(11-24-2014 08:30 AM)EagleSam Wrote: Sounds like all he needed was some minutes. He's a very smart player on both ends of the court. I had read that he was a very aggressive defender/rebounder, but was also under the impression that he couldn't do much offensively. It looks like quite the opposite. Nice to have an inside-out offensive presence that can take some of the scoring brunt off of the big three (we still need to figure out a name for them). What a find Okoloji has been.
Apparently there were 'problems' on the team. Doubt Okoloji was happy. The other kid, Arledge, had back problems and wanted to med. redshirt. Hewitt said no; wanted him to come back. Finally Hewitt relented and he graduated and transferred to ODU. Sounds like Arledge wanted to 'take advantage' of the med. redshirt opportunity and play elsewhere.
Couple of other points:
1). We've had a very easy schedule of 5 home games. Life could look a little different in say two weeks. We'll see. Okoloji needs to show he can do it versus A-10 (Dayton) or better (UofM and MSU).
2). However, all of the players are getting a lot of meaningful PT, including players like EA, Price, Nazione, Bond (when healthy), etc. who will be important cogs in the '15/'16 season. These kids will be better next year for the meaningful PT they are getting this year. EA is not being brought in 'slowly' - 5 or 10 minutes per game.
With Rochester, Marygrove, and Concordia ahead, every player who can dress will get some significant minutes before the conference season starts. As KPJ posted, Perry and his family were very happy when he scored his first points as a D-I player. When every player gets his time, the team is probably happier. Sharing the PT.
3). The team seems very happy and close. I wonder if the '13/'14 team was always on the same page??? I get the feeling that the players weren't always on the same page and a lot of times Murphy wasn't happy with the effort (esp. D). Yes, a few players transferred. This team seems very cohesive.
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