11-02-2012, 11:58 PM
basketball season is here and it feels so, so, so, so good
it's impossible to gauge a team that is playing their first game together, knows it's an exhibition and is playing against a wildly overmatched team, but gauge i will.
i think we'll have a killer defense and streaky (& sometimes frustrating) offense. our size is ridiculous. i have to believe we'll have a size advantage in each MAC game. the offense was very uncomfortable against the zone, which is funny since i assume they practice against the zone a lot. our offense in the first half was very uncomfortable and relied on 3s.
our defense was extremely aggressive. the 3/4 press looked great, there were a lot of effective traps near the scorer's table, and the opponent was largely unable to get the ball in the paint. the intensity of every single player on defense was great to see.
as for the individual players....
Glenn Bryant - he's already lined up to be one of my favorite EMU players of all time. his athleticism is only matched by his energy. he was all over the court grabbing rebounds, playing extremely aggressive defense and was the only offensive weapon in an otherwise stagnant first half offense.
Daylen Harrison - definitely feels comfortable out on the court and is extremely competent with the ball. he has a nice looking shot. i see some potential for him to be a guy who disappears for stretches during games, so that will be something to look for in the future. he looks good on defense.
James Still - Still was the surprise of the show (at least for me). he moves incredibly quickly in the zone. it seems like he can slide from guarding the 3 to providing help on a big in the post with only 2 steps. he was very engaged, communicated well with teammates, was working the refs and knew where to be on offense. very competent offensively and defensively. if he wasn't battling Harris for minutes, i'd say he'd average 10 and 8. not sure how his minutes will work out with a healthy Harris.
Matt Balkema - lost a ton of weight from last year. seems to get up and down the court much faster. in fact, he moved well enough that i think he could split minutes at center with Riley. he made a couple of nice moves to the basket from 5-6 feet out. i saw a lot of improvement from him today. tough to tell how improved he is on defense since UM-Dearborn didn't have any effective big men.
Jalen Ross - I really liked his defense. he also looked good on the fast break. it will be interesting to see how he runs the offense against a man defense. tough for a point guard to show his point guard-iness against a 2-3 zone, so i'll reserve judgment for a few more games. but, he doesn't seem to be a guy who is going to score a lot of points.
Derek Thompson - same as last year. he'll be our 2nd or 3rd highest scorer. nice player.
JR Sims - Sims did today what he did a lot last year. he'll have a couple of plays where he looks like a guy who could be an excellent 6th man, and then disappear for a couple of minutes. i'm always confused about whether his lack of greater success is due to his role, or if he doesn't have it in him to score 10 points a game.
Austin Harper - played extremely well on defense. was trapping like a man possessed. part of his success might have been because UM-Dearborn had given up by the second half. it will be interesting to see if he can keep up that level of defense against better teams.
Da'Shonte Riley - he will be frustrating for us during his entire career. he has the talent to be a top 10 MAC player, but he's either lost or nervous or doesn't care or something. i'm guessing he'll have as many 3pt, 3 rebound games as he does 10pt, 8 rebound games.
our offense will do well when Bryant, Harrison and Thompson are all shooting well. Still & Harris are both the type of player that will always get their 6-8 points, but probably not more than that. i don't see anyone else on this team being much of an offensive threat. the big wildcard is Lee, and hopefully CMadler can shed some light on that situation.
also, at the end of the bench there was Talley (i assume that was him) and Harris in sweats and some dude wearing dress clothes. does anyone know who that was in dress clothes?
that's all i've got for you all. good night now.
it's impossible to gauge a team that is playing their first game together, knows it's an exhibition and is playing against a wildly overmatched team, but gauge i will.
i think we'll have a killer defense and streaky (& sometimes frustrating) offense. our size is ridiculous. i have to believe we'll have a size advantage in each MAC game. the offense was very uncomfortable against the zone, which is funny since i assume they practice against the zone a lot. our offense in the first half was very uncomfortable and relied on 3s.
our defense was extremely aggressive. the 3/4 press looked great, there were a lot of effective traps near the scorer's table, and the opponent was largely unable to get the ball in the paint. the intensity of every single player on defense was great to see.
as for the individual players....
Glenn Bryant - he's already lined up to be one of my favorite EMU players of all time. his athleticism is only matched by his energy. he was all over the court grabbing rebounds, playing extremely aggressive defense and was the only offensive weapon in an otherwise stagnant first half offense.
Daylen Harrison - definitely feels comfortable out on the court and is extremely competent with the ball. he has a nice looking shot. i see some potential for him to be a guy who disappears for stretches during games, so that will be something to look for in the future. he looks good on defense.
James Still - Still was the surprise of the show (at least for me). he moves incredibly quickly in the zone. it seems like he can slide from guarding the 3 to providing help on a big in the post with only 2 steps. he was very engaged, communicated well with teammates, was working the refs and knew where to be on offense. very competent offensively and defensively. if he wasn't battling Harris for minutes, i'd say he'd average 10 and 8. not sure how his minutes will work out with a healthy Harris.
Matt Balkema - lost a ton of weight from last year. seems to get up and down the court much faster. in fact, he moved well enough that i think he could split minutes at center with Riley. he made a couple of nice moves to the basket from 5-6 feet out. i saw a lot of improvement from him today. tough to tell how improved he is on defense since UM-Dearborn didn't have any effective big men.
Jalen Ross - I really liked his defense. he also looked good on the fast break. it will be interesting to see how he runs the offense against a man defense. tough for a point guard to show his point guard-iness against a 2-3 zone, so i'll reserve judgment for a few more games. but, he doesn't seem to be a guy who is going to score a lot of points.
Derek Thompson - same as last year. he'll be our 2nd or 3rd highest scorer. nice player.
JR Sims - Sims did today what he did a lot last year. he'll have a couple of plays where he looks like a guy who could be an excellent 6th man, and then disappear for a couple of minutes. i'm always confused about whether his lack of greater success is due to his role, or if he doesn't have it in him to score 10 points a game.
Austin Harper - played extremely well on defense. was trapping like a man possessed. part of his success might have been because UM-Dearborn had given up by the second half. it will be interesting to see if he can keep up that level of defense against better teams.
Da'Shonte Riley - he will be frustrating for us during his entire career. he has the talent to be a top 10 MAC player, but he's either lost or nervous or doesn't care or something. i'm guessing he'll have as many 3pt, 3 rebound games as he does 10pt, 8 rebound games.
our offense will do well when Bryant, Harrison and Thompson are all shooting well. Still & Harris are both the type of player that will always get their 6-8 points, but probably not more than that. i don't see anyone else on this team being much of an offensive threat. the big wildcard is Lee, and hopefully CMadler can shed some light on that situation.
also, at the end of the bench there was Talley (i assume that was him) and Harris in sweats and some dude wearing dress clothes. does anyone know who that was in dress clothes?
that's all i've got for you all. good night now.