Just back from the Hump. A few observations..................

[Hanmudog]

1. Ravern is the most valuable player in America right now
2. I still want to kick Rick in the balls for not fouling before Troy hit the three to force OT. We had a foul to give with 2.5 seconds left.
3. Our best lineup by far was Bryant,Steele, Benock, Ravern, and Kodi.
4. Everyone needs to get off of Benock's *** now. He has been playing good D and has 13 and 12 points in the last 2 games.
5. Beckham has improved and does not hurt us but he does not help much either. He just kind of takes up space.
6. Elgin is a turnover machine and should never touch the ball unless it is a rebound.
7. We were a different team when Kodi decided to join the rest of the team in OT.
8. Bryant and Steele are two great pickups by Stansbury and keep us from missing Phil Turner. We would be 0-4 without them.
9. Reik never even took off his warmup and Lewis is completely clueless on defense, he is the anti-Varnado.
10. Stansbury's switch to a zone completely turned the game around but he should have done it much sooner.
11. Sidney was there and very enthusiastic and supportive of his teammates.
12. We do seem to be getting better movement on offense than in recent years, including setting screens for Ravern.</p>

 

[drunkernhelldawg]

Almost halfway through Sidney's suspension. It could end up being an incredible season.

Also appreciate how vividly your post shows me what's going on. I haven't been able to follow a game yet. I'm up to my neck in football and turkey.

 

[mstatefan88]

They both need to put in solid minutes off the bench this year. Part of our problem in the past is we've never really had a true backup PG that could play and lead on the court, so Stansbury always has to throw the starters back out there.

Having 2 guys like Bryant and Steele that can come in and both handle the ball and shoot will take a lot of pressure off the starters, and should give us better offensive consistency throughout the game.We would always have scoring droughts in the past when the bench came in, but that doesn't seem to be the case this year.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

Did you get Stansbury's autograph this time?

 

[BrandonAcctgDawg]

I was there. Very accurate details. We moved without the ball a lot better late in the game and OT.

 

[Coach34]

.
12. We do seem to be getting better movement on offense than in recent years, including setting screens for Ravern.</p>

I see that folder D@A and I sent Stansbury with a D is being put to good use.

This is going to be an interesting SEC season

 

[Hanmudog]

Did you get Stansbury's autograph this time?

No butI did getBaxter Price's autograph.

I know everyone likes to rip Stansbury but other than not fouling with 2.5 seconds left, this game was 100% on the players. Too many guys out of position on defense. Too many missed free throws in regulation. Ill timed turnovers at the end of regulation. None of these first several games are going to be pretty and any kind of win is a good win because we have zero post presence right now and a buttload of guys playing their first real year of major college ball.

 

[onewoof]

didn't turn out well...

 

[nsvltndog]

I'm pretty sure that a foul tonight would have been our 6th foul, thus no free throws. They would have likely had to throw in the ball with under 1 second left andfind a way to make a 3 pointer in that time frameif we had fouled.

Against UK, we fouled knowing they had to have a miracle happen on the 1 and 1 attempt. The miracle indeed happened with some help from a blatant lane violation.

 

[Irondawg]

He must just have zero natural feel for the game b/c I know last year if a team rotated the ball around once or twice he would usually completely lost sight of his man and we'd give up an easy layup.

The guy seems to hustle but apparently he hasn't made strides in that area. Was hoping he'd make the big sophomore leap and give us some solid minutes at the 4 spot.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

The schedule has basically sucked, but we aren't exactly rolling a lot of talent out there. Ravern is our only consistent threat, but against this kind of competition he can thrive. Kodi is going to do at least five stupid things a night, but in between he might also get you a double double. Bryant and Steele are improving. Benock, now that he is getting minutes, is turning into what he should have been since his sophomore year. But that's really it. Baily, Lewis and Tranny don't do much. What will be funny is going 9-0 then getting the RSS in the lineup just in time to lose to Va Tech and St. Mary's.

 

[captaindawg]

I didn't see him on the bench.

 

[Hanmudog]

He must just have zero natural feel for the game b/c I know last year if a team rotated the ball around once or twice he would usually completely lost sight of his man and we'd give up an easy layup.

The guy seems to hustle but apparently he hasn't made strides in that area. Was hoping he'd make the big sophomore leap and give us some solid minutes at the 4 spot.

Nothing has changed. Three passes around the horn and Lewis couldn't find his man if he were wearing hunter orange.There was one point during the game where we gave up layup after layup from Bailey and Lewis just leaving their man under the basket.
I am not saying Lewis sucks because he has alot of upside with his athleticism but his defense is just a glaring weakness right now.

 

[Irondawg]

But maybe there is still hope - just a lot of defensive rotation is instincts by players (along with effort). That's why Turner was a good rebounder - he had good defensive insticts.

Plus we gave up 19 offensive boards? That's ridiculous.

 

[onewoof]

very valuable playing time for Bryant. He is going to be a good backup for Bost.

 

[bsm138]

Except I see Kodi as a detriment, being his negatives outweigh any positives. Lots of dumb fouls, like the multiple charges against him last game and more on the defensive side of the ball; get your *** down low and stop shooting thats why we have ravern, riley, and jalen.

We gotta inbound the ball to ravern at the end of regulation, i told my buddy in the seats if we get the ball to steele he misses the free throw (common occurance for steele) and they tie it. - Nostrabulldawg, they do.

Benock has been a great surprise because until this season i have been anticipating his senior night (bad memories of tennessee traveling)

We need Sidney- loads of rebounds we should get do not go our way- Wendell is softer than <span style="font-style: italic;">insert joke here</span>

Love what Steele brings, gonna be a battle between him and riley when bost returns

If we can somehow get a 4-guard Sidney lineup without having to see Kodi to work i would be ecstatic. Bost-Jalen-Ravern-Riley-Sidney; but hopefully kodi gets his **** together and we become the SEC West Champs we are always meant to be

Go Dawgs!

 

[blueindian79]

Jeez I really need to do my homework on our Bball team because I only recognize a few names mentioned in this thread. Truthfully I didn't have high expectations for this team even with Sidney and Bost, mainly because I didn't think we had the depth. Am I way off base here? Like I said I need to do my homework but after reading some of these comments I feel a little more confident.

 

[Predestined]

<div class="scrolling">

1. Ravern is the most valuable player in America right now YES. AND DID YOU SEE THE BLOCKS? HE HAD AT LEAST TWO BIG ONES NEAR THE END.
2. I still want to kick Rick in the balls for not fouling before Troy hit the three to force OT. We had a foul to give with 2.5 seconds left. I THOUGHT MAYBE THE GUYS WERE TOO TIMID TO DO IT, BUT COACH ADMITTED POST GAME HE DECIDED NOT TO FOUL AND THAT IT WAS A MISTAKE. SOMEWHERE, COACH34 TURNED OVER IN HIS SLEEP AND SMILED.
3. Our best lineup by far was Bryant,Steele, Benock, Ravern, and Kodi. YES
4. Everyone needs to get off of Benock's *** now. He has been playing good D and has 13 and 12 points in the last 2 games.HE REALLY HAS, THOUGH HE STILL PASSES UP SOME SERIOUS OPEN LOOKS.
5. Beckham has improved and does not hurt us but he does not help much either. He just kind of takes up space. HE WONT BE DEE'S BACKUP - HE'S NOT PLAYING BAD, BUT HE IS LOSING MINUTES EACH GAME TO BRYANT WHO IS REALLY IMPRESSING.
6. Elgin is a turnover machine and should never touch the ball unless it is a rebound. WHICH MEANS NEVER. LIKE THE LAST TWO GAMES, NO OFFENSIVE OFF SIDE REBOUNDING. I KNOW ITS HIS KNEES, BUT BETWEEN HE AND CLUELESS, ITS KILLING US.
7. We were a different team when Kodi decided to join the rest of the team in OT. IF HE HAD JOINED US IN REGULATION, WE WOULDN"T HAVE BEEN IN OT
8. Bryant and Steele are two great pickups by Stansbury and keep us from missing Phil Turner. We would be 0-4 without them. VERY IMPRESSED WITH THEM AND THEIR BALL HANDLING.
9. Reik never even took off his warmup and Lewis is completely clueless on defense, he is the anti-Varnado. REIK HASNT SEEN THE FLOOW SINCE THE OPENER. AND BASED ON WHAT I SAW THERE, HE MAY NOT AGAIN UNTIL BELHAVEN.
10. Stansbury's switch to a zone completely turned the game around but he should have done it much sooner. I STILL WONDER IT IT WAS THAT, OR THAT TROY JUST FINALLY GOT TIRED. I THOUGHT WE PLAYED MUCH BETTER WHEN WE WENT TO FOUR GUARDS LATE.
11. Sidney was there and very enthusiastic and supportive of his teammates. HAS BEEN ALL YEAR.
12.We do seem to be getting better movement on offense than in recent years, including setting screens for Ravern. MAYBE I JUST LOOK FOR THE NEGATIVE, BUT I SAW A LOT OF STANDING AROUND LAST NIGHT AND PASSING UP OF OPEN SHOTS. OF COURSE, ITS HARD TO PASS INSIDE WHEN ITS ELGIN OR LEWIS GETTING IT. NO TRANSITION GAME EITHER.

All in all I thought it was the worst effort, even over the opener. Maybe its the holiday, but they seemed out of it all night. Then again, once they pulled their collective head out their teams ***, they got back in it and pulled it out. No one will remember how sloppy we looked - but they would have remembered a loss. The experience we are getting with the minutes of Bryant and Steele especially are tremendous. Lewis really needs to take advantage of this time, but he isn't right now. Got to turn up the effort against Fla Atlantic. Ithink they will.

</p></div>

 

[FlabLoser]

We are MUCH better than I thought we would be without Bost and Sidney. This is impressive.

The team is beating teams it should beat. This has to be Mullen's doing. Mullen is probably attending practices. Can we pay Mullen 2 salaries?