Steve Logan made his debut on 700 WLW. He did a pretty good job.
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Did I see that right, the box score shows only 9 personal fouls for the game with Vik only having 3. I didn't watch the game; was that the competition, the refs were swallowing the whistle, or were our players simply in the right position to not foul while playing in control?
Red and Black are more of an Attitude than merely a color combination.
Intimidate! Dominate! Celebrate!Comment
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Brent Wyrick
92 Final Four Front Row
@LobotC2DFWComment
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Some more thoughts:
- Day Day Thomas and Jizzle James are super athletic and explosive and it made me forget they are a bit "undersized." UC has had so many "combo guards" over the years and as much as I liked Mika Adams-Woods and his absence arguably hurts the depth, the PGs seem promising (and I think MAW presence could have hurt James' development if he were the #3 option instead of 2).
- Welcome back, John Newman. Wes said in the press conf he was gassed in the second half, but he has the potential to be a very key player.
- Ody Oguama is rarely going to be the star of the game and there is a difference between going up against UIC versus a Kansas (and certainly UC had its issues guarding the interior last night). But I feel like he had another solid, under the radar Ody game.
- CJ Fredrick, if he can stay healthy, is going to play a big role. He did not start and was not even first off the bench. But he played a lot -- will be a needed veteran presence and has the chance to be the dynamic shooter that this program has rarely seen in modern times.
- Dan Skillings continues to show a lot of upside. If he can finish/be more efficient around the basket, plus rebound like he did - look out. I remember Gary Clark had no shot his first year and really developed over time. If Skillings keeps working on his shooting, but focuses in the meantime on just getting to the basket, could be very fun. Plus minus is an overrated state but DS had by far the team best at +18.
- Simas Lukosius had a poor night from the floor, but I saw flashes of what he can be for this team. I think he is tough, is a welcome extra ballhandler, and I think he'll be a solid scorer.
- Tough game for Vik as well. Hopefully all this talk of his new 3-point shot does not become a point of pressure/turn into a confidence thing/affect his interior game. Still pulled down 8 boards..
- Team shot 5/25 from 3 which isn't good (2/19 outside of CJ), but also held UIC to 2/16.
- UC had 2 blocks to UIC's 7.
- Just 9 turnovers
- Vik and Dan both 3/4 from the FT line, whereas Day Day was 2/5 -- hopefully not a Chris McNeal type from the line...
- Josh Reed played almost 10 mins and didn't really do much as far as I could tell.
- Rayvon Griffith and Sage Tolentino not in the rotation / played 0 mins.Last edited by GoBearcats31; 11-07-2023, 08:59 AM.Comment
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Why didn't Tolentino or Griffith make in the rotation?Comment
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Season will hinge on waiver appeals of Aziz and Reynolds. We have zero rim protection and struggle to rebound.
We have some peices this year though.Comment
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Is it me or has Lakhin loss some of his toughness around the rim? When Lakhin stated playing with Brannen, although he got in foul trouble frequently, he had some raw toughness to his game. Now, he is less effective around the rim. It appears that Lakhin is receiving some very bad coaching. He is NOT a three-point shooter. Why not develop Lakhin around his natural talents at this point in his career; as a paint player with rebounding, defense, and inside scoring. I did not see Lakhin attempt to slam the ball not one time last night. I really like Lakhin. He is a pretty good athlete and not a bad inside player.What is missing from Lakhin's game is that sense of anger and wanting to punish the opponent. Lakhin SHOULD BE DOMINATING TEAMS THIS YEAR INSIDE. He is an old man in college basketball. It is time for him to step up and be a productive leader on the floor. I do not understand trying to make him a three-point shooter at this time when he is only one of two guys on the team that can score on the inside.
Last night's game was a tough win. Thank God for the guards on the team. The guards (Thomas, James, Newman, Fredrick and Skillings) look like they have the toughness that is needed to win close games. That is funny because I thought that the bigs on the team would be the strength of the team. Hey! It is just one game. Lets see what happens Friday night for game two. Hoping for a tournament season.Last edited by leeraymond; 11-07-2023, 03:51 PM.Comment
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Did you miss the way he played all last year????
Also, with a smaller and quicker opponent, the game plan seemed to have been to clear out and let guards create. Secondly, it doesn’t seem that Thomas or Jizzle can play the pick and roll to the basket with Vik. DDJ and Vik had that downComment
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