Summary:

- Team is healthy. Caupain played with a torn groin, took 6 weeks off after the off-season to heal. Clark's ankle is good to go.

- Cronin has been harder on Troy and KJ than ever before and demands leadership from them as seniors. They have responded well.

- Troy will be shooting less and taking higher percentage shots this year.

- Kyle Washington is not nearly the interior defender Ellis was, but is much better on the perimeter. Expects to double-team the post more this season and extend the defense. Hopes that Kyle and Gary work together like Justin Jackson and Titus Rubles did.

- Said that the offense has evolved in the off-season to keep pace with the modern game. The power forward position is not what it used to be and Gary has been working on his outside shot a lot. Expects to spread it out and play a more open style of offense.

- Jacob Evans, Quadri Moore, and Justin Jenifer have transformed their bodies in the off-season. He worked with Jenifer in particular on completing the transition from being the man on his high school teams and forcing shots/passes to becoming a complete "quarterback" type of player who is judged by how his team plays as opposed to how he plays.

- Nysier Brooks has a great attitude, size, and conditioning. Very raw offensively, but is already a good defender and rebounder. Still needs a lot of polish.

- Cane Broome is poster child for why recruiting rankings don't matter. Despite his lack of size, he is a great scorer, passer, and he makes his teammates better. "He just knows how to play basketball... He has the basketball instincts of a 35-year-old who has played his whole life." Will frustrate big guys with how he can avoid getting his shot blocked and finish.

- Jarron Cumberland will be "on the same kind of path as Jacob Evans." He's a better 3-point shooter than Jacob, but not as good of a defender yet. Needs to work on his lateral quickness but has great instincts. Grew up in a basketball family and was coached well. "Most freshmen do two things that limit their minutes -- turn the ball over and take shots they shouldn't." Said that he does neither and is an excellent and willing passer. Team player not concerned about scoring. Called Jacob Evans the best freshman defender he's ever had.

- More options offensively this season without having a big guy on the floor eating up the middle. Caupain and Evans will post up more and big guys will shoot more jumpers. Kevin Johnson will benefit as he is a great catch-and-shoot guy.

Great interview. Cronin has such a deep understanding of the game and is so good at verbalizing it. Can't wait for the season to start. Thanks for posting.

Don't know why, but this is the most optimistic I've been about a season since Logan led us to a #1 seed. Maybe it's because it's just been so long and we're so overdue.

Feels like there are plenty of options on offense this year, which is very nice. I really hope vans keeps that aggressiveness on offense. Teams will start to key on him this year and he will need to find more ways to score this year.

It's still hard for me to believe that Caupain is a senior.

(10-07-2016 06:04 PM)BeerCat Wrote:  It's still hard for me to believe that Caupain is a senior.

Completely agree. Crazy though he's still only 20 years old.

(10-06-2016 10:38 AM)bearcatmark Wrote:  Love that starting five and I'm incredibly excited to see what Cumberland can do from day 1. Depth worries me as there are a bunch of unproven guys on the bench. Need Jenifer to give them some quality minutes this year. I wasn't as down on him as some others, but he had a ways to go last year.

I agree. Along those lines, one of the few things that bothers me though is that we again have a short roster, which could be a big problem if anyone gets injured. After those 10, I know we have Broome sitting out as the 11th scholly. I guess we're giving Tobler the 12th or am I missing someone? I'm all for rewarding a senior walk-on that way when one becomes "unexpectedly" available, but I wish it was in a year when he weren't already burning a transfer one in Broome. We'll see if that shortage comes back to haunt us.