Yes. I too was there and think the team is going to be very good when we put it all together, which I believe we will.
I had the exact same takeaways, particularly regarding the starting lineup.
I donāt know what the deal is with Lewis. Does anyone? We will be so much better with him contributing; I am a little puzzled.
Interesting lineup (rewatching at the moment): Dallin Gertrude Tillis at the 3 Ridder Ugo. Shows they trust Tillis outside shot and passing to overcome any defensive perimeter shortcomings there.
At the 12:10 mark of first half and the first play for us of 2nd half, Hall is able to get downhill and attack at the rim. Need way more of that and need whatever ways to counteract how other teams neutralize Hall from doing that. Need to get the ball inside some out for the kickouts.
Is our backup center (Onyenso) on an NBA roster next year?
*2-way deals count.
We are suing for an extra year since he just turned 21. And then hope no one outbids us/we get rewarded for getting him the extra year
Will say that in the offseason I assumed Ugo would be enemy #1 of our fanbase this year given his reputation at Kansas State. But heās turned out to be wayyyy more fundamentally sound than I thought he would, idk what Tang was doing with him.
This list of current two ways has so many names that are entirely new to me:
If Moussa Cisse can get a two-way on the back of 6 ppg in a bench role at Memphis, I believe Ugo can too.
Recruiting 9000000 centers and talking to the Athletic about how he had a plan for the portal
I just think Lewis is a one dimensional catch and shoot guy and heās really really good at that but Odom is skeptical of running the offense around pin downs and stuff for him when we have TDR/Thomas/GrĆ¼nloh
Just think his lack of rebounding prowess will be his downfall. Heāll have a long lucrative European career
So, I will say something positive, after ragging on Hall, perhaps unfairly.
I donāt know if you could tell on TV, but when Eli was announced the crowd erupted; the fans love him! I have a good feeling about him if he can stay healthy.
In Kentucky among the wildcat faithful for a wedding, chatting with some of big blue nationās finest and they are all a) very much rooting for Ugo and b) think he will be very good for us. They all seem totally unsurprised that heās looked good and seem more surprised he underperformed last year. They really like him.
Yeah, honestly Hall wasā¦ pretty good in the first half? The dumb things the team did mostly didnāt involve him, he did some penetrating and passing to create opportunities for others, and his A/TO ratio was like 5/1.
Second half, he was just kinda there. If anyone vaguely guard-like was on him, he just hung out on the perimeter and passed the ball around. I wonder if he was gassed or not feeling well or what.
Yeah this was my take too.
My wife and I were thinking that, especially with the hair, Dallin looked uncannily like William Zabkaās sidekick from the original Karate Kid.
Was there. To me Hall was fine. Pretty steady on offense moving the ball, but was burned by Lewis early. Chance was better on defense and that was hugely important. Hall looked better on defense when on anyone other than Lewis. Eli was great. Thomas was great. GrĆ¼nloh looks like a legit nba prospect. It was fun to watch and I have very few concerns at this point.
As for Lewis, Jacari White is just more ready for the stage at this point. Jacari is better defensively and more comfortable on offense from what I saw last night.
Also Chance will be a favorite hoo going forward. Love watching him play.
anyone snag a box score??
Maybe unpopular take: I thought Tillis was fine and actually looked really fluid. He had a bad turnover and tried to do too much handling the ball.
I think his role in particular is hurt by lack of comfort knowing where different guys fit in. Heāll always have a harder time with that given his undersized-ness. But I could see him really being an important factor once things settle into place.
Gertrude flying around last night like two knee surgeries never happened. Major props to him!
