I missed it for the first time in five years. Can anyone who went give us some thoughts and observations?
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I missed it for the first time in five years. Can anyone who went give us some thoughts and observations?
I watched most of the scrimmage. This early, it's very ragged, a lot of guys are still finding their groove.
Rawson looks like he put in a lot of work. Collette looks about the same, but a little rusty. Jayce Johnson has been working on his low post moves with both hands. Jokl has been working on his game, not sure how it may be manifested.
Right now our best threat from distance might be Bealer, or Kolbe Caldwell, who was a very pleasant surprise - 6-5, long, great form, seemed quite comfortable. Barefield is a year more mature, can score & slash. PVD looked off, like last year, so I think NWTRU isn't a good measure, for him. Jake Conner is 6-3, stronger, knows the game inside and out, and can nail it from distance.
Bibbins is definitely quick and a facilitator, with good vision, but he's 5-8. I expect as teams lay off him to cover passing lanes, he'll get some mid range opportunities to do damage.
Chris Seeley is by far the most athletic big - tried to dunk jumping over 3 teammates - but he's a stretch 4, at best, and just 215 lbs. Didn't see him assert himself from the outside. Tillman is finding his spot as a 6-7 / 220.
Popoola and Doutrive definitely pass the eyeball test, but they're both lost right now, as freshman.
My sense is this team will be a work in progress, and guys will emerge, with time.
Bibbins will be a really good distributor, and it will be incumbent on our guys to make shots, because he's going to have a tough time getting his own shot off. Barefield looks to be our guy who we may go to, to get a bucket when we need. He can get to the hoop pretty quickly. Bealer filled out and looks good, now he just needs to get back in shape. Agree with Ma'ake on the bigs...no marked improvement was shown last night, but we'll just have to see if Jayce can make that next step or not and whether or not Collette can consistently stay out of foul trouble.
Also, Larry looked better.
Well, I had been wondering if Jokl is still a waste of a scholarship.
Gotta believe he was next on the chopping block had we landed someone for this year.Quote:
Originally Posted by justaute
How good our bigs will be will be highly dependent upon how Seeley and Tillman come up to speed on defense. They're both long and athletic, which can take a lot of pressure off Collette / Rawson / Johnson / Jokl on the defensive end, and rebounding.
Hopefully with a more even recruiting landscape, we can start to land some athletic bigs, kids who were falling for money under the table. If Rawson has picked up on the offensive subtleties of playing close to the hoop, he'll be our primary weapon among the bigs.
That was my sense as well. I've heard he's a good kid so he's probably still around because he's not an academic risk or locker room problem (like the two who transferred from that team), but most of all he's still here because Utah simply failed to land enough recruits to fill his scholarship so having him here is better than being short a body. With Utah's recruiting success in this cycle I'll be very, very surprised if Jokl is on the team a year from now.Quote:
Originally Posted by sancho
I think we are in an ideal spot right now. We have a solid recruiting class that we have maxed out. We continue to recruit now to see what else we can bring in. Last year, at the early signing period, we had two sign and sends and thats it. Everybody else committed in the spring. This year, the staff will have the luxury of adding to a good class, rather than trying to build one during the spring. Inevitably, one or two guys will not be in the rotation and will bounce after this year (or be cut). We should be able to make room for some late bloomers or others that dont want to get caught up in this mess with some of these other schools.Quote:
Originally Posted by UBlender
Bibbins will be a huge plus as he runs the team--something they lacked last year. He is a leader.
Also he will let Sedrick play off the ball & therefore spot up & shoot. He is a scorer.
Bealer did look much bigger/stronger. Shot it well--is probably out of shape & somewhat rusty, but will be a big contributor.
Tillman was tough rebounding & is a solid body. He will get a lot of minutes.
Jayce has improved---he looks more coordinated. he has some nice moves around the hoop, best rebounder & good defender.
Seeley has potential, and will get better, but still a work in progress.
PVD gets his shot off much quicker--he will help in spots.
Kobe Caldwell was a pleasant surprise---solid on both ends.
Collette looks about the same---hard to tell if he will stay out of foul trouble. Rawson looked better, but still not sure he can rebound.
Popoola & Doutrive both are at least a year away.
If Jake Connor ever sees the floor when it counts the Utes are in trouble---he is just not athletic enough to defend or handle the ball.
Decent team that will compete with most teams in the league, but not those teams that are the best that money can buy.
Based on OSUte's analysis, I am guessing the starting unit would be:
Bibbins
Barefield
Caldwell
Rawson
Collette
Just throwing that out there.
Doutrive can’t play this year anyway so no worries there
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I think Bealer or Tillman will start over Caldwell---better rebounders.