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Abbreviated KP Report on Valpo - Sunday 10:30 am ESPNU

There does seem to be some talent on the team. Mostly young, inexperienced talent - and weak - but talent. Sarr still plays weak. The good things we do just don't seem to happen consistently or often enough. I'm mostly surprised when our jumpers go in because they rarely look to be taken in rhythm but just thrown up because they didn't know what else to do or because the shot clock is running down. Most of this I have to put on coaching.

Things come easily for Hoard, Mucius is talented and Wright will outperform his ranking...
 
There's no reason to have Sarr on the bench for this long. We play 4 on 5 on both ends when he rests. It makes driving and passing on offense much more difficult. If he can play 30 mpg, he should.

I couldn’t disagree more with this right now.

He’ll continue to improve, and he’s our best option at the 5, but against a guy the size of Smits he gets pushed around on both ends.

The guy that can’t sit much is Childress. Not because he’s that good... He’s just that much better at PG. Johnson and Wright can bring it up from time to time, but the offense looks blah. Lewis has trouble getting it over the time line right now.
 
Remember when people were talking of Chaundee maybe leaving for the NBA after this season? Dude has the body of a linebacker, but has little athleticism or really much actual basketball skill. Disappointing, to say the least.

That was me. I was wrong.

I still think he’s going to have a big year for us, though.

I disagree on the lack of athleticism. I think he has the size and skills to be a very good NCAA SG.
 
Had to watch late because my wife is sick and I was watching our 3 kids.

Valpo sucks, but they did a good job exploiting the advantage Smits had over Sarr. Sarr could not cover Smits. Physical mismatch. This is a game where I was glad we have Smart... He has size, plays tough, and isn’t a complete liability of offense.

Not a good matchup for Sarr, but been taking that into consideration, he has a long way to go.

Our offense was at its worst when we tried to force it into Hoard, who was basically getting triple-teamed. I’m not saying Hoard shouldn’t get a ton of touches, but those possessions ended in turnovers. Find the open man.

It was me that hyped up Brown this year. I’m not nearly as down on him as some of you, but he hasn’t shown a big jump this season. I did like his aggressiveness early on today, though.

Lewis is not ready. Get him these minutes in blowouts against 300+ teams... Not when we are making a run 10 minutes into the game.

I love having Wright, Brown, and Mucius on this roster. They should all play a ton of minutes.

Good win. 2-1 in this tournament is a positive result. Could be looking at 9-3 or 10-2 before conference play (which I agree, could get ugly).

Now, because I am bored, I’m gonna go back and respond to specific posts 3 hours later than they were originally written.

Agree with you on Brown. I still like him but has not made a jump.

With someone as versatile as Hoard, a good coach can get him the ball despite the double team and use the double to your advantage.

Sarr is a big disappointment. Is athletic for a big but does not seem to be a good basketball player. Maybe he will develop into one if he sticks around.

I like Brown, Mucius, Wright, Chill, & Hoard. They all need to play as much as they can. I don't mind Johnson either. He hustles and can score some but is not a great talent.

At this point Sunday or Smart are more effective than Sarr. This may also be a better year to go small than last year.
 
With someone as versatile as Hoard, a good coach can get him the ball despite the double team and use the double to your advantage.

Agree 100%.

I just got frustrated in the 2nd half when Valpo was sagging on defense to prevent the ball from going into Hoard, yet we still threw weak passes in there instead of moving the ball around to find another way to get it in to him (or just shooting an open shot).

Resulted in 3-4 turnovers when we could have put the game away.

These games have showcased the level of talent that Manning has brought in (mostly Hoard, Wright, & Mucius) and also his complete inability to coach them.
 
Also, Hoard makes a ton of mistakes and bad decisions right now, but he is so smooth and athletic that he more than makes up for them.

He’s going to be so good later in the season (I hope).

The game needs to slow down a bit for him and he needs to realize he’s playing against some physically stronger players than he did in high school. He’ll adjust.
 
Main thing that stood out negative were Childress with 2 turnovers in last few minutes---that just can't happen nursing a lead with a few minutes left. But, he has been pretty good overall, particularly shooting it. Not a ton to quibble with Manning---maybe leaving Lewis in a bit long and usual last 3 minute issues.

Sarr obviously has not had a great tournament. But, I'm still optimistic he is going to have a better year than he has shown so far. How good/bad a year he has may really be the difference in the team overall. Can't help but perseverate on how huge it would have been for this team of Moore had stayed.

The first 2 points Mucious had was also a beautiful sight. Thought for a second he was going to jack a 3, but he seemed like he got to the rim with 1 dribble. Agree with RJ, that once he gets some strength he is going to be a nightmare as he is real quick.

Pretty awesome that Hoard seemingly can get 14 and 8 without really even pressing things.

I was encouraged that Brown took drove the lane at least 3 times--had maybe one turnover where lost ball, but he hit 4 FTs and had the huge put-back slam that was critical to the win. Love to figure out a way to get him ball in the lane with sole purpose of drawing fouls. When he starts getting a few offensive fouls I'll be happy.

Wright Jr seems to play with no fear---just didn't expect that in a 3 star relatively unheralded recruit.

Still inconsistent on both offense and defense. On offense, we have had some really good movement and done some nice things but other times really disjointed. Have to think some of this is the team really just learning how to play together and many are still trying to get used to college ball. Same with defense, outside of post, we seemed to play reasonably good D, just had a few obvious breakdowns where there was a miscommunication that led to really easy buckets. That is going to get better as year goes on---that gives me hope---and is a different problem than the issues we had last year with Woods/Wilbeken just not being quick/long enough to actually defend.
 
Perseverate is just not a word you see much these days. Nice.

Gotta love the optimism that things will get better as the year goes. I guess it could happen. Everything has to happen for a first time.
 
HUH? Childress can break someone down? That's one of his weaknesses. He does the same thing every time. He drives and gets into a bunch of people.

Hoard can break people down and has many times this weekend. Our problem is Danny's offense doesn't let him.

HUH on Mucius as well? Mucius has made several nice drives. He's made a couple along the baseline and into the lane. When he gains confidence in using shot fakes and lets the game slow down for him, he could become basically uncoverable in college.

Glad you made this post...Came here to do the same. Mucius just a spot of shooter? Lol
 
Perseverate is just not a word you see much these days. Nice.

Gotta love the optimism that things will get better as the year goes. I guess it could happen. Everything has to happen for a first time.

The problem is that we could get a lot better and still not win games because the schedule gets a lot tougher once conference play begins.
 
Also, Hoard makes a ton of mistakes and bad decisions right now, but he is so smooth and athletic that he more than makes up for them.

He’s going to be so good later in the season (I hope).

The game needs to slow down a bit for him and he needs to realize he’s playing against some physically stronger players than he did in high school. He’ll adjust.

One of the reasons Hoard has problems is that Brandon has no clue about spacing. You don't have to be on the same wing for Hoard. Jaylen understands how to get space. If you throw a pass from the top of the key, there is plenty of room to make the pass and not get Hoard doubled.

Danny's dribble around offense is so 90s. With Hoard, Mucius, Wright and Brown, we could swing the ball so much more efficiently.
 
Wright has been a pleasant surprise.
Look forward to his continuing production.
 
One of the reasons Hoard has problems is that Brandon has no clue about spacing. You don't have to be on the same wing for Hoard. Jaylen understands how to get space. If you throw a pass from the top of the key, there is plenty of room to make the pass and not get Hoard doubled.

Danny's dribble around offense is so 90s. With Hoard, Mucius, Wright and Brown, we could swing the ball so much more efficiently.

This. Way too much dribbling toward the wing. NO space to create pass or opportunity. Was a killer in the last 3 minutes.
 
This team will have a better record than last year’s team. No doubt.
 
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