We had a nice old fashioned Thursday/Saturday homestand at the A-A and the Pokes went 2-0 as expected to run their record to 8-0 for the first time since Shyatt's second season. Big road game this week at UA and a really important home game next Saturday against a very good UVU team (more on those later). Here are a few thoughts from the weekend:
1. MVP - DU Game - Graham Ike - It almost wasn't fair. 35 and 14 and he barely broke a sweat. DU put him in some uncomfortable positions on defense forcing him to guard Henn on the 3-point line, but when the Pokes were on offense it was Man vs. Boys (even if Henn is like 5 years older than Ike).
2. MVP - McNeese Game - Maldo - Maldo generally controlled the game and the Pokes only real stretch of bad basketball is when he sat for a few minutes in the first half.
3. Backup PG - I think we saw a shift in personnel in the McNeese game. I expect Reynolds to be the primary backup PG now with Dut likely not seeing the floor. Dut was not good in the McNeese game and has generally struggled all year. Reynolds came in during the 2nd half and gave the Pokes a real nice spark. He got into the paint and dished out to open shooters. He had 2 assists in 7 minutes and had a 3rd pass that hit one of our shooters (forget who) for a wide open corner 3 that they missed. He hasn't really been able to make a shot yet and he will need to show he can compete on defense, but I liked what I saw and I think Linder did too. I couldn't tell if his comments after the game (mentioned that Reynolds is not afraid and believes he is the best player on the floor..true or not) were more about Reynolds or more about Dut, but either way I think we see more of Reynolds. Regardless of who it is, this has reached critical stage as the biggest concern for this team (even moreso than what to do when Ike is in foul trouble). They need someone to take the ball handling load off of Maldo. We can't play him 40 min/g.
4. Ike Adjustments - It's not a secret anymore. Graham Ike is a beast and everyone knows it. He is the focal point of the opposition scout and he is going to see the kitchen sink thrown at him. Double teams from different angles, flopping to draw fouls, hacking him if all else fails, etc. There will be games where the refs let the other team swipe and hack at him. How he handles that will be critical. First of all, he needs to continue to develop as a passer (and be willing to pass and re-post), second of all he will need to be careful not to pick up offensive fouls backing a guy down. There will be a couple of bad calls along the way that will saddle him with fouls, but don't make it easy for the refs to reward flopping. Finally, he needs to watch those elbows. He is going to connect with someone's face and get himself thrown out of a game if he isn't careful. At least save it in case we play BYU in Hawaii (tic..sort of).
5. Professional Prospects - When you think about this group and their future as pros (at whatever level), obviously the focus will be on Maldo and Ike and Oden's potential is huge, but one guy who I think might be able to play at a higher level than we might have thought a year ago is Drake Jeffries. The shooting is obvious and he has always been super athletic, but now he is putting that athleticism to use on the defensive side of the court and on the glass. I am not knowledgeable enough about the pro leagues in Europe, but in the US the "3 and D" wing is highly sought after. I think he could have some nice professional opportunities in the future. Quite a run, coming from a relatively small town in Illinois and starting his collegiate career at D2 Minot State.
What's next: Probably our first time being on the receiving end of an ass-kicking unfortunately. Arizona is talented, well-coached, and there probably aren't more than 3 or 4 teams in the country (if that) that would be favored to beat the Wildcats in the McKale Center this week. We aren't one of the 3 or 4. I expect us to keep the tempo slow (similar to SDSU in the MWCT, but not as extreme, also not really a departure for this year's team as we are playing quite slow this year) and we are going to need X and Drake to hit some contested or long 3's to make this game. If Ike is in foul trouble it going to be a layup line for Arizona (our good defensive stats so far are nice, but probably mostly a function of opposition). Arizona is hitting 60% on their 2 point shots and lead the NCAA in Assist Rate. They also play very fast, we will need to be very diligent about our floor balance to prevent transition. I wouldn't be surprised to see us borrow a page out of Shyatt's playbook and retreat after a shot goes up. We can't let them get going on the fast break in front of their crowd or we could get buried. I wish I was more optimistic. The game on Saturday against UVU is actually more important in my mind. It is a little bit of a trap, coming after the Arizona game and before a long break and the Hawaii trip. UVU is a legit opponent who just beat BYU and they have a big man that can match Graham.
1. MVP - DU Game - Graham Ike - It almost wasn't fair. 35 and 14 and he barely broke a sweat. DU put him in some uncomfortable positions on defense forcing him to guard Henn on the 3-point line, but when the Pokes were on offense it was Man vs. Boys (even if Henn is like 5 years older than Ike).
2. MVP - McNeese Game - Maldo - Maldo generally controlled the game and the Pokes only real stretch of bad basketball is when he sat for a few minutes in the first half.
3. Backup PG - I think we saw a shift in personnel in the McNeese game. I expect Reynolds to be the primary backup PG now with Dut likely not seeing the floor. Dut was not good in the McNeese game and has generally struggled all year. Reynolds came in during the 2nd half and gave the Pokes a real nice spark. He got into the paint and dished out to open shooters. He had 2 assists in 7 minutes and had a 3rd pass that hit one of our shooters (forget who) for a wide open corner 3 that they missed. He hasn't really been able to make a shot yet and he will need to show he can compete on defense, but I liked what I saw and I think Linder did too. I couldn't tell if his comments after the game (mentioned that Reynolds is not afraid and believes he is the best player on the floor..true or not) were more about Reynolds or more about Dut, but either way I think we see more of Reynolds. Regardless of who it is, this has reached critical stage as the biggest concern for this team (even moreso than what to do when Ike is in foul trouble). They need someone to take the ball handling load off of Maldo. We can't play him 40 min/g.
4. Ike Adjustments - It's not a secret anymore. Graham Ike is a beast and everyone knows it. He is the focal point of the opposition scout and he is going to see the kitchen sink thrown at him. Double teams from different angles, flopping to draw fouls, hacking him if all else fails, etc. There will be games where the refs let the other team swipe and hack at him. How he handles that will be critical. First of all, he needs to continue to develop as a passer (and be willing to pass and re-post), second of all he will need to be careful not to pick up offensive fouls backing a guy down. There will be a couple of bad calls along the way that will saddle him with fouls, but don't make it easy for the refs to reward flopping. Finally, he needs to watch those elbows. He is going to connect with someone's face and get himself thrown out of a game if he isn't careful. At least save it in case we play BYU in Hawaii (tic..sort of).
5. Professional Prospects - When you think about this group and their future as pros (at whatever level), obviously the focus will be on Maldo and Ike and Oden's potential is huge, but one guy who I think might be able to play at a higher level than we might have thought a year ago is Drake Jeffries. The shooting is obvious and he has always been super athletic, but now he is putting that athleticism to use on the defensive side of the court and on the glass. I am not knowledgeable enough about the pro leagues in Europe, but in the US the "3 and D" wing is highly sought after. I think he could have some nice professional opportunities in the future. Quite a run, coming from a relatively small town in Illinois and starting his collegiate career at D2 Minot State.
What's next: Probably our first time being on the receiving end of an ass-kicking unfortunately. Arizona is talented, well-coached, and there probably aren't more than 3 or 4 teams in the country (if that) that would be favored to beat the Wildcats in the McKale Center this week. We aren't one of the 3 or 4. I expect us to keep the tempo slow (similar to SDSU in the MWCT, but not as extreme, also not really a departure for this year's team as we are playing quite slow this year) and we are going to need X and Drake to hit some contested or long 3's to make this game. If Ike is in foul trouble it going to be a layup line for Arizona (our good defensive stats so far are nice, but probably mostly a function of opposition). Arizona is hitting 60% on their 2 point shots and lead the NCAA in Assist Rate. They also play very fast, we will need to be very diligent about our floor balance to prevent transition. I wouldn't be surprised to see us borrow a page out of Shyatt's playbook and retreat after a shot goes up. We can't let them get going on the fast break in front of their crowd or we could get buried. I wish I was more optimistic. The game on Saturday against UVU is actually more important in my mind. It is a little bit of a trap, coming after the Arizona game and before a long break and the Hawaii trip. UVU is a legit opponent who just beat BYU and they have a big man that can match Graham.
