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BAHAMAS HOOPS INVITE Friday Nov 17 (Georgia 3:30) Sunday Nov 19 (final vs KanSt 2:30)

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TriStarCane said:
Will play Kansas St on Sunday for the championship. Pack vs his former squad
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Don’t think there’s a single person there now who was there when he was. But technically you’re not wrong.

Real talk though, we’re like 5% of the way into the season and I’m not saying they will, but someone tell me why this team can’t be as good as last year’s team?

Are there a lot of teams with a core better than ours? And it’s not 2-3 guys. The whole starting 5 are legit dudes. And imo they’re going to be much better defensively this year.

You replaced Jordan Miller with Matt Cleveland. I don’t see much drop off there. And you replaced Isaiah Wong with a much improved Wooga Poplar and Bensley Joseph.

Idk man, I think this team is gonna be serious.
 
AtlAtty said:
I missed the entire game coaching my 7th grade boys team practice, so I am thoroughly enjoying the bipolar nature of these comments.
From we suck and why is anyone on scholarship to we are ready to win the Natty.
Hilarious.
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Cleveland was a beast. Wooga rattled in a 3 and shook his head in disgust and that summed up his night but he still had a double double.

Bens is the ultimate team guy except he can also iso and score now apparently. Really impressive.

Thought Watson really looked like he belonged. Maybe it was because I was in person but I didn’t think Casey played as poorly as is being said on this board. That said I thought he did trail off and end his minutes with some not great play.

All in all they handled their business against a not bad but not good P5 squad with 2 to 3 of our starting 5 not having great nights.
 
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OrangeBowlMagic said:
Don’t think there’s a single person there now who was there when he was. But technically you’re not wrong.

Real talk though, we’re like 5% of the way into the season and I’m not saying they will, but someone tell me why this team can’t be as good as last year’s team?

Are there a lot of teams with a core better than ours? And it’s not 2-3 guys. The whole starting 5 are legit dudes. And imo they’re going to be much better defensively this year.

You replaced Jordan Miller with Matt Cleveland. I don’t see much drop off there. And you replaced Isaiah Wong with a much improved Wooga Poplar and Bensley Joseph.

Idk man, I think this team is gonna be serious.
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This team is better.

Wooga will give us number wise what Wong did last year and Bens will give us more than Wooga did last year.

Cleveland seems like he he is adjusting a lot faster than expected. He can’t (currently) create offensively like Miller could but he’s a better defender and rebounder imho. Hit some shots tonight too.

If Watson can step up his game… watch out.

Casey and Nwoko give us some playable frontcourt depth (balked dunk notwithstanding).

Still have some hope for George but he may be a next year guy the way things are going.
 
Some random thoughts:

- Cleveland and Joseph are this team’s most consistent players
- Cleveland is an outstanding athlete and craftier than I expected. He looks like an NBA player when he’s on. I’d like to see the offense run thru him more frequently.
- Joseph has really improved, especially offensively (he was always a good defender)
- Omier really needs to avoid these silly fouls. We don’t have the depth to overcome it against better teams
- Watson needs to see more PT. He’s athletic and long and I like the way he defends.
- Casey wasn’t as bad as this board is suggesting, but he needs to rebound better and play with more aggression
- Pack has improved as a slasher but he’s turning it over too much
- Wooga needs to cut down on the sloppy mistakes
- Given the preseason hype, I’m a bit surprised at how little George is playing

Overall, not the prettiest game but it was a comfortable double digit win against a P5 team. Reading some of the insufferable comments on this thread would lead one to believe we lost by 20.
 
well, i will give in and post the score as 79-68, as many are showing... but not espn (see below at 2am) nor what i thought i saw on my screen
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maybe the venue affects shooting, but on defense Casey was indeed awful (again), ill take Nwoko.
 
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OrangeBowlMagic said:
Don’t think there’s a single person there now who was there when he was. But technically you’re not wrong.

Real talk though, we’re like 5% of the way into the season and I’m not saying they will, but someone tell me why this team can’t be as good as last year’s team?

Are there a lot of teams with a core better than ours? And it’s not 2-3 guys. The whole starting 5 are legit dudes. And imo they’re going to be much better defensively this year.

You replaced Jordan Miller with Matt Cleveland. I don’t see much drop off there. And you replaced Isaiah Wong with a much improved Wooga Poplar and Bensley Joseph.

Idk man, I think this team is gonna be serious.
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Anything can happen in the tourney of course, whether we're technically better or worse... but at this point it seems pretty clear Nwoko/Casey are critical. At least one of them has to at least be solid, cause Omier is going to have plenty of games he's in foul trouble.
 
calinative umstudent said:
Anything can happen in the tourney of course, whether we're technically better or worse... but at this point it seems pretty clear Nwoko/Casey are critical. At least one of them has to at least be solid, cause Omier is going to have plenty of games he's in foul trouble.
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I agree completely but what I mean is, Omier got into foul trouble a lot last year too. And we had the team we had. When it happens this year, what’s different that potentially makes us worse? Matt Cleveland is averaging 6.5 boards a game so far. Jordan Miller averaged 6.2 last year. So when Omier is in foul trouble this year, are we a worse team than when he was in foul trouble last year? I don’t think we are.
 
Bens has been playing outstanding. Elite defense, and offense keeps getting better and better. Would like to run the offense through him more. Dont think hes reached his peak yet. Hes made huge improvements.

Poplar has made a huge jump, but has so much more to go. Sky is the limit. If he can improve his ball handling, watch out! Made great progress overall from last year to this year. Lets see what he looks like later in year.

Cleveland. Love his game. To make this much if an impact only 4 games in speaks about his IQ and ability. Cant wait to see him keep growing.

Pack hasnt found his stride yet. Hes not getting the looks he got last year. Hel get it together. Hes a winner.

Omier has been getting some very questionable calls. He still has a long way to go as a player offensively and defensively.

Watson needs to attack more. Hes one of the most intriguing players on the team. We dont really have guys that can beat there man off the dribble in half court offense. He has potential there. I get the sense that he was frustrated by lack of PT before. Hes getting more now. He missed a couple opportunities to cut to basket for easy scores yesterday. Think he just needs a breakout game for his confidence. He can be a player.

George. Love his defense! Shot havent been falling yet, but love what he brings. Needs some of those shots to fall for his confidence. Badly need points off bench.

Nwoko. Love his upside. Still looks like hes nervous and hasnt adjusted to speed yet. Needs to keep getting PT. We need production from him off bench.

Casey. I thought hes been playing well. Hes a huge upgrade over Walker. Doesnt make mistakes. Defense has been pretty good.

Overall, i love this team. Thank you coach L. Officially turned us into a basketball school. Took my son last year to final 4. It was a blast. Loved being a part of history. Hoping we can make it again this year.
 
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JB7-FTW said:
For how insanely athletic Poplar is, he is wasting his ceiling as a player. Not sure what happened as far as his developmental staff goes, but he has the burst to play like Lonnie did, but instead has only found success as a spot up shooter like a Klay Thompson type role. His handle is super shaky and he just can't beat people off the dribble. In the open court if he's trailing its showtime as he has the athleticism to make things happen, but its so rare to see him turn the corner on a handoff and take it to the rim with authority. Poplar as that spot up shooter is a great player don't get me wrong, and is still a draftable player, but Poplar if he shows he can be a slasher will take this team to another level and also his stock.
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I think the "legend" of Lonnie grows bigger every year that goes by. Fact is, he didn't really play up to 5 star expectations in his brief time at UM. Drafted, rightfully so, on his vast potential.
 
AmherstCane said:
This team is better.

Wooga will give us number wise what Wong did last year and Bens will give us more than Wooga did last year.

Cleveland seems like he he is adjusting a lot faster than expected. He can’t (currently) create offensively like Miller could but he’s a better defender and rebounder imho. Hit some shots tonight too.

If Watson can step up his game… watch out.

Casey and Nwoko give us some playable frontcourt depth (balked dunk notwithstanding).

Still have some hope for George but he may be a next year guy the way things are going.
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You concerned at all with our work on the boards? Wong and Miller, despite lack of size, were actually excellent rebounders. Wong got good position and had strong hands. Miller seemed to glide in and get more than his share.

Talking about hands, that's an area Bensley takes a back seat to Wong. Wong could penetrate and score inside. Bens can penetrate but ... the scoring inside off his drrives is still a work in progress. Nice jump-shooting from him though -- intermediate and long-range.
 
Gables Canes said:
I don’t mind Omier shooting 3’s, but a couple of his attempts weren’t the best. IMO, 3 Omier bombs in a game is too many when we already have a bunch of good shooters and no other post presence
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Omier does have a good outside stroke. Two of the 3's he tried seemed tentative. If he feels they are playing off him, he'd be better off taking the shot with more conviction. And you're right, we need Norchad underneath. Just like last season.
 
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