Is anyone going to open practice tomorrow and will you please post your observations

(10-06-2023 06:25 PM)drmm Wrote:  Is anyone going to open practice tomorrow and will you please post your observations

Yes please someone let us know what you think. I live in Tampa Bay and this would help my curiosity ....Go Bucs.....and thank u

Team look physical we are are good hands. Only negative was shooting and DJ Hughes rolled his ankle.

The practice was for the most part a scrimmage with a divided squad. I'm not sure how to gauge attendance but the crowd seemed fairly large and were engaged in the action for the most part. Two assistants coached each squad with Coach Savage patrolling the outside looking on.
It may be that this was simply a part of the practice environment but the action was quick and intense. The offence for both sides seemed to be to drive to the basket first (Justice Smith seemed especially to favor strong breaks to basket) and kick out if stopped. The defense was tight and aggressive, maybe a little "handsy" which would need to be cleaned up before real games. Some height in the post, but not much bulk, (Parker is active around the basket, but seemed to have trouble scoring if the ball came to him away from the basket; he seemed to have more success when the ball was delivered to him on the move) which is going to require solid outside shooting which wasn't much in evidence as noted above. A generally athletic, quick and aggressive team. It will be interesting to see how that translates to game play with real competition.

(10-08-2023 09:36 AM)BigIslandBuc Wrote:  The practice was for the most part a scrimmage with a divided squad. I'm not sure how to gauge attendance but the crowd seemed fairly large and were engaged in the action for the most part. Two assistants coached each squad with Coach Savage patrolling the outside looking on.
It may be that this was simply a part of the practice environment but the action was quick and intense. The offence for both sides seemed to be to drive to the basket first (Justice Smith seemed especially to favor strong breaks to basket) and kick out if stopped. The defense was tight and aggressive, maybe a little "handsy" which would need to be cleaned up before real games. Some height in the post, but not much bulk, (Parker is active around the basket, but seemed to have trouble scoring if the ball came to him away from the basket; he seemed to have more success when the ball was delivered to him on the move) which is going to require solid outside shooting which wasn't much in evidence as noted above. A generally athletic, quick and aggressive team. It will be interesting to see how that translates to game play with real competition.

Thanks for the info.

Thanks for the info.

How did Boyd and Meriwether look?

Also how did Tyler Rice, Jadyn Parker and Ebby look?? thank you to anyone who can answer

I didn't have a roster with me and don't know virtually any of the players by sight. Parker is tall and thin, active around the basket, looks to receive the ball, when in motion can catch and score, weight is going to be his main issue, he can't sit on the block and wait for the ball, the ball needs to get to him in motion. I saw Merriweather, he is hard to miss. I can't say that I noticed anything particular about his play. He needs to get in the weight room to add muscle. If he can, he could be a real force underneath. For the others, I didn't mostly know who was who.

Didn’t the men scrimmage Middle Tennessee this past weekend? Anyone have any thoughts.

They did. I haven't heard about the results or anything yet

Below is the full SoCon ESPN schedule
Sunday, Jan. 21 Chattanooga at ETSU; 3 p.m. (moving from Jan. 20)
Sunday, Feb. 4 UNCG at Furman; 2 p.m. (moving from Feb. 3)
Thursday, Feb. 8 Samford at UNCG; 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 14 Western Carolina at Samford; 9 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 28 Furman at Western Carolina; 7 p.m.

(10-16-2023 09:45 AM)Buced_Up Wrote:  They did. I haven't heard about the results or anything yet

Have heard that it was a 20-25 point loss. Do not have much more details than that.

Hard to take in isn’t it?


ASHEVILLE, N.C. (Oct. 25, 2023) — The Southern Conference held its annual basketball media day on Wednesday inside Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville.

With all 10 head coaches and select players from each team in attendance, the league office released its preseason poll and all-conference team for the upcoming 2023-24 season.

The Bucs, led by first-year head coach Brooks Savage, were picked to finish seventh by the coaches and sixth by the media.



2023-24 Southern Conference Preseason Coaches Poll
Team (1st-place votes) Total
1. Furman (8) 80
2. UNCG (1) 68
3. Western Carolina 62
4. Samford 61
5. Chattanooga (1) 53
6. Mercer 38
7. ETSU 34
8. Wofford 24
9. The Citadel 21
10. VMI 9

The Street & Smith magazine picked the Bucs 3rd. For whatever that is worth.

A fairly complimentary appreciation of the Bucs' chances this year. Of course, with the usual purple slant.

https://www.midmajormadness.com/2023/10/...onship-run

(10-31-2023 10:25 AM)BigIslandBuc Wrote:  A fairly complimentary appreciation of the Bucs' chances this year. Of course, with the usual purple slant.

https://www.midmajormadness.com/2023/10/...onship-run

It's interesting there was no mention of newcomer Maki Johnson in the ETSU synopsis.

(10-31-2023 08:43 PM)squeak Wrote:  

(10-31-2023 10:25 AM)BigIslandBuc Wrote:  A fairly complimentary appreciation of the Bucs' chances this year. Of course, with the usual purple slant.

https://www.midmajormadness.com/2023/10/...onship-run

It's interesting there was no mention of newcomer Maki Johnson in the ETSU synopsis.

I saw this a couple of days ago. I didn't really think much of it at the time. But Maki Johnson was mentioned in the very brief consideration of the Bucs.


252. East Tennessee State Buccaneers – Last Season Ranking: 226

Conference: Southern

"As with most coaching changes the roster this year is completely new, and they are currently undergoing a bit of a rebuild. Maki Johnson was the first recruit for coach Savage. Johnson was averaging just under a triple double in high school, was the top ranked player in West Virginia, and was a top 50 shooting guard recruit in the country. Johnson is a guy who is going to step in a play right away and is going to be at the front of the change. He is a talented freshman who can win the Buccaneers games every time he steps on the floor."

You can read the whole list here if you wish:

https://bustingbrackets.com/2023/11/01/n...24-season/

BustingBrackets: 252
KenPom: 249
Massey: 208

I'd wager we finish the year in the top 130.. hopefully top 100 if everything goes well.