some thoughts on our current basketball roster after getting to watch them play

[Irondawg]

Watched enough now to get a feel for what we have and how I would expect them to develop. First a bit of overview. Many of you might not have any clue what Ray is having to overcome, not only from a roster standpoint, but a basketball fundamentals and IQ standpoint. For the most part, the coaching these kids get at the HS and AAU level in MS/LA/AL is terrible - flat our turrible. In things like ball-handling, passing and defensive positions I'd say most of them are at a 7-9th grade level of most of the kids coming out of the NE.

That said, here's what I see so far:

Bloodman - just completely overmatched and he's a JUCO. Best comparison I have for the pack is Twanny Beckham and Twanny might have been better. He gets pushed out way to high to start offensive sets which makes passes to the wing way longer than they should and that's where most of his turnovers are coming. Good effort, but he's an 11-12th man on just about any top 100 D1 team.

Sword - he's got the highest upside of any of our guys. He can get to the rim, but just has to learn to finish against better competition. Offensively his ball-handling needs to improve, his outside shots needs work and confidence (he doesn't seem to like it) and he's got to do more than rely on the crossover to his left. He's just really raw and needs some work and confidence. Defensively he's got a long way to go with footwork. While Steele is out we just need to tell him he's the 'guy' and live with some bad shots and he learns how to handle the role.

Thomas - can be a very solid player for us. But he's a guy that needs to be set up for his scores b/c he's not great at creating them on his own. Ball-handling needs a ton of work and he's got to quit fading back on every shot. He also appears to be rushing his shots a bit. Raw defensively as well.

Ware - looks to be getting into shape and seems to have a pretty good motor. Probably is he has no idea how to use his body on offensive or defense. Doesn't posses a single post move so he's got to develop at least 3 by next year. Gets flat footed and too straight on defense so he gets roasted a bunch on the block. Has potential to be a solid 10 and 8 guy for us though.

Johnson - the kid is a pogo stick that just has no idea where he's going half the time. But he rebounds well if if he could learn to shoot FT's would be a nice forward off the bench that can bring energy and get around 5 and 5 for a good team in about 15 minutes a game.

Lewis - no different than we're used to seeing. He's a 10-12 minute reserve forward on most teams. Can block a few shots and play ok defense but can't finish offensively around the rim at all and doesn't posses any range either.

The two single biggest problems we have on offense right now is we don't have a PG that can get us into our offense or get easy shots and none of our big guys are offensive threats down low. That allows teams to smother thomas and sword and neither is good enough with the ball right now to create their own offense.

 

[Seinfeld]

Good synopsis, and a quick question about our coaching. A lot of folks seem to be claiming that this is clearly a better coached team, but if I were to summarize your writeup into a few words, I'd call it "a bunch of good athletes that just don't have any idea what they're doing right now." Granted, a lot of these guys are seeing their first real collegiate action in their lives this year, but what exactly are they doing to make one feel that they're better coached?

 

[cheewgumm]

Agree. We have a lot of problems. Hard to watch.

 

[Irondawg]

Good synopsis, and a quick question about our coaching. A lot of folks seem to be claiming that this is clearly a better coached team, but if I were to summarize your writeup into a few words, I'd call it "a bunch of good athletes that just don't have any idea what they're doing right now." Granted, a lot of these guys are seeing their first real collegiate action in their lives this year, but what exactly are they doing to make one feel that they're better coached?

There is a ton more "effort" on defense - we're still getting scorched but it's in a different way. Offensively the jury is still out - we move more, but we're not getting very good shots a lot of times but when you don't have anybody that can create off the dribble it really allows the defense to deny the wings hard. However, we keep going into long spells of not scoring and i don't see us slowing down and running a specific play to get somebody a specific shot. That concerns me a bit, but I'll reserve judgement for a later in the season on the offensive coaching

 

[Paperdog]

Lot of potential in Bloodman IMO

Ware will be the unsung hero of the group ... he was a joy to watch at Starkville High

 

[dawgman42]

Not really. I watched them for the 1st time today, and I saw hustle and effort. I longed for that the last several years. They did get into playing some streetball, but that can be coached out of them. Any time Baxter Price is required to check into a game, I know that the coach has to have some time.

There are truly some utter morons on this board trying to get that warm *** feeling by degrading Ray and wondering "what if?" Stans was back. Ray gets an absolute, stone-cold pass for two years. After that, critics can start warming up. But not this year, and not next. Go kick a puppy or a Rebel or something.

 

[jdbulldog]

probably great guys but as a team, it is dead in the water.

 

[studentdawg87]

We will be competitive next year. People need to chill the 17 out. The last few weeks have exposed a bunch of people on here for what they really are: 17ing morons. With the exception of Hood, Bost and Jamoney, pretty much every freshman we had has been garbage. Rhodes barely played his first year, and he was pretty damn good the next. Same goes for Swat. And Ravern. Augustus, while never a star, had a decent career after being the worst player on the team his freshman year. Players get better.

Thomas: Tall, athletic and can shoot. He will be a completely different player next year, as most sophomores are. He needs to work on his ball-handling and defense, but he will be damn good before he leaves here. He is better than Ravern was when Ravern was a freshman.

Sword: From a physical standpoint, he may be the best guard we have signed since Jamoney. He is really, really raw right now, but he is a superior athlete who can play above the rim. Needs to work on his perimeter shot and cut down on the turnovers. With he and Thomas, out backcourt is in good shape for several years to come.

Lewis: Everyone knows what Lewis is. No need to waste anymore time here.

Bloodman: Shouldn't be playing much, but he has been forced into the starting PG role. He is a true sophomore who only played one year of JUCO, so he will get better, although his ceiling isn't exactly very high.

Ware: Never going to be a star, but he has played pretty well this year, especially considering how raw he is. Provides us with someone who can rebound and hopefully learn to score some going forward.

Johnson: May be the best player on the team, which while surprising, isn't really saying much. He was a beast in Maui, and could end up as a SF if he can continue to work his jump shot. Either way, he will be a big part of things for the next several years. Seems to be the Brandon Vincent-type of player everyone has been desperately wanting for years now, except he appears to have more upside as a scorer/Renaldo Balkman-type.

We're going to look completely different next year, and it will be in a good way. People need to chill the 17 out and realize this year was always going to be about getting the young guys playing time and trying to establish some sort of foundation. Injuries, suspensions and players being kicked off due to being idiots has made things seem far worse than they are.