MJ Russell is a baller!! He will be our Thomas or Kevon this year..

No-look said:

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Thelumberyardsfa said:

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Got invited to watch the team scrimmage this morning. This will be the first time seeing this team in person for me.

I'll report back with my thoughts

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we are ready when you are. lol

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Sorry for the wait guys! Here's my breakdown:

They played a scrimmage with real referees that consisted of four 8 minute quarters. They switched up the teams and rotations every quarter, so there wasn't a set "starting 5" from what I could tell.

Team Thoughts: We will not be as good shooting from deep as we were last year. BUT we are much, much more athletic. We look bigger, having 6'8 pearson at the 4 instead of christmas helps a lot. We did struggle offensively at times.

Individual thoughts:

Kobi Pearson: Athletic freak of nature. He's only 6'8 but VERY lengthy and plays bigger than that. Only a true sophomore and has lots of room to develop. He did seem to have somewhat of a bad attitude. At one point, Coach Brauer pulled him out of the scrimmage for it.

Ashton Simmons: I was not as impressed with him as I would've liked to have been. He did not seem very comfortable handling the ball and did not seem very athletic, BUT he did score the game ending bucket in sudden death OT. Once again, he's only a sophomore too so there is room to improve.

Bryceson Melvin: I was pleasantly surprised by how much he's developed as a player over the offseason. I can see him getting some real minutes this season. He worked a lot on his mid range game, and looked like one of the more athletic guards. His defense still struggled, but at 6'5 200 he has the frame to grow into a good defender.

Christian Green: I was also pleasantly surprised by how much he developed over the offseason. He definitely looks more polished than last year. From what I saw Saturday, I would expect him to get an increase in minutes from last season.

Marcus Scurry: My MVP and most impressive player from saturday. He went 4/5 from three with majority of them coming off the dribble. His height his the only thing that worries me, but other than that, the dude can ball.

Courterious scott: Reminded me of a watered down lateef. Played at his own pace and created space well in the mid range area. He did have his ring finger and pinky finger buddy taped, and that seemed to effect his shot. It kept coming off spinning sideways.

Narit: Nothing new here. Knock down sharpshooter and great team player.

Erik Makke: He has the most potential on the team IMO. He has ELITE playmaking. Threaded a lot of passes thru tight spots on pick and rolls. Didn't score very well, but you could tell it was an off day. He plays pretty flashy and is fun to watch.

Gediminas Alisas: Not much new here. He spent his minutes as a forward again, but he played very well off the pick and roll.

Kensington Candler: He actually played very well for a true freshman. He played better than Manu. But speaking with members of the staff after the game, they said he will most likely not get any minutes this year (Similar to Bryceson Melvin last year).

MJ Russell: Freak athlete. Similar to keon as he excels when driving towards the basket, but not afraid to shoot from 3. Expect him to be "the guy" this year.

Easton Hupp: Walk on. barely played. Don't expect much from him (think Luke Stansbury).

Edwin Daniel: MUCH better offensively than Colonel, but lacks athleticism IMO. Did have an ally oop dunk from Mj Russell. Not as much of a defensive presence. Expect pearson to be the paint protector.

Amari Reed: pretty athletic, but nothing crazy. Did not look comfortable with the ball in the post. Was either a dunk or pass out. He did have a big putback dunk that was impressive.

Manu Manciel: Pretty disappointed with his play. Had a fastbreak contested layup but that was about it. True freshman and it showed. I think he has the potential to contribute in a year or two, but don't expect much out of him this season.

Projected starting 5 after talking with people in the program:
Makke, narit, MJ Russell, Pearson, Daniel

Excellent information thank you for taking the time and doing that for us.. AxeEm

Jacks4460 said:

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Excellent information thank you for taking the time and doing that for us.. AxeEm

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Ofcourse!

The team will be traveling to SWAGU on Friday to scrimmage Tarleton. I will report back on the final score and how the players look.