Some observations...
The good-
for a VERY early preseason effort - we shot OK - not good - as you'd expect in most preseason scrimmages. The total of 20 minutes of a running clock is more like 10 minutes of real game time, since the clock ran even when the ball was out of bounds, when we were making subs or shooting FT's.
So - for us to score a total of 56 points is pretty impressive.
(BTW - Bobby, the box score accounts for only 55 points but the final score on the board was 35-21)
I am thinking we might have three or four of the most athletic players in the league with Walt, Shayok, and even Jalen ...and I think Jordan Prosser has shown a ton of improvement. JP was very active around the hoop, got good position, and looked solid.
Walt & Shayok looked good but took several shots 5 seconds into the possession.... I know coach wants to play uptempo but....
Anthony Thompson looked much improved as well, and I agree with Da Coach that Donivine looks to be our best ball handler - especially in traffic - he made good passes and had NO turnovers.
Walt is speedy but he sometimes forgets the ball.
DSE's outside shooting was not on but he's gonna get his points. Jake will give solid play, Milos will get spot action and hopefully can drain a few threes.
Devon Hodges is a big body and can still help when our other bigs get fouls.
Those who said Nate Wells was a project are wrong..he could play in the MVC right now and be a plus -- if he chooses to redshirt, he could be good enough to start in 2012.
Jalen Crawford, like Shayok & Walt - all got several "deflections" and caused trouble on passes...Donivine likewise was credited with four steals, leading to a few fast breaks.
One last good thing - nobody got injured!
All in all I do not believe this is a 10th place team in the MVC.
The bad-
Like Geno - I am bothered by 16 turnovers. Any way you look at it 16 TO in 20 minutes is pretty sloppy. Sure, it's early in the process, and maybe we can look at it as good defense since our guys were harassing every pass - but we have to take better care of the ball.
So...the two thinks you'd fear the most if we play uptempo would be turnovers and poor shot selection - and we saw both - so we have a little work to do.
I know we can shoot better from 3-pt range or at least I hope we can. Shots seemed to be rushed but I would have expected that in a shot game where everyone wanted to get in the action. We will miss Andrew Warren's & Sam Maniscalco's clutch FT shooting.
Student turnout was disappointing. There were about 10-20 Red Sea members and another maybe dozen or two students....so I'd say the total student attendance a bit less than hoped.
Leaving the parking deck after the game is going to be a recurring issue, although I realize not many men's events are going to be there. First - every car has to leave the deck via the same single exit lane, then you immediately encounter all the people leaving the arena and crossing the exit lane in front of the cars to get to their own cars.
And finally - there may not have been any "recruits" there - but there was some recruiting going on with regards to some guests who were there.