MBB Open Practice 7/31

[Lord Elrond]

A program to help identify players (I think that was a complaint from the earlier practice).

[Franchise_89]

They had one last time but some of the numbers did not match the players names.

[SluSignGuy]

Potential recruit at the practice.  Not sure about eligibility

[SluSignGuy]

Good crowd.  Parking lot will be a disaster after.  Good problem to have

[Lord Elrond]

Everyone wearing what looks like the correct number so far

[Lord Elrond]

So far a Blue-Grey scrimmage 

[Taj79]

Good to see the potential recruit has a trash can nearby.  Practical measurement device.

[SluSignGuy]

My surprise so far is that Jones seems to be ahead of Green.  But only one scrimmage 

[SluSignGuy]

Little nervous about Mccottry.  Seems to still struggle to finish.  Trying to do a little too much. 

He is a good player, but just not there yet

[Lord Elrond]

Looks like someone needs to climb up to  the top inside Chaifetz and take down the UMass banner among the A10 school banners

[Lord Elrond]

Sharma has looked good tonight 

[SluSignGuy]

Green and Jones show in that segment

[Lord Elrond]

Agreed, both Green and Jones looked good there.

[BrettJollyComedyHour]

Say hey to my dad if you see him, I didn't get my car back from the shop until 4 today and just wanted to lay low. He's a 63 year old man probably wearing shorts and a music t-shirt lol. 

[Lord Elrond]

 

Say hey to my dad if you see him, I didn't get my car back from the shop until 4 today and just wanted to lay low. He's a 63 year old man probably wearing shorts and a music t-shirt lol. 

You just described a large part of the audience 

[Lord Elrond]

Couple of nice dunks by Kerr

[SluSignGuy]

 

Couple of nice dunks by Kerr

It is helpful for me Kerr is 23.  Steve Kerr played with jordan

[slu92]

Nice crowd today, team looks very athletic and good to see Schertz system trying to come along. This year should be a lot different than last. Schertz can coach.

[SLUMS81]

Put a few dozen pounds of muscle on Jax Kerr, and look out.  Tallest guy on the team, can run the floor.

[Old guy]

I was at the practice. Went specifically to see how Thames was doing and he did not  play in this practice, neither did Anya. We will see what happens with these two when the season starts. 

Avila seems to have lost weight and is doing better than he was doing the first practice. Both Jones and Green are good with the ball and can score. Green is smaller that the other players but is very fast and appears to bee able to penetrate the defense consistently. Jones appears to be a better scorer than Green, he had a couple of impacts during practice that brought him down, nothing very serious it seems.

Otieno is a very strong player, hard to stop, scores well. He is 6-9 and apparently can block as well as penetrate. He can shoot 3 pointers regularly. Another big is Diakite, also 6-9, skinnier and less flashy during play than Otieno, does what he is expected to do, can score and I think can block. 

McCotry is good, able to penetrate and score, moves well. Sharma is not a flashy player but he can score when he gets the ball. This may be good because the opponents are likely to pay less attention to him than to other players like Otieno, leaving him free to do his thing and score. Who knows?

Warlick, Dunlap and Kerr appear to play well and can have good moments during play.

There was a guy in there with a L mid thigh to ankle cast and crutches, he said his name but I do not remember who he was. Anyone knows?

Hargrove was there and supposedly so was Yuri but I did not see him.

Overall, my wife and I enjoyed ourselves during the practice. I think we may have a decent year, or maybe better than our normal deceent year. I do not think we are ready to play and beat NC or U Conn, but I believe we may have a chance to win the A10 tournament this year.

[billikenbill]

 

I was at the practice. Went specifically to see how Thames was doing and he did not  play in this practice, neither did Anya. We will see what happens with these two when the season starts. 

Avila seems to have lost weight and is doing better than doing the first practice. Both Jones and Green are good with the ball and can score. Green is smaller that the other players but is very fast and appears to bee able to penetrate the defense consistently. Jones appears to be a better scorer than Green, he had a couple of impacts during practice that brought him down, nothing very serious it seems.

Otieno is a very strong player, hard to stop, scores well. He is 6-9 and apparently can block as well as penetrate. He can shoot 3 pointers regularly. Another big is Diakite, also 6-9, skinnier and less flashy during play than Otieno, does what he is expected to do, can score and I think can block. 

McCotry is good, able to penetrate and score, moves well. Sharma is not a flashy player but he can score when he gets the ball. This may be good because the opponents are likely to pay less attention to him than to other players like Otieno, leaving him free to do his thing and score. Who knows?

Warlick, Dunlap and Kerr appear to play well and can have good moments during play.

There was a guy in there with a L mid thigh to ankle cast and crutches, he said his name but I do not remember who he was. Anyone knows?

Hargrove was there and supposedly so was Yuri but I did not see him.

Overall, my wife and I enjoyed ourselves during the practice. I think we may have a decent year, or maybe better than our normal deceent year. I do not think we are ready to play and beat NC or U Conn, but I believe we may have a chance to win the A10 tournament this year.

Probably Dion Brown. Just had knee surgery to take care of a cartilage problem, apparently, a fairly minor issue as he expected to return to full speed by the start of fall practice.

[wgstl]

Ya I just don’t see how Brady isn’t a starter. 6th man at most. 

[WUH]

I really like Brady Dunlap and Ishan Sharma.

[HoosierPal]

Piece together what we saw tonight with what Schertz told Timmermann.  We may be seeing different squads and playing time depending on game situations.

https://www.stltoday.com/sports/college/slu/article_81b57b49-04ae-436e-8895-c6de5bfe6cfa.html

[The Wiz]

@Old guy...that was Dion Brown...expected back late Sept.

Over all impression of practice. ...We are starting to gel but still have a ways to go. We are starting to play as a team but are still rough around the edges.  Passing was not crisp or accurate.(mainly long passes)...there were though some excellent assists on cuts to the basket. There was some good shooting by Jones, Sharma and Green but others are still trying to find the range. Otieno looked good around the basket ...both finishing and rebounding.  Avila looked like Avila but not quite ready for prime time yet but will be ready by Nov.  McCottry playing some nice D. ...needs to work on finishing. Kerr looks like he is auditioning for the part of Avila.  Taller and more athletic ...just needs some more experience. Dunlap looked good in the first practice and kind of disappeared in this one....Green is looking good both ball handling and shooting.

Players of the night ...Sharma  & Otieno & Jones...good all around game 

Upside potential guys...Laczkowski, Kerr and Diakite.

Bottom line...If this team tonight had played the March 2024-25 Billikens it would have been pretty close.  The difference going forward is this team has a lot more depth and upside potential.  The questions are how much of that potential will be realized and how quickly will the team gel....If the answers are ..a lot and soon then this could be a very good year.