Post by jester on Jul 18, 2010 23:23:30 GMT -5
My thoughts on the players' performance on Saturday:
First time seeing the freshman. Out of all of them, was pleasantly surprised by Bowen and Moses. Moses is thick and big, which is all I want at this point - skills will follow, but I'll take a athletic big body. Bowen in the stats supposedly only made one three, but he went 4-5 from 2 and I swear a lot of those were long 2s. He stayed on the wing for the most part but shot with confidence when he got the ball - and his stroke looked good and it was going in. I agree he is Hollis with confidence - in these games he had a much greater impact than Hollis though, and showed variety as well. But obviously Hollis has experience and greater length. Either way, if you went off only this one game you would have liked Bowen and Moses a lot better than Sims and Hollis. Not sure what that means for this season, but I for one think Bowen can fit the role of a 3pt shooter if he keeps it up - DJ filled this role and Cook was pretty good - but with Chris setting things up and Austin getting more rest it would be great if Hollis/Bowen can stretch the floor - esp if some of our bigs still have a learning curve/are less polished but seeing time.
Nate - Nate had effort and showed he has game - but his shots were in and out, his passes a half-second too late, his defense a half-step slow. So yes, he didn't execute, but the rest was there (I agree somewhat he overpassed, but not sure the fact our PF is trying passes is a bad thing yet). Didn't see him with any polished moves in particular, but from what I have heard he has some, and I'm confident he will have some impact.
Starks - I was impressed as well. Was given the chance to lead his team and did it well. I liked that didn't overplay, but was really controlled and played smart. Showed good form, crisp passes and sound defensively. Maybe less likely than Chris to charge to the basket, but plays calm and shows that he can drive when he wants to. Comparing him to Vee he seemed to show a lot more polish as a PG, and Vee's shot wasn't there yesterday.
Austin was in third gear like someone said - it seemed when he wanted to he would drive and finish in traffic beautifully, and pulled up at whim from way outside a couple of times and hit nothing but net. For anyone that doubts his ups, that missed monster dunk would have been a thing of beauty. First rounder? I dunno...but he certainly has a certain toughness and skills that JJ Redick never showed entering the NBA at 6'4" as well, and while he may have been seen as a better shooter Austin has been draining them pretty well himself.
Sims-looked like last year. Big body, sometimes rebounding, sometimes effective, sometime looked a little lost. Hit a couple jumpers. Also thought he didn't move up and down the floor as well as he should have from an effort standpoint, but the game was ragged...he might just be what he is.
First time seeing the freshman. Out of all of them, was pleasantly surprised by Bowen and Moses. Moses is thick and big, which is all I want at this point - skills will follow, but I'll take a athletic big body. Bowen in the stats supposedly only made one three, but he went 4-5 from 2 and I swear a lot of those were long 2s. He stayed on the wing for the most part but shot with confidence when he got the ball - and his stroke looked good and it was going in. I agree he is Hollis with confidence - in these games he had a much greater impact than Hollis though, and showed variety as well. But obviously Hollis has experience and greater length. Either way, if you went off only this one game you would have liked Bowen and Moses a lot better than Sims and Hollis. Not sure what that means for this season, but I for one think Bowen can fit the role of a 3pt shooter if he keeps it up - DJ filled this role and Cook was pretty good - but with Chris setting things up and Austin getting more rest it would be great if Hollis/Bowen can stretch the floor - esp if some of our bigs still have a learning curve/are less polished but seeing time.
Nate - Nate had effort and showed he has game - but his shots were in and out, his passes a half-second too late, his defense a half-step slow. So yes, he didn't execute, but the rest was there (I agree somewhat he overpassed, but not sure the fact our PF is trying passes is a bad thing yet). Didn't see him with any polished moves in particular, but from what I have heard he has some, and I'm confident he will have some impact.
Starks - I was impressed as well. Was given the chance to lead his team and did it well. I liked that didn't overplay, but was really controlled and played smart. Showed good form, crisp passes and sound defensively. Maybe less likely than Chris to charge to the basket, but plays calm and shows that he can drive when he wants to. Comparing him to Vee he seemed to show a lot more polish as a PG, and Vee's shot wasn't there yesterday.
Austin was in third gear like someone said - it seemed when he wanted to he would drive and finish in traffic beautifully, and pulled up at whim from way outside a couple of times and hit nothing but net. For anyone that doubts his ups, that missed monster dunk would have been a thing of beauty. First rounder? I dunno...but he certainly has a certain toughness and skills that JJ Redick never showed entering the NBA at 6'4" as well, and while he may have been seen as a better shooter Austin has been draining them pretty well himself.
Sims-looked like last year. Big body, sometimes rebounding, sometimes effective, sometime looked a little lost. Hit a couple jumpers. Also thought he didn't move up and down the floor as well as he should have from an effort standpoint, but the game was ragged...he might just be what he is.