** I suppose an “open practice” is not an event that inspires much enthusiasm among the hoops faithful. Accordingly, perhaps only 100 or so Panther fans were in attendance this day.
** But for us diehards, it was still a pleasure to get a peek at the players and a bit of an overall glance at the team.
** Neither the peek nor the glance offered any significant insights, but like the rest of those in the seats, I did get a few
"impressions."
** The largest impression for me is that it might be possible that this team will shoot even more threes than either of the last two years.
** From the drills and the scrimmages, it was clear how the three is built into the offense. Additionally, it might even appear that every single Panther, from Jaland and Ish, to Cam and Papa, will have a green light to let the open three fly.
** In fact, the only player who didn’t let the three fly today was Amsal as he was mostly sidelined with his hand injury. I was a bit encouraged though that he sported a relatively small looking cast, and he even used his casted hand in an early warm up dribbling drill, albeit very sparingly. Other than that, he only did some conditioning work behind the basket. Nonetheless, knowing he used the hand even a little makes me feel like he can’t be too far away.
** Otherwise, the practice did little to quell the "raging" debate as to whether this is Jaland’s team or Ish’s team. To end the practice Coach Capel called on Ish first then Jaland next to sink free throws to end the affair.
** But to my eye, it really looked today as if Jaland was all over the court, nearly always in an impressive way. He shot the three well, and drove fearlessly into the paint which included a finish that made me say “Wow!” And we has really getting after it on defense too.
**
@JimHammett started a nice thread during the event, and I’ll reshare something I added there earlier today. (Jaland) has that “ready to be special” look about him.
** It’s wiser not to get too far ahead of ourselves with Jaland, but it’s also hard not to think he’s ready to make strides beyond his fine freshman year.
** This isn’t to say that Ish won’t be there with him. He looked solid today. But he wasn’t the most noticeable player on the court like Jaland.
** The backcourt minutes were rounded out by Dunn and Cummings. From the lineups used in the scrimmage, it’s an early bet that Damien will be backup at the point, along with spending a few minutes at the two and three as well.
** Damien looks like a strong, seasoned vet with his presence on the court. He also appears nicely physical and has a decent shot. The only reason he won’t play something like 20 minutes per game is because Jaland and Ish could be too good to open up that many.
** As for Brandon Cummings, there’s a lot to like. He has some clear skills that this team will be able to use this year. In fact, early on in the practice, I may have been more impressed with him than anyone. But as the minutes passed, he came to earth a bit, and offered a couple of pesky turnovers.
** At this point, he also seems to play more with a one on one style as opposed to a greater orchestrator role that was more evident in Jaland and Damian.
** Still, it does seem possible that he could be our best three point shooter, making me wonder if a spot up corner role like Greg Elliott two years ago might be a good way to use him.
** I wonder if Capel has some new plans for Zach Austin, as he worked with the guards in one of the early drills, and actually played alongside Jaland at the two in the first half of the scrimmage. Zach showed his usual athleticism, but not necessarily greater production during the day, except showing a nifty post up baby hook. Does Jeff want to use him to post up smaller guards this year?
** If Jaland was one stand out, then I could say Cam Corhen was the other. He has offensive talent that we just didn’t possess in the post last year. This includes a night face up jumper from the foul line, and perhaps even range out to the three.
** A welcome sight was watching Cam often clear the defensive glass too.
** My only concern with Cam is a slight fear that he might look to force his offense a little too much.
** During the scrimmages, most often when Cam was on one side at the five, Papa was on the other. It should be noted that Papa drained a top of the key three, but he did also have some struggles finishing down low, getting blocked by both Jorge and Zach.
** Still, at the moment, it looks like Jeff’s plans for Guillermo this campaign are much more as a four than a five. In fact, the only time G looked like he was playing the five was during a stint when he was playing alongside his twin brother.
** We can only see how the rotation could be impacted when Amsal joins the fray.
** Speaking of twin brothers, it might be true to say that Jorge was the better of the two today. Most times when I saw a three fall during the scrimmage, it was from Twin 31 instead of Twin 25 And since Twin 25 has proven to be a 40% three point shooter, that could make things interesting.
** Marlon Barnes and Amdy Ndiaye didn’t leave me with many impressions,. other that Amdy looked much more like a perimeter big than a post up.
** Finally, I did want to note the presence of 6-10, 250 freshman local product Liam Mignogna among the walk ons. His role this year is clear and not unimportant – which is to beat on the other bigs down low in practice. Or in other words, do his best Ian Schieffelin impression. He looks a little like Ian actually.
** As for lineups, beyond some of the items already covered, in the second half of the scrimmage Capel called for a team with Jaland, Ish, Zach, GDiaz and Cam. At the moment, I’d guess this is the starting five.
** In my lifetime, I’ve had the pleasure of watching practices, both open and closed, at least once during the tenures of six Panther Hoops Head Coaches. I won’t attempt to proclaim that this practice under Capel was remarkably greater. But Capel’s culture is clearly evident.
** To that end, one thing I noticed was anytime a player hit the floor, as many as a half dozen or more teammates would swarm to help him up.
** Beyond that, our guys looked focused, spirited and determined. More importantly, they are talented. And everything I watched today continued my personal enthusiasm thinking this team has the chance to be really good.
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