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VinyVango

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Everything posted by VinyVango

  1. Absolutely. We need to see the extent of what these guys have to contribute. Plus Baker, Kai, and Cunningham need to get some their shooting percentages and career points total above the goose egg.
  2. I only caught the last 7 mins or so of the game, but liked what I saw.... just need to get a third big man consistently contributing defense and boards off the bench... still not sold on Febres getting almost 40 mins a game when he is shooting poorly and offers very little defense or rebounding ... be nice to try/see other options during the preconference games
  3. I agree with your take. High budget with some great location scouts apparently, but with bad/lazy writing... Wants to be Homeland, but can't even compete with the lesser seasons of that series... a let down (for all the hype)
  4. I liked this pub a lot (and others). https://www.tighneachtain.com/
  5. or some close genetic kin of Garfunkel
  6. Liddell was the guy out last night. He shows a lot of bounce and energy, and is more inclined than most of our team to crash the boards. He was woefully underused last year in favor of guys who like to stand at the 3 point line, almost like the plan was to redshirt him at times, but then got heavy minutes in the NIT and played very well. I think Liddell and Hamm deserve more than 10 mins a game. I'd like to see Shaka tighten up the reigns on the 3-point shot selection... Our forwards and centers were 1 for 13 on 3 pointers last night and most of them didn't even attempt to get a shot inside the 3 point line. Most of those shots were early in the shot clock. Many were fair to well defended. And, most were taken with nobody on our team near the basket, greatly reducing the risk of an offensive rebound/put-back. I can recall any of the three point shots being off a pass following a feed inside the paint to collapse the defense a bit. Though Sims was skittish and unable to catch the ball consistently last night, Baker wouldve been worth a shot for a post feed and kick out. That never happened. The defense looked improved...definitely the way we played the pick and roll/pop. All things to build on... just game one. But, there were some things seen on offense that looked like ingrained bad habits and lack of planning rather than first game jitters. I'm hoping for the best. Coleman, Febres, and Sims need to play like they've been on the court together before, or sit next to the walk-ons.
  7. Word was that Cunningham had played great in the scrimmages and practices. Under the bright lights, he was rushing things and a bit skittish, like Coleman. Baker and Cunningham both looked like freshman stepping up in competition. Baker (and/or coach) was intent just setting a high pick and standing outside for the 3 point shot on offense. I recall only one time when he set up to receive the ball in the paint. Cunningham showed a glimpse of being able to bring sine fire and energy that only Ramey currently offers. If he can harness it and make an outside shot or two without turning the ball over, he has something to offer this team. Baker is a large, plodding kid. He showed he has good hands, can go after a defense rebound, and is confident passing without hesitation. He just needs to get his ass in the paint on offense occasionally to make the opposing defenders work and respect him. Shaka had them both on fairly short leashes. They both need more minutes to show what they have to offer and how they react to adversity.
  8. Ramey outplayed Coleman at PG. Coleman dribbled too much and was a bit panicked and tunnel visioned at times. That said, he was not bad. Ramey was more poised and just outplayed him. Jones earned a starter spot unless he wants to come off the bench. Febres was out of sync. Cunningham looked like he's not played in a year. Give Liddell or Williams a start over Febres and Cunningham. Hamm or Kai Jones deserve a shot a starting PF. They both need more time, as they play aggressive on the boards. Hepa is still playing like a soft SG. I'd say he was one dimensional if he did one thing remarkable. Simms can't get out of his own head at times. He should be okay in short spurts if we don't run too many specific plays with him as option 1 on offense. Baker played like Febres and Hepa on offense, but showed he could can use his size at times on defense. The defense will be fine. The offense looked rough until Ramey and Jones had the ball more. Hamm and Ramey showed some nice chemistry on the pick and roll. I think we were out rebounded overall by a shorter, skinnier team. A lot of that is on the personnel used (we had several minutes with Febres or Williams as our 2nd defender in the paint) and our offense set (all of our bigs standing out waiting for a 3 point shot). That 4 guard line-up will be the death of us come conference when Big-12 coaches draw our one big man out of the paint (like the N Colorado coach did very successfully at times). Overall for a 1st game, it was fine. We have enough depth that we don't have to ride a cold or shellshocked player (Febres, Simms, Cunningham, Hepa) after he makes 1 or 2 bad plays. And, we need to play a lot less of the 4 corner, contested 3-point offense and more of the moving and screening sets to make the opponent work a bit on defense. Purdue game will be a huge measuring stick. They will beat us to death on the offensive boards with that stick if we run the line-up with Simms or Hamm as the only big man on the floor.
  9. Can we send Lowell back w N Colorado to be their Dave South? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  10. Several were rushed and with a hand in the face Still suspect offensive sets ... lots of standing around until Ramey and Hamm were on the floor together Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  11. Not a bad start ... not a fan of the 4 guard lineup especially if we dont get a 3 point shooting boost ... makes our weak rebounding much worse on both ends ... it’s okay to good so far overall for a game one though Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  12. Better w Coleman off floor right now Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  13. You might want to reach out to the US Consulate in Naples for its assistance in reporting the crime. In the very least, I'd think they could help point you to the ideal sources (even for medical / optical treatment if you need it) to save you some time... that's optional, since it doesn't sound like you lost anything that would have value if located and returned.
  14. In these non-conference games against directional and Baptist colleges, I hope Shaka plays Coleman just long enough to establish he's conditioned and has his timing and court sense attuned... let him get his "40 mins" against schools that might sniff a postseason game of some sort when we need him on the court to win. We lose him to an high ankle sprain when we are up 18 to some shit school and we'll be in a world of hurt for PG depth when we really need it. As for everyone else, there are a lot of interchangeable parts and there shouldn't be any favorites or guaranteed minutes. It will be interesting to see who wants playing time the most. And, if Coleman plays shitty, his starting spot should be up for grabs to Ramey (do we have a 3rd guy who can play PG?). If guys like Febres or Hepa are gonna stand in the corner on offense waiting to heft a 3, they better make better than 33% and show something more than last year's turnstile level defense to get more minutes than the rest of the pack.
  15. I'm somewhat interested in seeing Baker and Cunningham on the court together... they played together in high school and should have some sort of familiarity with and confidence in each other... add in an improved Hepa and a significantly recovered Jones and that could make for an excellent spread-the-floor 2nd unit (assuming Jones is not a starter). I'm interested to see what our new assistant coach (Yak) can do to make Hepa and Febres defend better than last year and what the new strength/conditioning coach can do to build Jones back from his chemo-related weight and strength loss.
  16. So nobody nutted up even enough to ask a soft-serve, "what was the dialog with Coach Orlando this week?"... nice reporting.
  17. The Missy Elliott repeated rap tune EVERY dead-ball break during a game has reached the Baby Shark level of blood boiling... It's unfortunate, she's not bad, but LHN has done a great job conditioning a break something response every time I hear her now. The lack of content/creativity/motivation/whatever at LHN has turned poor Missy into a pariah to the ears. Can we send Lowell with that Missy song to someplace like UTEP, Lamar University or Sul Ross to be their Dave South?
  18. I get the pessimism. I'm feeling it too. But, our front court is more question mark that grade-able at this point in time. Shaka didn't really give any of the current forwards and centers other than Simms any real minutes in the front court last year. He chose to play 4 guards (with disastrous results most of the time) rather than giving Hamm, Liddell, or Hepa any reasonable or meaningful playing time. I'm more worried about our "experienced" guys forcing stuff. I'm kind of looking forward to seeing a lot of rotation early in the season to see what everyone (including coaches) brings to the table. I think Kai jones, Baker, Cunningham, Liddell, and Hamm will be better than anticipated. I fear Sims, Coleman, Hepa, and Febres will be mirrors of themselves last year (very average). Ramey is the guy most likely to step up. Andrew Jones is dealers money. I feel like we'll be scratching just to get a low seed bid to the NCAA Tournament. If Andrew Jones and one of our front court guys (and Ramey) play inspired, situational savvy, consistent B+ basketball, and one or more of the Simms/Coleman/Febres decide to occasionally show up in crunch time, we could maybe get a win or two in the NCAA Tourney. When the game is on the line this year, Shaka's going to rely on Coleman, Ramey, and Febres (and maybe A Jones if he is back to a semblance of his playing self). The young guys are going to look to them too. If Coleman and Febres look like they did at the end of last year or better, we might be pretty decent. If they peaked last year, it will be another rough year.
  19. Does TO have CTE? ... and how do the few coaches on the staff without permanent brain cell loss not see that this is nonsensical?
  20. Announcers didn’t even talk about the horribly missed strike Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  21. Absent a newcomer being college-ready and very good, or one of our returning players making a huge improvement, I'm expecting this year to be one where we are at about 16 wins with a handful of games left trying to fight for a 8-11 seed in the NCAA tournament. Mediocrity. I really do hope the NIT last year was a sign of development rather than just a few loose games after shitting the NCAA bed. I am hopeful Liddell and Hamm build off the good stuff they showed in very limited minutes. It would be nice if Cunningham turms out to be a scrappy perimeter defender and a good shooter. It would be great if Baker turns out to be confident and aggressive and a presence in the paint. I am hopeful Hepa has improved his lateral movement and is out of the tall, slow, 2 guard mindset. If we have to rely solely on Coleman, Ramey and Febres to be consistent and carry the scoring load, we'll be looking about 15 - 17 wins max. With growth and familiarity with the "system" we should have a NCAA tourney bound team on paper, but we haven't had a functional system most of the time since Shaka has been here. The play of guys like Coleman, Simms, and Febres (all of whom have gotten meaningful minutes for multiple years) will tell us early where we stand. Those are the guys are younger, greener players will look towards and rely on when the going gets rough. If they look out of control, deflated, and/or lost more often than not, we are in for another fight for middle of the pack in conference.
  22. It's usually due to the fact we have one real d-lineman, a couple linebackers at the ends, and shit load of DBs standing 12 yards deep... I get the "confuse the QB" element and "bend" without giving up the big gain concept, but often the 1-2-8, or whatever it is, give the opposing QB 5+ seconds to wait for a receiver to break free. Blitzing a DB on very rare occasions can be successful when the blitzer comes from outside the end, but when we send a blitzing DB as our 4th rusher on 3rd downs trying to hit a gap in the O-line, the DB too often gets smothered by someone twice his size. Orlando is clearly of the mindset that he wants to play the dime most of the time to make the offense run and use speed to compensate. That works to some extent, but that dime aint doing the trick on third and long like it should because he is getting predictable in when and how he decides to pressure the QB. He makes the big bucks. He needs to be less predictable with his personnel subs, fronts, and blitzes on the 3rd and long plays.
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