Welcome to this season's first edition of "What I liked and what I didn't like." I'm no professional basketball analyst, but I love to watch the game! Here is what I saw...
What I liked:
-McCOLLUM!!! This is the baller that we needed, and he is the kind of player that will take us to the promise-land. He can score on all three levels, get a bucket when we really need one, and defends really well too (4 steals!). I was really impressed with his game. Having him and Nait together is pure gold.
-49-25 rebounding advantage. Ok, yeah, we should out-rebound a team like this, but I saw good block-outs and a "GIMME THAT BALL!" attitude that will lead to success against any team. Yay for rebounding!
-It probably goes without saying, but both Nait and Baye are so smooth on the court. They make hard plays look easy.
-O'Brien and Reeves both play hard and know the game well. They are excellent "role players" that could be stars on lesser teams. I loved O'Brien's cuts to the basket and Reeves' aggressiveness.
-Somebody said it in the other thread, but the drop-off from Baye to D.O. is not nearly like what it was from Baye to (whoever) last year. I love having some real depth, which will certainly come in handy throughout the year. D.O. has some huge potential, and I liked his willingness to pop the three. Good to see some of Mustaf and Sutton, too. It's nice that we don't need them to be 20+ min. players right now and they can be brought along at a good pace.
What I didn't like:
-Why no minutes for Mutombo and the walk-ons? Come on, coach, give them some run!
-Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. We had too many unforced TOs, and ended the game with more TOs and less steals that West Georgia. That needs to be fixed.
-26% on three-pointers? Yuck. I'm not sure if it was just first-game jitters or maybe the wrong guys shooting, but there were a lot of bricks out there.
The most important stat is 1 win and 0 losses. Let's keep that going! Go jackets!