A
anon_0k9zlfz6lz9oy
Guest
with 15 game down and 15 games to go we are officially at the midway point of the season. As I reflect on the first half and look towards the second, here are my thoughts.
1) Biggest Surprise: Caleb McConnell and Shaq Carter. After slow starts to their seasons where both saw minimal playing time and mcconnell in particular played with very little confidence both have really turned into solid contributors off the bench over the past 3-4 weeks and are two guys I expect barring injury to play 20+ minutes per game and be big contributors down the stretch. Getting them experience and getting through the meat grinder big ten this season will go a longgggg way in their development.
2) Biggest Disappointment: KIssa. Peter Kiss and especially issa thiam have been extremely disappointing. I was in the minority in that I didnt really have high expectations for kiss as i thought he was nothing more than a slightly below average player but to see issa pretty much regressed from being below average to being a total non-factor has been disappointing. It is probably best that these two dont play much more than some spot/situational minutes in the 2nd half so our younger guys can eat up those minutes and accelerate their growth.
3) Montez is flashing before our eyes. Montez at the beginning of the year looked like a kid with zero confidence against the likes of squads like FDU. He has completely kicked things into another gear since that time and is playing with an attitude, snarl and aggressiveness that he was known for back at john carroll. Speaking with a prominent NJ high school assistant coach, he told me he coached vs montez last year at a tournament and that montez was “a badddd man” (in a good way). In the sense that he was nasty and got to the rim at will. Were starting to see that with him already as a freshman. I cant wait to see how he continues to grow as the year(s) goes on.
4) Geo has been up and down. You kinda had to see this coming where coming into the year he was our only somewhat proven guard. Teams are swarming him and making his life hell. Getting additional help in next year with guys like Young, Mulcahy and hopefully a grad transfer scorer along with the continued growth of montez, caleb and ron will go a long way to helping geo take the load off his shoulders. He is unecessarily trying to do way too much right now and forcing things that dont need to be forced. Once the freshman take that next step Geo is going to go back to being a really solid player for us.
5) Ron Harper is starting to find his shot. Over the past 2 games hes shot 4-11 from 3, one of those 11 was a heave fading away when he caught the ball with 1 second on the shot clock so if you take that out he shot 40% from 3 vs two top 25 caliber squads. Once ron starts hitting the shot consistently, his iq, handle, grit, and toughness is going to make him an absolute force especially in his upperclassmen years when he sheds the baby fat. Ron is an extremely confident kid and I think he is going to just continue to grow and grow and grow, I look forward to seeing him step up vocally in the 2nd half and become a vocal leader as well.
6) Myles Johnson is starting to utilize his size. Hes still a little to tenative for my liking but we saw vs Minny him being a little more assertive. In the 2nd half I want pike to challenge myles to be meaner, be nastier and be more assertive in the post. That wing span and size of his is insane. Now if he get just develop more of a mean streak and start banging around down low he could be a force. Shaq D has also been a solid contributor, i dont wanna forget to mention him.
7) Assuming Eugene comes back, I want to see him move the ball better. Hes a warrior, a guy you love to have on your team but the ball needs to stop getting stuck on the wing when he catches it. If he catches it 15+ feet out it’s gotta either be a mid-range shot in rhythm or a relatively quick pass out. Trying to back a guy down from 15 feet results in far too many low % shots, doubles and ultimately turnovers. I want the 2017-2018 Eugene version PLUS the capability to pick and pop from 3.
8) The culture is changing. How many times in the past number of years have you seen our teams just take their beatings and walk away quietly like dogs with their tails between their legs? Not this year. These KIDS (freshman) fight until the very last minute. Down 21 with 5 minutes left and you throw a ball at my head? Not today. Your teams been showing us up for a 5 minute stretch and you wanna try and disrespect me and dunk on me? **** outta here. Our toughest kids are our freshman and the upper classmen are going to have to take their games to another level if they wanna avoid being shown up and having the team taken over by freshman. Mulcahy is in the same mold. Tough, confident kid.
Overall imo we probably finish something like 11-19 and the W/L record might not look great at the end of the year but if we can hang tight with some of these tourney bound teams while playing a few 18 year olds it will go a longggg way towards us being able to realistically have expectations for an above .500 record in 2019-2020. And who knows if mulcahy comes in and keeps working on his shot, jacob young can prove me wrong and be a + player and we can land a grad transfer scorer along with a mickey pearson (please spare me from we only have one ship left) then who knows, MAYBE just MAYBE we can dream of the tourney in 2019-2020 IF caleb, ron, and tez continue on this upward trajectory that weve seen over the past month. This years not the year but I am excited the direction this program is headed in.
1) Biggest Surprise: Caleb McConnell and Shaq Carter. After slow starts to their seasons where both saw minimal playing time and mcconnell in particular played with very little confidence both have really turned into solid contributors off the bench over the past 3-4 weeks and are two guys I expect barring injury to play 20+ minutes per game and be big contributors down the stretch. Getting them experience and getting through the meat grinder big ten this season will go a longgggg way in their development.
2) Biggest Disappointment: KIssa. Peter Kiss and especially issa thiam have been extremely disappointing. I was in the minority in that I didnt really have high expectations for kiss as i thought he was nothing more than a slightly below average player but to see issa pretty much regressed from being below average to being a total non-factor has been disappointing. It is probably best that these two dont play much more than some spot/situational minutes in the 2nd half so our younger guys can eat up those minutes and accelerate their growth.
3) Montez is flashing before our eyes. Montez at the beginning of the year looked like a kid with zero confidence against the likes of squads like FDU. He has completely kicked things into another gear since that time and is playing with an attitude, snarl and aggressiveness that he was known for back at john carroll. Speaking with a prominent NJ high school assistant coach, he told me he coached vs montez last year at a tournament and that montez was “a badddd man” (in a good way). In the sense that he was nasty and got to the rim at will. Were starting to see that with him already as a freshman. I cant wait to see how he continues to grow as the year(s) goes on.
4) Geo has been up and down. You kinda had to see this coming where coming into the year he was our only somewhat proven guard. Teams are swarming him and making his life hell. Getting additional help in next year with guys like Young, Mulcahy and hopefully a grad transfer scorer along with the continued growth of montez, caleb and ron will go a long way to helping geo take the load off his shoulders. He is unecessarily trying to do way too much right now and forcing things that dont need to be forced. Once the freshman take that next step Geo is going to go back to being a really solid player for us.
5) Ron Harper is starting to find his shot. Over the past 2 games hes shot 4-11 from 3, one of those 11 was a heave fading away when he caught the ball with 1 second on the shot clock so if you take that out he shot 40% from 3 vs two top 25 caliber squads. Once ron starts hitting the shot consistently, his iq, handle, grit, and toughness is going to make him an absolute force especially in his upperclassmen years when he sheds the baby fat. Ron is an extremely confident kid and I think he is going to just continue to grow and grow and grow, I look forward to seeing him step up vocally in the 2nd half and become a vocal leader as well.
6) Myles Johnson is starting to utilize his size. Hes still a little to tenative for my liking but we saw vs Minny him being a little more assertive. In the 2nd half I want pike to challenge myles to be meaner, be nastier and be more assertive in the post. That wing span and size of his is insane. Now if he get just develop more of a mean streak and start banging around down low he could be a force. Shaq D has also been a solid contributor, i dont wanna forget to mention him.
7) Assuming Eugene comes back, I want to see him move the ball better. Hes a warrior, a guy you love to have on your team but the ball needs to stop getting stuck on the wing when he catches it. If he catches it 15+ feet out it’s gotta either be a mid-range shot in rhythm or a relatively quick pass out. Trying to back a guy down from 15 feet results in far too many low % shots, doubles and ultimately turnovers. I want the 2017-2018 Eugene version PLUS the capability to pick and pop from 3.
8) The culture is changing. How many times in the past number of years have you seen our teams just take their beatings and walk away quietly like dogs with their tails between their legs? Not this year. These KIDS (freshman) fight until the very last minute. Down 21 with 5 minutes left and you throw a ball at my head? Not today. Your teams been showing us up for a 5 minute stretch and you wanna try and disrespect me and dunk on me? **** outta here. Our toughest kids are our freshman and the upper classmen are going to have to take their games to another level if they wanna avoid being shown up and having the team taken over by freshman. Mulcahy is in the same mold. Tough, confident kid.
Overall imo we probably finish something like 11-19 and the W/L record might not look great at the end of the year but if we can hang tight with some of these tourney bound teams while playing a few 18 year olds it will go a longggg way towards us being able to realistically have expectations for an above .500 record in 2019-2020. And who knows if mulcahy comes in and keeps working on his shot, jacob young can prove me wrong and be a + player and we can land a grad transfer scorer along with a mickey pearson (please spare me from we only have one ship left) then who knows, MAYBE just MAYBE we can dream of the tourney in 2019-2020 IF caleb, ron, and tez continue on this upward trajectory that weve seen over the past month. This years not the year but I am excited the direction this program is headed in.
