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Bahamas Tour Coverage


bills07

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Did someone actually say Ash might have to earn his way back on the floor since he's not playing much in this tourney? Anyone want to gamble that Ash's minutes played will be in the top 5 Jan 1st? I'll give 3-1 odds I say top 5 in minutes played. I'll go 2-1 in the top 3.

With an injury clause I'll give 4-1.

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I am confused by the spread of minutes as well. However, there could be a lot of reasons that Ash might not be getting more minutes...Strained muscle, rolled ankle, cold, flu, fever, bad ice cubes... Could it be that there isn't a need to risk anything in meaningless games against PJ Stingers?

Work on the fundamentals of what you need to do to install the new offense and defense. You don't have to worry about results right now. You think NFL teams care about winning in the pre-season?

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The minute spread would make more sense if the assumed core group of starters actually started to gel together on the court last season. That didn't happen. I think they could have really used these games to come together as a group on the court in a game situation.

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As we prepare for the Bahama's tour, I thought I would dust off the computer and give things a whirl. I did manage to attend a couple of practices and my overall impression is that we are a better team than last year....bigger, stronger, faster, more experienced. We "should" do better.

As for the Bahamas, anything I try to enter at this point comes back S3....small sample size (or no sample size) . But , hey , it's preseason...let's do it anyway. First, the teams that have been down there already....Ga Tech ( B ) a decent team that played a vicious schedule last year. and wound up with a losing record....did well against the Bahamian teams. N Fla ( C+ ) . A pretty good team that made it to the NCAAs last year...lost to Rob Morris by 4 on the play-in....also did well in the Bahamas. So. Utah ( F ) a bad team that eeked out a win against one of the better Bahama teams.

The Bahama teams are weak...their main problem is they can't shoot. If we play traditional Bills D we could be a nightmare for them. Did I say they can't shoot? There 3pt % has generally been single digits. We should win the first game easily (double digits) . We should also win the 2nd game easily (double digits...though by less than the first game). The 3rd game will be the test...I am showing (with sketchy data) Bills by 7. If we are off ...or they get hot...or we don't try to win (because we need to work on things) this could turn into a loss.. On the flip side, a win by more than 7 means things are going well at this early stage of the season.

As some here will point out...this all means nothing. I don't believe that This will be a measuring stick to see where we start the season....particularly the 3rd game....How much potential we have...how much work we have left to do.

I believe at this point, we are a better team than last year. This will be our first glimpse to see if that is true.

Please tell me you mixed up the 2nd team and the 3rd team and that tonight is a game we should win easily and yesterday was the tougher game.

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The minute spread would make more sense if the assumed core group of starters actually started to gel together on the court last season. That didn't happen. I think they could have really used these games to come together as a group on the court in a game situation.

Who knows what the thought process is but maybe Crews wants some of the newcomers to play with some of the core players to see how they might fit. Maybe Ash plays 30 minutes today and Roby gets 5.
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Did someone actually say Ash might have to earn his way back on the floor since he's not playing much in this tourney? Anyone want to gamble that Ash's minutes played will be in the top 5 Jan 1st? I'll give 3-1 odds I say top 5 in minutes played. I'll go 2-1 in the top 3.

I said it. Just seems odd that he would average only 7.5 mins/ game so far. He's not a PG, not really a 2G as he's an unreliable shooter, not a 3, not a good FT shooter, so where does he play? When he has played he has looked really bad, not in the flow of anything. Hines seems to be the one getting backcourt minutes in his absence. You know Roby and Bartley will get major minutes, Reynolds will play more than last year, and Hines is a true PG who looks like he should've been a scholarship player out of high school although lower than the A-10 level. He's held his own so far at the point. Bishop has a sweet stroke and could become one of the shooters we need. I'm just not seeing what Ash is bringing that someone else can't also bring.

If I'm wrong I'll say I'm wrong.

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I suspect 80% of the season ticket base doesn't even know the team is playing in the Bahamas the past few days, much less know the results. Not sure I'm buying that his future job security lies in the hands of his performance during these exhibitions.

Now if we play like this in November and December, its a whole other story.

I did not say his future lays in what happens on this tour - what I said was that if he come back with a strong performance then peoplewould start having faith in him and the team. My point simply was that he may be blowing a great opportunity to get people behind him and the team.

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I guess I don't see the connection considering the situations aren't remotely comparable.

Fans freaking out about the results of a glorified scrimmage in August is the same. If we're in November and Ash is getting 7 mpg, Reggie 4 and Bartley is not playing, plus Hines is third on the team in minutes... I will be in freak out mode with everybody else, but not now.

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I've spoken to someone in the Bahamas and they say they have no clue why Ash isn't playing. He doesn't appear hurt and they made that point that if he is, why play him at all?

The whole "figure out the end of the bench" thing is interesting, but the more you think about it, the less it makes sense. As Brian pointed out, no player was good enough last year to have a spot locked up or that they don't need the extra work especially in the new offense.

I still wouldn't read too much into the lineups but it is a little strange. Roby and Crawford appear to be the best players so come November I would expect them to play the most. We'll see if that comes true though.

1-18 from 3 is more of a freak incident, although we don't have much in terms of outside shooting anyway. 28 turnovers seems flukey but we're average 26 in the two games. If they aren't taking it seriously and being loose with the ball, then this trip was a waste. Same thing regarding results. No the results don't matter, but even if Crews is playing to prepare for the season, each player should be playing to win. If they aren't, then they shouldn't be here. If they are and they can't beat the PJ Stingers, it doesn't look like a great season is ahead.

We will see where we stand on about February 1st. The non-conference schedule seems to be filled with either walk-overs or games we have little chance to win. Hard to judge much after that. But after a month of A10 play, I think we will know what we have.

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Ash can get to the rim and can board for a guard which we need. He and Roby will be our 2 best defenders as well. We will need Ash to guard Ron Baker in December because nobody else can.

Good points.

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I said it. Just seems odd that he would average only 7.5 mins/ game so far. He's not a PG, not really a 2G as he's an unreliable shooter, not a 3, not a good FT shooter, so where does he play? When he has played he has looked really bad, not in the flow of anything. Hines seems to be the one getting backcourt minutes in his absence. You know Roby and Bartley will get major minutes, Reynolds will play more than last year, and Hines is a true PG who looks like he should've been a scholarship player out of high school although lower than the A-10 level. He's held his own so far at the point. Bishop has a sweet stroke and could become one of the shooters we need. I'm just not seeing what Ash is bringing that someone else can't also bring.

If I'm wrong I'll say I'm wrong.

I'm not looking to argue as you seem to be convinced he isn't any good. I'm just looking to make a wager ... you in?

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Ash can get to the rim and can board for a guard which we need. He and Roby will be our 2 best defenders as well. We will need Ash to guard Ron Baker in December because nobody else can.

Just need somebody to break his elbow because he sure uses it to make space and never gets called for it.

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I'm not looking to argue as you seem to be convinced he isn't any good. I'm just looking to make a wager ... you in?

I'm not arguing either. "He isn't any good" is putting it too strongly. Just think it's weird that he's gotten few minutes, has looked lost on the floor and I wonder what his role will be. We need him to be good, just don't understand what I'm seeing so far.

Also, I think it's incorrect to say that they're just running and gunning and not taking things seriously. The first game was messed up by awful officiating and last night's by terrible ballhandling, especially by the bigs. Can't believe they can't fix a lot of that by the start of the season.

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