RE: Northern Arizona game
OK, here are my opinions after game #1 (and yes...I certainly understand that this was just the first game of the season...I also know that this NAU team lost a couple days ago to Xavier 93-60). Bear with me: I'm starting with my concerns--but even I saw some positives today.
At this early stage, we really miss Pearson. That's not surprising--he was a significant impact player in his time here. Things like energy, toughness on D/rebounding, and being a "go to" scorer (even when perhaps he shouldn't have been) were visible signs of his absence this afternoon. Having Jon Jon start also removes Jon Jon from being the off-the-bench scorer that he was able to be last season...there wasn't much of an offensive push by the bench today (although players did score).
Juice has a very quiet game. Credit to NAU--they really defended him well. That's gonna be the obvious gameplan for our opponents the rest of the season. Drummon & Weatherspoon also had fairly quiet games (JD did have a couple dunks, including one where he drove the lane).
Our D looks like it will still give up quite a few open looks at the 3. Teams that get hot & hit those will become a problem for us. Conversely, we didn't shoot well from 3. And, similar to some games last season, there were stretches today where it didn't look like any Rocket on the floor even wanted to shoot.
I wouldn't be surprised if we were outrebounded today--but, NAU got a lot of bounces. Still, we do at times have a lineup on the floor that is smaller and it's harder to grab the ball when the other guy has an inch or two greater reach.
Boothe had a nice game--we would have lost without it. But, as I posted earlier, his low post presence on offense was minimal. Hopefully, he'll keep hitting those 10-15 ft jumpers. He really seems more comfortable out there than playing with his back to the basket.
Garber looked improved, and that's a good sign. Still had some trouble finishing inside, though, but did get some baskets and played better on D than last season. If he can improve during the pre-conference season, it would be nice to hit conference play with both he & Boothe on the floor together, in a hi-post/lo-post set.
Mosely looked OK. Hall brought some energy to the floor--Coach has compared him to a young Pearson, but IMO he was more like Lauf last season. Aubrey Williams will likely see much less playing time once Applewhite becomes eligible.
Hopefully, some combo of this being Toledo's first game while NAU had already played one and perhaps some "fallout" from Stacey's resignation can be blamed for the uneven play today. It wasn't the kind of game that excited the casual fan in what was a maybe half-full arena. But this is a good team. Last year's team won many close games, and I don't see this team blowing too many opponents out. I'm not convinced we're the MAC favorites--WMU, Buffalo & a few others may be able to beat us--but we'll certainly factor into the race.
(This post was last modified: 11-16-2014 05:33 PM by bcunn3128.)
|
