I was at the Giant game on Sunday so I recorded the game & watched it last night. Although the end result wasn't what I hoped, I must say that there were more positives than most of our games this year. Middleton & Coleman need to play as much as possible. Godswill has a ton of potential & Gus could be a decent BE player if he could ever get himself in shape. He's our only big with any semblance of a post game & doesn't mind banging.
I'm still not sure about Dual.
There were definitely positives in the 2nd half as our talented young guys started to play well. The issue is with young players, improvement is often not linear. They have ups and downs. If they play terribly next game vs Rutgers, you still have to have the trust in them to keep putting them out there.
The other caveat, as Sha alluded to in the postgame, is how much can you trust what you see in the final 12 minutes of a 20-point blowout? One thing I think we saw, is the team looks more fluid and comfortable playing with better overall pace and a sense of urgency. Trying to play at a snail's pace and win a slugfest in the 50s doesn't seem suited to this team's strengths. Let them get out and play more. Trap on defense, run the ball up the court.
Individually, I liked what I saw from Dual. He started attacking off the dribble and made some good passes for open shots. College basketball is about penetration to collapse the defense and ball movement. For most of the season our guys only penetrate out of control and take a wild shot towards the rim. I liked that he showed some variety in his game when he drove. Stop and pass back out to an open shooter or draw a foul. We need more of that from him and he needs to be a disruptor with his length on defense.
Middleton showed his positives. Fast-twitch movement and length on defense and ability to knock down 3's on offense. Needs to keep improving, slowing the game down in his head and we need him to rebound better. He can play as an undersized 4 in a small lineup if he can hold his own on the boards.
Coleman is slowly improving and gaining comfort after his slow start due to injury. Need him to play consistent and keep taking what the defense gives him. As he starts to understand situations better, learn the right times to try to make a play individually. He showed he can rebound and defend but needs to do it every game. Those are 2 areas that always have to be there whether he's scoring or not.
Gus brings movement and energy that the rest of our bigs do not. He shows an affinity for making something happen when he's in the game and that's a big positive from a freshman. He's in better shape and improving but still far behind a typical Power 5 Big. As he develops and can stack healthy practice time and games, he will improve. He looks like he can contribute in short bursts right now as he provides some insticts and skills that we lack in the paint. I think he will be a solid player as an upperclassmen as long as he improves physically.
Godswill shows good long-term potential also and is being asked to do a lot as Okorafor and Toumi have struggled. He's a better finisher than the older duo and doesn't foul as much defensively. Its going to be a struggle for him in the BE but he's shown that he understands where he's suppossed to be on the floor and makes less mental mistakes on assignments than Okorafor and Toumi.
Have to build on the positives from those 5 young guys and get better, more steady contributions from the veterans. Hopefully Sha can start to settle on a style and a lineup and he can articulate to each player exactly what their role is. We need a steady environment for the young players to improve and then hope we can keep them all at the end of the season. Right now that's our best hope.
