Lino still doesnt have much of an in between game and kind of lacks touch at the rim, but hes still such an asset cause he can playmake, get shots at the rim and drive. If this team is gonna improve its shot quality, itll be because of Lino. I think a key stretch was later in the first half, Lino was able to generate two open kcik out threes, one to Smith and one to Garavaglia, one of which went in which was huge. The playmaking was much better from last year, and hes still good defensively. Just saying he isn't improved is more just purely looking at the box score and makes and misses. Hes gotta improve on that but the process was much better. My worry is that this year we will again do the thing where we kinda just pass it around and give everyone roughly equal chances to create when we really should be building it around Lino and Francis and kinda getting everyone else to spot up.
Basketball Rutgers Basketball falls to Villanova 77-75 in its first scrimmage
- Thread starter Tango Two
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The defense was noticably better when Jones was in there. He has more length than I was expecting. Will have to cut down on the fouls to stay on the court, but I think we’re going to see a good amount of him and he’ll help us.
I agree. Can we run a Tariq/Jones backcourt, does that give the ball handling necessary?
Yes - we definitely can. Jones didn’t handle the ball much in pressure yesterday but Smith handled it plenty and is going to make line ups with Tariq or Lino as the only small possible where it wasn’t an option last year. I think we’ll see a lot of Jones, Francis and Smith together with Smith taking on a point forward role. Smith Jr not being completely unplayable on D is a big thing and opens up a lot of possibilities.
I hope w see those three together. I still like Lino more as a change of pace guard off the bench. If Smith can guard 3's adequately it would be a big help.
He’s right. The music Hit 110 decibels in the brief time I pulled out my app. It’s a logarithmic scale meaning that’s 10 times as intense as 100. At 85 you should be protecting your ears to avoid hearing loss. Then when action stops ever so briefly they run background sounds including a low level bass sound that can drive one to insanity. Ugh!
Agreed - Smith was mostly guarding the 4 yesterday so that’s TBD. We need him to be better at guarding 3s than Zrno was. I don’t think he’ll be worse having seen him. My bar was low to start granted (his advanced metrics said bottom 5%) but if you picked 100 D1 players at random he’s not likely to be close to one of the 5 worst defenders.
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Probably not as bad as expected, but his lateral movement isn't quick. He's slow footed. He put effort in though, and his length should be a plus. I thought Zrno improved as the year went on, so hopefully the case here. Of course Z was a "freshman".
He was a collegiate frosh but not by age. So I’m not sure how applicable that is. Regardless - Smith Jr is much more of a physical presence and goes after rebounds like a forward vs. Zrno who may have length but plays like a guard in all attributes of the game. A guard who lacked handling skills.
In any case - in no way am I suggesting that Smith is even an average defender. We knew going into the season that D wouldn’t be a strength for him though. When I first caught glimpse of PJ (comparatively) I knew immediately that he would have to make every shot he took to see the floor. He was a major liability on D which was saying a lot considering the overall defensive issues with his team. Smith didn’t stand out in this reapect, in contrast.
Agree, Smith will be a much bigger presence on the boards, and he didn't stand out as awful defensively in the scrimmage. Although he did turn his head and lose his man a couple times, which isn't surprising on day 1. I didn't notice his ball handling all that much, but was working while having it on my third monitor.
For me, it still all comes down to Syndor and what he brings. Based purely on a photo he's bigger than I expected. Hopefully he's solid defensively and on the boards, we need a couple decent defenders around Tariq and Smith and Gurdak will definitely need help on the boards.
Yes - agreed on all above. This is why I said right away I’m quietly excited about Jones. He is the first transfer we’ve brought in through the portal (ever?) who appears (at least in this limited sample) to be a plus defender overall. It’s a little thing the play I pointed to at the end of the game where he races ahead to reestablish position down low to contest his man’s shot after getting beat but it’s noteworthy. We didn’t have one player on our team who would’ve done that last season. Every one of them either gives up on the play or commits a reach foul every time when they get beat. Occasionally the ones with some length may get a well timed block from behind. Only the kids with the Caleb / Mag mentality instinctively race ahead to attempt to reestablish position.
Yup, liked what I saw out of Jones on both ends, looked smooth on his one shot I saw him take too, was surprised he wasn't a little more aggressive on O, but with Mark handling and Smith, might not be tons of opportunity.
Really eager to see what he looks like playing alongside Tariq who can create all over and is unselfish. Lino still suffers from the same affliction JMike had as a freshman, forgetting the guys in the paint are 6-12 inches taller.
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