Purple and White Game?????????????

[wazzuwildcat03]

Did anyone even go to this? My buddy at work went and he said it was so boring and the team look bad. I used to like going to the Purple and White game, but it got more boring and dumb every year. Sounds like this year is no different. Plus slogging through 45 minutes of the girls team doing lay up drills is not exciting. UGHH. Still excited for Nov. 11 though. Hope we kick ass.
:rockon:

 

[oldrunner]

Did anyone even go to this? My buddy at work went and he said it was so boring and the team look bad. I used to like going to the Purple and White game, but it got more boring and dumb every year. Sounds like this year is no different. Plus slogging through 45 minutes of the girls team doing lay up drills is not exciting. UGHH. Still excited for Nov. 11 though. Hope we kick ass.
:rockon:

The USU game is on the 10th. You must be predicting a win. I love it!

These kinds of formats are always a bit boring. They know each other and the sets way to well and the coaches are simply using it as another controlled scrimmage to help with the future distribution of playing time. What I took from it was that we have some freshmen who are ready to play significant roles on this team. Our upper classmen all looked just like we would expect them to and the youngsters compliment them nicely.

With that said, I don't think you can predict much from this event. We will know more on Nov. 11th. :thumb:

 

[SWWeatherCat]

My wife and I went. It was pretty low key and there were very few people in attendance-- I didn't look around close enough to make an accurate guess but it would surprise if there were 300 there. The girls did not do drills or scrimmage, they did compete in a co-ed 3pt contest which I thought was entertaining. Turner squeaked out the win over one of the girls, and then Chapman or Doc. I would have enjoyed another combined shooting contest personally.

The men's scrimmage was fun to watch because it was my first good look at the new blood. I wouldn't say they looked great and I can understand why none of the players are listed on the preseason award lists but I do think Rahe has a lot to work with. If he can work some magic I think they'll be just fine. Richardson shot lights out, which was nice to see. Doc is going to be really good. Turner looked decent but had trouble staying in front of Doc. Chapman looked decent but I hope he's a little rusty because I'm hoping for much more than I saw. The same could be said for Harding, in my opinion he didn't look as good as I expected him to. The Fin and Czech look a little raw but I think there is potential there with both. Braxton was pretty intense, he was there to compete hard and looked decent but I hope he is a real force in the paint this year. Dallas was on crutches and John didn't play.

Defensively, I loved the effort, hustle, and communication. Offensively, I hope they are able to show more against opponents. It looks like they have decent depth, I'm just not sure what talent level I think the team is. In years past, Rahe ran a 3rd period; not this time. I'm not sure if anything could be read into that. I don't think Rahe particularly enjoys this event and my feeling was that this one he was really not excited about.

 

[UtahPirate]

Not sure the "team looked bad" is much of a review at this point of the year because there were a ton of new faces and a lot of kids playing that may never see the court again. I went late hoping to avoid the girls workout -- and it got cancelled so when I walked in the men's scrimmage had already started and the score was 7 to 7. I was probably looking for different things, but here's what I thought:

Vialen is coordinated. Runs well. Gets up and down the court and didn't hesitate to battle on the boards. The kid is just a pup and he needs to get stronger, but he's loaded with talent. I was very surprised. At 7' and 18 years old I thought he'd be a little stiff and probably a bit awkward. He didn't get very involved with the offense, but I'm sure there is a big learning curve there for him right now.
Nelson and Ary-Turner are true point guards. Nelson looked for lanes a little more aggressively, but both are facilitators and pass-first guards. If one is being red-shirted, Nelson looked a little more game ready than Ary-Turner.
Richardson looked very good. He was much more aggressive to the basket offensively and was draining the 3's he took. Consistent play from him is a key to this season. He seems ready for a leadership role -- and we're going to need that from him.
Baker was agressive to the basket, but still can't jump. He's obviously been told to take the ball to the hoop more this year and try to get fouled at the very least. The ball will go through him when he is on the court as he is such a good passer -- he had several good assists.
Chapman seemed to be working on his passing game at high post. He fed Braxton a ton, but was able to score a bit too.
Braxton continues to improve incrementally and he's just a big kid. He rebounded aggressively last night.
Harding scored OK (his 3 point shot was off) but is a work in progress at the point.
I was watching Kozak pretty closely and he is a solid kid. He grabbed a few rebounds, but like other freshman seemed unsure where he fit offensively.
Finally, Lang, who is a walk-on, has decent size and looks fairly athletic. He seemed totally lost, but might have some potential with a red-shirt and some development. I was surprised he was a walk-on.

Dallas, Court and John were all out with injuries so a lot of kids that won't see the court (like Lang) played to fill in. The players seemed to get winded pretty quickly and both teams played zone for a greater part of the game (which you know won't happen during the season). I would have favored the Purple team coming in -- Harding, Braxton and Chapman -- but the White team -- Richardson, Nelson, Baker and Kozak -- were up 28-20 when the game ended. The Purple team seemed to control the ball more, but the White team really hit a high percentage of their shots, and with Richardson scoring at a pretty good pace they pulled away.

 

[oldrunner]

Nelson looked for lanes a little more aggressively, but both are facilitators and pass-first guards. If one is being red-shirted, Nelson looked a little more game ready than Ary-Turner.

I agree that, in that scrimmage, Doc outplayed Trev. However, that is the first time I've seen that in about 8 times watching them play. I think that it is too early for me to speculate on who might red shirt. Every time I've watched them play, up to last night, I thought that Ary-Turner was the best point guard on the floor. Doc brings a different style, more like Harding. Harding may also see time at the point. It's nice for the coaches to have good options at that position. This could be a year when we have no red shirts. The injuries have changed that dynamic.

 

[WSUProf]

My impressions from last evening. "Doc" has some quickness and a decent mid-range shot. Ary-Turner did a nice job running the offense for a squad that had Harding, Leonhardt, Chapman, and Braxton.
I thought Braxton and Chapman might dominate the 2 European freshmen, but they didn't. They did out play them, but not dominate them. I think Vialen could develop over time. Kozak looked solid, nothing jumped out as overly impressive. Though he didn't really get a chance to demonstrate any offensive skills. Harding seemed to struggle guarding Richardson. I hope this says more about Richardson than Harding. Maybe the height difference was an issue. I would have liked to see where Dallas is compared to last year. Someone will need to back up Braxton and Chapman.
I think when you put John, Harding, and Richardson out on the floor together and have Baker coming off the bench that they'll be solid. Either "Doc" or Ary-Turner will need to step up and contribute some minutes off the bench. Would've liked to get a look at Court.
I do think that in past years, certain players have really stood out in this scrimmage. Not so much this year.
Exhibition game in 2 weeks.

 

[n.ogdencat]

Wasn't able to make it to the scrimmage. However there are a lot of questions with this team. We desperately need some young guys to grow up fast.

 

[Webergrad02]

Wasn't able to make it to the scrimmage. However there are a lot of questions with this team. We desperately need some young guys to grow up fast.

I will save you 15 minutes after every game we lose this season by providing the complete answer coach will give in post game show.

"I thought we played hard tonight, but came up short. This team is young and inexperienced and we are trying to get it to all come together. But we are going to keep scratching and clawing and trying to get better each night."

 

[oldrunner]

Exhibition in two weeks and USU in three. It will be a better chance to see what may be ahead. It should be a preseason rotation for both of those games. It could be a tighter rotation for the USU game and by that game, any red shirters should be established. Simply judging by the crutches, I would venture a guess that Dallas won't be available for either game. John and Court are anybody's guess for a return date. Looks to me like Court's issue is a hamstring and John's must still be his back. Last year Baker had back issues all season long. He seems healthier this year. Doc's knee seems to be mostly healed.

The good news in all of this is the team will be in a more regular practice and conditioning regimen from now on. The transition from season preparation to game preparation is like going from drinking out of a fire hose to drinking from a garden hose.

The purple/white game was its usual thing. Now we move on to the new thing, an actual opponent.