As I matriculated up a UD Arena 300 section to find a center court spot to film Saturday’s men’s basketball intra-squad scrimmage, I couldn’t help but remember other scrimmages from year’s past and the impression they left on me after it was all over. While Midnight Madness is technically the first casting call of the season, it’s nearly impossible to opine on anything seen from such a setting. Several years ago Madness was an actual practice with fans able to see the team work out at what they might do at any other practice during the winter. Today, it’s more Vaudeville — a variety act of sorts that pushes the first true impression maker to the intra-squad scrimmage a couple weeks later.

Within that context in mind, the first impression made on Saturday was fan turnout. Perhaps my eyes and memory are in atrophy, but the fannies in the seats just didn’t seem as lush as past years. A 14-17 season can do that sometimes. I just hope it’s not a sign of fan apathy all year or a signal that too many Flyer basketball fans are actually more dedicated Ohio State football fans staying away so they can catch the goliath toss-up between the Buckeyes and Hoosiers at some smellerific sports bar that carries EPSNU. Even yours truly set the Tivo box to record the Notre Dame-UCLA game in order to catch the Flyers. There’s no getting around the fact that all of you are counting on me to provide a scrimmage report, but that motivation and responsibility aside, I would have gone just for myself anyway. There’s nothing like getting back into the swing of basketball. When this Web site was a lot smaller, I could follow all the sports more closely, but now I delineate to others while I focus on fall sports and Internet logistics. I don’t miss the work but I do miss the proximity.

The Flyers played a trio of eight-minute quarters. To no surprise, junior Norman Plummer was absent and combined with Nick Stafford unable to make a go of it, the platoon of big uglies inside the paint were few and far between. I expected a perimeter-oriented game before the opening tip and that’s exactly what transpired from start to finish. The good news is a number of players shot the ball with authority from long range. The not so good news is there weren’t a lot of touches inside. And when there were, the results were oftentimes unkind.

Perhaps the player handing out the most warm and fuzzies was Richmond transfer Andres Sandoval. He played in control for most of the scrimmage and never seemed to get panicked to the point where he couldn’t figure his way out of a tight spot. Sandoval took care of the basketball but his marksmanship from three-point range is where he really shined. I counted five ringers from the Land of Plenty and I bet he attempted just eight or nine overall. He has a long reach and is a tough match-up for opposing guards, especially other Flyer guards.

Freshman London Warren ran the point on the team opposite Sandoval and showed some good quickness. He knocked down a tough runner from 17ft as the shot clock expired and had a nice dipsy-doo near the rim. Add a couple J’s from the perimeter and he’s a body of work that has some good upside. Warren likes to push tempo and sometimes that will get him in trouble — and he’s not the sure-handed ball hander Sandoval is yet. But he’s athletic and gives UD fans hope.

Brian Roberts was his typical self: making jumpers, getting to the lane, and finding other bodies in good position to score. He played almost exclusively at the two-guard spot but the staff isolated him a couple times at midcourt to take his man one-on-one, possibly to simulate a half-ending or game-ending situation. Roberts is the surest thing this team has to a sure thing. If we learned anything Saturday it that’s B-Rob hasn’t acquired a case of Basketball Disease and forgotten how to play.

The most impressionable player on this writer was freshman Marcus Johnson. Whatever athlete Charles Little is, Johnson is on equal or better footing. Little won’t like hearing that, but having players like Johnson enter the program will make guys like Little better in the long run. Sometimes labeling a player a great athlete gets taken out context however. A writer says “great athlete” and the reader says “but he’s terrible as basketball.” Not so with Johnson. The rap on MJ was his outside shot. He knocked down treys. The knock on MJ was his handle. He displayed a defender-twisting crossover at the foul line and buried the jumper. He took two steps from the arc and dunk a breakaway over a defender with defensive position on him. When I say the name Marcus Johnson, the adjective that immediately comes to mind is ‘smooth.’ He’s got a little Tony Stanley in him. Defensviely? Well, let’s wait and see.

I have no idea how many shots Jimmy Binnie knocked down but it wasn’t many. But he had a couple stick-backs inside the paint that others simply couldn’t collect and stick back on their own. Binnie is the type of player who plays much better than the boxscore typically suggests. I doubt seriously if we see Binnie put up big numbers offensively this year or next, but I cant see him ever falling out of favor with the coaches or out of the Top-8 rotation either.

Monty Scott hit his shots. He battled for some rebounds and loose balls. Monty looked like the Monty we know. Sometimes fans want the Monty we don’t know; the Monty who can score 30 against a good team. I’m not sure that Monty exists, but a 15ppg Monty and fewer disappearing acts will go a long way. Let’s hope his nagging injuries have been given the slip.

Inside the paint, Kurt Huelsman, Charles Little, and Desmond Adedeji had their ups and downs. Nobody owned the paint and sealed off defenders like the Great Wall of China. Finishing remains a problem down low for everybody. Even Plummer gets the yips far too often. Adedeji looked most primed to nail down the starting job at center. He had a workman-like afternoon and had four or five baskets as defenders act as designated hatchet men. Little had a two or three baskets along with a couple dunks. What we didn’t see was improved foul shooting from either Adedeji or Little. I’m already having cold sweats about the final six minutes of every game this year. Unless each proves they can hit 60-65%, I doubt they see the floor late. Huelsman was reluctant to shoot entirely and never got the line. He grabbed a few boards and hustled, but there is a steep learning curve yet to be conquered. I said the same thing about Keith Waleskowski’s putrid showing in his first Flyer intra squad scrimmage however, so let’s not run anybody off yet. It’s obvious however that UD’s inside presence is diminished considerably without Plummer. Plummer is a terrific offensive rebounder, gets better position than other options, and knows how to make free throws.

It’s far too early to make bold predictions but point guard play should be much improved — or if nothing else considerably deeper. Letting Roberts worry only about scoring will keep him from getting burned out in February and March. Down the stretch last year he was running on fumes from so much scoring and passing responsibility. Marcus Johnson is a good candidate for A10 All-Newcomer. Inside play remains a big question mark. If the Flyers knock down shots from behind the arc like they did on Saturday, they won’t even need an inside game. But that’s never going to happen so I see success of failure squarely on the shoulders of the frontcourt players and their ability — or inability — to be viable game changers when called upon.