Topic: Basketball game

[herdorbust]

Sloppy at times as expected playing the full roster and getting on the court for the first time. Here is my individual take...

West is going to be good for us from the get go. The guy plays his heart out every second on the for and is a ballhawk defender. Also had 16 points tonight.

Burks has become a more consistant shooter and plays good defense also. He also has some of the best hands going after loose balls in traffic I have ever seen.

Jon is, well Jon. Although he didn't play his best game tonight we know what we have with him.

Watson is out till the second semester but is the best big guard ball defender we have and is very athletic.

Peneva is getting better all the time but is still thin. But he is more aggressive this year. Showed his skill at 6'10" bringing the ball down the floor and went behind his back against a smaller guard.

Williams had a very good first game going 3 for 4 from 3 and had 2 blocked shots back to back. He is also still thin but you get an idea of what kind of career he will have here before it's over.

Bledsoe played OK but didn't play as well as we have been seeing in practice.

Koljanin is still trying to learn the system and had a few good moments and other times looked a little lost.

George is going to be really good down the road, but needs to redshirt this year ad get stronger and more comfortable.

Theinaman and Ott will only see spot minutes IMO.

Milovic has worked hard and has improved a lot but  can't play at a high level and will only get a few minutes IMO.

Overall the biggest weakness is not having that thick body inside to get that point in crunch time or to make a stop if needed.
 So when we get Watson back the guard rotation will be really good especially defensively. And Williams has a ton of upside as he gets more minutes. I think I would start him with Peneva after what I saw tonight. It can't be Milovic IMO. How I wish Bennett would have gotten eligible with his appeal. But I think people can see what the front line will look like next year with him and Williams and Peneva (both after another year and weight room) as your main 3 to go along with all the guards back. This year will all come down to how well the inside game comes together down the stretch. And we have got to get better rotating down low and helping out from the new guys and i'm sure that will get better with playing time.

[herdfifteen]

Nice report.

[herdorbust]

They didn't play near as well as I would have liked and have been seeing in practice. But I also don't put much into these exhibition games good or bad. But our weakness will be a "strong" body inside. But we all knew this. But that is why we need to press and have quick ball movement. All I want to see is Williams, Peneva, Koljanin and Bledsoe keep improving as the year goes by. That will be the key to this team and next years team.

[herdfan129]

Shooting percentages:

Field Goals- 47.7%

3 Pt- 39.1%

FTs- 61.3 %


I was impressed with Jarrod West in his debut. CJ Burks looks like he is ready to take over games this year. Jon Elmore is still a beast. Penava looks bigger, stronger, and more confident. I also felt that Penava was on the wrong end of a couple cheap fouls, but thats part of the game.

I was really impressed with the length and athleticism from Darius George.


Anyone know why Bledsoe isn't playing more? Not questioning the coaches at all, just curious. I thought he showed a lot of promise at the beginning of last year.

Dani Koljanin- No idea who this guy is but I liked him tonight. Love seeing a lefty out on the floor.


I LOVED the full court pressure and love having Penava out front causing problems with his length.

Overall, I thought tonight was great. I'm sure the coaches will find lots of things to work on. From a fan perspective I was pleased.


Oh one last thing. At one point 4/5 guys on the floor were from West Virginia. Tell me this isn't awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Herdmeister]

Shooting percentages:

Field Goals- 47.7%

3 Pt- 39.1%

FTs- 61.3 %


I was impressed with Jarrod West in his debut. CJ Burks looks like he is ready to take over games this year. Jon Elmore is still a beast. Penava looks bigger, stronger, and more confident. I also felt that Penava was on the wrong end of a couple cheap fouls, but thats part of the game.

I was really impressed with the length and athleticism from Darius George.


Anyone know why Bledsoe isn't playing more? Not questioning the coaches at all, just curious. I thought he showed a lot of promise at the beginning of last year.

Dani Koljanin- No idea who this guy is but I liked him tonight. Love seeing a lefty out on the floor.


I LOVED the full court pressure and love having Penava out front causing problems with his length.

Overall, I thought tonight was great. I'm sure the coaches will find lots of things to work on. From a fan perspective I was pleased.


Oh one last thing. At one point 4/5 guys on the floor were from West Virginia. Tell me this isn't awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!

Danny found Koljanin in the national JUCO tournament last March. Played for Monroe NY

[herdorbust]

Shooting percentages:

Field Goals- 47.7%

3 Pt- 39.1%

FTs- 61.3 %


I was impressed with Jarrod West in his debut. CJ Burks looks like he is ready to take over games this year. Jon Elmore is still a beast. Penava looks bigger, stronger, and more confident. I also felt that Penava was on the wrong end of a couple cheap fouls, but thats part of the game.

I was really impressed with the length and athleticism from Darius George.


Anyone know why Bledsoe isn't playing more? Not questioning the coaches at all, just curious. I thought he showed a lot of promise at the beginning of last year.

Dani Koljanin- No idea who this guy is but I liked him tonight. Love seeing a lefty out on the floor.


I LOVED the full court pressure and love having Penava out front causing problems with his length.

Overall, I thought tonight was great. I'm sure the coaches will find lots of things to work on. From a fan perspective I was pleased.


Oh one last thing. At one point 4/5 guys on the floor were from West Virginia. Tell me this isn't awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!

Glad to hear that from you because I thought they played a little sloppy from what I see in practice. But I also think people get an idea at the future looking at George and Williams (and of course Bennett). But like I said these exhibition games are hard to judge as a team.

[herdfan129]

As you said, I expect things to be sloppy during the exhibition games. I didn't go into this game hoping for a perfect game. I took the whole experience in as seeing how much each player has improved (shooting, skills, weight/muscle gain etc.)

After watching how our teams grow and improve throughout the season, I came away from tonight's game very excited.

[Apollo]

[coalherd]

Guys, not sure, but can George play in these exhibition games and still be redshirted?  Can he play in a certain number of regular season games and still get a redshirt?  Just not that up to speed on "the rules". Thanks in advance!

[herdorbust]

Yes he can play a certain amount and still redshirt. And after watching that post game, how can you not love dantoni.

[herdfan129]

Last question of the press conference was completely uncalled for imo. If DD wanted to publicly address the death of his father he would have mentioned something in the opening statements.

[goherd24]

Yes he can play a certain amount and still redshirt. And after watching that post game, how can you not love dantoni.

No, he can't play a minute and redshirt unless he is injured. Exhibitions don't count.

[Herdmeister]

No, he can't play a minute and redshirt unless he is injured. Exhibitions don't count.

You are correct. Williams did the same thing last year.

[svherd]

They hurt us in the paint and we got out rebounded. Gotta work on that!!!!

[Herdmeister]

They hurt us in the paint and we got out rebounded. Gotta work on that!!!!

Danny mentioned that in his post game presser as well.
Watching us practice day after day, we have become aware that many of our offensive rebounds will come from the guards. When you shoot the number of 3's that we do, there will be a lot of long rebounds to be had.

[herdorbust]

They hurt us in the paint and we got out rebounded. Gotta work on that!!!!

That is my biggest concern. We have a lot of skill from our bigs but not much physical toughness at this point. That is why i have said, we are a year away from being the team we all have been waiting for. Not say this team cant do great things.

[Garbanjo]

My first look at the BBall team (CUSATV)...............

Of the newcomers, the ones that stood out:

West looked terrific, Williams looked good and Koljanin looked solid

[MUonium]

My first look at the BBall team (CUSATV)...............Of the newcomers, the ones that stood out: West looked terrific, Williams looked good and Koljanin looked solid

that's exactly how i saw it (i only saw last minutes of 1st half and most of 2nd half).  we've got lot's of potential contributors.  i think we'll be OK concerning number of shots, shooting percentage and PPG.  if all these better "D" guards get it done and they increase points off turnovers then we could do better than mid-pack in CUSA.

i think this concern was mentioned somewhere: need to work on the bigs decision making which leads to unnecessary fouls/trouble; when to or when not to leave their feet on D, whether its normal reactive D in the lane or whether it's proactively shot blocking, as a whole, they're just not athletic enough to make poor decisions...they will get eaten alive against most teams we'll face. 

most all agree, we're  not going to get many offensive rebounds and that guards will always need to be aware of where the ball is and hound-to-the-ball on both offensive and defensive situations.  understandably, they're going to have to balance getting O rebounds with the need to get down the floor on D but they  get more O rebounds this yr and more accurate put backs.  should be no excuses for not getting their fair share of defensive rebounds. GO HERD

[THECHAMPISHERE]

Wow LOVE IT. "We're going to win the whole doggone thing" (talking about the NCAA tourney).

Could we have two more opposite coaches/philosophies coaching our two major sports.

[Herd-nficent]

I miss Stevie Browning !!!

[herdfifteen]

West looks like the real deal. Still concerned about our ability to get the ball off the boards  relying on long rebounds from missed three point shots isn't a sound strategy , especially when guards from most teams we play will be taller than ours.

[2xBison]

West looks like the real deal. Still concerned about our ability to get the ball off the boards  relying on long rebounds from missed three point shots isn't a sound strategy , especially when guards from most teams we play will be taller than ours.

With Burks and Elmore at 6 3/4 why would you say that?  Watson is in that range as well

[Buffalo Bop]

West had three steals.

We’ll see who leads the league in steals.

[Herdmeister]

West had three steals.

We’ll see who leads the league in steals.

In practice, Danny can't put West on Elmore for prolonged minutes. If he did, he would wear Jon out. He is a tenacious defender and picks everybody's pocket.

[herdorbust]

Herdmeister is dead on. And west plays the last 2 minutes like he does the first 2. He just never slows down. And yes dd has said from the time he got here that the goal was a national championship. Once he gets the stable of horses down low (and that is in the works now) they are going to be pretty darn good.