usually I like to make a post a while after a big game as the in game thread gets pretty emotional and all.

I consider the Bradley game a good marking stick for the team. first game, lots of new faces on the team, we played them last year, they are good-won the past 2 valley conference tournaments.

are we better? looks like it. bradley handled us by 12 last year and this game went down to the last shot in the last second. both teams lost a couple important players and had a couple good ones coming back. both seem to have more depth. wardle thinks this will be his best bradley team. their guard play was terrible in the first half but good in the second. they are big ten big inside. they got an offensively limited but agile 7-1 guy and a go to senior 6-7 power forward. both are built like MMA fighters. AJ was solid on defense and the boards but struggled with the rust against those 2 guys inside. UT led more of the game and had the biggest leads but seemed to fade a bit down the stretch. interestingly, or of note, coach k took out AJ and rollins with about 4 1/2 minutes to go. komagum and saunders came in and we got a stop gave the two most winded guys a minute, plus the tv timeout. last year and most years past we've had little to no crunch time bench play and it has hurt us. i was glad to see tk make that move and it helped us. the big play late was the 5 second call on the inbounds. we were trying to run something to get a look and their d was great, but marreon has to have a better count. we made more of the hustle plays all game, which was good, but they got the last one crashing the glass on the miss with 15 seconds to go. AJ played great d on the shooter but it took him out of rebounding position and the bradley guy was able to deflect it off him. not a bad loss, but it stings cuz we had a chance to take the lead in the last minute.

are the new guys really that good? yeah, millner was great. got a bit of that willie jackson, jordan lauf, keonte howell type swingman game. a swingman who is physical enough to defend forwards and outhustles guys. i don't think he will shoot like this every game. it was good night for him. but he's a good all around player who has some leadership personality. millner would have been our team mvp today if we'd won. rollins started and was horrible for 3 minutes-turnovers, fouls, missed shots, fumbles. but he'd got himself together and had a pretty good game. love his size as an outside shooter, defender and ballhandler. has a chance to be very good. acunzo looked like he hadn't played much in 2 1/2 years. very rusty but moving well and looks healthy. i think he'll be a good role player for us by the end of the season if he stays healthy. love hill. he's the one guy i'd like to see play more. dynamic defender. has some pg feel. he has a chance to be good too. don't know why maranka didn't play other than him maybe being the 10th best player on the team. if he's healthy i'd imagine we see him vs xavier. we'll need all the help we can get. komagum was everything you could want out of a mac backup big man. he rebounded. he defended. he seems to have strong hands. i like that he may be around 3 years. may never score much but could be very solid on the glass and defensive end. i could also see playing him w AJ vs xavier.

who got better? littleson got more hair. marreon got jerkier. saunders played better, more relaxed. AJ looks good on defense but wasn't looking to be a threat on offense. may need some games to get his full speed coordination back in that knee. this question is unclear.

outlook? oakland got unpackaged, balled up, and thrown out by xavier. are they that bad or xavier that good? we need to come back and play like winners and get to 1-1. score isn't that important, but the W is. then, on friday we get a chance for a signature win. it'll be a longshot but if we make shots we'll hang around. this team can defend and they hustle.

(11-26-2020 02:53 AM)pono Wrote:  usually I like to make a post a while after a big game as the in game thread gets pretty emotional and all.

I consider the Bradley game a good marking stick for the team. first game, lots of new faces on the team, we played them last year, they are good-won the past 2 valley conference tournaments.

are we better? looks like it. bradley handled us by 12 last year and this game went down to the last shot in the last second. both teams lost a couple important players and had a couple good ones coming back. both seem to have more depth. wardle thinks this will be his best bradley team. their guard play was terrible in the first half but good in the second. they are big ten big inside. they got an offensively limited but agile 7-1 guy and a go to senior 6-7 power forward. both are built like MMA fighters. AJ was solid on defense and the boards but struggled with the rust against those 2 guys inside. UT led more of the game and had the biggest leads but seemed to fade a bit down the stretch. interestingly, or of note, coach k took out AJ and rollins with about 4 1/2 minutes to go. komagum and saunders came in and we got a stop gave the two most winded guys a minute, plus the tv timeout. last year and most years past we've had little to no crunch time bench play and it has hurt us. i was glad to see tk make that move and it helped us. the big play late was the 5 second call on the inbounds. we were trying to run something to get a look and their d was great, but marreon has to have a better count. we made more of the hustle plays all game, which was good, but they got the last one crashing the glass on the miss with 15 seconds to go. AJ played great d on the shooter but it took him out of rebounding position and the bradley guy was able to deflect it off him. not a bad loss, but it stings cuz we had a chance to take the lead in the last minute.

are the new guys really that good? yeah, millner was great. got a bit of that willie jackson, jordan lauf, keonte howell type swingman game. a swingman who is physical enough to defend forwards and outhustles guys. i don't think he will shoot like this every game. it was good night for him. but he's a good all around player who has some leadership personality. millner would have been our team mvp today if we'd won. rollins started and was horrible for 3 minutes-turnovers, fouls, missed shots, fumbles. but he'd got himself together and had a pretty good game. love his size as an outside shooter, defender and ballhandler. has a chance to be very good. acunzo looked like he hadn't played much in 2 1/2 years. very rusty but moving well and looks healthy. i think he'll be a good role player for us by the end of the season if he stays healthy. love hill. he's the one guy i'd like to see play more. dynamic defender. has some pg feel. he has a chance to be good too. don't know why maranka didn't play other than him maybe being the 10th best player on the team. if he's healthy i'd imagine we see him vs xavier. we'll need all the help we can get. komagum was everything you could want out of a mac backup big man. he rebounded. he defended. he seems to have strong hands. i like that he may be around 3 years. may never score much but could be very solid on the glass and defensive end. i could also see playing him w AJ vs xavier.

who got better? littleson got more hair. marreon got jerkier. saunders played better, more relaxed. AJ looks good on defense but wasn't looking to be a threat on offense. may need some games to get his full speed coordination back in that knee. this question is unclear.

outlook? oakland got unpackaged, balled up, and thrown out by xavier. are they that bad or xavier that good? we need to come back and play like winners and get to 1-1. score isn't that important, but the W is. then, on friday we get a chance for a signature win. it'll be a longshot but if we make shots we'll hang around. this team can defend and they hustle.

Let's check back at this eval after 4/5 games. Believe most is spot on, but wouldn't be surprised if Millner's production stayed on line, and Acunzo comes on faster than expected. It may take awhile for Marreon and Rollins to blend their games together. But the sooner the better for UT.

TK has been losing out to other mid-powers for power forwards in recruiting for the future, unless he brings in 5th year seniors or jucos who can play right away.