Someone's got to start it ...
Our guys take the court tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. in the Ted in an exhibition match against Gannon. I've never heard of this school before, and have not so much as taken the effort to do an internet search to find out something relevant about them. Hopefully it won't matter.
What will matter:
--> We get our first look at a plateful of new talent.
--> We get to see how these new guys mesh with the veterans.
--> We get a sense of whether our fan base has shaken off the rust from last season's partial freeze out, and comes out in respectable numbers (although an exhibition game may not be the best test of this).
--> I get to test out Coach's brilliant suggestion of "freedom pops" in lieu of masking nonsense. (I'll have extras over in section 103 if anyone needs them.)
Anything else?
Bummed that I can't make it, but look forward to a report.
I'll be there, but don't see this game as any measure of the fan base. It's an exhibition game against a team few people have heard of on a college football Saturday afternoon.
(11-06-2021 07:13 AM)BluesTraveler Wrote: [ -> ]I'll be there, but don't see this game as any measure of the fan base. It's an exhibition game against a team few people have heard of on a college football Saturday afternoon.
This makes sense. Of my crew of five, I'm the only one going.
I'm out today, enjoy and give us a report.
(11-05-2021 03:52 PM)AdoptedMonarch Wrote: [ -> ]Someone's got to start it ...
Our guys take the court tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. in the Ted in an exhibition match against Gannon. I've never heard of this school before, and have not so much as taken the effort to do an internet search to find out something relevant about them. Hopefully it won't matter.
What will matter:
--> We get our first look at a plateful of new talent.
--> We get to see how these new guys mesh with the veterans.
--> We get a sense of whether our fan base has shaken off the rust from last season's partial freeze out, and comes out in respectable numbers (although an exhibition game may not be the best test of this).
--> I get to test out Coach's brilliant suggestion of "freedom pops" in lieu of masking nonsense. (I'll have extras over in section 103 if anyone needs them.)
Anything else?
We used to play Gannon back in our D-2 days.
Radio only? Just as well, cleaning the garage today so will make for some good background entertainment. Looking forward to reports from attendees. Enjoy those freedom pops AM
(11-06-2021 09:59 AM)mturn017 Wrote: [ -> ]Radio only? Just as well, cleaning the garage today so will make for some good background entertainment. Looking forward to reports from attendees. Enjoy those freedom pops AM
Anyone know whats up with Oliver? Injured?
You guys are gonna like C.J. Keyser
96 points with only 5-3pt, that's pretty sweet.
It was a fun exhibition, mostly because there was so much to watch.
The Good: Blue T. is exactly right. C.J. Keyser is going to be a big contributor. His game looked a bit to me like X. Green at his best (although Keyser is a bit smaller, and no where near as strong a defender). Another highlight is Chas. Smith IV, who has a really good shot but needs someone to set him up.
The Hustle Awards: Keyser, Mekhi Long and (no surprise) Austin Trice has their motors running full tilt all night.
The Unknown: Our front court. Kalu and Trice dominated, but this is not the game to draw any conclusions from. They has no one half as strong as our two big guys. O’Connell looked okay, but he’s small for a front court player. Morris got only garbage minutes.
The Concern: Jaylin Hunter had better be ready to carry the team. He looked fine, but neither Imo Essien nor D’Angelo Stines look ready to take over primary ball handling responsibilities. Stines has a nice shot.
As Giles noted, Oliver warmed up but did not get on the floor. Injury I assume. Jaden Johnson and P.J. Gill did not get enough minutes to warrant any comment.
As Coach Jones noted in his post-game talk, this team clearly likes one another. Keyser set up O’Connell for a beautiful alley-oop, and the bench went crazy. There was another attempted circus play (Keyser off the glass to Trice) that did not work. Coach Jones looked angry, but the team was laughing.
Small crowd - - maybe 1,000. But the band was into it with some clever cheers. Singing “I’m a Little Teapot” during one of the opposition foul-shot attempts made me laugh.
Best news of the night: As much as I enjoyed my grape-flavored Tootsie Pop (thank you Coach for the suggestion), it does not look like it will be necessary this season. I saw very few masks on faces by the start of the second half.
Let the season begin, and Go Monarchs!
Gannon had some talent in the backcourt and some size in the front court but their front court was garbage. Not very athletic. Not as many mid range jumpers, more open court, and lots down low.
First half- jones gave us a C+, which is a bit generous. Way too many turnover. Second half was an A+ all around.
I expect the rotation to be:
Primary ball handlers: Hunter/Essien. I think Essien gets minutes, not a ton but i dont think he sits in the bench all year. Hunter just makes all the right plays and is a good defender. Hes bot the best shooter or playmaker but is decent at everything and is the leader on the court. Easily my favorite current Monarch. Essien is solid, didnt shoot much but made some plays. He will contribute in the future
Wing: Keyser, Oliver, Smith. Keyser is a scorer. He kinda reminds me of freeman in his mid range game, but obviously not that good. He will score some points. Smith and Oliver will be sharpshooters. Smith made a lot of errors in the first half but seemed to shoot the ball well and made back to back 3s. Stines and Johnson likely wont see a ton of time but Stines came in and shot lights out. Both him and Johnson are good shooters that need to improve the rest of their game. I could see Stines moving into the rotation before Johnson. Brady is a good athlete but he didnt shoot well and the ball kinda stuck when he was in. Had a highlight alley oop. I hope his game develops bc he is a very good athlete.
3/4: I expect Long to be the primary guy with Trice playing a handful of minutes along Kalu. Long does all the little things. Good defense and hustle, gets some garbage points.
5: Kalu/Trice. They look like they did last year and will dominate a lot of games. Look for more coming 25-30 points and 15-20 rebounds. Morris played in garbage time and didnt look completely lost but I dont see him playing much.
You can tell these guys really like each other and have fun playing. Defense isnt quite what we’ve seen in the past but I think it could get there. Hunter seems like a shut down guy. Offense- the shooting is 100% better.
My primary concerns are a lack of shot creators outside of Key. Guys can shoot and our big guys will get theres but I can see us having stretches of struggling to get good shots. I think the defense will take time. We will likely turn the ball over more, especially if Hunter is resting.
Fun team and Im excited. Its a good group to root for. Im still unsure on how good they will be. Im hearing good things though and I can see why when I watch that second half.
Dave said Oliver had a minor injury, but should play vs Va Wesleyan.
He looked fine in warmups.
The good news is the ball moves way better on offense with multiple guys that can shoot and score. Thats an improvement over last couple years. The ball stuck with Curry but he did bring an element we might not have and that is to score on his own. We’ll see if it helps.
It was nice to see Kalu and Trice playing on the court together. Jeff had indicated several weeks ago that he had hoped to be able to do that some this season. He didn't seem concerned about one of them being able to guard the 4 position. His concern that he shared with me was whether Morris would provide enough inside quality depth to allow him to do that. Morris is a key role player this season. Can't expect that Kalu and Trice will avoid foul trouble, illness, or injury all season long.
It only makes sense that Smith and Oliver are likely to be the main 3 point shooters this season. Smith is experienced, and was recruited in large part because of his 40+% shooting from behind the arc. Oliver was the main 3 point option last season. Don't know what to expect from Keyser as far as 3 pointers goes. I expect him to be a solid midrange scorer with a lot of his shots coming off screens much like we saw years ago with Freeman. Hopefully he will also be a respectable 3 point threat to keep the defense honest. Jeff indicated that Hunter, Long, and Oliver were all working hard during the summer on improving their 3 point shooting.