** Before this exhibition with our Johnstown Panther brethren, I had the usual pleasure of chatting with PantherLair Commander @Chris Peak He remarked how much different the Panther Sports landscape has flip-flopped in a mere 365 days. After all, a year ago we still held the ones wearing helmets in higher regard, and those on the hardwood seemed hopeless.
** This time, we enter the hoops season with a nice share of excitement, or at least enough to bring our collective spirts a little higher.
** And nothing we watched tonight should quell any of the aforementioned excitement. But if you are also one to enter a season with some caution, and I’m typically one to fall into this camp, there wasn’t quite enough to witness to feel any sense of certainty that this is an NCAA team.
** Regardless, I’ll offer my thoughts, with all of the usual disclaimers that this was only one game, that being just an exhibition, against an undersized, overmatched foe.
** Overall, to me this already feels like a team who knows who they are, which is one that let’s the three fly, and tries to get after it on defense.
** Keep in mind that I’m not saying our defense was good, because at times it actually wasn’t. Sometimes, we overplayed a little too much on the perimeter, allowing UPJ more deep looks than I liked, and some easier-than-they-should-have-been drives to the basket.
** Offensively, I was encouraged to see a little more motion than was the standard a year ago, and a little more got done with the pass instead of the dribble drive.
** Also, UPJ never offered a zone to my recollection, which we know has caused some problems for CapelBall in years past.
** As for the lineup, Bub, Ish, Zach, Blake and Fede are the clear first five. Jaland backs up the one and two, Will played some three and a bit of four, JDiaz ran at the four, and GDiaz backed up Fede.
** This group of nine were the only ones who played in the first half which should give a pretty good idea of the rotation.
** Mike Hueitt got some good run in the second half, including a brief stint with the first five minus Ish. Mike has a nice and high, but not particularly fast, release. But he is fearless to let it fly, and there could be spots during the year for his skill.
** Still, if you are going to find a player of the game among our Panthers, tonight Bub Carrington fits the bill. There really wasn’t anything he didn’t do well. He was confident, assertive and shot the three very well.
** It’s too soon for me to jump on board the @whirlybird optio Bub Hype Train. I’ll have to see a couple games against better teams before I’m convinced he’s the real REAL deal. But it also took me quite a while to be convinced that Nelly could play last year, and I ended up being very late to that party.
** On the other hand, I am already headed to the party with Ishmael Leggett. I continue to be impressed, and his three point shooting only added on for me. He also had three really nice takes to the rack that he didn’t, but probably should have finished. Make a couple of those, and he’s the player of the game instead of Bub.
** My favorite play from Ish however was on the break early in the second half. He could have taken the ball all the way to the hole for a tough two, but instead found Fede for the flush. Perfectly unselfish.
** Jaland Lowe completes the backcourt well. He has skills, but he seems to lack a touch of the confidence Bub brings at the moment.
** At the three, Zach does plenty of nice things, although he needs to keep his feet a little more on up fakes. Still, he had gorgeous one touch pass to Ish for a three as well as a high flying highlight slam. To the downside, he missed all three of his threes which were the open spot up variety. The Panthers need him to get one or two of those a game.
** Will actually played very well if you can forget the fact his jump shooting doesn’t look like it has progressed at all. But he was very active of the glass and on defense and passed the ball quite well. He actually should have had a 4th assist but GDiaz blew a pretty ally oopp pass on the break.
** The Twins continued to show the improved confidence we saw in the open practice, including some nifty handle bringing the ball up the court. They should hit a little better from beyond the arc than they did today too. My only disappointment was with a little of GDiaz’s work on defense down low, as UPJ bested him with some pivots in the paint.
** Fede showed up fine, and looks and feels a little stronger. But he didn’t show anything that would indicate any kind of an offensive step forward.
** It’s safe to guess that GDiaz and Fede will share the minutes at the five. But what remains to be seen is who will end up with more minutes between Will and JDiaz behind Blake and Zach.
** What we know for sure is that Blake will play something like 34 minutes or more in games that matter. He wasn’t quite the shooter tonight we’ve grown accustomed to seeing. But he did other things well, including some good defensive switching. There’s no reason to fear he’s not our huge horse.
** And really, there’s no reason not to hope this can be an NCAA team again this year. Much like last year, there appears again to be a nice togetherness among the guys, which it feels like is somehow spurred on by the Twins.
** This group also appears to be a touch more athletic than last year, and maybe even more unselfish. Additionally, they really took care of the ball well except for a few sloppy final minutes.
** And just like last year, these guys really look like they have fun playing basketball. Last year, they carried that fun into an appearance into the Round of 32. Tonight, they gave the Panther fans in attendance something to enjoy as there hasn’t been a whole lot of that in Panther Nation for the last two months. And that made the night all the more worthwhile for me for sure.
** This time, we enter the hoops season with a nice share of excitement, or at least enough to bring our collective spirts a little higher.
** And nothing we watched tonight should quell any of the aforementioned excitement. But if you are also one to enter a season with some caution, and I’m typically one to fall into this camp, there wasn’t quite enough to witness to feel any sense of certainty that this is an NCAA team.
** Regardless, I’ll offer my thoughts, with all of the usual disclaimers that this was only one game, that being just an exhibition, against an undersized, overmatched foe.
** Overall, to me this already feels like a team who knows who they are, which is one that let’s the three fly, and tries to get after it on defense.
** Keep in mind that I’m not saying our defense was good, because at times it actually wasn’t. Sometimes, we overplayed a little too much on the perimeter, allowing UPJ more deep looks than I liked, and some easier-than-they-should-have-been drives to the basket.
** Offensively, I was encouraged to see a little more motion than was the standard a year ago, and a little more got done with the pass instead of the dribble drive.
** Also, UPJ never offered a zone to my recollection, which we know has caused some problems for CapelBall in years past.
** As for the lineup, Bub, Ish, Zach, Blake and Fede are the clear first five. Jaland backs up the one and two, Will played some three and a bit of four, JDiaz ran at the four, and GDiaz backed up Fede.
** This group of nine were the only ones who played in the first half which should give a pretty good idea of the rotation.
** Mike Hueitt got some good run in the second half, including a brief stint with the first five minus Ish. Mike has a nice and high, but not particularly fast, release. But he is fearless to let it fly, and there could be spots during the year for his skill.
** Still, if you are going to find a player of the game among our Panthers, tonight Bub Carrington fits the bill. There really wasn’t anything he didn’t do well. He was confident, assertive and shot the three very well.
** It’s too soon for me to jump on board the @whirlybird optio Bub Hype Train. I’ll have to see a couple games against better teams before I’m convinced he’s the real REAL deal. But it also took me quite a while to be convinced that Nelly could play last year, and I ended up being very late to that party.
** On the other hand, I am already headed to the party with Ishmael Leggett. I continue to be impressed, and his three point shooting only added on for me. He also had three really nice takes to the rack that he didn’t, but probably should have finished. Make a couple of those, and he’s the player of the game instead of Bub.
** My favorite play from Ish however was on the break early in the second half. He could have taken the ball all the way to the hole for a tough two, but instead found Fede for the flush. Perfectly unselfish.
** Jaland Lowe completes the backcourt well. He has skills, but he seems to lack a touch of the confidence Bub brings at the moment.
** At the three, Zach does plenty of nice things, although he needs to keep his feet a little more on up fakes. Still, he had gorgeous one touch pass to Ish for a three as well as a high flying highlight slam. To the downside, he missed all three of his threes which were the open spot up variety. The Panthers need him to get one or two of those a game.
** Will actually played very well if you can forget the fact his jump shooting doesn’t look like it has progressed at all. But he was very active of the glass and on defense and passed the ball quite well. He actually should have had a 4th assist but GDiaz blew a pretty ally oopp pass on the break.
** The Twins continued to show the improved confidence we saw in the open practice, including some nifty handle bringing the ball up the court. They should hit a little better from beyond the arc than they did today too. My only disappointment was with a little of GDiaz’s work on defense down low, as UPJ bested him with some pivots in the paint.
** Fede showed up fine, and looks and feels a little stronger. But he didn’t show anything that would indicate any kind of an offensive step forward.
** It’s safe to guess that GDiaz and Fede will share the minutes at the five. But what remains to be seen is who will end up with more minutes between Will and JDiaz behind Blake and Zach.
** What we know for sure is that Blake will play something like 34 minutes or more in games that matter. He wasn’t quite the shooter tonight we’ve grown accustomed to seeing. But he did other things well, including some good defensive switching. There’s no reason to fear he’s not our huge horse.
** And really, there’s no reason not to hope this can be an NCAA team again this year. Much like last year, there appears again to be a nice togetherness among the guys, which it feels like is somehow spurred on by the Twins.
** This group also appears to be a touch more athletic than last year, and maybe even more unselfish. Additionally, they really took care of the ball well except for a few sloppy final minutes.
** And just like last year, these guys really look like they have fun playing basketball. Last year, they carried that fun into an appearance into the Round of 32. Tonight, they gave the Panther fans in attendance something to enjoy as there hasn’t been a whole lot of that in Panther Nation for the last two months. And that made the night all the more worthwhile for me for sure.
