway is a wild card. I think he has upside, but it's time to start seeing it. His best game so far was against Detroit.

Trey Fletcher is (kinda) this years version of Steve Taylor Jr.
Adway was aggressive on the glass vs detroit. he's got a smooth mid range shot that could be more of a factor and set up his drives. he needs to be more aggressive diving to the basket and looking for lobs and tip ins. we'll see.

I loved how coach set up the play for Fletcher's game winner at Detroit. Turned a negative into a big win and it could really help grow Tre into a leader this season.

Wish we'd see staff give the bench more little opportunities. Gordon finally got a meaningful minute and made a couple good plays vs Detroit. Give him a Rose a few more minutes here and there to provide energy.
IMO best overall game so far was actually the loss to Syracuse. Beat some teams early that were short on manpower, and while not discounting that we won, I’m not a big fan of the “fall behind at home by 19 to a winless team minus 2 starters but come back late to win” strategy. And while stealing a win at the buzzer is always exciting, I can’t forget that we gave up a double-digit lead in 5 minutes.

Have been impressed by Navigato—does a lot of different things that he didn’t do as well before. Fletcher has been a big plus—I just wish we didn’t have this new trend of “one & done” key contributors. Sanford, as we all know, can have games where he is the best player on the court. Give Marreon Jackson time & room to develop. Agree that Willie Jackson could be the key, particularly since our bench play again this season is not currently a strength.

If we can enter MAC play above .500, then I think we finish the season that way. But the MAC is such a meat grinder that I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if this team finished in 4th in the West.

Apparently, I’m not one of the aforementioned “homers”.

Seriously, though—want to see how we do against Marshall, really wish we had Willie for that game, but we’ll see what happens.
(12-08-2017 04:02 PM)pono Wrote: [ -> ]Adway was aggressive on the glass vs detroit. he's got a smooth mid range shot that could be more of a factor and set up his drives. he needs to be more aggressive diving to the basket and looking for lobs and tip ins. we'll see.

I loved how coach set up the play for Fletcher's game winner at Detroit. Turned a negative into a big win and it could really help grow Tre into a leader this season.

Wish we'd see staff give the bench more little opportunities. Gordon finally got a meaningful minute and made a couple good plays vs Detroit. Give him a Rose a few more minutes here and there to provide energy.

Surprised that teams don't double the catch guy on that in-bounds play. They have to have seen it on film.
I missed the winning shot. I took my computer to a different room, thinking it was going OT; didin't happen, I was late.

I couldn't believe it.
(12-08-2017 05:14 PM)bcunn3128 Wrote: [ -> ]IMO best overall game so far was actually the loss to Syracuse. Beat some teams early that were short on manpower, and while not discounting that we won, I’m not a big fan of the “fall behind at home by 19 to a winless team minus 2 starters but come back late to win” strategy. And while stealing a win at the buzzer is always exciting, I can’t forget that we gave up a double-digit lead in 5 minutes.

All wins count the same. It doesn't matter how you get them. At the end of the season, we will look at the win-loss record and it won't matter that they won games against "undermanned" teams or won after making a big comeback or won after giving up a big lead. Wins should be celebrated, in my opinion, no matter how you get them. I don't think they are ever going to achieve the "perfect" game that you seek. It's good to have high expectations, but if you expect them to play perfectly, you will never be satisfied.

One big plus from this season is that they are winning close games, which they had trouble with last season.
(12-08-2017 06:46 PM)RocketBBallFan Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-08-2017 05:14 PM)bcunn3128 Wrote: [ -> ]IMO best overall game so far was actually the loss to Syracuse. Beat some teams early that were short on manpower, and while not discounting that we won, I’m not a big fan of the “fall behind at home by 19 to a winless team minus 2 starters but come back late to win” strategy. And while stealing a win at the buzzer is always exciting, I can’t forget that we gave up a double-digit lead in 5 minutes.

All wins count the same. It doesn't matter how you get them. At the end of the season, we will look at the win-loss record and it won't matter that they won games against "undermanned" teams or won after making a big comeback or won after giving up a big lead. Wins should be celebrated, in my opinion, no matter how you get them. I don't think they are ever going to achieve the "perfect" game that you seek. It's good to have high expectations, but if you expect them to play perfectly, you will never be satisfied.

One big plus from this season is that they are winning close games, which they had trouble with last season.

Please re-read my post. With respect, I must point out I never said I was looking for the “perfect game”. Your words, not mine.
(12-08-2017 07:40 PM)bcunn3128 Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-08-2017 06:46 PM)RocketBBallFan Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-08-2017 05:14 PM)bcunn3128 Wrote: [ -> ]IMO best overall game so far was actually the loss to Syracuse. Beat some teams early that were short on manpower, and while not discounting that we won, I’m not a big fan of the “fall behind at home by 19 to a winless team minus 2 starters but come back late to win” strategy. And while stealing a win at the buzzer is always exciting, I can’t forget that we gave up a double-digit lead in 5 minutes.

All wins count the same. It doesn't matter how you get them. At the end of the season, we will look at the win-loss record and it won't matter that they won games against "undermanned" teams or won after making a big comeback or won after giving up a big lead. Wins should be celebrated, in my opinion, no matter how you get them. I don't think they are ever going to achieve the "perfect" game that you seek. It's good to have high expectations, but if you expect them to play perfectly, you will never be satisfied.

One big plus from this season is that they are winning close games, which they had trouble with last season.

Please re-read my post. With respect, I must point out I never said I was looking for the “perfect game”. Your words, not mine.

I know that you did not say that you are looking for the "perfect" game. It is just my perception based on the fact that you always focus on the negatives after Rocket victories. I choose to focus on the positives. We have different approaches, I know, and neither is wrong. I guess I just wish more fans on this message board were more positive like me.
(12-08-2017 07:46 PM)RocketBBallFan Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-08-2017 07:40 PM)bcunn3128 Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-08-2017 06:46 PM)RocketBBallFan Wrote: [ -> ]
(12-08-2017 05:14 PM)bcunn3128 Wrote: [ -> ]IMO best overall game so far was actually the loss to Syracuse. Beat some teams early that were short on manpower, and while not discounting that we won, I’m not a big fan of the “fall behind at home by 19 to a winless team minus 2 starters but come back late to win” strategy. And while stealing a win at the buzzer is always exciting, I can’t forget that we gave up a double-digit lead in 5 minutes.

All wins count the same. It doesn't matter how you get them. At the end of the season, we will look at the win-loss record and it won't matter that they won games against "undermanned" teams or won after making a big comeback or won after giving up a big lead. Wins should be celebrated, in my opinion, no matter how you get them. I don't think they are ever going to achieve the "perfect" game that you seek. It's good to have high expectations, but if you expect them to play perfectly, you will never be satisfied.

One big plus from this season is that they are winning close games, which they had trouble with last season.

Please re-read my post. With respect, I must point out I never said I was looking for the “perfect game”. Your words, not mine.

I know that you did not say that you are looking for the "perfect" game. It is just my perception based on the fact that you always focus on the negatives after Rocket victories. I choose to focus on the positives. We have different approaches, I know, and neither is wrong. I guess I just wish more fans on this message board were more positive like me.

Fair enough. I can respect that.
I saw my self in the background of Fletchers shot on ESPN sportscenter it made the Number 2 highlight
I started this reply with a grade for each player but then I got to thinking it's probably not fair as its still too early in the season make firm judgement. I feel everyone is still settling-in with their new roles (including our upperclassmen).

I will however grade the team's overall body of work as "B"

At times, we've played both above and below my expectations. But these are 18 to 22 year old kids, which like other college kids, are unpredictable.
Adway does look smooth at times but every time I saw one of his shots against Detroit, he missed.
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