A few thoughts

[clarificationcat]

A few observations from the first two games.

Pardon needs to relax in the post. He looks bigger and stronger than last year and I think he thinks he needs to score every time he gets the ball deep in the post. He needs to take his time and figure out what the defender is giving him before rushing up a shot. On the plus side, he will definitely be able to keep teams honest with his outside shot and he is a rebounding and shot blocking force.

Lindsey looks very confident (and a little bigger). No letdown.

BMac has just played o.k., which is fine. I would rather have his outside shot falling against our better opponents.

Law has played pretty well. He looks a little stronger. I would like to see him be more aggressive on offense against our weaker opponents to work on his moves off the dribble. I don't think he is ever going to be a consistent 15 plus points a game scorer. There are lots of guys who jump higher than him on dunks but very few guys jump higher or quicker than Law on rebounds. It's really impressive in person.

Skelly is Skelly. He is still going to commit some silly fouls this year and make a few mental mistakes. But he has good offensive and defensive skills and should hold his own against most 4s. He won't be able to guard 3s like Sanjay but he brings more to the table offensively and is probably better guarding bigger guys.

Our bench has been disappointing. I think part of it has been not having Skelly coming off the bench. Brown had a bad charge in last night's game and didn't go back in until the very end of the game. I hope he can find his shot and keep a little bit of his edge. We will need his scoring in some games. Ash looks more under control. He just needs some shots to fall. He had a nice pull up jumper last night that went in and out. Gaines needs to relax. When a couple of his shots fell, you could see that he was much more aggressive in attacking on offense. He will be a good defender. Obviously, having Falzon will help whether he starts or comes off the bench.

All-State Arena is a downer. It's cold and it's hard to generate energy in the building. And I can't understand a thing the announcer says. But I think once we start playing better teams the energy level of the team and the fans will pick up. It has to or it's going to be a mediocre season. I have faith in the coaches and the players that they won't let that happen.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

All state stinks! Better to play at eths

 

[No Chores]

A few observations from the first two games.

Pardon needs to relax in the post. He looks bigger and stronger than last year and I think he thinks he needs to score every time he gets the ball deep in the post. He needs to take his time and figure out what the defender is giving him before rushing up a shot. On the plus side, he will definitely be able to keep teams honest with his outside shot and he is a rebounding and shot blocking force.

Lindsey looks very confident (and a little bigger). No letdown.

BMac has just played o.k., which is fine. I would rather have his outside shot falling against our better opponents.

Law has played pretty well. He looks a little stronger. I would like to see him be more aggressive on offense against our weaker opponents to work on his moves off the dribble. I don't think he is ever going to be a consistent 15 plus points a game scorer. There are lots of guys who jump higher than him on dunks but very few guys jump higher or quicker than Law on rebounds. It's really impressive in person.

Skelly is Skelly. He is still going to commit some silly fouls this year and make a few mental mistakes. But he has good offensive and defensive skills and should hold his own against most 4s. He won't be able to guard 3s like Sanjay but he brings more to the table offensively and is probably better guarding bigger guys.

Our bench has been disappointing. I think part of it has been not having Skelly coming off the bench. Brown had a bad charge in last night's game and didn't go back in until the very end of the game. I hope he can find his shot and keep a little bit of his edge. We will need his scoring in some games. Ash looks more under control. He just needs some shots to fall. He had a nice pull up jumper last night that went in and out. Gaines needs to relax. When a couple of his shots fell, you could see that he was much more aggressive in attacking on offense. He will be a good defender. Obviously, having Falzon will help whether he starts or comes off the bench.

All-State Arena is a downer. It's cold and it's hard to generate energy in the building. And I can't understand a thing the announcer says. But I think once we start playing better teams the energy level of the team and the fans will pick up. It has to or it's going to be a mediocre season. I have faith in the coaches and the players that they won't let that happen.

A few observations from the first two games.

Pardon needs to relax in the post. He looks bigger and stronger than last year and I think he thinks he needs to score every time he gets the ball deep in the post. He needs to take his time and figure out what the defender is giving him before rushing up a shot. On the plus side, he will definitely be able to keep teams honest with his outside shot and he is a rebounding and shot blocking force.

Lindsey looks very confident (and a little bigger). No letdown.

BMac has just played o.k., which is fine. I would rather have his outside shot falling against our better opponents.

Law has played pretty well. He looks a little stronger. I would like to see him be more aggressive on offense against our weaker opponents to work on his moves off the dribble. I don't think he is ever going to be a consistent 15 plus points a game scorer. There are lots of guys who jump higher than him on dunks but very few guys jump higher or quicker than Law on rebounds. It's really impressive in person.

Skelly is Skelly. He is still going to commit some silly fouls this year and make a few mental mistakes. But he has good offensive and defensive skills and should hold his own against most 4s. He won't be able to guard 3s like Sanjay but he brings more to the table offensively and is probably better guarding bigger guys.

Our bench has been disappointing. I think part of it has been not having Skelly coming off the bench. Brown had a bad charge in last night's game and didn't go back in until the very end of the game. I hope he can find his shot and keep a little bit of his edge. We will need his scoring in some games. Ash looks more under control. He just needs some shots to fall. He had a nice pull up jumper last night that went in and out. Gaines needs to relax. When a couple of his shots fell, you could see that he was much more aggressive in attacking on offense. He will be a good defender. Obviously, having Falzon will help whether he starts or comes off the bench.

All-State Arena is a downer. It's cold and it's hard to generate energy in the building. And I can't understand a thing the announcer says. But I think once we start playing better teams the energy level of the team and the fans will pick up. It has to or it's going to be a mediocre season. I have faith in the coaches and the players that they won't let that happen.

Unfortunately, in my view, the real reason for the 'Cats lackluster play is that they simply are not as good as last year's team. Sanjay and Tap have graduated, and we haven't replaced them, so far, with anybody. Further, while it's early, Ash and Brown do not appear to be offering any more than they did last season. So, unless Falzon and Rap step up in a significant way, I think we're in for a tough season.

 

[TheC]

Unfortunately, in my view, the real reason for the 'Cats lackluster play is that they simply are not as good as last year's team. Sanjay and Tap have graduated, and we haven't replaced them, so far, with anybody. Further, while it's early, Ash and Brown do not appear to be offering any more than they did last season. So, unless Falzon and Rap step up in a significant way, I think we're in for a tough season.

I think you might be right (though of course its early). But we basically so far seemed to have subtracted two players in the top 7 from last year and not replaced them with anybody. Rap and Falzone are not stepping up yet. Ash and Brown look no better than last year. Gaines is a frosh and so anything from him is bonus. And Benson has yet to show improvement. So basically, we are still the same 4 guys with a shallower bench. But again, its only two games in and hopefully guys have gotten better and it just hasn't shown through yet.

 

[clarificationcat]

Unfortunately, in my view, the real reason for the 'Cats lackluster play is that they simply are not as good as last year's team. Sanjay and Tap have graduated, and we haven't replaced them, so far, with anybody. Further, while it's early, Ash and Brown do not appear to be offering any more than they did last season. So, unless Falzon and Rap step up in a significant way, I think we're in for a tough season.

Ash is better and will contribute. Gaines will also contribute. Unfortunately, he's only 6'4" so he's not able to fill in at the 4. But he can definitely reduce the minutes of Vic and Scottie. Falzon hasn't played yet but assuming he gets healthy, he and Gavin will man the 4 and do a decent job. Falzon is not as steady as Taphorn but he is much more capable of taking over a game in stretches. I was hoping that Brown would spell Bryant but it doesn't look like that's the plan. Pardon is also going to be better than last year. Let's see how they do against a good team.

 

[NJCat]

Falzon is not as steady as Taphorn but he is much more capable of taking over a game in stretches.

FWIW, Falzon started 29 of 32 games his true Fy and averaged 24.5 minutes a game. Tap started 3 games his whole career and averaged a career high of 12 minutes a game last season. Tap filled a valuable role but Falzon was a bigger part of the team the year he played.

 

[clarificationcat]

FWIW, Falzon started 29 of 32 games his true Fy and averaged 24.5 minutes a game. Tap started 3 games his whole career and averaged a career high of 12 minutes a game last season. Tap filled a valuable role but Falzon was a bigger part of the team the year he played.

Agreed. I just meant that Falzon (like most shooters) is likely going to have some 0 for 6 and 1 for 7 games. He is going to take a lot more shots than Taphorn and score a lot more points but there are going to be some games where he is going to struggle and it's going to frustrate some people. Taphorn was remarkably consistent last year and, as you said, he didn't play all that much so he never took that many shots in a game. People grew frustrated with Vic when he struggled from 3 last year and he is a really good rebounder and a great defender.

 

[NJCat]

Agreed. I just meant that Falzon (like most shooters) is likely going to have some 0 for 6 and 1 for 7 games. He is going to take a lot more shots than Taphorn and score a lot more points but there are going to be some games where he is going to struggle and it's going to frustrate some people. Taphorn was remarkably consistent last year and, as you said, he didn't play all that much so he never took that many shots in a game. People grew frustrated with Vic when he struggled from 3 last year and he is a really good rebounder and a great defender.

Tap was pretty consistent last year. But did you know he never scored in double figures in a conference game? He had 8 against MSU and Rutgers, and had 4 scoreless games. The last 13 games of the season including the BTT and NCAA he averaged playing 14 minutes and 4.5 points. But full credit, he threw the biggest pass in NU hoops history!! I liked him, seemed like a good kid who gave 100%.

 

[clarificationcat]

Tap was pretty consistent last year. But did you know he never scored in double figures in a conference game? He had 8 against MSU and Rutgers, and had 4 scoreless games. The last 13 games of the season including the BTT and NCAA he averaged playing 14 minutes and 4.5 points. But full credit, he threw the biggest pass in NU hoops history!! I liked him, seemed like a good kid who gave 100%.

I know that Taphorn didn't score a lot. He didn't play a lot and didn't take many shots. I think that's what makes his consistency so impressive, though. It's hard to come into a game for a few minutes and hit shots. In his last 13 games, he was 0 for 2 against Purdue and 1-3 against Illinois. In the other 11 games, he never hit less than 40% of his 3s, including going 5 for 5 over his last 4 games. A lot of times he only went 1 for 2 or 1 for 1 but, again, that's really difficult to do night in and night out. And he helped shoot us back into the Gonzaga game by hitting back to back 3s in the second half.

If healthy, Falzon will likely score 15 plus points in several games. On those nights, he will more than compensate for Tap and Sanjay. On his off nights, Skelly and the bench will need to be productive.

 

[NJCat]

I know that Taphorn didn't score a lot. He didn't play a lot and didn't take many shots. I think that's what makes his consistency so impressive, though. It's hard to come into a game for a few minutes and hit shots. In his last 13 games, he was 0 for 2 against Purdue and 1-3 against Illinois. In the other 11 games, he never hit less than 40% of his 3s, including going 5 for 5 over his last 4 games. A lot of times he only went 1 for 2 or 1 for 1 but, again, that's really difficult to do night in and night out. And he helped shoot us back into the Gonzaga game by hitting back to back 3s in the second half.

If healthy, Falzon will likely score 15 plus points in several games. On those nights, he will more than compensate for Tap and Sanjay. On his off nights, Skelly and the bench will need to be productive.

Agree. Good analysis.

 

[TheC]

FWIW, Falzon started 29 of 32 games his true Fy and averaged 24.5 minutes a game. Tap started 3 games his whole career and averaged a career high of 12 minutes a game last season. Tap filled a valuable role but Falzon was a bigger part of the team the year he played.

This is all true which is why most of us were/are excited about the coming year. However, I think we'll all feel a lot better when A) Falzon checks into a game for the first time and B) Falzon has his first double digit scoring night. Until that point, the NU pessimistic gene is cranking out transcript. (A little biology nerd joke.)