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.
