(11-01-2017 06:26 AM)Bucfaithful Wrote:  Any chance Bo will see some action at the '4'...Kind of like when 6'4" Dane Bradshaw played there at UT?

Well, Bo will be a "self-identifying" 4 on offense, as he relentlessly attacks the hole. But don't think he can play a 4 on defense - at least by design. Under bartow, possibly; but I don't think we're that desperate. I can imagine short scenarios of "small ball" with say, Jurkin/Armus/Overstreet in at the 5, and Bradford, Payne, McCloud/Obi/Long, and Hodges or Edwards being 4 smalls, while Burrell rests. But that won't be the norm.

And I still think PreacherPurl is undervaluing Overstreet.
And again.....to my eyes, Harrison was about equivalent to Rodriguez - but of course one couldn't know to what degree Rodriguez was holding back because of his shoulder. I will say Harrison didn't seem to have the best hands in the world when finishing, or trying to. But I don't think he was going to be much of a scorer anyway.

I'll just emphasize for about the fourth time, for those who missed the scrimmage, that Bo Hodges will be a weapon. Probably mis-firing some, but he will be a force to be reckoned with, and it won't take half the season to see that, either.

A bigger worry will definitely be our outside shooting. We've been spoiled with Guyn and Cromer. Will be interesting to see if opponents try to lock down Payne, as I suspect scouting reports will show stopping him to be a key to victory. And hopefully we can counter that with crisp ball movement.

Improving inside defense, rebounding and scoring much more important than worrying about 3pt shooting.

Guard play should be as good and maybe better by tournament time.

Not worried about Payne. He’s shown he can get rounds off in a hurry & he’s much better off the bounce than given credit for.

As for Hodges at 4, agree it’s doubtful at best. Bucs probably in trouble if that becomes more than a brief experiment. As posted previously, still in better shape with bigs than year 1 so really no need to get too creative.

Overstreet. Hard to undervalue a guy that hasn’t played in 2 years. FWIW he had 0 minutes in Peay scrimmage.

I trust that Forbes knows the best roster much more than any of us do. But I also agree that just with the 1 practice sample size, Overstreet outperformed Armus, and if Jurkin (which impressed me at the practice) doesn't get many minutes, I don't see how Overstreet doesn't get a good number of minutes. There are only so many big guys on the team and we have to substitute.

(11-01-2017 06:43 PM)PreacherPurl Wrote:  Not worried about Payne. He’s shown he can get rounds off in a hurry & he’s much better off the bounce than given credit for.

As for Hodges at 4, agree it’s doubtful at best. Bucs probably in trouble if that becomes more than a brief experiment. As posted previously, still in better shape with bigs than year 1 so really no need to get too creative.

Overstreet. Hard to undervalue a guy that hasn’t played in 2 years. FWIW he had 0 minutes in Peay scrimmage.

I'm not really worried about Payne, either, and I agree with your assessment of his capabilities. I'm just saying that *if* an opponent chooses to focus on him, that would necessarily shift some 3-pt. gunning to another player, to some degree. Last year, Payne was the beneficiary of other teams *attempting* to corral Cromer. This year, unless Bradford steps up more frequently in that department (and maybe he will), Payne may draw more defensive attention.

I hear what you're saying about Overstreet, and I could counter that perhaps(?) Forbes just wanted to see more of what Armus could do in a near-game-like situation. I don't know. We'll see, I guess. And like I also said, coaching bias would necessarily be towards PT for a scholarship athlete than a non-scholarship one. I just can't imagine, tho, as the season goes on, that Overstreet won't see a few minutes of PT - unless Armus develops quicker than I anticipate after watching the scrimmage.
But frankly, we have not competently replaced HMP and Glass - but that was likely too much to ask. So we'll have to replace more stringent perimeter D for the previously strong inside D. Fortunately, I think we have a shot at doing that. But we *will* be getting burned inside.

Has everybody forgot about Obi. He shot 38% from behind the arc his sophomore year.

The Bucs will be better than you think shooting 3's and the guards will be better at getting to the rim and dishing the ball.

The inexperience of the bigs, except for Peter and if you want to call Burrell a big, is the problem area. Hanner and Glass had a year in the system and both played at high level D1 programs before they played their first game for the Bucs, big difference.

We will know a lot more after the OOC games. The bigs should improve with each game and the Bucs will be able to make a strong run come March.

I expect evenly spread scoring with Desonta the standout and less production in the post than last year. If they play defense & rebound well over the season, it will still be the same kind of strike while the iron is hot offense that we enjoy. As long as the bigs run the floor and protect the glass, there’s all the makings of a competitive SoCon team. Let’s have more fun tonight at Bluenanza and muse again tomorrow.

(11-02-2017 02:25 PM)Buc76 Wrote:  Has everybody forgot about Obi. He shot 38% from behind the arc his sophomore year.

The Bucs will be better than you think shooting 3's and the guards will be better at getting to the rim and dishing the ball.

posterformerlyknownasthedoctor (after the scrimmage):

Quote:As was Obi. He's about what I expected - much hustle, good hands, good instincts, good D, eager, quick, and moderately successful outside shot. Can play, but will likely not be a starter. Can he get 12 a game like at Longwood? I don't see that because he won't get 25-30 minutes (I don't think). But I can easily see 7-10, with enough PT.

(11-02-2017 02:25 PM)Buc76 Wrote:  The Bucs will be better than you think shooting 3's and the guards will be better at getting to the rim and dishing the ball.

posterformerlyknownasthedoctor (after the scrimmage):

Quote:Bucs06 states he doesn't know that we have a reliable three point weapon. Well, unless Payne, Bradford, and Burrell (not to mention Reppart), we have the same top 3-ball threats as last year, minus A.J. and Cromer, of course. Yes, big losses, but we'll make some threes. As many as last year? Not likely. There wasn't much successful 3-ball shooting tonight, but that was mostly because of the oppressive D, *and* because Forbes was clearly working hard on entry passes.

And yes, as I stated multiple times, certainly Hodges will be getting to the rim, and I think McCloud can take people of the dribble, too, as well, as dish. Long, too, but that's too hard to quantify, both in PT and quality of PT. But you know, Cromer and Merriweather could do that, too. Remains to be seen how all that plays out, but at this point, I'd call that aspect a wash.
(And let me say it yet one more time: Hodges will be going to the hole. It's like a magnet to him.)

Tomorrow in Asheville should be very interesting for the Bucs. Solid opponent with ability to take them to school if they go in soft. Did the bigs learn anything from last week. Can the guards take better care of the ball & shoot it better? Although it’s a scrimmage Asheville might be the 2nd or 3rd best team they face before conference (exclude KY & X) so a good read on where they are is in the offing.

(11-02-2017 02:25 PM)Buc76 Wrote:  Has everybody forgot about Obi. He shot 38% from behind the arc his sophomore year.

The Bucs will be better than you think shooting 3's and the guards will be better at getting to the rim and dishing the ball.

Bucs shot .382 from 3 last yr. if they reach 35% this year I’ll be surprised.

(11-03-2017 02:11 PM)PreacherPurl Wrote:  Tomorrow in Asheville should be very interesting for the Bucs. Solid opponent with ability to take them to school if they go in soft. Did the bigs learn anything from last week. Can the guards take better care of the ball & shoot it better? Although it’s a scrimmage Asheville might be the 2nd or 3rd best team they face before conference (exclude KY & X) so a good read on where they are is in the offing.

Agreed. I think they're (UNC-A) possibly even better than last year.

Sports Illustrated rates Asheville 132 to 110 for ETSU and 111 for Northern Kentucky.

Both Sports Illustrated and Blue Ribbon rank Asheville #1 in the Big South.

They appear to be an interesting matchup for the Bucs - strong, physical, athletic and experienced at guard led by 6-3 215 Ahmad Thomas, the Big South defensive player of the year with 3.0 steals per game to go with 18 points and 6.7 rebounds - can guard everyone from point guards to 4's. Also 6-3 So and Big South Freshman of the Year MaCio Teague (15.6 points, 4.7 rebounds) and senior Kevin Vanatta (9.1 ppg and 4.5 rpg). But not super big up front with 6-7 205 center Alec Wnuk (7.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg), and a 6-9 200 sophomore Baehre (2.1 ppg, 1.4 rpg) and a couple of 6-7's in the mix. But the muscle and the rebounding is at the guard spot. Strong where the Bucs seem strong, at guard, but not physically overwhelming up front, at least on paper.

Excellent to hear the bucs took care of business. Beat UNC-A by 18.. Payne with 22

https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/...6520866816

Promising indicator

Nice win. Anyone else have more info to share? Can't wait until Friday.

Sounds like Devontavius lit up a solid defensive guard rotation.

Asheville did not seem to have the horses to expose any front court weaknesses, though.

Had posted previously that Bucs could be in trouble if Hodges at 4 was more than a brief experiment. Well, it's more than a brief experiment. And while I understand Bo played pretty well, plenty apparently got exposed about the bigs yesterday. Suffice to say this part of the equation continues to be a work in progress and hopefully, when the lights come on, the lights come on.