(02-17-2020 10:07 PM)Basketball Jones Wrote: Answering a question from a Caller tonight on his Coaches Show, TK said that Ryan Rollins will be a "difference maker" from Day 1 with Toledo but did not commit to him starting right away as a True Freshman. He also said that Edu will be ready to play this Spring, but that they will hold off on playing him in 5 on 5 situations until sometime this Summer. He added that the year off has help Edu develop both strength and shooting wise. He also said the doctors both locally and in Italy are hoping to get a positive report shortly from an upcoming MRI that Acunzo's broken foot is finally fully healed. He said again that Acunzo is one of the most highly skilled recruits they have ever signed and likened his abilities to TreShaun Fletcher.
aloha rockets it's been a couple weeks
back to the initial post by basketball jones, yeah, rollins is a baller. one of those kids you are happy to sign. he wasn't a high major recruit as a junior but started for the top aau team in the state. as a senior he is absolutely destroying teams. he will be a candidate for mr basketball simply on his level of domination and numbers (not saying he deserves it. gets it. is the best player in the state.) if he hadn't signed early and was more concerned with playing in a big time conference than fit- as a metro detroit kid, he would go to a bigger name school. good recruit. but as a freshman few players make a huge impact. you usually either get a promising but inconsistent player, a part time role player w some game oozing out or no production. i don't think he's ron harper or dan marjerle or gary trent. he won't have the role of a juice brown. but he's good so it will be fun to find out.
this team is a disappointment largely because of their defense. somewhere around kansas city in december they lost their defensive edge. last year edu really made a defensive impact. some of it was on the floor. some of it was him just elevating the defensive energy of the team. this year guys have been pretty passive on defense outside of littleson and in some spurts marreon. luke is solid when plays come at him but isn't a defender who covers a lot of ground. willie gains 60 pounds on the defensive end. alderson should be a better defender but has such a mental block about letting go that he usually doubts his instincts on both ends and plays smaller and slower than he is. the team started the year with a carryover of last year's defensive energy but without AJ (who would have been better) it wore off and players other than littleson went from being their best to mediocre. the biggest issue on the team is the defense.
i'll get excited about the italian when he definitely has 2 good feet. coach k has been using the treshaun fletcher comparison since since last summer.
regardless guys usually improve the most from year 1 to 2 so a lot of the energy and depth issues next year will depend on this year's freshmen and AJ. this year we got a very fast pg mostly playing with guys who are slow or tentative. and with the depth issues. you can't usually expect your most aggressive lineup (marreon, littleson, saunders, willie, luke) to keep up a high level of energy playing 35-37 minutes.
the biggest kick in the pants of this season will likely be coach k realizing too late he should have played more zone. which this team does well, negates speed, shortens the game, and would save a little bit of the legs too. since we don't play a defense that creates turnovers. play one that forces some long passes and uncomfortable shots. our man d is letting teams play to their strengths.
