- Game Ball-Xavier Johnson
This was, in my opinion, Xavier Johnson’s best game of his college career regardless of the competition. He finally looked like a General in command. 15 points, 7 assists, 0 turnovers. He made the right decisions. He pulled the ball out multiple times after thinking about driving into the lane only to pass the ball and hit his man for a wide open 2 including a beauty of a pass to Coulibaly. So many times in the past Johnson rushed the pace and pushed it into the lane only to result in a turnover or a rushed bad shot. Johnson looked much, much, more in control and comfortable with his decisions without hesitation doing so. Last game his decision making was decent. This game was Elite. So many times in the past he made horrible decisions against inferior teams. The last 2 games indicate there is light at the end of the tunnel in his development.
- Game Ball Assist: “Team” togetherness on offense. We passed as a team. We went into the paint. We hit 3’s. 26 team assists to only 8 turnovers.
- Game Ball Assist 2 Ithiel Horton
15 points on 5-10 from three, 4 assists, 1 turnover, 3 rebounds, 1 block. He is still trying to understand proper positioning on defense but I thought he did a better job keeping his man in front of him. Want to see him communicate with his teammates more to get through screens.
Horton is now shooting 44% from 3 for the season. Like Xavier, I want to see him build consistency with his decision making. He looked much more confident today, even at the start of the game where he had 3 assists early on with a really nice pass from the paint back out. This was a big step in the right direction from his prior 2 games with his ball control and passing. I think he has the ability to penetrate more into the lane… Solid game and he needs to continue to shoot with confidence.
Good
- Toney. Toney is Toney. Not much more to say here except clean up the turnovers. 15 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds, 4 turnovers. Ill also add I want to see him attack the defensive boards much harder and work on the free throws.
- Champ . 22 points on 8-13 shooting, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals. For all the right he did in this game on offense and filling up the stat sheet, he continues to be a let down on defense. Between losing his man, being out of position, giving up on plays and just a lack of overall hustle at times… One play where he didn’t stay with his man, he had a chance to cut him off and recover, but then slowly jogged to recover only to see his man score with ease on the interior after essentially not trying. He’s only a sophomore and has so much potential… Really needs coached up on defense. The gameplay is showing a lot more issues than his DRTG rating right now.
Odukale
- 2nd game in a row I like what I see. Not showing up in the boxscore yet, but he could have easily had 5 more assists in the last 2 games if his teammates finished from his crisp passing or they were not fouled and went to the line. His no look pass to Toney in this game is another example of a play that should have been a score and another assist that didn’t go his away not including his transition pass to Jeffress last game that resulted in a dunk that he got no credit for. Still recovering from the injury and getting back into game shape, his time will come. I like him with X on the floor so far, it keeps X calm with less ball possession. His 6’11 wingspan is starting to be a factor on defense as he as the highest steal percentage on the team. I also want to see more dribble penetration out of him. Has only attempted 7 shots this year.
Coulibaly
- I still want to see more use in the offense to AKC. Coulibaly is shooting 86% for the season. And every single game he is giving us at least 1 block, 1 assist, and 1 steal every single game out so far. He has 1 turnover on the entire season. The team offense has functioned well the last 2 games, actually really well, but against better teams we are going to need some punch from Center and still aren’t utilizing him enough.
- I like what he brings to the table on defense. He’s aggressive, he’s active, and he’s creating turnovers with his pressure. He’s the only center on the team that has a grasp for positioning on the defensive end and how to seal his man. He has a team best DRTG of 95 on the defensive end of the floor and it shows. Really efficient player so far that continues to play out of position.
ORTG offensive power ranking through 3 games
- Coulibaly-162
- Xavier-125
- Champ-120
- Toney-119
- Horton-103
- That’s a very strong starting 5 on offense with respect to efficiency. The last 2 games, we are running at 118 and 122 ORTG as a team. Those numbers are right in line with our 2009 team and the 2009 teams offense in the first 10 games of the season. Even with weak offensive 3 point shooting the first 2 games this year, these numbers are very strong and Horton just got going tonight. This looks good and so far, is even better than preseason expectations from these 5. I want to repeat that X was good last game. He was spectacular this game. His shot makes and balance is also running at 50 / 50 between interior paint makes and midrange out. This is currently (again small sample size), a huge difference from the prior 2 years thus far where he did most of his scoring in the paint.
Average: Team defense
- We forced 18 turnovers and held NIU to 37% shooting. And they hit some long-distance / lucky shots in the first half. This was a poor team we played against and let’s not sugarcoat it. I think we need to do a much better job attacking the passing lanes. With our length and team quickness, we should be creating more turnovers on a game-by-game basis. We put the clamps on in the 2nd half holding them to 25% shooting. We have “potential” here, but have a long way to go on this end.
- We need to communicate better. Sometimes when AKC is in the game our defense hits the switch and becomes “activated”. The sample size is small here, but I want to see these guys talk a lot more to each other and communicate positioning, getting around screens, switching when appropriate, etc... I liked a number of different looks we gave from man to zone to increased ball pressure to some double teams. I want to see more “risk” taking to create turnovers meaning if you pick up a foul, that is ok. We aren’t generating enough cheap transition points off turnovers which makes our offense look even better than the numbers. We can be much better here in time.
Player that needs extra Coaching from Capel before next game
Big John
- It’s only 3 games into his young college career and he is a center as of now, so expectations should be in check. And while John continues to flash some good things, he needs to learn to pause with the basketball for an extra moment (watch Coulibaly be patient for example). He’s rushing and not making the best decision, always looking to shoot the shot as quick as possible when he gets it. I want to see him utilize his passing which we have seen none of his first 3 games. I want to see him pulled away from the basket at times and put in an isolation play with the ball to find an open shooter with some space or to put the ball on the floor. This is a work in progress here and looks very much like a freshmen big showing “potential”.
- The college game is faster than he anticipated and he is forcing. Decent game on the glass from him which is encouraging with season rebound stats of OR 16 DR 23 which are still Blair level as a freshmen with a small sample size of 3 games. Can be a much bigger factor in the team offense if used correctly and doesn’t need a lot of shots to be a bigger factor. He needs a ton of work on defense just getting a basic understanding of not getting caught way out position while communicating with his teammates. Biggest area of improvement is zero turnovers the last 2 games. The first game he had 4 turnovers alone. His ORTG the last 2 games is over 100. That’s a step in the right direction.
Biggest Coaching need going into next game
- Free Throw shooting. We have shot under 62% from the line in 2 of our first 3 games. This need fixed immediately. Today was 55%.
- Team Defense-Self explanatory
Final thoughts
- We are still only 3 games into the season and breaking in 7 new players. The sample size on things is still small so again no firm conclusions about the team, the coach, or any individual player should be made yet. I think this team would greatly benefit with Nike Sibande and Nike’s ability to penetrate while making some 3’s while adding a major athlete to the floor.
- I want to see Xavier Johnson build off this game and show consistency going into next game while remaining in control without forcing or panicking if we find ourselves down early. If he plays anywhere near he did today while slowing things down to make the appropriate pass / play, the team can be dam good on offense and I feel comfortable saying that from what Ive seen so far. I think he is understanding the importance of patience. Toney is still the teams best and most complete player. X and the point guard position is the most important player for the teams overall success this year and next. As X goes, we go.
