squeaky said:
I was surprised to see Josh Young had 21 points and 6 assists. He is from a small high school, and most of his games were against a very low level of competetion. I can't believe he is ready to put up numbers like that in his freshman season, but if he is, he should play ahead of Stewart.
Drake needs to have both Stewart and Young in the game as much as possible. I don't think it is Stewart's playing time that Young will take. More likely Chris Bryant's.
What was the reason Heemskerk only played just 2 minutes? Is he hurt?
He is not hurt. For whatever reason, I don't think Heemskerk has progressed as much as the staff had hoped. He's not physical enough to be a force in the paint, and not quick enough for the perimeter.
Leonard Houston only played 11 minutes and Chris Bryant 15 min. Is this from injuries or are they in Coach TD's doghouse?
Actually, 11 minutes is probably more than Houston has averaged in the past. Bryant's game has not progressed at all from his freshman season. He's weak on defense and ballhandling, and his shot has actually gotten worse. It's mostly a confidence thing with him (as far as his shooting)....and right now, I don't think he has much.
I wouldn't say in the doghouse, I just think that Stewart, Young and Grant are going to get almost all the minutes at the '1' and '2', and Houston and Bryant will fight it out to get minutes at the '3' (behind Korver)
The other surprise was that Coach Davis played Aliou Keita and A.J. Calvin at the same time for much of the time. He started out last season doing that, but stopped as the season progressed. They seem like too similar players, and not very good shooters to play a lot together. I expect we won't see as much of that as the season progresses.
Calvin is a very good mid-range shooter, and is a slasher. Keita is strictly a low-post player. Unless somebody else steps up, those 2 will both get a lot of playing time. I expect Keita, Calvin and Cox to get the vast majority of the minutes at the '4' and '5' spots.
Also, only 10 players saw action. Coach Davis is known for playing a lot of players. Last year he played 12 or more every game.
I think you're going to see Dr Tom go with a smaller rotation of players this season. He substituted quite a bit in the first half, not nearly as much in the second. Also, you have to remember that 2 of the guys who would have normally gotten minutes didn't play for Drake. Of course, it's possible that if they had played, then a couple of the other guys wouldn't have gotten any minutes.