Thoughts 4 games in.

[Globetrotter]

Oakland was a really good team.
Bellarmine was a fundamentally sound team.

We got beat down by both. We aren't smart enough to beat a zone or a team that makes few mistakes. On defense, we are a step too slow and don't seem to help each other.

We don't have a threat from 3.

We don't have enough big men for the conditioning level of our current 3 big men.

We seemed to move the ball very well game 1 and 2 but not the last few weeks. Tonight we looked tired.

As a team we are averaging 56% from the FT line

PG-Marcus Hill-6'4-Jr(2): Hill is a dynamic player in man to man but has been completely neutralized in zone. He is 1 for 10 from 3 to start the year. He has 11 assists to 13 turnovers. I am not sure what he is but it's not a point guard.

SG-DaJion Humphrey-6'4-Sr(2): I am struggling to see the difference between Humphrey, Edwards and Phillip but I shouldn't be because Edwards is averaging 11.3ppg while shooting 45% from 3, He is playing the second most minutes on the team at 26.5.

PF-Rashaun Agee-6'8-Sr(2): Agee is averaging 10 and 6 which is about what I would guess. He has had some highlights but isn't where I was hoping he would be at this point. He is shooting just 42% from the line. He remains a bruiser that no other team wants to play but he got abused by a much better post against Oakland.

C-Jason Spurgin-7'0-Sr(2): Spurgin has clear strengths and weaknesses. He can shoot, he can rebound and is fundamentally sound within the offense. He is slow, looks like he is in bad condition and isn't great playing defense away from the basket. His offensive game fits Agee really well. They are both minus defenders although Spurgin is ok in the post averaging 1.5 blocks a game. Spurgin is shooting 42% from the FT and 34% from 3. Overall he is averaging 9.8pts, and 6.

So that's the 4 starters so far. We have three guys who will likely compete for the 5th starter spot, two wild cards and a decent backup PG

Options to start
PG-Trey Thomas-6'0-Sr(2): Thomas, I think, is supposed to be the piece that makes this all flow a bit easier. I don't see it in his stats but it just seems like that's the case the way he has been talked about.
SF-PJ Edwards-6'4 So(3): Edwards has started two games, is averaging 31% from 2 and 27% from 3 but has 6 points to 0 turnovers.
SF-Da'Shawn Phillip-6'5 Sr(1): Phillip has started two games, is averaging 21% from 2 and 18% from 3.

Backup Big
PF/C-Sam Towns-6'9 Sr(2): Towns is a great backup big. A nice touch, our most athletic big. Can run well. He is the only big who can play the ball on the press.

Backup PG
PG-DJ Smith-6'0 Jr: Smith is averaging 25% from 3 and has 4 assists with 6 turnovers. He is quick and can score but seems like he is set as the backup

Wild Cards
Ejay Greer-6'8 Fr: Greer doesn't seem like he is getting the redshirt. At times tonight, he had the most energy on the floor. He clearly has tremendous upside. Very athletic. And active to the basket. He might have to play too much 4 this year if Felt isn't healthy but that will help him in the long run.
Anthony McComb-6'3 So: McComb is averaging just 9 minutes a game so far but he had 15 points tonight in 18 minutes. I get the feeling he is frustrated with his role on the team.

Felt is yet to play.

There could be a decent balance of Spurgin/Humphrey as decent shooters, Agee and Hill as basket attackers and Thomas running the show. I thnk that's probably the goal.

[hammb]

I agree with most of what you say, Globe. I didn't get to see any of the Oakland game since I was at the football game, but right now I really think the biggest issue last night was we want to hang our hats on trying to run but we weren't getting the stops necessary to do so.

In half court sets (especially against Bellarmine) I'm not seeing as much movement or passes as I want. We try to initiate everything off the dribble and that is simply not my preference...it almost can't work against a zone. We really struggle passing out of double teams, especially in the post.

Ok the roster there's a lot to like but still plenty of questions. I like our overall size and athleticism but I'm not sure we have great shooters...that's a concern when we want to shoot so many 3s.

I agree 100% that I find most of our guards/wings to be the same guy so interesting to see Humphrey has better numbers. That tells me I'm not yet paying close enough attention and the other two (Edwards and Philips) are playing the old role of eating minutes while producing little

Hill has the makings of a star but tries to do too much on his own and isn't a PG. Definitely better as a SG who may be your primary scorer but shouldn't be initiating the offense as PG. His jumper has not been great but I feel like most of his 3s have been tightly contested bad shots, maybe better if he had some catch and shoot looks.

Agree 100% on our bigs. Neither spurgin or agee are capable of playing enough minutes in this system. Not can they guard outside of the paint. They both got absolutely abused last night on the defensive end.

Not sure what conclusions to draw but I think you could make an argument that Greer was our best player in the first half last night and McComb was our best player in the second half. Hell I think McComb finished with a positive +/- in a game we lost by 20. I don't think either of those 2 are ready to play major minutes, but it was an interesting development.

I hope like hell we're not putting Greer at the 4 all season because he's tall. That's a Huger move because he never recruited enough size. Greer is a 3 a long wing, he has no business playing in the paint and he's gonna get his ass kicked down there.

One other observation that I'm immediately NOT a fan of. I don't like sending assistants for the post game radio interviews. I want to head Simon talk. They're also doing it so quickly after the game that I have hear the start of the segment by the time we walk to our car.

[Globetrotter]

Love it, thanks Hammb

[Matty B]

Still a lot of kinks to work out, but I am encouraged despite the rough loss to Bellarmine, which was really just a poor shooting night. We missed our first 11 threes and still were only down single digits going into the half. If we make even 3-11 (still not great), we are probably ahead going into half and it's a totally different ball game.

Right now this team really misses Trey Thomas. He's an elite on-ball defender and will add a boost to the offense as well.

Hill will be more effective when he can play off the ball. Led all NJCAA in scoring last year and we saw him make big plays vs Ark St. He was in foul trouble trying to guard the point vs Bellarmine so getting Thomas back will help there as well.

Humphrey had a bad game Friday but I'd wager he'll have more good games than bad. He looks to be a leader on this group, and was a top 20 JUCO recruit for a reason.

Spurgin was in a walking boot most of the preseason so he might be a little slow getting up to the speed Simon wants to go.

We know what Agee is, hope he and Spurgin both stay healthy. Excited to see him featured more on offense.

Phillip, Edwards and Smith seem like rotation guys that won't hurt you when they're out there, and there's nothing wrong with that, but it would be nice if one of these guys can bring a "spark" off the bench.

Speaking of sparks, Greer and McComb were nice revelations on Friday, and with both of them being very young players, I'm excited for both. We expect more out of freshman today than we did 10ish years ago but I'm excited to watch them develop over their (hopefully) 4 year careers here.

It's a new team that's still trying to figure out how to play together - Bellarmine exposed the crap out of that - but the soft non-conference schedule can be a positive in getting this team some confidence and rolling by the time we hit MAC play.

[Redwingtom]

Continually annoying to see other teams like Bellarmine with a plethora of guys who can consistently knock down open 3's and BG hasn't really had one...hell, can't remember when...

[BleedOrange]

Hammb, I think we have a good shooting team that just had a bad shooting game.

[hammb]

Hammb, I think we have a good shooting team that just had a bad shooting game.

I hope so, but it hasn't been one game.

On the season we're shooting 27% from 3 and 58% from the FT line.

That's not good enough.

[Diemilkweed]

Continually annoying to see other teams like Bellarmine with a plethora of guys who can consistently knock down open 3's and BG hasn't really had one...hell, can't remember when...

Jay Larranaga, Antonio Daniels, and Shane Komives.

[fredthefalcon]

Continually annoying to see other teams like Bellarmine with a plethora of guys who can consistently knock down open 3's and BG hasn't really had one...hell, can't remember when...

Jay Larranaga, Antonio Daniels, and Shane Komives.

Actually Trey Diggs shot 38% or better from 3 his first two years at BG. 38+ is considered good and is equivalent to 57% from 2 on a points scored basis.

[Redwingtom]

Continually annoying to see other teams like Bellarmine with a plethora of guys who can consistently knock down open 3's and BG hasn't really had one...hell, can't remember when...

Jay Larranaga, Antonio Daniels, and Shane Komives.

Actually Trey Diggs shot 38% or better from 3 his first two years at BG. 38+ is considered good and is equivalent to 57% from 2 on a points scored basis.

Good call.

So, one really in the last 2-3 decades. Pretty much as I thought.

[Globetrotter]

Denny
Ryan
Thomas

[nickm0110]

Oakland was a really good team.
Bellarmine was a fundamentally sound team.

We got beat down by both. We aren't smart enough to beat a zone or a team that makes few mistakes. On defense, we are a step too slow and don't seem to help each other.

We don't have a threat from 3.

We don't have enough big men for the conditioning level of our current 3 big men.

We seemed to move the ball very well game 1 and 2 but not the last few weeks. Tonight we looked tired.

As a team we are averaging 56% from the FT line

PG-Marcus Hill-6'4-Jr(2): Hill is a dynamic player in man to man but has been completely neutralized in zone. He is 1 for 10 from 3 to start the year. He has 11 assists to 13 turnovers. I am not sure what he is but it's not a point guard.

SG-DaJion Humphrey-6'4-Sr(2): I am struggling to see the difference between Humphrey, Edwards and Phillip but I shouldn't be because Edwards is averaging 11.3ppg while shooting 45% from 3, He is playing the second most minutes on the team at 26.5.

PF-Rashaun Agee-6'8-Sr(2): Agee is averaging 10 and 6 which is about what I would guess. He has had some highlights but isn't where I was hoping he would be at this point. He is shooting just 42% from the line. He remains a bruiser that no other team wants to play but he got abused by a much better post against Oakland.

C-Jason Spurgin-7'0-Sr(2): Spurgin has clear strengths and weaknesses. He can shoot, he can rebound and is fundamentally sound within the offense. He is slow, looks like he is in bad condition and isn't great playing defense away from the basket. His offensive game fits Agee really well. They are both minus defenders although Spurgin is ok in the post averaging 1.5 blocks a game. Spurgin is shooting 42% from the FT and 34% from 3. Overall he is averaging 9.8pts, and 6.

So that's the 4 starters so far. We have three guys who will likely compete for the 5th starter spot, two wild cards and a decent backup PG

Options to start
PG-Trey Thomas-6'0-Sr(2): Thomas, I think, is supposed to be the piece that makes this all flow a bit easier. I don't see it in his stats but it just seems like that's the case the way he has been talked about.
SF-PJ Edwards-6'4 So(3): Edwards has started two games, is averaging 31% from 2 and 27% from 3 but has 6 points to 0 turnovers.
SF-Da'Shawn Phillip-6'5 Sr(1): Phillip has started two games, is averaging 21% from 2 and 18% from 3.

Backup Big
PF/C-Sam Towns-6'9 Sr(2): Towns is a great backup big. A nice touch, our most athletic big. Can run well. He is the only big who can play the ball on the press.

Backup PG
PG-DJ Smith-6'0 Jr: Smith is averaging 25% from 3 and has 4 assists with 6 turnovers. He is quick and can score but seems like he is set as the backup

Wild Cards
Ejay Greer-6'8 Fr: Greer doesn't seem like he is getting the redshirt. At times tonight, he had the most energy on the floor. He clearly has tremendous upside. Very athletic. And active to the basket. He might have to play too much 4 this year if Felt isn't healthy but that will help him in the long run.
Anthony McComb-6'3 So: McComb is averaging just 9 minutes a game so far but he had 15 points tonight in 18 minutes. I get the feeling he is frustrated with his role on the team.

Felt is yet to play.

There could be a decent balance of Spurgin/Humphrey as decent shooters, Agee and Hill as basket attackers and Thomas running the show. I thnk that's probably the goal.

I pretty much agree with all said here, good read.