You may as well crown us now. (Just got back from Shocker Madness)
Valley, you aren't going to know what hit ya.
Sincerely,
T
...
BUDude wrote:Whatever. Shox are a .500 valley team at best this year.
DoubleJayAlum wrote:Is Orupke going to start?
If not, he may go down as the most overhyped, overrated player in the entire history of the MVC.
I remember somebody telling us before last season that he had a good chance at being an NBA lottery pick.
CBB_Fan wrote:Here is what I saw:
1. Carl Hall is with out a doubt the best player on the team, or at least was today. You may remember him as the 6'8" PF/C who's shooting range was 5ft. That is not the case. He had 18 points (in 30 minutes), and went 7-9 including two 15-17 foot jumpers.
2. Orukpe was slightly improved. He scored the first points of the scrimmage with a hook shot over Hall, then scored again after Hall answered him. He also had 4 blocks.
3. Jake White and Derail Green are dangerous shooters. I think Green was 3-3 from the 3pt line, and White made a number as well.
4. Evan Wessel looked good. Not quite starter good, but he'll get rotation minutes. Not a scrub anymore.
5. Early looked closer to being ready than Wiggins. He won the dunk contest, shot some 3s (2-3) and blocked Orukpe once. Wiggins seemed to disappear sometimes.
6. Kadeem Coleby played, though he will sit out this year. Not flashy, but effective. Blocks a few shots, gets a few rebounds, scores a few points, but not starter material yet.
7. Baker didn't shoot as much as I thought he would, but was playing PG instead of SG because FVV was sitting out. He looked capable of running the offense.
8. Speaking of that, four players didn't play because of injuries: FVV, Chadrack Lufile, Demetric Williams, and Zach Bush.
9. Overall, both teams were scoring with good efficiency. Both ended up over 50% and they shot a combined 11-23 from the 3pt line. Some of that is probably playing lower intensity defense than they would play in a game, but I'm encouraged most by the shooters and their length.
If they started playing today, I think the line-up would be:
PG: Armstead/Baker
SG: Cotton/Wessel
SF: Early/Wiggins/Wessel
PF: Hall/White/Early
C: EO/Hall
Though Demetric Williams and FVV will change that once they fully recover from their injuries. This team should be one of the hardest to match up against in the Valley, though the inexperience will probably negate that somewhat until later in the season.
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