Assessments of your team entering conference play

[cu8493]

With conference play starting this week, I'm curious where you assess your team at this point. What do you think overall of your team and some individuals who you think could make a real difference.

As for CU, this team could finish in the top 3, and it could struggle to stay out of the play-in bracket. I think the addition of Echinique will be enough to keep me from having to get a Thursday night reservation in St. Louis.

More than 1/3 of CUs shots have been from three point range. However, we are shooting less than 32%. That drops to less than 30% if you take out the 7 of 7 start to the Idaho State Game (where by the way we went on to finish 8 or 16.) They talk about improving our perimeter shooting, but I just don't think that happens this year - at least not much. By this time in a career you are either a good shooter or you aren't. I think the team will continue to be inconsistent from the three point line. We may have a game or two where the fellas go off for 10 or 21 or something, but otherwise I think we will only be successful by focusing more on the inside and mid-range jumpers.

Our passing has been abysmal. Getting the ball the post players at the right time and spot was never a skill taught by Altman's staff - or at least not taught very well. McDermott clearly has a focus of getting the ball inside, but it is a skill that many of our guys are still developing. Even fundamental things like when to throw a bounce pass and when to throw over the top or which hand to throw the ball to, are apparently difficult concepts to grasp. We have had more entry passes stolen or batted away already this year than good teams lose in a season. If the inside game is going to be effective, the wings are going to have to grasp this and do it pretty quick.

Ball movement at times has been o.k. and at other times is not very good at all. The last several seasons, ball movement has been nonexistent at times. I don't kow if it was Altman's offense or the players' lack of skill. I lean toward the latter since it was not such a problem up until the last few years. Unfortunately, that means we will probably continue to struggle this sesaon with good ball movement - which also contributes to the problem of getting the ball into a good spot for a good entry pass to the posts at the right time.

After the game last Saturday, McDermott was asked how your fix the problems with ball movement and passing. His one word answer - recruit. To me, that says a lot about his assessment of where this team is and what potential he thinks it has.

With respect to certain players, Anthony Young is turning into a really, really good point guard. His development from last year to this year has been outstanding. He is fast, smooth and has developed a pretty good shooting touch. His free throw shooting is much improved. After the Samford game, McDermott remarked that Young is the rare player who can be told once by the coaching staff what they want to get done on the floor offensively or defensively, and he goes out and does it the way they have asked him.

McDermott is just incredible. The kid simply has a knack for basketball. He has so many rebounds and put-backs, because of his instinct for position and timing. He is tenacious. When he shoots the bunnies, he is already going back up for a tip before the ball decides whether to go in or come back out. I believe his dad sees his kids potential and I believe this will give coach huge incentive to bust his butt to bring in the best players he can find to help his kid's team be successful (not that coaches are trying to do that anyway, but perhaps when its your own kid there is that little extra, if you know what I mean).

Echinque is still a question mark. No doubt, he is a solid big man with a terrific shooting touch, and a good defensive presense. He is having some trouble handling entry passes. It might be that the passes haven't always been real good. But he has fumbled some pretty decent passes. He is going to have to work on that aspect of his game. He will certainly help against the stronger posts in the league who have overpowered Kenny in the past.

I still think the team will finish in the top 4, but there are going to be games where we really struggle to score points, which will make it a real challenge to get much higher than that

[achrist70]

I guess I will do the Panthers

As a UNI fan I am really excited with the play as of late, going into Vegas and getting wins against Indiana and New Mexico is a huge surge in momentum heading into conference play. You can really tell this team is coming together at this point.

Truthfully this team reminded of the team two years ago at the beginning of the season, however this team is coming together faster than that one, due to the fact that are guards have played together,
If you compare this team to last year there are many players that have stepped up into roles and filled in nicely. Jake Koch has really taken over his brothers role from last year. Averaging a little over 10 points a game, 5 or so boards a game, a block a game, and is really able to step out and stretch a defense with his outside shooting. His inside game is really improving but isn't quite there yet, which at times can lead him to look at the 3 ball too much. Chip Rank I think is going to fill in Jake's role from last year, he is starting to find his groove a little more lately and that could be huge. Starting the year you could tell he had some nerves but his shot is starting to fall a little more, and he has shown he has a physical side to his game that is very promising. I see Chip contributing 5-7 points a game and could possibly go for 15-18 if he gets hot. The player who has been the most pleasant surprise on the team has to be Anthony James. The kid is extremely quick and plays great defense, however he is a great shooter. He is shooting around 57% from the field and those aren't just layups 40% or more of his shots are 3's. His scoring have replaced Ali's points from last year.

The one area that we could use a little improvement is low post scoring. Jordan was a great offensive big man and that is something we are missing a bit this year. Lucas O'Rear and Austin Pehl are filling this spot this year and aren't quite the offensive threat that Jordan was. However, Pehl's game has been steadily getting better since the begging of the season, and Lucas will have nights when he is capable of scoring 15. Both these guys will hit the boards hard, and there will be no lack of effort with these two. O'Rear also may be the most disliked player in the Valley by the end of the year. Fans of opposing teams have called him things such as the "Bearded Thug" due to his aggressive style.

Kwadzo Ahelegbe is the on floor leader of this team, he is a player who always seems to step up in the big game. He sometimes does force his shot, but he has a very effective mid-range jumper, and will play hard night in a night out.

Johnny Moran seems to be looking for his shot a little more than last year, and his scoring average is up a couple of points. With him you are always are going to get a guy who will do anything to win. He rebounds, gets steals, and will dive on the floor for a loose ball.

Marc Sonnen is a guy who plays well of the bench, and is starting to play better of late. The experience he gained last March I feel will be huge for us late in the season.

Kerwin Dunham has been injured the last 9 games and you have to feel for him during his senior season. When he gets back he will be a good defender have can score when called upon. He is a glue guy that can be huge for us during the conference season.

Matt Morrison hasn't been playing a lot but when he is in the he plays well and can knock down an open shot.

Overall I think that this is a top 4 team in the Valley, that can challenge for the title. If you were to guarantee this team will 3peat you would be an idiot, but counting them out completely would make you one too.

[BirdmanBB]

My assessment of Illinois State is about the same. We about finished the non-con exactly how I thought we would. We are finally beginning to have a big lineup that involves Carmichael, Wilkins and Ekey on the floor at the same time. I think once these 3 get some more experience together under their belt we can do some serious damage in the MVC, especially down the stretch come MVC tourney time as long as we avoid Thursday (which I think we will). The issue right now is that we don't have a dependable PG and SG. For some reason Jank has an obsession with Alex Rubin. The guy is a workaholic and a good locker room guy, but in my opionion is more suited to be a 6th man on the team. They have been trying to use him a bunch of different ways. He doesn't take enough shots to be a SG. They were giving him some action at point, but he is not getting the assists I would like to see, nor does he have the dribble drive ability that some of our other younger bench guys have (Anthony Cousin, Trey Blue). Justin Clark is still having trouble finding his shot in games. He must be doing something right in practice in order to get the start. Trey Blue comes from a tough A10 where he started as a freshman and had some pretty good success.

I think (and hope) at some point Jank will start giving some of the younger guys more minutes. From what I have seen, I think the lineup should be Anthony Cousin, Trey Blue, Jon Ekey, John Wilkins and Jackie Carmichael. (We could then have guys like Austin Hill, Alex Rubin and Tony Lewis be able to come in and contribute right away because of their experience).

Also, a big stats leader on our team right now is Austin Hill, however, the concensus from our fans is that he is a bit of a ballhog (even though I think he leads in assists, its still a small #). The problem is that he gets the ball a ton when he is in and feels obligated to take it to the hoop when we have guys wide open. It's very hard to justify not starting him given his #'s, but anyone who has watched us play can see that there is something is not right when he is in.

Looking at what we got and what's coming in next year (Nic Moore and Johnny Hill) I think we could possibly have the best team in the valley come next year. It all depends on how much Jank wants to go after it. Does he want to play seniors who are a bit more experienced right now or does he want to get experience to the younger guys, so come next year they will be fully prepared.

[Aargh]

WSU

PG - Surprise, surprise. It's Murry. He's at least adequate, knows the offense and the system, puts a 6'5" and very versatile player on the court. A player without a position and a position without a player came together. May be just a bit short of the great passing skills expected from a "natural" PG.

SG - At last! David Kyles is "getting it". He's almost completely eliminated the bad decision-making that kept him off the court for 2 years. Solid defender and deadly shooter when he's on. When he's not on, he has recognition of that and doesn't just sit 20' out throwing up bricks.

SF - Hatch is Hatch. Does little things well. Has a nose for the ball. Would dive through a burning brick wall to get a loose ball. Is a likely scoring target if Kyles is off his scoring game.

PF - Ellis is playing with a bit more assertiveness this year. He's got to be considered a threat on offense if he's within 15' of the basket. Blair has a lingering back problem that limits his minutes and probably his effectiveness. He will get his share of fouls for the game minutes he gets.

Center - Stutz appears to be coming out of his funk (or slump or whatever) just in time for conference play. Against the post players in the Valley, he should do better than his OOC stats indicate. Durley can score in a wide variety of ways and be scored on in a wide variety of ways.

Bench - Ragland and Smith seem to be shaking off JuCo and learning to play D1 ball. Both have been contributing productive minutes.

That's 9-deep, which will probably account for 90%+ of WSU's minutes.

Areas above pre-season expectations
- PF - by a bit due to more aggressive play by Ellis
- SG - with the emergence of Kyles
Areas below pre-season expectations
- PG - Kyles and Murry both demand PT, and Kyles can't play PG
- Center - Durley has not progressed and Stutz has regressed from the end of last season.