David Joseph, Point Guard

[FalconTurf]

Globe your assessment is good as usual but I see a couple of areas of concern. A couple of the bench guys and one of the starters need to up their game in the areas of ballhandling and defense.

My questions about the team would be:
Can Lysche physically play at this level? Rooting for him but he got pushed and punished at times.
What is the best line up if they are under heavy pressure or being pressed? Saw some that did not handle it well and face it ND isn't at the level of MAC schools.

Agree with all of your comments. They struggled in breaking the press. It was a simple one too. Who did you think struggled in ballhandling?

Did not think Denny handled the pressure well. He's an asset as a shooter and he hustles but I didn't think he handled the pressure well yesterday. He also struggles to rotate into position on defense. I see him as a shooter off the bench, not starter, at least early in the year.

[Globetrotter]

I wouldn't be surprised if we essentially had two end of game lineups. We are up and need to go steady
1 Joseph
2 ? Probably Henderson
3 Parker
4 Dickerson
5 Holmes

Then when we are down
1 Joseph
2 Clarke
3 Denny
4 Parker/Dickerson
5 Holmes

[guest44]

I thought Gomez looked more lost than last year, and he was on a different planet then.

[BleedOrange]

I thought Gomez looked more lost than last year, and he was on a different planet then.

I agree. Gomez was the one guy who looked like he didn't belong. Clueless. Mayleben is clearly way ahead of him. Mayleben is solid depth on the post.

I loved Austin's talent, but it's clear that Joseph has the advantage with confidence, strength, and steadiness.

JD Tisdale is as good an athlete as we have. We can't draw conclusions based on Friday's game. If he can score consistently, he may move ahead of Orr.

Concerning Denny's defense, EVERY player can get beat on defense if they are isolated on one side of the court. To me, Denny looked like a hard nosed, in-your-face defender with great anticipation.

Clarke will be an instant-offense guy who can play off the ball and tear defenses to shreds with his lightning-quick ability to get to the basket. Clarke will be a major weapon in certain situations.

Another note about the game: it was very tightly officiated. Holmes and Parker got in foul trouble early due to ticky-tack fouls. That can skew our perception of how they played.