Our Four Freshmen

[oldrunner]

At a recent practice, I was struck by how hard our upper classmen are working and how much they are being pushed by our freshmen. Our starters are very good and solid as starters. However, our freshmen are making a case for a lot of playing time. I have always thought they were good, but they are a lot better than they were a month ago. You could take the four freshmen, Senglin, Gittins, Hill, and Fuller, add any one of our walkons, and they would be the second best team in the BSC.

I watched Senglin split the defense with a cross over move, on his way to dunking on one of our seniors. Gittins went baseline for several spectacular dunks. Fuller had several dunks on the break and in traffic. Hill was blocking shots, grabbing boards, and making all kinds of shots. They were all making statements for PT. They are all excellent, excellent athletes, highly skilled and fast learners.

With the recruits we have coming in next year, all I can say is WOW! We are going to be very good for a long, long time. :thumb: :thumb:

Oh, by the way, our starters are looking far better than last year. There seems to be a whole new attitude around the program this year, and it was good last year. Everyone seems to have a bit of a chip on their shoulder. :nod: :nod:

 

[SWWeatherCat]

... I watched Senglin split the defense with a cross over move, on his way to dunking on one of our seniors. Gittins went baseline for several spectacular dunks. Fuller had several dunks on the break and in traffic. Hill was blocking shots, grabbing boards, and making all kinds of shots. They were all making statements for PT. ...

I hope it's not at all related to soft or bad defense. Defense wins championships, right? How about a matching defensive report? It's good to hear the youngsters look good. I can't hardly stand the wait to get my WSU BB fix! The withdrawals for me started Tuesday, April 2, 2013, around 8:40 PM, Row 5, DEC.

 

[oldrunner]

Good point, on the defensive side of the ball. From what I could see, defensive mistakes were a team wide issue. The vets were making just as many mistakes as the newcomers. Our coaches spent a lot of their 'off' time studying film from last year to form strategies for improving an already tough defense. There will be some tweaks incorporated into our league leading, and nationally rated man D. The plan is also to incorporate some new strategies as secondary defenses. In the practice I attended, Gittins was, far and away, the best defender on the floor. He is so quick and active, he gets a ton of tips and steals. Our defense is a little rough around the edges for now. However, they spend about 2/3s of their time working on it. Their goal is to be better than last year. It looks to me like that is a realistic expectation.

Another interesting tidbit is that there will be new offensives sets added to better utilize the improved athleticism of our team and the changing emphasis in officiating. Hand checking and illegal screens are points of emphasis this year. However, if it is like most years, I would expect those points to soften over time. When it comes right down to it, nobody, including the refs, wants to see a huge increase in players fouling out. With that said, our coaches are still preparing O and D strategies to adjust to those points of emphasis.

The three new offensive sets, that I saw being practiced, may not be shown until BSC play, or just before. Honestly, there could be some sets that are held out until the BSC tournament, with the exception of a situational test run once or twice.

One of the things I really like about this coaching staff, is that they put as much emphasis on their own development as they do the players. :thumb: :thumb:

 

[n.ogdencat]

Well, we all know, defensively, that the Cats were really good last year. Yes, Mook and Bam provided great leadership and were both solid defenders, but Weber gets stronger with Bolomboy taking over for Mook and I think Royce is quickly becoming as good a defender, at least, as Bam (offense, he has a long way to go). To me, having defensive issues is a good thing right now, it shows how good our team is offensively and how much talent is being exhibited by our freshman and of course, by our vets. Also, the Wizard wants to become multi-dimensional defensively. Be able to switch from a man, to a couple different zone defenses. I still think if the Cats would have played zone against UM last year in the Championship that the Cats win that game. Plus, even though we were very well conditioned, the Cats would have had more energy at the end of the game. NO matter, being able to play multiple defenses will really make our team a multi-headed monster as teams will have a much harder time preparing to play us, because they won't know what defense the Wildcats will use.

I'm just scratching my head over how good our freshmen are this year. I know we have done a good job of keeping an eye on our recruits over the years, but I think Gittens and Fuller have caught a lot of us by complete surprise. I knew Gittens was good, but not this good this quick. And he is only going to get better. What should scare people is that Fuller isn't even close to reaching his potential. Then add on Hill who has only gotten better and better and will only get better and of course Senglin who we all knew was going to be stellar. Exciting time to be a Wildcat. Yes, there are lots of questions marks, but talent wise, at least, there isn't anyone in the league that can touch the Cats. Maybe UND and UM have good solid starting 5's but their benches aren't anywhere near as deep, talent, or prepared as ours. Jon did have a nice write up about UND's which is why I have them pegged higher than UM next season.

Makes me think that we might be under-estimating some of our guys for next year too Hayden Hunter or Ryan Richardson? We all know that Braxton and Jefferson are going to be awesome, and that Van Pelt will be an extremely important addition. I wonder who will be our next huge surprise. The coaches are doing wonders right now. Weber is set for a while and with what we are working on for 2015. Ugh!! The Sky needs to be scared. Weber's upside will only get better.