Wowser. That was some fun tonight. Although by necessity a little short on details (swvabucsfan's analogy of the legendary blind men feeling different parts of an elephant is apropos), the overall mood and vibe was exceedingly positive.
First thing I noticed when I walked in was Noland and Sander talking in hushed tones. Noland looked a tad serious (for him). After they parted, Sander got this sly grin on his face, just watching them warmup. I got an eerie feeling watching him, which I did for a while. It turned into almost a sh**-eating grin. And that was before things even got rolling. I can't say that I was prescient enough to know what was to unfold later, but in retrospect it seems quite the foreshadowing.
I agree pretty much with all swvabucsfan wrote, except that the order of the players shooting for free tuition was 1) Payne; 2) Marosites (and her name is "Kelci", not "Kelly"), and then 3) Cromer. I shall also add that each of the 3 students got to shoot for themselves first, not knowing (unless they were there last year) that they would also possibly have a player shoot for them after they all missed. And all 3 students' shots were very respectable, two drawing serious iron and the other straight on but only brushing the net.
I don't think one can overestimate the goodwill and genuine delight on the team, among the students, and truly filling the whole building that came from those (called/guaranteed) shots. Even before that, I was carefully taking the measure of the team's attitude and closeness, and I must say both those completely pass the eyeball test. Although it pretty much goes without saying, I think Forbes is largely responsible for that. The players, to a man, seemed to have a joy, and even a love for each other that seemed almost impossible to believe, due to all the newcomers. And yet it was there. I couldn't help wondering how much less of that there would have been had bartow still been in command. If the elusive "team chemistry" that I worry about from year to year can be predicted by what we witnessed tonight, that will *not* be a problem. (Of course it's a bit more than that, but what a huge head start!)
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Now.........some of the few impressions of individuals.....
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I almost don't know where to start, and this list will be fairly random, but with the top few the standouts:
Burrell -- the hype ain't been no jive. Boy can get up, and can play. Multi-skilled.
Merriweather -- yet one more level for him. I HOPE somebody got a pic of his lennngthy snarl after his second(?) (third(?)) dunk in the dunkfest. It was a "hell-yeah-we-bad" kind of snarl, OR... a "hell-no-these-youngsters-ain't-got-nuthin'-on-me" kind of snarl - hard to tell. Seemed to be channeling some serious Pigram. And let me tell you, that dunk deserved that snarl. 2 of his dunks were highlight-reel-worthy.
Williams -- fast with lightning hands; no slouch on getting up, either. He'll see some playing time for sure.
Glass -- impressive all around, but no way to discern defense. Moves well with and without the ball. Certainly appeared to at least be in the same 'class' as Tuoyo with this brief appearance, although can't quite match his height.
Payne -- as advertised; good motor, good court sense. Will definitely contribute.
Bradford -- maybe another 1/2 level up for him - or at the very least picking up where he left off at the end of last year. Couple of vicious slams with swagger and style points, too.
Cromer -- as advertised; as swva says, 5 pounds more muscle, if not 8. Really seemed to be feeling it, meaning confident and aggressive.
I was less impressed with Long, Walters, Banks, and Jurkin - with the *strong caveat* that this just wasn't a scenario where everyone had enough time to show what they got. I'll have to say though, that although Walters can shoot, his release is low, slightly slow, and with his lack of height, I wonder if that could be a problem when being guarded by lengthy and/or in-your-jersey defenders. I'll also add the minor note that Banks seemed his all-too-often tentative self, but again that's in very limited action.
I'll leave Obi-Rabu (Kenobi) out for now; he didn't get his hands on the ball much, but he was keen on D.
The dunkfest part of the program was better than I would have thought. I'm not kidding you guys, we have *many* serious leapers with style to boot, and it could be any of literally 8 guys or so who could have a highlight dunk on any given night. There were probably 5-8 NBA-level dunks thrown down, with Burrell's and Merriweather's tops in my book, with Bradford's being a very, very close third.
Forbes has said that at this point, the offense is ahead of the defense, and although there wasn't any *real* defense played in the short scrimmage, I suspect he's dead on about that. But I think the personnel are there to evolve into stoppers. And yet, with the possible exception of Merriweather outside, and Jurkin inside, we don't have what I would consider a *proven* stopper - which is not to say that Hanner, Glass, Burrell, and any of the new guards can't be that. Just couldn't tell from tonight's format.
And finally, I just *have* to say it one more time - I was rather strongly impressed by the enthusiasm, camaraderie, and sense of joy that seemed to fully infect each and every player. Really fun to see.
I think said joy is evident in many of these pics:
Bluenanza photo gallery
Sorry for the lengthy post, but I thought the occasion warranted such.
