I agree Akil was the best, but Mamadi deserves a mention. I’d put him in 2nd place.
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I’d also put Key in there - for me - he was the best defender of 1-5’s this century.
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So more Caffaros and Stattmans?
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Lol honestly since we lost McKoy, Tony should have added one more developmental 3 star this year and then another one in 2023 to get back on track.
I think we should be going international for these 3 stars, athletic, rebounding, shot blockers because maybe they would *appreciate an opportunity to come to the US and selected by TB and therefore would not feel inclined to transfer to a new- location due to playing time.
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That’ll fix things…
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I sorta agree. One of my biggest complaints with CTB, besides his love for blocker mover, is that when we do settle for our plan D options that they tend to be players who have very low ceilings. I understand that is part of the nature of Plan D but at the same time I’d much rather see us roll the dice on someone super unpolished athlete than someone like Marco Anthony who is never going to be an all-ACC player
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I didn’t really follow the Sochan recruitment, but seeing him play at Baylor, he really seems like one who got away.
Found my notes from the Blue-White game. Reposting to say that I got some of it right, some of it wrong and some funny things that noticed then but more significant now such as Armaan not shooting threes but good from two and Malachi running point for the reserves. Or the whole Tony telling people to be patient thing.
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Here are my Blue/White scrimmage thoughts. Not that anyone asked for them.
General
- For those that were in attendance, it was amateur hour on the presentation. Tony said some quick words and then had the guys say their name and hometown into a microphone. Disappointing we didn’t do anything more than that or have the JPJ team put in content. Embarrassing to bring recruits to it. So lackluster and zero fan engagement.
- Jayden was the most vocal Hoo on the court and the only player I heard. He’s going to be a leader. Reece can lead from his play, but not sure he’s going to be the vocal guy.
- Tony ended with saying to “be patient with this team”. Not inspiring.
Team Performance
- Didn’t see much hedging from the bigs. Maybe a more trained eye than I could comment but seemed like a lot more switching than in years past.
- As stated in several of my posts, the offense worked better through Reece. A lot more dynamic.
- Think this is still a 7 man rotation. Papi and Kody off the bench. Maybe a Taine sighting here and there. But Kody offers a lot of versatility as far as personnel on the court.
- Can’t really judge a team based on an intrasquad scrimmage. But the starters went on a 15-0 run in the first 5 minutes before they reset the scoreboard. Likely says something more about the reserves than the starters.
Players (Starters) :
- REECE : Star of the show. Disruptive on defense. Could get anywhere on the court and to the basket. Hit his three and some outside shots. Changes the dynamic of our offense. Maybe start worrying about whether he comes back for Year 3…
- Jayden : As advertised in the post. Great footwork and high motor. Had a nice block on Kadin and showed some ability to get up and down the court. He’ll be a go-to when we need a bucket.
- Kadin : Showed some nifty footwork and offensive touch in the paint. Gave Papi fits. Hit a deep 2 as well to display the range. Defensively didn’t let himself get bullied.
- Armaan : Really impressed with his ability to drive. Didn’t shoot any threes that I counted but made a few nice drives and good ballhandling. Didn’t get tested on defense (mostly guarded Carson?)
- Kihei : Yall probably know where i stand. He was good enough in hitting a three and a couple dribble drives. Looked like the Kihei of last year. Just more muscle. Offensively though we don’t seem to generate the same ball movement.
Players (Bench)
- Kody : Hit his open threes. A couple nice lay-ins. But also did Kody stuff like some lazy passes and missed rebounds. He can play 2-4. He’s more a 3 but he will give the roster a lot of flexibility in the looks it gives. Especially, if Tony goes with a short bench. A lot of different combinations today.
- Papi : Didn’t look different to me. Hard work and frenetic play. Some hard fouls even on teammates. A lot of miscues offensively with mishandling passes or missed shots down low. Will be a big drop off when Kadin is not on the floor. Think we’ll see a lot of Kody/Gardner as a result.
Players (1st Years):
- Carson : Yeah, I know not technically a first year but let’s call last year a RS. He hit some spot up threes in the second half. Didn’t do anything in the first half since the reserve team really didn’t have a ballhandler (Malachi played point most of it). Couldn’t create on his own (although had one drive with an open lane). But pretty shot. Defensively, he least held Armaan off from any threes.
- Taine : Looked to create more than the other first years. Definitely more physical and took the ball to the hoop a bit with mixed results. Kind of out of necessity since no one else on the reserves could handle or generate their own shot. Can’t recall many spot up shots. A step slower on both defense and offense than the starters (as to be expected). Not sure he gets too many meaningful minutes early unless injury or foul trouble. Might earn some though by ACC season.
- Igor : Rough day for the guy. Can see his physical promise and hit a sweet three from deep. But not able to generate anything off the dribble and beaten on defense all day + racked up fouls. He was called out by teammates and coaches for timing/positioning. He’s unfortunately not ready.
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Pretty spot on!
Can we get an upset tonight? 3 of the ACC unbeatens playing. Go #Pitt #Cuse #Domers
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I just want to say how much I appreciate that we are 3-1 and and the Hokies are 0-3 and tied for last in the ACC. The more things change…
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I hate watching this Pitt-Louisville game because I know there is just no way Pitt pulls this off. It’s tight, Pitt was even up a few moments ago, but I just have literally zero faith in them.
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I think we woke Syracuse up. They’re all over Miami at the half, and without Buddy doing much.
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And how did I miss Charlie Moore going to Miami? Another one of those class of 2016 6th year seniors still playing. I remember him having a good game against us at Cal when Perrantes was still here. Two schools ago for him.
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Holy crap he’s still playing college ball? What’s dude 28 now?
I was at that game. I remember being psyched Kyle Guy was in and playing well vs. Cal. We UVA fans got stuck way up near the rafters.
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3* Cal—KU—DePaul—Miami lol
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Wow, those comments were really on the mark, and in a bunch of ways that weren’t obvious for a while.
Edit - Looks like Cuse woke Miami up.
Cuse was up 18 with like 1 minute to go in the first half. Miami tied it up within the first 5 minutes or so with the second half. Terrible terrible play by Syracuse.
Remember when their fanbase was murmuring about a Final 4…I guess they can visit the bamners in JPJ if they want to see one.
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