Most Surprising Takeaway...

[RU-ROCS]

Most surprising to me was Cam’s defense. Pleasantly surprised.

Paul Mulcahy's defense was also another level better than last year. Great to see.

 

[Scangg]

Paul Mulcahy's defense was also another level better than last year. Great to see.

This hasn't been discussed but Paul's D looked better in the exhibition and first game

 

[Goo]

Here is what some are missing. JY "may" appear faster because he had the freedom to go coast to coast with the ball. On a fast break, he will look faster. Simpon looked stupid fast on half-court sets. For JY it was a one-way ticket to the basket, not so for Simpson, who made decisions mid-air. Even with limited minutes, he did this multiple times. Once Pikel has the confidence to allow Simpson to attack the basket on a fast break you will see a different kind of speed in a good way.

 

[PSAL_Hoops]

It doesn’t matter whether JY was faster than Simpson. The biggest take away for me is that we’re almost certainly going to have an improved transition game from last year. Certain (most) things have to be taken with a grain of salt (defense and rebounding for instance) when we play awful teams. Fast break potential is one of the few things that can be observed regardless of opponent. It’s not a coincidence that we couldn’t blow out even low level teams last year. This is an area where I now expect to see notable improvement.

 

[zebnatto]

A few of us last night all agreed he's faster/quicker than JY. I guess we'll agree to disagree.

Not sure who's quicker, but JY's quickness came at the expense of team offense while it seems Derek uses his within the flow and has head up for passing options.

 

[BillyC80]

By the time he started playing for RU, JY had already played two years of college ball and sat out another year while practicing with our team.

So, other than speculating on who’s faster (which at a certain speed level is kinda meaningless in hoops anyway), it’s an unfair player comparison with Simpson, a true freshman.

 

[Scangg]

It doesn’t matter whether JY was faster than Simpson. The biggest take away for me is that we’re almost certainly going to have an improved transition game from last year. Certain (most) things have to be taken with a grain of salt (defense and rebounding for instance) when we play awful teams. Fast break potential is one of the few things that can be observed regardless of opponent. It’s not a coincidence that we couldn’t blow out even low level teams last year. This is an area where I now expect to see notable improvement.

This! Getting easy buckets in transition is huge. Helps end scoring droughts too. Puts less pressure on the half court offense. Getting easy buckets for people helps get players into a rhythm