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HD looked good, runs court well, rebounds, dunks; JJ looks like he has put on 15 pounds upper body, has one leg bandaged heavily seem to limit height of his jumps but he and HD were good foils for each other

in a practise game scenario. AK has as much determination as LM and KL

but seems to try things that worked against lesser opponents as we have seen other freshmen try before without much success. Lisch was hot from the 3 and IV unstoppable by 14 others on the court only AK showed much presence with IV in game. LM and Polk jumpers were bricks with LM making one long set shot. Polk went to the basket well and ran the floor better with the ball than anyone else;

DM and HD both looked like they would give us better finishers. DM looks like he can run well without the ball pop out for a pass and make the turn around jumper from the free throw stripe to the key. Obi looked thinner and awkward not good with his feet. He gets good position for rebounds but little jumping. Others played as they had last year. LM had no arch on any of his shots for example; team could be improved by 10 points or more is my guess; maybe we will finally run as IV looks in shape and thinner also.

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Come November: the first wave is .....TL, KL, IV, LM, HD, BH, DP, followed by

the second wave of JJ, DB, IO, and the quality frosh DM/AK.

based on just 60 minutes of three team early October pick-up games..... LM is a starter, and DP is quicker than ever, but should be reluctant to shoot a 3!

The coaching staff should allow no talking....just silent games, to cut down on the playground bitching.....hard to watch.

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boosterman:

BH is extremely difficult to shoot over in the paint area. HD is lean, can really move, and goes after the ball....offensively, he needs to stay around the basket area. JJ is JJ, shows well in flashes, but as in the past needs to be more consistent. IO does not run fast, doesn't jump high...but he gets his share of the rebounds. AK has a thick body for a freshman. Aggressive enough....just needs time to adjust to faster pace of D1 ball.

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>The coaching staff should allow no talking....just silent

>games, to cut down on the playground bitching.....hard to

>watch.

I'm sure the coaching staff is worried about some fan being unhappy with the player's language at some October practice. Please. This is basketball practice you're watching not "Barnie." Give me a break.

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Thanks to Nark for the use of the Billiken

I'm with guest on this one. Since Soderberg was sitting there for awhile with Eckerle, it apparently got to him too. He good naturedly told one player, not to be named, that he had used up all the words available to him for the afternoon and not to say anything else...:+

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Thanks to Nark for the use of the Billiken

One of the points I made in my disappearing post was that the best shooters for the day were KL and...Kramer Soderberg - a big reason why the whites were winning so many games.

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I think it gets extremely annoying when a pick-up game constantly gets held up because guys are constantly complaining about fouls or who should get the ball or what the score is. I wonder who the player was that Soderberg called out. If it was last year's team it would be Drejaj without question. This years team, I dont see anyone who would complain too much, my guess would be JJ or Wendell.

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Thanks to Nark for the use of the Billiken

Kramer is definitely D1. I saw him a few years ago in a weekend scrimmage when they were shorthanded and he was making 3's then - I guess this would be before his freshman year of basketball. Coaches sons get early starts, and can be caught up to by others, but I was amazed that a hs freshman could play with all the other D-1s in that scrimmage.

I'm hoping he'll be a Kevin Grawer for us.

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slu72....I not sure if all players were 100% healthy yesterday. It looked that way, but you never know.

"yesterday", LM was playing with a ton of confidence. You could see it in everything he did. confidence/smarts/added strength/toughness/basic skills....makes for a nice player.

I keep waiting for DB and his athleticism to be the fourth important link on the team, but it hasn't happened yet.....hopefully, it will happen this season. It would be interesting to read DB's confidence meter.....just guessing that it isn't as high as LM's.

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LM was shooting line drives; still hasn't figured out you have to have arch on the ball; if he starts we concede 10+ points to the 3 on the opponents team. He is strong, smart, tenacious. I like all of that but don't give me another Sloan who can't finish. JJ lacked concentraction on his shots; as much as I would like to see him use that body I would rather see HD start from the get go. Kramer is a tough little gym rat

that will shoot from the half court line and the other players don't do anything but pick him up off the floor when he catches an elbow to the face or gets kicked in the leg. He is going to help; we are fine at guard and center. We look better overall; there were only two other

guys upstairs when I left so I don't know if it is okay to sit down below and I was surprised the coach could even watch these kinds of pick ups; I think the rules must have losened? Bryce needs to play; he did not lift weights; He looked stronger; his best defensive skill is

keeping eye contact on the player with the ball; he likes to block shots and that is the best of his game; he is not unskilled at offense

but he can not take IV no one on this team can. DB and TL had quiet games.

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'68....I'm not sure I understand your question. Were you making a statement or asking a question?

the hour I watched (started about 3:30 +/-)....there were 3 guys sitting in the NE corner of the bleachers, and a guy filming upstairs at mid-court. The Eckerle family was visiting with coach on the bench....not sure where you were watching from. LM made a few buckets early on and scored a bucket or two on strong drives. Overall, it was not a good shooting day for the team, until KL warmed up near the end of my hour.

I choose not to comment on high school players playing in West Pine....just a personal thing.

If LM starts, it will be because he is our best option at that position.

When somebody outplays LM at both ends of the court.....that somebody will play more than Luke. I didn't see that person on "Wednesday".

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tseug, I've always thought LM would start this year either at the 4 or the 3. He has UB's confidence and doesn't make a lot of mistakes. But DB's an intriguing player who figures to get serious minutes. He's got a scorer's mentality, and I figured he'd be working on his 3 shot all summer to give us another perimiter threat...which is much needed if we are dreaming of dancing come March.

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the key is simply which of the three made the biggest inprovement over the summer. If it is about equal, I think the job goes to Luke, but may change game to game depending on practice and matchups. Each one DP, LM, and DB bring something different to the table. If DP can shoot at say 40 and 35 from the field and the 3, plus bring the defensive intensity from baseline to baseline he brought in the 2nd half last year, he will be hard to keep off the floor. Same goes for DB, if he picks up his defensive intensity and can become more consistent, his sheer athleticism says he can be a double digit scorer. All three have something they bring to the table and if they have worked hard and improved over the summer ... we should be good with any of the 3.

Official Billikens.com sponsor of H Waldman

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