First and foremost, it was a great night to be back in the USA. As much fun and a grind that football has been, it was nice to get a palette cleanser and get to see the hardwood again.
As has been covered already in much depth, it was a tale of two halves it seemed from this team, they showed what they are going to excel at and what they still need to work on.
Pop Isaacs dropped 19 on some inefficient shooting, but besides that I felt the offense looked at its best with him on the floor and being the primary ball handler. I was impressed by the aggressiveness of the team driving into the lane, 32 points in the paint is a welcome sight and the guards were not afraid to draw contact.
Something I feel will be missed from tonight’s game? 24-29 from the free throw line. WOW. After watching a couple seasons with serious inconsistency at the charity stripe, this was a welcome sight that should be noted.
After a bit of an underwhelming performance in the exhibition due to some unfortunate foul trouble, Darrion Williams showed his efficient playstyle and he was, in my opinion, the player of the game. He scored a quiet 14 points from my vantage point, but he found looks that he was comfortable with, didn’t force anything and just overall looked to have the most control of what he was doing.
Warren Washington was so close to a double-double, he got to eight points early on in the second half and it doesn’t really mean much that he didn’t get it, though it would have been exciting to see. I liked what he did on the rebounding front, he took advantage of his size when going after the ball in the air. I did feel like he left some to be desired in using that mismatch to his advantage when looking to score.
I mentioned this in the game thread, but the intensity of the coaching staff was something I took notice of and it was impressive from McCasland and his staff. I also appreciated McCasland being so open to talking about what the team struggled with and how they can improve on those struggles, like the turnovers and three-point shots.
This is partially why I am not too concerned about these holes moving forward. The turnovers take time, as the games go on I see this team becoming more connected, regardless of who is on the floor.
This roster feels like a team, it looked cohesive and it looked like these players wanted to have fun and play the game. It may have just been game No. 1, but they handled business, which is something that a few other schools can’t say they did in the gimme games. Hopes should not be through the moon, but optimism should be on the brain, at the very least.
As has been covered already in much depth, it was a tale of two halves it seemed from this team, they showed what they are going to excel at and what they still need to work on.
Pop Isaacs dropped 19 on some inefficient shooting, but besides that I felt the offense looked at its best with him on the floor and being the primary ball handler. I was impressed by the aggressiveness of the team driving into the lane, 32 points in the paint is a welcome sight and the guards were not afraid to draw contact.
Something I feel will be missed from tonight’s game? 24-29 from the free throw line. WOW. After watching a couple seasons with serious inconsistency at the charity stripe, this was a welcome sight that should be noted.
After a bit of an underwhelming performance in the exhibition due to some unfortunate foul trouble, Darrion Williams showed his efficient playstyle and he was, in my opinion, the player of the game. He scored a quiet 14 points from my vantage point, but he found looks that he was comfortable with, didn’t force anything and just overall looked to have the most control of what he was doing.
Warren Washington was so close to a double-double, he got to eight points early on in the second half and it doesn’t really mean much that he didn’t get it, though it would have been exciting to see. I liked what he did on the rebounding front, he took advantage of his size when going after the ball in the air. I did feel like he left some to be desired in using that mismatch to his advantage when looking to score.
I mentioned this in the game thread, but the intensity of the coaching staff was something I took notice of and it was impressive from McCasland and his staff. I also appreciated McCasland being so open to talking about what the team struggled with and how they can improve on those struggles, like the turnovers and three-point shots.
This is partially why I am not too concerned about these holes moving forward. The turnovers take time, as the games go on I see this team becoming more connected, regardless of who is on the floor.
This roster feels like a team, it looked cohesive and it looked like these players wanted to have fun and play the game. It may have just been game No. 1, but they handled business, which is something that a few other schools can’t say they did in the gimme games. Hopes should not be through the moon, but optimism should be on the brain, at the very least.
