Brief courtside reflections

[Wildcatfootball12]

Pete Nance- He has all the tools, is starting to develop some swagger, the sky is the limit for him

Miller Kopp- Passes up a lot of open 3's and seems to settle for mid range jumpers. Manages to disappear from the game in spurts. I think he has the tools, but did not have a good showing today.

Ryan Young- Plays hard, I like his motor. Had a great game against a mid-major, and if he were at a mid-major he would be an all-conference type of player. I don't think it will be as easy for him to feast on the glass against B1G competition as it was for him today, and he seems a bit athletically limited, but he will be solid and not amazing this season.

Pat Spencer- Plays like a man (also looks like one). Great at finding Young down low, very smart and savvy. In clutch time agains the press, I trust him with the ball more than anyone else. The issue is his shooting. He's just not at a D-1 level from a shooting perspective. He needs to be in the gym every night putting up hundreds of shots (no issue with his form) because 4 years without high level bball in his life has taken that away from him. Everything else though, I love about him

Gaines- Has not grown since last season, still can't shoot or make his own shot (had one nice layup off the glass)

Buie- Not really impressed, does not have the presence or confidence of Spencer. Had one nice drive to the basket, but does not seem like a great floor general, or shooter, or scorer. Idk, needs time to develop.

Turner- Seems to have regressed, idk what's going on here.

Beran- Body just isn't ready, seem reticent to takes shots or drive to the hoop

There was a whole lot of passing the ball around the perimeter and not penetrating, I think Spencer could eventually take that role of driving and creating, but his shot making ability isn't there yet.

 

[jensberg]

Nance is much better but IF he could handle the ball and drive to bucket he would be a complete player

 

[docrugby1]

It seems a couple of players are now residents of the damned NU kennel

 

[Titanium999]

Where is Greer?

 

[lunker35]

Where is Greer?

I think he’s where he belongs. Buie and Spencer are better and give us a better chance to win.

 

[Pete Purple]

Am really impressed with Spencer’s vision, dishing, and leadership. He’s doing the most talking out there.

I’m hoping Buie gains some confidence and can learn from Spencer this year how to get the ball to others. My current concern is that he was passing very soft and slow on Friday. Against B1G competition or any team that was paying attention he would have been picked off several times.

Young. Obviously great effort. His 4th NCAA game! He was getting mugged under the hoop 2nd half. Great game.

Gaines: Come on man!

A scary amount of air balls were jacked up.

So far, Spencer, Nance, and Young have made the team fun to watch. Let’s see what happens in this thxgiving tournament.

 

[DaCat]

If Nance continues to emerge as a force this year, as he's done so far, then the year will not be lost no matter what our record will be.

 

[Alan Smithee]

If Nance continues to emerge as a force this year, as he's done so far, then the year will not be lost no matter what our record will be.

It's early but his improvement has been dramatic. Undoubtedly reflects a ton of work put in over the past year.

 

[DaCat]

It's early but his improvement has been dramatic. Undoubtedly reflects a ton of work put in over the past year.

Physically he's maturing, and more importantly, mentally he's starting to get more confident. Next I want to see him impose his will on games to get some wins.

 

[VirginiaWildcat]

It's early but his improvement has been dramatic. Undoubtedly reflects a ton of work put in over the past year.

Physically he's maturing, and more importantly, mentally he's starting to get more confident. Next I want to see him impose his will on games to get some wins.

And I think he’s far more comfortable in “I’m the guy” mode as opposed to role player mode, which he found difficult to adjust to. He’s the type of player that is best when he’s option #1.

 

[ricko654321]

Pete Nance- He has all the tools, is starting to develop some swagger, the sky is the limit for him

Miller Kopp- Passes up a lot of open 3's and seems to settle for mid range jumpers. Manages to disappear from the game in spurts. I think he has the tools, but did not have a good showing today.

Ryan Young- Plays hard, I like his motor. Had a great game against a mid-major, and if he were at a mid-major he would be an all-conference type of player. I don't think it will be as easy for him to feast on the glass against B1G competition as it was for him today, and he seems a bit athletically limited, but he will be solid and not amazing this season.

Pat Spencer- Plays like a man (also looks like one). Great at finding Young down low, very smart and savvy. In clutch time agains the press, I trust him with the ball more than anyone else. The issue is his shooting. He's just not at a D-1 level from a shooting perspective. He needs to be in the gym every night putting up hundreds of shots (no issue with his form) because 4 years without high level bball in his life has taken that away from him. Everything else though, I love about him

Gaines- Has not grown since last season, still can't shoot or make his own shot (had one nice layup off the glass)

Buie- Not really impressed, does not have the presence or confidence of Spencer. Had one nice drive to the basket, but does not seem like a great floor general, or shooter, or scorer. Idk, needs time to develop.

Turner- Seems to have regressed, idk what's going on here.

Beran- Body just isn't ready, seem reticent to takes shots or drive to the hoop

There was a whole lot of passing the ball around the perimeter and not penetrating, I think Spencer could eventually take that role of driving and creating, but his shot making ability isn't there yet.

Nance has definitely developed. That's been the biggest bright start of a pretty mixed (and overall disappointing) start to the season. Beran's body isn't quite ready for B1G ball yet, but he's got a good looking shot, quick release and willing to take it from anywhere. That will prove to be useful at some point. Hopefully he can develop the rest of his game a bit more than someone like Falzon was able to do. I think you have it right on Young - sure he has some limitations but he certainly exceeded my expectations and can be a functional piece on this team, was a bit surprised at the extent to which he was game ready. Is it just me, or does our coaching staff seem to do a better job at developing big guys over time at NU than they do guards? Might be due to Brian James, but just an observation.

Spencer plays strong and generally seems to make decent decisions, but I don't think he creates much in terms of new offense. I worry that he (and our offense generally) will get swallowed up when we play against B1G competition. Though we've already seen this at times against OOC competition early this year. Zone D especially, it seems might be a problem. On Gaines, I think the thing holding him back from taking the next step is ability to consistently hit 3's. Until he improves in that he's a good defender and solid transition guy on offense, but is going to be limited in his ability to impact the game in the half court. Buie looks to be making mostly young / inexperienced mistakes - decision making, not playing under control, etc. Hopefully that improves over time, remember he's young. Turner and Kopp, based on limited sample size thus far, do not appear to have taken much of a step forward. Turner has been invisible. Kopp we need to turn into a dead-eye shooter, he's shooting 29% from 3 thus far (5-17, again small sample size).

 

[DaCat]

Is it just me, or does our coaching staff seem to do a better job at developing big guys over time at NU than they do guards? Might be due to Brian James, but just an observation.

For Young, practicing against Pardon last year definitely was a good learning experience. But overall, I think the jury is still out about how well we develop big guys, with data points like Benson out there. I think Jared Jones will be a good barometer, he's got a B1G body but he is a little raw. If by next year or his junior year he is an average-to-above-average center, then that would reflect well on the staff.

 

[GatoLouco]

Nance has not been our #1 option. Debatable that any player has. Yet he’s still impressing. Now think if we actually play to give him more touches.

Against NS his points came within a short span in the first half.