With that hitch in the big man’s three, he is going to have to be wide open to get that shot off. Like the quick release of JoJo.
Something that gives me some excitement for the year, every interview for the last month that I have heard from CKS, he mentions how good JoJo is gonna be. The media interview up on UH YouTube channel right now he does it again. Paraphrasing, but was asked about this vs last year, said the biggest difference is this team has a healthy JoJo.
Also, of late he has been really talking up Dedan. CKS seems to be pretty excited about this group. To use a poker analogy, in a lot of his interviews over the last few weeks, he sounds like a guy who just flopped a full house and isn’t very good at bluffing or hiding the fact that he has a great hand.
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sampson hates preseason compliments especially for new players… but have yet to critic anything about dedan…
kellen called him a “PG savant” and that alozie is lucky to learn under him (crazy when both are new players to the system)
kelvin was guhsing about his ability to run the offense and calling him special
i actually expected to hear some critics about the defense, none on that so far… mercy and hadnot have had defensive critics…
im looking forward to seeing how jojo improves too…
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I saw one preseason poll that had Thomas as first team All-B12. Quite the compliment.
What would they be criticizing? No one has seen them.
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@monceaux i think he meant to say critiques.
That Sampson in his press availability. Didnt critique his players defensive lapses like maybe in years past
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yeah coog2020 described what i meant… weve only received praise about dedan which is strange for sampson. most new joiners haven’t received preseason praise the way dedan has with little critique
He looked awesome tonight. First PG off the bench. Breakout SZN incoming
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I can see it
Agreed. Kordell is the Surprise packet of this years team. Let’s check the next 5 games and let’s see if there is a trend. Another not so bold prediction Arfane will be starting at some point - maybe Feb.
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Jojo and Reco have that covered
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I really liked what I saw from Alozie….i think he can make a difference on the defensive end.
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Arafan still has a LONG way to go to get in good enough shape to play starter minutes. I remember one point last night either late first half or early 2nd. He was so out of breath he was hammering the top of his head like a sledge hammer to get out. Made me laugh 
That said, I was super impressed with his touch around the basket. Like @pesik talked about in another thread, we’re going to have to figure out how to hide or compensate for him when he’s guarding quicker guys on the perimeter. Experience is the best teacher.
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I was surprised about how long it took to get Alozie on the court. He has a promising future. You can definitely see it in his handles and speed.
Yesterday, Jefferson looked great - tenacious defense, athletic rebounder, good handles (I don’t recall any big turnovers), and the surprise to me was his fantastic shooting. He might be this year’s Mylik Wilson, and maybe that is why we didn’t see as much of Alozie as I expected.
The only question marks now are who will be the two guards and wings who ultimately get playing time when the rotation becomes 8-9 players.
It looks like we have a firmly establish pecking order at PF and C - Jojo, Recco, Arafan, and East, in that order.
At the guard/wing spots, it appears to be Dedan, McCarty, Miller, Jefferson, Hadnot, Jackson, Alozie, in that order.
It would be nice to get Chendall eligible. I would guess that he immediately jumps into the mix with Jefferson and Hadnot to be the first guard off the bench.
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Michigan next
That game will look a lot different than what we saw tonight it will be interesting to watch and see how we look
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I made the same comment to someone last night about KJ being the potential new Mylik. As for Alozie, he looked good as well, but imo, he has a pretty big hill to climb to surpass KJ. A true freshman vs a guy in his 4th season in the program. KJ was a top100 recruit too, not as high as Alozie, but 4 summers in the program is gonna outweigh that.
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At this point, I think Alozi is a going to be a guy who can make plays for both teams. lol
I see him as someone who is really going to be good in the future and at some point possibly help this team.
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I agree. Have to remember who we were playing yesterday. Encouraging is he has nice footwork for a freshman. He doesn’t get much lift and still needs to develop conditioning and strength. The scrimmage in Michigan will be good for him facing Thiam, Estrella and the lsu transfer.
Speaking of the Michigan exhibition…anybody see if it will be on ESPN+???