Summary of Saginaw State scrimmage

[Gazoo]

I didn't see any game summaries (apologies if I missed the thread) so here's my summary:

1. Big Steve is quite. . . big. He fully overmatched those guys, but he wasn't playing against stringbeans who have never seen a real center. He was just way, waaay better. And when's the last time UD had a 6'10" guy who was just too d**n good for any team? Steve has strong hands and pretty good footwork for a guy his size / age. Went over 10 minutes before committing his first foul. Very impressed.

2. Sam Miller played well in "required" minutes. From what I can see, we won't be able to play without him since DP isn't here. Big, comfortable shooting the ball, not a total oaf. I think he will blossom eventually and in the mean time he will provide needed fouls and rebounds. Tried to force a shot through the defender the first time he touched the ball and quickly realized he's not in HS anymore. Looked OK after that.

3. Defense: from the freshmen overall was atrocious. Steve was OK. The rest were downright lost on many trips. The upperclassmen looked like upperclassmen.

4. Crosby: looked more like Stills, Nash, or Young. He looked so bad on a couple occasions he seemed to have over-excited tunnel vision. Took an uncontested 12 footer on the break that missed the rim and just clanged off the backboard. Got fully lost on defense multiple times. This performance is best used for bringing someone down to earth and teaching humility and the value of hard work. It will get better.

5. SS looked improved, offensively and defensively.

6. XW did not look great. Looked athletic but looked like someone trying to out-athletic his opponent. That won't last. I don't see him playing major minutes this year, his defense looked too scattered to me. But has a bright future.

7. Cooke looked good. Early season rust, but he will do nicely as a replacement for JS.

8. KD missed 2 3's, but one looked to be partially blocked. The other looked ok he just missed it. Then later in the game came off a screen and even though his man was hung up, KD didn't shoot. Had a full 1.5 seconds to decide, and he didn't shoot.

9. Mikesell made a 3 at the half that barely touched his hands and didn't touch the rim. His other points came when he was being guarded by a guy 6" shorter than him. Don't take too much from his point total.

10. DD got caught up on a couple of screens--shades of last year. Looked much more aggressive on offense and it was good. But he will earn PT or bench time based on improving his defense. Early returns were not promising, but, obviously VERY early.

11. BW looked slow, tired, injured, or all 3.

[steve]

Not sure I'd use the below to describe an 18 yo kid in just his 1st real game in college.....Sure, if he's flexing his muscles and making an entrance like Apollo Creed into the ring but playing at this level ain't easy and humility, down to earth, and hard work might be 3 things he already possesses an awful lot of right now..Just takes time to click..


"This performance is best used for bringing someone down to earth and teaching humility and the value of hard work."

[THirt]

I thought Pollard looked good, especially since he was dealing with an injury. In the red/blue scrimmage, his free throw form on his one freebie didn't look any different to me, but in the exhibition game, his form looked quite a bit better, the rotation of the ball looked better, and shockingly, his FT% was much better. The one he missed later in the game looked to me as though he rushed it a bit and his form looked more like last year's.

While a close game would have been good to get everyone's attention, work on late-game scenarios, etc., with our current team and its odd mix of very-experienced and not-at-all-experienced guys, I think it worked well to get the new guys more minutes. Game minutes are a valuable learning tool, and guys can only get so much better in practice. So Cooke came out and got some of the rust off, the freshmen got to play plenty of minutes, the upperclassmen did their thing, and we got a nice mix of good play, and stuff to work on in practice, point out in film review.

As with all of Archie's teams, this team will get better as the season progresses. You can see the tools are there, and Archie has spoken multiple times about how coachable the players are.

I'd disagree a bit on Crosby - he looks to me to have the confidence and quicks needed for good PG play; we'll just have to hope he can play his role more efficiently. We will just need him to run the offense well enough that Scoochie can get a breather here and there.

I'm biased as a big Kyle Davis fan, but man, is it nice to have him on our side! He makes a couple plays every stinking game that get us 2-8 points on runouts. What a luxury to have him create those points in pretty much every game. I was sad to see Williams miss that layup after KD's sweet behind-the-back drop pass, but I'd certainly rather see that miss in an exhibition game than when it counts.

Anyway, a lot to like from the Flyers on Saturday, a lot to work on, but the pieces are there. Hopefully, we can make it through the first 10 games with 3 or fewer losses, and then we can talk about what a luxury it is to bring Big Steve off the bench.
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[SeasonTicketFan]

The game was a typical preseason game. The juniors looked confident and comfortable and the freshmen showed potential yet a lot of work to do.

It is hard to read much into an early game against a DII opponent. Saginaw was very chippy and had some real cheap, almost dangerous fouls. Kendall was ready to throw punches after the one bad foul.

I think Steve's talents, skills and potential will probably be debated all year long. One thing is for certain. He is the starting center.

I thought Ryan played less minutes because he had been sick earlier in the week.

[jack72]

[QUOTE=Gazoo;423348]I didn't see any game summaries (apologies if I missed the thread) so here's my summary:

2. Sam Miller played well in "required" minutes. From what I can see, we won't be able to play without him since DP isn't here. Big, comfortable shooting the ball, not a total oaf. /QUOTE]

My father paid me the same complement when I was a kid. At least I chose to believe it was a complement.

[Sea Bass]

Flyers committed 11 turnovers, 9 were by freshmen.

[NJFlyr71]

Seems to me that only a couple short years ago during a certain E8 run we had a few freshmen in the NCAA that we probably fretted about during the beginning of the season.

Let me see, I think they were SS, KP and KD? Did I miss anyone?

I know I wondered out loud where they (the freshmen ) had come from. They played a significant role at the end of the season (to my happy surprise) .... where it counts alot ... it took them some time to get rolling.

As long as we can maintain a level of play and success (WINS) in the course of the season .... to get some kind of invite to the NCAA maybe we get to ask that same question again!

I donno maybe you got to trust Archie!

Well you know, somebody might say where did they get those players at?

And maybe, just maybe it will be an opposing head coach that just got sent home!

Go Flyers! Trust AM

[Gazoo]

Originally Posted by steve Not sure I'd use the below to describe an 18 yo kid in just his 1st real game in college.....Sure, if he's flexing his muscles and making an entrance like Apollo Creed into the ring but playing at this level ain't easy and humility, down to earth, and hard work might be 3 things he already possesses an awful lot of right now..Just takes time to click.. "This performance is best used for bringing someone down to earth and teaching humility and the value of hard work."

I only meant to point out that it's going to be a good learning experience for someone who's used to being the best player on the court most nights. This was not even a D1 team, so it's humbling. Don't pull a Johnny Football, spend your time in the film room and with the scouting report wisely because someone is trying to eat your lunch every night. Yes, I expect him to come around.