Thoughts after 3 games

Cougar Basketball
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Grimes: can do whatever he wants on the court…seems apprehensive to just take over (we saw him get close to that tonight)

Sasser: enthusiastic but erratic

Mills: streaky but prone to taking it out too far

White: predictably reliable under the glass, apprehensive to shoot

Alley: hustles but can’t find his place

Hinton: the most intense player on the roster…I want that kid on the floor every game all game…needs to find an offensive rhythm. (Wild-eyed rebounder)

Jarreau: inconsistent but still recovering

Gorham: surprisingly quiet

Harris: just doesn’t look comfortable on offense

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Agreed with all, fair assessment.

Once we put it all together we are dangerous. That just needs to hurry up and happen.

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Mills and Sasser are too good offensively to leave on the bench and too bad defensively to get a bunch of minutes. That’s our biggest conundrum currently to me. I hope they figure out how to defend Sampson style this year. I know they’ll figure it out as upperclassmen.

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Sasser needs to be in the game anytime we need “catch up” three pointers!

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I mentioned this after the BYU game. In addition to my concerns about our 3pt shooting, I was (and am) concerned about our on ball defense. There’s just such a massive dropoff from what we had with Corey and Galen last year.

I think as the season progresses we’re going to get much better at help and rotations. Our on ball defense should also improve, but I think that’s going to limit our defensive ceiling.

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Grimes: 10 for 17 from the FT line in 3 games and 8-14 in the last 2 will need to get better since he will have the ball a lot. I might not have exact numbers but close to that. He is very dangerous though and will carry the team at times if we are lucky.

Dejon: looks rusty but was clutch from the FT late. 15 points in 16 mins is pretty impactful.

Alley: hoping he can be the defensive glue but need some offensive flow for him to serve that role

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Sasser has a nice shot. Mills is slick but just seems to be lacking defensively against bigger opponents.

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At the beginning I was in awe of Sasser’s physique and athleticism. I thought he would be a hell-bender on defense. I think he’s a little surprised at the intensity level of the college game.

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I believe you nailed it with your assessment…

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Let’s see, Galen and Corey were seasoned seniors and they were better defenders than our sophs and freshman. The young guys will be really good defenders once they get the Sampson game down – or they will ride the bench.

Yes, the freshmen are adjusting to the skill and intensity of the college game because, uhhh because they are freshmen.

I don’t know how long these guys will take to get into full CKS culture and adapt to each other. I think after about 8 to 10 games we will be hitting into full throttle, but still improving. By March we will be ready for a deep run.

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UH misses Galen and Davis so much. Their on ball defense/ball pressure and ability to negate any pick n roll by fighting over screens was the key to the half court defense. There is nobody on the roster with the lateral foot quickness of those 2. The defense should get better as the season goes on. Didn’t love the half court game plan against Rice, too stagnant. Grimes, Hinton, and Mills can all be big time scorers.

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I don’t think anyone was saying that there’s an expectation anyone on our roster can match Corey and Galen and of course seniors should generally defend better than underclassmen. Everyone seemed to understand we would miss those guys, including defensively, but I don’t remember reading posts from really anyone who thought the drop off would be this big (i.e. players from Rice and BYU consistently blowing by their man).

Of course there will be improvement. Armoni went from a lousy defender in his freshman season to respectable by his junior year. Fabian has also come a long way.

But playing good on ball defense is almost like improving 3pt shooting or really any other skill. You can get better but it takes a lot of time. Team defense can improve much quicker (and to add, I think it will substantially, which will cover up some of the issues we’re having guarding on ball).

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Most freshman look lost on defense. I feel they will get better, but will it be this season.

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It will be fun watching the Coogs grow as a team this season, similar to 2 seasons ago. Lots of pieces and potential. Sampson will get them better defensively.

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the good and bad for everyone:

  • trigger warning for anyone who doesnt like to hear negative things lol

grimes: amazing so far, needs to be more aggressive than byu…hope he can maintain a good 3pt shooting…honestly almost no negative

mills: is a natural scorer, if he gets within 10 feet of the rim its almost automatic,…but the only guard on roster that cant switch onto bigs defensively (him on a big is automatic points), not a great perimeter defender…he also has kobe eyes: he isnt looking to pass the moment he starts dribbling in attack mode

sasser: best shooter on team, can shoot off the dribble. didnt look great vs byu, great vs asu and rice…not great at defending shooters, hope he learns to get in people chest like corey and galen did (play really tight defense) as he develops

white: doing what is expected of him

alley: best defender against drivers on this team, elite hustle on rebounding… complete liability on offense…still only shootings 3s but gets randomly scared to shoot it at times (had an open shot at the end of the byu game with 5 seconds on the shoot clock and passed it, almost causing a violation), wish he would muscle his way into he paint more

hinton: intensity, fire, passion-- heart and soul of team…tons of mini mental mistakes, no indentity on offense yet …but he is giving it his all…and showing mini flashes off his potential here and there

jarreau: beyond missng his layups/ silly turnover- im sensing his confidence starting to fade …way better on defense than he is given credit for …building him back up is important for reaching this teams ambitions

greshman: the fact that he hasnt impossed his will in the post the last 2 games has been surprising…these are 2 of the few games we actually had the size advantage, and he was nowhere to be found when he played…hope this isnt foreshadowing to when we play bigger teams

gorham: needs to be more aggressive…both big games we played he was content just passing

harris: last 2 games have been bad matchups for him, wont judge him too hard…improved free throw, but will still likely not be great

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One thing I’ll add is that Sampson was right about Mills. His natural scoring ability is uncommon. If he’s here for his Junior/Senior years I would almost be surprised if he doesn’t lead the conference in scoring.

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A lot of what has been said I think is right on. A couple of things I feel a little differently about. Fabian White is much improved from last year and seems to be more confident! Marcus Sasser has some very good defensive skills, which were evident tonight! I do agree that Jarreau is not completely back b/c of time missed, but he is still excellent at driving to the basket!

Not sure exactly how this team will fit together, but I am confident that CKS will get it figured out!

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The pieces are there.We aren’t a dominant team yet, but I think we will be.

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Alley has some decent hands and driving skills. I think he either needs to come in a little for a 15ft corner jumper or learn a little driving floater. So many times he is standing in the corner wide open and if he cant hit the three then he should drive and try to float it over the defender. I dont understand why coach cant see that he is just not a good 3pt shooter. He should at least work on a 15ft jumper like Devin Davis.

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Yea, not a fan of Alley shooting threes.

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