Looking good but, 17 turnovers against a D3 team not gonna fly either.
March on triumphantly!
SIU 106
North Park 71
Final
Elliott leads scorers with 21. Davion Sykes with 10 rebounds.
Negatives: North Park shot 13-30 from 3, SIU had 20 turnovers
Way too many turnovers, BUT............ this is a BRAND new team and they were using lineups and players that will not be used during the regular season. Also, when you play this fast and have significantly more possessions than in the past, you're inherently going to have more TO's. I am NOT happy with them, but at this point in the season, it's not overly surprising.
My biggest takeaway so far has been the play of Aligbe as a true freshmen. I'm looking forward to seeing if this team can not only hang with, but beat COC next Monday.
Can't watch so I don't have much an opinion but Massey has 7 rebounds and 5 points in 11 minutes off the bench. I think the big depth is looking pretty good.
To me Massey was very lengthy but also noticeably thin. Don’t look too much into rebounding stats this game, it was very noticeable, when all was lined up for free throws, the height advantage we had. But yes biggest takeaway from this game was Massey is the leader currently in the club house at the big position. Moreno is big bodied but has work to do…personally I don’t see him with big minutes to start the year. Start of the year I think the mixture of Hensley, Alibge and Massey in the bigs slot….so no traditional 5 so to speak. Webber is young and I don’t think he pushes his way into the lineup vs these other guys. My only worry is against the much more physical teams this year….we have length but not much girth….I’ve heard stories about length vs girth….i guess we shall see this year. I see 10 guys pushing for playing time….so if we truly do an 8 man rotation it will be interesting to see who is odd men out.
Admittedly didn’t see the game live, but I really hate seeing turnovers that high. Especially against the quality of opposition we played today. I know coach Nagy said that was a focus after the Iowa scrimmage, but looks like they have a ways to go still.
One way to narrow down the rotation in the coming weeks is to play the guys who are taking better care of the ball.
Interesting that Steffe and Aligbe were the first guys off the bench, ahead of Sykes (who many thought would be a starter). Though Sykes did grab 10 rebounds in 16 minutes …
In scanning the box, Webber was a -8 in the plus-minus on a night Southern won by 35. I still think they’ll need either Webber or Moreno to give some minutes against bulkier bigs but I could also see them redshirting him if he’s not ready to help.
Overall review that I got from a friend that was there:
This team looked super athletic. Overall positive review on Davis, Dibba, Hensley, Mayo, Bey, Elliot, Steffe, and Massey. The team was not crisp on offense or defense. Too many turnovers. Very quick pace. Moreno looks decent around the basket, but way too slow defensively.
On a side note, I’ll hold any Xavier Johnson comparisons for one game against a D3 school. D3 is the lowest level of college athletics, with SIGNIFICANTLY less talent than D2, NAIA, and JUCO. It’s probably closer to club ball than D2.
Just got home from the free scrum. So, we’re a little clunky with turnovers. We play fast, very fast. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Saluki basketball team like this. It’s definitely fun to watch.
No more walking it up the floor.
We had a little trouble inbounding vs the press
I swear, EE is TY.
Really looking forward to CofC
I just got home, I don't live close to Carbondale. I think Aligbe should start at center. Weber is a good redshirt candidate and Moreno is really slow. Aligbe is incredibly athletic and has size for a true freshman. He will take his lumps as a true freshman but will also make some outstanding plays. He has the quickness to defend and athleticism to really rebound. The team will be led by Davis, Dibba and Elliott. All 3 of those players can really score the basketball and defend. Massey will be a big part of this team even if he's the 6th man. Hensley will also play a big role. Mayo is a leader, can defend and play some point. He also can get his own shot even amongst the trees. I think Sykes and Bey may battle for that 8th spot. I also thought Steffe played decent tonight. It'll be interesting if he can hang defensively with D1 talent, but if he can he will get minutes. At the pace we play I would love to see us go 10 deep, but it appears Nagy wants to settle on an 8 man rotation eventually. I'm a little disappointed in Sykes. He's a good rebounder, but got lost on defense at times and doesn't appear to be as dynamic a scorer as several others I have mentioned. The pace was incredible so the turnovers were somewhat a result of that. We will not have nearly that many possessions in any other game this year. Still, our ball handling and passes need to get better.
This brand of basketball is the exact polar opposite of the previous staff. We will play at a frenetic pace and trap at times. We will also go hard to the offensive glass, which was not an emphasis previously. I can see this being a very good rebounding team.
I'm pretty fired up to see how we do against a very good Charleston team.
My takes:
My goodness, were we like 8-10 inches taller on average? So, while we looked impressive ripping down 53 rebounds, we should have had more as some poor block-outs led to 13 offensive rebounds by North Park (although, some of those were long rebounds from missed threes.)
When our freshmen bigs got the ball inside, they put to ball on the floor to do their booty ball moves...and the ball was stolen every time. The more experienced bigs went right to the basket and scored easily over their smaller opponents. Moreno looked good doing this, but it's hard to imagine him having success at this against opponents his own size.
Our bigs had to guard smaller, quicker opponents on the perimeter, so that was good practice for when they get caught in switches later in the season. They will need to get better at switching back when they get a chance to.
I hope Sharp is ready to play some point, because our ball-handling sure looked shaky.
If our decision-making with passes doesn't improve, we may have ease off the accelerator on the break.
Massey was beast. Hope he stays healthy.
If Elliott's shot selection stays as good as it was tonight, he can be a real weapon. He did miss a three when he had an open teammate under the basket and forced another, but most were open and in rhythm.
Maybe my expectations were too high, but I expected more from Dibba and Sykes.
Aligbe looked good for a freshman. And didn't he miss some time this summer with injury? He looks to have a bright future.
Did Billington make our only mid-range shot? Seems like everything else was either a three or in the lane.
Right now, it looks like the perimeter rotation should be Elliott, Mayo, Dibba, Davis, and Sykes, with Bey, Steffe, and Sharp on the bubble. And Massey, Hensley, and Aligbe rotating in the post.
Sounds like more good than bad overall. I do still find myself wishing they’d held on to Ebube, who I think would be the best option among the true 5 men to deal with legit post players. The combination of Hensley, Massey and Aligbe should be effective in smaller lineups, though.
