Musketeer Madness Scrimmage Musings

[XU80]

First off, surprised at how good an outside shooter Kanter is at 6'10" made the final two shootout for 3pt contest, which Gates one easily.

Overall, the players that shined Tyrique Jones was unstoppable inside. I don't have stats from the game but he was very strong on the boards and have several put backs. Q looks even stronger and quicker. He is not ready to let Scruggs take the point. I can't wait for Gooden match up with opposing point guards and his penetration was impressive. Blueitt looks leaner and quicker. Shot was pure and he made several quick moves to the basket. Gates showed well with better defense than last year and hit one three in the 10 minute scrimmage. O'Mara didn't get many looks as his team struggled to make good passes into the post. Kanter made one three and he will be a good addition to the team. Macura did not play, no reason given.

The Three Freshman look good, Marshall is very athletic and really played great defense against Blueitt. I think he may be the best of the three at this point. Scruggs can handle the ball, didn't show much of a shot but with Goodin guarding him that is understandable. I can only imagine how much better he will be with that practice match up daily. Harden is a little behind but shows a good outside shot and I think he will contribute.

My overall impressions, very athletic, great size, depth at each position, stay healthy and this could be a great run this year.

[X-lucidity]

Spot on XU80. Well detailed. I assume JP tweaked something and was just held out to be smart, although would love to know. Basketball Jones - goodness, what can I say. The sky is the limit for him if he keeps working hard on his footwork. Big Sean was quiet exactly due to a poor entry pass angle twice by Frosh Harden. Speaking of Harden, after watching him closely as well as in warm-ups, this kids flashes way more freakish athleticism than I had been led to believe. Nice stroke as well. Should be able to contribute solid minutes off the bench by December. Scruggs, looked a bit unsure in the offense but that is to be expected with a Frosh PG. His strength and quickness combo was evident. For some reason he was in the 3pt shooting contest - and his shooting rhythm from deep actually looked decent - better than Q by quite a bit - which was a pleasant surprise. Definitely don't want Paul hoisting tons of 3's right off the bat but his stroke could be developed into potential 35 -38% threat by Soph, if he has the passion to work at it. Scruggs is already a legit slasher and seems to be capable of adding some intense perimeter "D" as well with coaching. Kanter, wow, I can see why so many D-1 contenders were interested. Very active and runs the floor like a little kid having fun. As mentioned above, has a very nice shooting touch. He seemed to tire in the shoot-off after the first round tie with Gates. Kanter also seemed to enjoy contesting for rebounds. His post D did not impress but then a very short sample size and seems very coachable. Karem would look to be a nice fit off the bench to instantly add offense either from around the basket, mid-range or beyond the arc. Gates looked decent, stronger and healthy. Really hopin his tourney form from late last year carries over. No reason it can't. Q looked terrific. He seems to have worked hard on a floater, which makes tons of sense, with all our shooters and post scoring options very few teams will be able to hedge Q's drives hard. Saving my best for last - Naji! OK, so he did not stuff the box score last night. But goodness, what a freak combination of size, wing-span, athleticism and intensity. You could tell he was pumped to guard Tre. (by the way, Tre looked FAB!) Mr. Marshall reminds me of a more athletic Justin Cage with a higher offensive ceiling. Just a smart looking passionate ball player. I see Naji, by mid-December, taking Malcom's role in our starting 5 and X not missing a beat. Lot's of combo options for Mack and X. Proof will be in the pudding, as it always is, but excited about the firepower combined with improved overall quickness.

[muskieman]

Thanks guys for the reviews. I hope you are right about X's potential and everyone stays healthy and fills your expectations.

[edgecliff hall]

Thanks much to the both of yuz for your smart coverage.

[HAB67]

What position did Kanter play, 4 or 5?

[X-lucidity]

4. But then short 8 min game and no subs so who really knows..

[skyhops]

He can play booth, and you will also see him on the court with Tyrique due to his ability to stretch the court and hit 3's.

[finalfourorbust]

My biggest concern with all of the reviews that I am reading about all of our highly rated incoming freshmen is that nobody thinks that any of them is any better than an average shooter. In a game where the object of the game is to get the ball in the basket it appears that the lane is going to get way too crowded if penetration is the only way to score.

[skyhops]

Hardin seems to be a good shooter

[Anti-Homer]

Spot on XU80. Well detailed. I assume JP tweaked something and was just held out to be smart, although would love to know. Basketball Jones - goodness, what can I say. The sky is the limit for him if he keeps working hard on his footwork. Big Sean was quiet exactly due to a poor entry pass angle twice by Frosh Harden. Speaking of Harden, after watching him closely as well as in warm-ups, this kids flashes way more freakish athleticism than I had been led to believe. Nice stroke as well. Should be able to contribute solid minutes off the bench by December. Scruggs, looked a bit unsure in the offense but that is to be expected with a Frosh PG. His strength and quickness combo was evident. For some reason he was in the 3pt shooting contest - and his shooting rhythm from deep actually looked decent - better than Q by quite a bit - which was a pleasant surprise. Definitely don't want Paul hoisting tons of 3's right off the bat but his stroke could be developed into potential 35 -38% threat by Soph, if he has the passion to work at it. Scruggs is already a legit slasher and seems to be capable of adding some intense perimeter "D" as well with coaching. Kanter, wow, I can see why so many D-1 contenders were interested. Very active and runs the floor like a little kid having fun. As mentioned above, has a very nice shooting touch. He seemed to tire in the shoot-off after the first round tie with Gates. Kanter also seemed to enjoy contesting for rebounds. His post D did not impress but then a very short sample size and seems very coachable. Karem would look to be a nice fit off the bench to instantly add offense either from around the basket, mid-range or beyond the arc. Gates looked decent, stronger and healthy. Really hopin his tourney form from late last year carries over. No reason it can't. Q looked terrific. He seems to have worked hard on a floater, which makes tons of sense, with all our shooters and post scoring options very few teams will be able to hedge Q's drives hard. Saving my best for last - Naji! OK, so he did not stuff the box score last night. But goodness, what a freak combination of size, wing-span, athleticism and intensity. You could tell he was pumped to guard Tre. (by the way, Tre looked FAB!) Mr. Marshall reminds me of a more athletic Justin Cage with a higher offensive ceiling. Just a smart looking passionate ball player. I see Naji, by mid-December, taking Malcom's role in our starting 5 and X not missing a beat. Lot's of combo options for Mack and X. Proof will be in the pudding, as it always is, but excited about the firepower combined with improved overall quickness.

Thanks to XU80 & X-luc for the summaries. I've heard many of the same things about your assessments of the players. We know what we'll get from Blueitt & JP, but I think Jones will continue to show major improvement (which started with the Creighton Game last year), and Gates will show what everyone thought he would bring after his freshman year.

With only 10 scholarship players, X is fortunate to have 3 guys who are ready to contribute, especially Scruggs and Marshall. I agree with x-luc's assessment of Scruggs. He is a big, powerful guard, but I hope he makes his living in the lane, and not from the outside. It's the same hope I have for Goodin, who is very good at getting into the lane, but a subpar outside shooter. If he learns to shoot a tear dropper, a la Drew Lavender, or even an 8 foot pull up like Tu, he can average 10-12 points a game.

With two big, athletic, quick guards like Scruggs and Goodin, I hope X pressures much higher this year, especially since they usually only play one traditional post player, so opposing teams have to begin their offensive sets much higher.

I'm happy X picked up Kantner, but by all reports, he is a talented European type big, who is a talented, stretch post player offensively, with limited defensive abilities in the post. However, all 3 post guys have different games offensively and defensively, which will give X a lot of different options.

I also heard consistently from day one the same analogy of Marshall being a bigger, more athletic and talented Justin Cage, one of my all-time fave X players.

CM did his best coaching job last year as X had a subpar regular season, but he pulled all the right strings during the BE and NCAA tourneys when it counted the most. He has the most legitimate chance to reach a F-4 this season.