Very hard to tell where we stand as we haven't faced anything near a quality P6 opponent yet but here are some observations.
1- Richmond clearly has raised his game.
The offseason work, the relationship with Sha, the team Mindset, whatever.......he is a better player and gives us a bonafide playmaker. He's been excellent in attacking the paint controlled and with purpose, his defense and rebounding are excellent and he's shown that he can play out of the post or in the middle against a zone when needed. My question with him is can he maintain it over a long season through adversity and how will he fare against the double-teams and the hedges on the P&R that are sure to be coming.
2- Bediako is a serviceable big man
With 4 years of starting experience under Herb Sendek I expected him to be a smart, well-coached player. He has shown that. His ability to switch on D and hedge the P&R are better than I thought. Offensively, he has good hands and has a decent jump hook with both hands. But how will he handle the P&R against a quality, athletic PG & C combo and how will he fare against the excellent BE bigs in the post is still a question. I think he'll be respectable.
3- Dawes is still a wildly streaky player
Definitely our best shooter, he is capable of scoring 10 points in 3 minutes to win us a game, as well as disappearing for long stretches. I think that Sha should let him do what he does best - be a scorer. I don't like him running the point. Being a 2nd ball-handler is fine but he doesn't do well initiating offense with the ball in his hands. He holds the ball too long, over-dribbles and doesn't make plays well for teammates. Call more catch and shoot plays for him and let him be aggressive on D and in transition.
4- A healthy Davis is important
He gives us some added toughness and ability to score in the paint. We need him to be a 25-30 minute player all year. A weakness of his is his passing. He's committed several TOs trying to make basic feeds into the post. Was last year's 41% from 3 a fluke? For his 3+ years, he's a 28% shooter which gives room for concern that he's started 2 for 8.
5- Wusu is the glue
He provides a lot of the toughness and energy we lost with KC & Femi. When he is causing TOs and getting loose balls, we are a different team. Offensively, I think he's having some trouble finding his place and I think he has a little more to offer driving to the hoop and from 3.
6- Coleman has shown a lot of promise
His athleticism, length and energy are all assets that we need and he's shown the ability to utilize them on defense, rebounding and on offense. We have to remember the competition and realize he will have struggles as all freshmen do. But you have to love what you see and Sha says good things about his mindset and work ethic. Important role on a short bench. The biggest question for me is can he be a reliable shooter or will he mostly be a slasher and transition threat going towards the basket.
7- Sanders still a ?
He was talked about as one of the most improved players in the offseason but still hasn't busted out. His ankle injury has clearly set him back but he needs to start rounding into shape. I think he's still going to be a tick under-athletic to play good defense but he has the tools to put points on the board and we need his shooting.
8- Elijah Hutchins-Everett
Has not had a strong beginning with 2 mediocre games and missing the last 2 with concussion symptoms. The hope is he will fare better against players closer to his size. We need him to be able to hold his own for 15-20 minutes per game in the post.
9- Sada NgaNga
Has good agility and length but is totally unpolished. He looks lost defensively and uncomfortable shooting. Seems like a long-term project to me but he may be our first big off the bench at the 4 & 5 tomorrow. Yikes.
10- Malachi Brown
Pleasantly surprised by what I've seen from him. Good ball-handler with low center of gravity, has some quickness and looks to have an idea of how to run an offense which is rare for freshmen. I would like to see him get a chance to be the backup PG for 8-10 minutes per game. Reminds me a little of the PG Sha had at St.Peter's - Matthew Lee. He'd be a good change of pace from Kooks and would take pressure off of Dawes to be a playmaker and allow him to be the scorer that he is.
Overall, the 2 components that Sha said he added to the team were shooting and size. To me, those are among our 2 biggest areas of concern up until now.
The offense is decent but in order for it to be considered better than that, we have to be able to bury some 3s. So far against poor competition we've only hit 31.4% (206th in country) and only 20.4% of our overall points come from 3. This is 330th in the country. Both metrics are very similar to how we fared last season. Granted we have scored at will in the paint so we haven't had the need to shoot more 3s. But that is going to change as the competition improves and we have to hit 3s to prevent teams from packing the paint. Davis, Wusu and Richmond are a combined 6 for 25 from 3 (24%). All 3 shot well last season and it must turn around for us to be good.
Looking at other Big East and P5 teams, we stack up well with our Guards and perimeter players. JB is an unspectacular but serviceable 5 who will compete and Davis is strong and tough and can compete against a lot of 4s. But we are going to be giving away a lot of length and agility most games at the 4 & 5 and our backups at those spots don't look prepared for what is coming.
Transfers wiped out all of our PFs, all 3 of whom are playing in P5 rotations. Samuel was a huge loss, Tray Jackson was no loss at all but Tae Davis was a very underrated loss for this team. He's averaging 8 & 5 as a starter at Notre Dame and is the type of athletic, strong 6'8/6'9 guy we need. NgaNga doesn't look ready and Tubek has had a long and mysterious injury. Counting on him, unseen, doesn't seem feasible.
Defensively, we've been good although there's been periods of inconsistency. We have to be a strong team against the 3 and we HAVE to create TOs. When we can get out in transition for some easy baskets, we are a much more dangerous team.
Overall, we are about the team I thought we'd be but I think the middle of the BE isn't as strong as I thought. The top 3 are awesome and the bottom 2 are terrible. That leaves 6 evenly matched teams that are going to battle for 2-3 NCAA bids.
1- Richmond clearly has raised his game.
The offseason work, the relationship with Sha, the team Mindset, whatever.......he is a better player and gives us a bonafide playmaker. He's been excellent in attacking the paint controlled and with purpose, his defense and rebounding are excellent and he's shown that he can play out of the post or in the middle against a zone when needed. My question with him is can he maintain it over a long season through adversity and how will he fare against the double-teams and the hedges on the P&R that are sure to be coming.
2- Bediako is a serviceable big man
With 4 years of starting experience under Herb Sendek I expected him to be a smart, well-coached player. He has shown that. His ability to switch on D and hedge the P&R are better than I thought. Offensively, he has good hands and has a decent jump hook with both hands. But how will he handle the P&R against a quality, athletic PG & C combo and how will he fare against the excellent BE bigs in the post is still a question. I think he'll be respectable.
3- Dawes is still a wildly streaky player
Definitely our best shooter, he is capable of scoring 10 points in 3 minutes to win us a game, as well as disappearing for long stretches. I think that Sha should let him do what he does best - be a scorer. I don't like him running the point. Being a 2nd ball-handler is fine but he doesn't do well initiating offense with the ball in his hands. He holds the ball too long, over-dribbles and doesn't make plays well for teammates. Call more catch and shoot plays for him and let him be aggressive on D and in transition.
4- A healthy Davis is important
He gives us some added toughness and ability to score in the paint. We need him to be a 25-30 minute player all year. A weakness of his is his passing. He's committed several TOs trying to make basic feeds into the post. Was last year's 41% from 3 a fluke? For his 3+ years, he's a 28% shooter which gives room for concern that he's started 2 for 8.
5- Wusu is the glue
He provides a lot of the toughness and energy we lost with KC & Femi. When he is causing TOs and getting loose balls, we are a different team. Offensively, I think he's having some trouble finding his place and I think he has a little more to offer driving to the hoop and from 3.
6- Coleman has shown a lot of promise
His athleticism, length and energy are all assets that we need and he's shown the ability to utilize them on defense, rebounding and on offense. We have to remember the competition and realize he will have struggles as all freshmen do. But you have to love what you see and Sha says good things about his mindset and work ethic. Important role on a short bench. The biggest question for me is can he be a reliable shooter or will he mostly be a slasher and transition threat going towards the basket.
7- Sanders still a ?
He was talked about as one of the most improved players in the offseason but still hasn't busted out. His ankle injury has clearly set him back but he needs to start rounding into shape. I think he's still going to be a tick under-athletic to play good defense but he has the tools to put points on the board and we need his shooting.
8- Elijah Hutchins-Everett
Has not had a strong beginning with 2 mediocre games and missing the last 2 with concussion symptoms. The hope is he will fare better against players closer to his size. We need him to be able to hold his own for 15-20 minutes per game in the post.
9- Sada NgaNga
Has good agility and length but is totally unpolished. He looks lost defensively and uncomfortable shooting. Seems like a long-term project to me but he may be our first big off the bench at the 4 & 5 tomorrow. Yikes.
10- Malachi Brown
Pleasantly surprised by what I've seen from him. Good ball-handler with low center of gravity, has some quickness and looks to have an idea of how to run an offense which is rare for freshmen. I would like to see him get a chance to be the backup PG for 8-10 minutes per game. Reminds me a little of the PG Sha had at St.Peter's - Matthew Lee. He'd be a good change of pace from Kooks and would take pressure off of Dawes to be a playmaker and allow him to be the scorer that he is.
Overall, the 2 components that Sha said he added to the team were shooting and size. To me, those are among our 2 biggest areas of concern up until now.
The offense is decent but in order for it to be considered better than that, we have to be able to bury some 3s. So far against poor competition we've only hit 31.4% (206th in country) and only 20.4% of our overall points come from 3. This is 330th in the country. Both metrics are very similar to how we fared last season. Granted we have scored at will in the paint so we haven't had the need to shoot more 3s. But that is going to change as the competition improves and we have to hit 3s to prevent teams from packing the paint. Davis, Wusu and Richmond are a combined 6 for 25 from 3 (24%). All 3 shot well last season and it must turn around for us to be good.
Looking at other Big East and P5 teams, we stack up well with our Guards and perimeter players. JB is an unspectacular but serviceable 5 who will compete and Davis is strong and tough and can compete against a lot of 4s. But we are going to be giving away a lot of length and agility most games at the 4 & 5 and our backups at those spots don't look prepared for what is coming.
Transfers wiped out all of our PFs, all 3 of whom are playing in P5 rotations. Samuel was a huge loss, Tray Jackson was no loss at all but Tae Davis was a very underrated loss for this team. He's averaging 8 & 5 as a starter at Notre Dame and is the type of athletic, strong 6'8/6'9 guy we need. NgaNga doesn't look ready and Tubek has had a long and mysterious injury. Counting on him, unseen, doesn't seem feasible.
Defensively, we've been good although there's been periods of inconsistency. We have to be a strong team against the 3 and we HAVE to create TOs. When we can get out in transition for some easy baskets, we are a much more dangerous team.
Overall, we are about the team I thought we'd be but I think the middle of the BE isn't as strong as I thought. The top 3 are awesome and the bottom 2 are terrible. That leaves 6 evenly matched teams that are going to battle for 2-3 NCAA bids.
