Last night Coach K called Fisher the Player of the Game. He has not seen the court tonight. ?????

Why is Leon not playing?

A little stretch of Comeaux running point. Talking and directing well.

15 turnovers so far.

New year, same sorry ball security

Harris has bailed Ivan out three times tonight on his weak shot.

Just not seeing it this game. Too many turnovers, under powering offense against D3 (yes I know they beat NSU, but NSU looks horrible), no 3 point specialists, jovan..well, and Canete is bricking it. Hard to play two nights in a row, not discouraged, but just hoping we'd have this in control long before LeTurnover wears down.

Comeaux providing the highlight of the night.

Edit: never mind I wrote two soon.

Please no more jovan. We got a good enough sample size for the season.

It's funny, reading these post I thought the game was close. I then bring up the gamecast on ESPN and see the Jack's are winning by 23.

Scary moment when Bogues went into the media table. Looks like he jammed his ankle. Looks minor but still worrisome.

We definitely have some work to do, but good night at the difference between now and this time last year. Next year should be magic.

So true. And why is Bogues still in the game? Will be there in person on Saturday to see Howard Payne and whoever the other four guys who we are playing against besides Howard.

It's a D3 team.

The guard play is going to need to be more consistent. To streaky. Good 6 minutes bad 3 minutes. Doesn't need to be Pinkney and Walkup but just be a stable platform

sfa17 said:

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Every comment will say the same thing " too many turnovers "

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Unfortunately, it's the single one thing our team does REALLY well.

If we ever clean it up, we'll be a force, but we allow teams to hang around or beat us because we just can't take care of it.

It was a problem last year (I believe we were bottom 5 in the nation) and it continues to be a problem.

Harris PTS:26;REB:8;AST:1;STL:2;BLK:1
Holyfield PTS:19;REB:8;AST:1;BLK:1;STL:2
Bogues PTS:15;REB:6;AST:1;STL:1
Augustin PTS:6;AST:6;REB:2;STL:3

The main thing I learned tonight is that northwestern state needs To strongly consider a moves to D3 for the sake of the rest of the teams in southland.

Feel free to skip this post as I kind of just want to record my thoughts about the first game of the season that I saw in person, so maybe I can come back toward the end of the year and see how things went.

First off, biggest improvement - Fan Section. I hope Purple Haze keeps it up throughout the year, but on a light night for a terrible team, they brought it. Already better than just about anything last year. Students were involved - a whole section, not just three rows. Even the rest of the crowd seemed to be into it more because of it. Liked the atmosphere on a whole. Best in the Southland is getting better.

Starters:
Kevon is a beast. He can get to the foul line at will. He does have that Walkup-esque animal energy that is uncommon. (Honestly TJ needs to steal some of it.) He's struggling with some control issues with playing too intense, but as the intensity seems to propel his play, I'm pretty much fine with it. Everyone on this team is struggling with taking plays off, but he and Aaron are the best at being in the game.

Aaron (Where are you A A Ron?) is the most improved player. This guy is wanting to be a stud and showing that he has the potential to be one. As bad as his shooting stroke was last year, it's gotten as good this year. He is starting to show finesse around the basket. He seems to have a much better handle on running point, but his teammates are not making him look good. They did at Longwood, but these non-D1 contests have been rough for running offense.

Holyfield is our rock, but he can be more solid. TJ is definitely the sun around which this team orbits. He is methodical and does work. He's going to get points and rebounds and blocks and steals and traveling calls and moving screens, but he's going to be consistent about it. He has played the same game every game, and with a team that needs continuity, he's providing it.

Canete...I don't know. He was sloppy all last year save for three games where he was electric. The beginning of this game Keller purposefully ran the offense through him for about 4 minutes, and it was okay. Nothing special, nothing bad. Just decent. But then for about the next 30 minutes of gameplay, he kept showing that he was lazy, reckless, and almost unaware of situational play. Twice he ran into the forecourt corner without ever looking for a pass, and the PG was trying to pass to him but couldn't because he wouldn't LOOK AROUND. He plows over people at random sometimes, and his shot three games in is atrocious. His point totals the last three games come from the four plays he's super plugged into and then just being greedy. If Charles gets healthy soon, I'm okay with not seeing Ivan start this year. I want it to be different...help us Ivan.

Gilmore was an elite defender at the end of last year. I don't know what's happened to change that, but there are obviously off court issues that are keeping him from excelling. Godspeed on working those out.

Bench:
Bogues is just about everything I want out of a shooting guard. His weaknesses are positional defense and perimeter shooting (at least in the small sample I've seen). He is opportunistic cutting off passes and with quick swipes which lead to fast break points - at which he excels. He can handle that ball. He had one steal where on the run he dribbled through three guys including some behind the back (on the run...I know), and then dished the perfect assist. Between he and Kevon you can just about count 35 points for every game...sometimes more.


Comeaux is a bright spot. That kid has energy. His back to back solo plays in the second half were so much fun. Like Augustin last year, he's going to foul a lot until he can learn to control himself. Turns out he's just a sophomore, so the tandem between him and Aaron are a pretty good match for the rest of this year and beyond. He's vocal at point, and you can tell his mind is working to keep it all moving. Again, the team doesn't seem to be executing offense that well, but it did seem that in his short work at point, they got into formation well.

Niemenin is still a potentiality. He can get position better than any big we have but he's just not able to finish smoothly. I think with playing time he'll develop, but he may still be a next year threat. He can shoot from the line though which helps. Aggression is what Keller talks about, and Sammy needs it.

Grujic is better for a 7 foot Serbian pedestrian. He knows how to play basketball, and tonight he showed that he can in certain situations. I've started rooting for him because it's too painful to not. He made some buckets against some guys half a foot shorter than him. That is an improvement. He has no defense. That's it.

Fisher is a no show literally. Hope he does at some point.

Coaching at this point is mixed in my mind. These last few games have seemed like practice (they probably are). Keller is clearly managing the game and rotations, and it's not too hard to see when he switches to a new tactic or personnel. I'm still hating the over the top inlet feed, but I guess it's part of a scheme he wants to see work. It finally did a little better tonight, but the inside defenders were tiny. We have more playmakers which is masking overall sets, but when he calls certain plays, they seem to work. It just appears that more often than not he wants improvisation on the court. No one yet has the IQ of Pinkney and Walkup to make it work yet.

Overall, we're going to win a lot of games. I'll be shocked if we're not rolling towards a top finish in our league, but turnovers and defense have to improve. I'm sanguine about the Miss St game. I think it will expose us, but I think we'll have some opportunities there too. I think this team has a lot of upside. I think we can and should expect a tournament berth this year but we need character...and it's not quite here yet.

INiedrauer said:

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RI think Keller is going to play a lot of starters to build some continuity. It's basically extended practice and by the number of turnovers tonight I think it's fair to say I understand why they need it.

Keller answers the Leon/Fisher question in the audio that just went up.

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I thought he partly answered about Leon, but not Fisher. I was wanting to see Fisher play some tonight. Up 25 so let him see the court. When Fisher learns the system he will be a factor. Keller never called me to get my opinion. I thought he would at least call. Lol.

PurpleOut said:

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I'm confused why our starters are still in. Why no Fisher? Where is Leon?

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I agree 1000%!!! I don't understand this at all! Keller keeps a bad Ivan in the game almost the whole time and sits Leon down after four minutes and never puts him back in??? And Fisher never sees the floor at all after having a good game against St. Ed's, while Jovan continues to be a liability EVERY TIME HE'S ON THE DADGUM FLOOR!!!! How is Fisher going to improve while sitting on the end of the bench??? The young man is already better than Jovan!

Re: You're OK with not seeing Ivan start this year.

Absolutely! After Ivan missed a wide open three from the corner, he acted like a kid feeling sorry for himself, and didn't head back down the court in a hurry on defense. I'll tell ya, that infuriated me!! I agree. He does not deserve to start another game.

INiedrauer said:

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Keller answers the Leon/Fisher question in the audio that just went up.

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Keller did not address the Fisher issue in the audio. I'd really like to know.

INiedrauer said:

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He did it was just brief. LeTourneau is small and he didn't think it was a good matchup for Fisher. I get that by the time we were up 20+ that's irrelevant but he's pretty big on only playing young guys when he feels like they have an opportunity to succeed/gain confidence.

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Sorry. I'm not buying it. Fisher was not a good matchup and Jovan was? Really? Really??? If Jovan was any slower on defense moss would grow on his feet.

Keller must have a reason not to start Fisher. I don't know why but there is a reason. My concerns for this game remain my concerns now.

- Ivan is a liability on both ends of the floor. He has the talent and should be a starter but he is undisciplined. He would not see the floor with Underwood or Danny. The best way way I can describe this guy is, that he is over-complicating everything. If he wants to be effective he needs to simplify his game and listen to his coaches.

- Offensive execution is a work-in progress. Still entirely slow and wasteful (turnovers). If the big men would clean up the passing game we would reduce turnovers by 50%. It's hard to judge Keller's system until we can at least explore every option. Guys just aren't moving without the ball well, so the passing lanes become obvious and easily defend-able by our opponents.

*The next game will expose our faults with a long and athletic Miss St. team that will disrupt our passing lanes. Hopefully we grow and become smarter within the system and adjust from a coaching standpoint for when things don't work.

fortWorthJack said:

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Guys just aren't moving without the ball well, so the passing lanes become obvious and easily defend-able by our opponents.

*The next game will expose our faults with a long and athletic Miss St. team that will disrupt our passing lanes.

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Great observation! I agree (unfortunately).

I'm very encouraged about this year. Only played three games. It takes time for a team to gell. We are 3-0 not 0-3. In the words of Aaron Rodgers. Relax. Lol