My starting lineup based on 20 minutes

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rrjackIII

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after 2 ten minute halves

my starting lineup

PG Cobbs (good ball movement - lots of assists)
SG Joseph (leading scorer)
SF Carter (good offense - some inconsistency)
PF Mbakwe (a beast - hope he plays - I had him for 13 pts)
C Iverson (Strong defense)

Bench
G Hoffarber (made a few shots go - whoosh!)
F Johnson (tops in defense & hustle)
C Sampson (put on a few pounds)
F White ( a couple nice passes Rb's - 2pts only at the end of the game)

Nolen (better step it up)
Westbrook - (did he play?)
Williams - (hope he wears the cape in all the warmups)
Dawson - (will look good in a red shirt)
Bostick (edit: I almost forgot to put his name down)
 

It wiil be hard to keep Johnson out of the line-up and Westbrook, too... but I feel confident with any line-up right now!
 

rrjackIII said:
after 2 ten minute halves

my starting lineup

PG Cobbs (good ball movement - lots of assists)
SG Joseph (leading scorer)
SF Carter (good offense - some inconsistency)
PF Mbakwe (a beast - hope he plays - I had him for 13 pts)
C Iverson (Strong defense)

Bench
G Hoffarber (made a few shots go - whoosh!)
F Johnson (tops in defense & hustle)
C Sampson (put on a few pounds)
F White ( a couple nice passes Rb's - 2pts only at the end of the game)

Nolen (better step it up)
Westbrook - (did he play?)
Williams - (hope he wears the cape in all the warmups)
Dawson - (will look good in a red shirt)
Bostick (edit: I almost forgot to put his name down)
Click to expand...

I think Johnson and Westbrook should be in everyone's starting line-up. Johnson is the best defender in the conference and Westbrook is clutch, not to mention the only double-figure scorer from last season. How do you keep them out?
 

A few other observations:

• bigger crowd than the past two years. Looked like the whole LL was filled except for behind the Gopher basket which was semi-blocked off so the team could make an entrance

• Dawson surprised me with his performance as he looked much better than any walk-ons we had years ago (excluding JAS). He'll still be far down the bench in games that count.

• Mbakwe has really matured a lot since HS -- probably not surprising but I realized how long it had been since I'd seen him play. He's really quick and big enough to make space for himself. Very impressive.

• Hoff had his stroke tonight.

• Carter stepped it up as did Colton compared to last year. Sampson seemed a tad bit quicker to react/respond.

• Cobbs really impressed for a freshman.

• White looked pretty good as well.

Word of caution: a scrimmage is way different than a season.
 

Weisbrod said:
I think Johnson and Westbrook should be in everyone's starting line-up. Johnson is the best defender in the conference and Westbrook is clutch, not to mention the only double-figure scorer from last season. How do you keep them out?
Click to expand...
They'll need to step it up in practices and the first couple of games if they're going to retain those distinctions. Tonight they were over-shadowed ... but I'll agree it was just a scrimmage. Johnson seemed somewhat laid back, I thought.
 


Paul Carter might be my favorite member of this year's squad, but I can't put him in the starting lineup above DJ. Either way, it's not who starts the game that matters, it's who's on the floor at the 39 minute mark.
 

What a deep team. I can't wait to see them compete for playing time.
 

If Cobbs plays like I think he will, Joseph is more aggressive and more consistent, Blake has at least most of his shot back, Carter hits like it sounds like he did tonight.. That gives us the shooting we were missing last year.

And if Mbakwe is cleared to play to contribute toughness and rebounding.. this should be a fantastic season! And I honestly think most of those things will happen.

I really can't wait for the season to start!
 

To add some more comments...mostly unexciting

- Nolen was great shooting until they actually started playing the scrimmage, then the airballs came
- Carter streaky shooting, but pretty impressive overall
- Great to see Hoffarber shooting well. Even though he couldn't shoot at all last year, he's the only player where every time he releases the ball I think it's going in just because his shot looks so good
- Iverson looked a lot better than Sampson
- Rodney disappeared in the scrimmage, no surprise there, but he did not disappoint in the dunk contest
- Cobbs, Mbakwe, and Joseph were all pretty impressive. It was nice to see Devoe more aggressive than usual. Last year he played offense like Hoffarber a little too often. He looked pretty good handling the ball tonight and he also shot really well.
- White was a little disappointing

Didn't really watch the game very closely, especially the second half and left early to get in line to talk to Royce, so my assessment mostly relates to the first half of the scrimmage and the stuff prior to the scrimmage.

Talked to Tubby and a few players after the game. My friend from Stillwater, Ok and I talked to Tubby about playing an OOC game against Ok State because of the Kentucky connection and because they're a pretty similar team to us that would make sense for a series. I think they're pretty underrated. Anyway, he said that it was a great idea and that he would have to look into that. Means nothing but he sounded sincere. I also talked to Royce about his myspace and he said he would not be doing another one, not that that's really of importance.
 



underground629 said:
To add some more comments...mostly unexciting

- Nolen was great shooting until they actually started playing the scrimmage, then the airballs came
- Carter streaky shooting, but pretty impressive overall
- Great to see Hoffarber shooting well. Even though he couldn't shoot at all last year, he's the only player where every time he releases the ball I think it's going in just because his shot looks so good
- Iverson looked a lot better than Sampson
- Rodney disappeared in the scrimmage, no surprise there, but he did not disappoint in the dunk contest
- Cobbs, Mbakwe, and Joseph were all pretty impressive. It was nice to see Devoe more aggressive than usual. Last year he played offense like Hoffarber a little too often. He looked pretty good handling the ball tonight and he also shot really well.
- White was a little disappointing

Didn't really watch the game very closely, especially the second half and left early to get in line to talk to Royce, so my assessment mostly relates to the first half of the scrimmage and the stuff prior to the scrimmage.

Talked to Tubby and a few players after the game. My friend from Stillwater, Ok and I talked to Tubby about playing an OOC game against Ok State because of the Kentucky connection and because they're a pretty similar team to us that would make sense for a series. I think they're pretty underrated. Anyway, he said that it was a great idea and that he would have to look into that. Means nothing but he sounded sincere. I also talked to Royce about his myspace and he said he would not be doing another one, not that that's really of importance.
Click to expand...

What's this whole thing about Myspace?
 

Mbakwe is going to be the man...that guy impressed me so much with his hustle, toughness and leaping ability...plus he finishes at the rim...wow!!!!
 


TheHofferette said:
any reasons Colton looked better than Ralph?
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IMO Colton was only slightly better than Ralph. He seemed a little more comfortable with the flow of the scrimmage and seemed to take up more space down low.
 




http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=176&f=2824&t=4672986
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=62608918

I'm surprised there wasn't a little more talk about it a while back. It's just Royce messing around with his friends responding to some people that were talking some trash. Personally, I thought it was pretty hilarious.

Besides being an obviously really talented player, I think he brings a great personality to the team. He reminds me a little bit of Ocho Cinco in the sense that he may rub some people the wrong way but I think his joking around having a good time is good for the team. He was definitely the most personable player to talk to last night. Tubby was great too.

Weisbrod said:
What's this whole thing about Myspace?
Click to expand...
 

Haha, not quite, but he did look good. His shooting last night was pretty similar to Nolen. They both looked good in the 3 point contest, and then watching them shoot in the game and in warmup they would just be so far off on shots but then they'd have streaks (mostly in warmups) where they'd shoot it and I'd think brick but then they would continue to hit. Either way, he plays his ass off just like pretty much everyone other than Sampson, so I can never complain too much about him. Sampson probably frustrates me more than anyone.

Plinnius said:
All-Big Ten impressive?

:)
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This Ralph doesn't try thing needs to end. It isn't his fault he is incapable of facial expressions.
 

A couple more thoughts...
-RSIII was noticably bigger...you could tell his upper body had a good bit more bulk.
-Mbakwe was an absolute stud and if he can play, should be getting big minutes this year.
-Justin Cobbs looked real good. PG is a hard position, and for a freshman to come in and look good (albiet in one scrimmage) is a good sign for our backcourt depth.
-Everything Royce White does looks natural. It looks like he doesn't even have to try. He kind of disappeared in the scrimmage, but he looked to pass first almost every time he touched the ball.
-Rodney Williams will be very fun to watch over the next few years.
 

I agree that Cobbs, Joseph, Carter and Mbakwe made the strongest showing for the night. Damian Johnson gave Cobbs a hard foul welcome and can be a defensive leader. Blake will be the 6th man change-up. Nolen and Westbrook should have to work for their starting positions.
 

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