Went to the Pulley playoffs last night. It was packed. I missed the first half of the Mbakwe v. the Frosh game, but I caught the rest. Here are some quick thoughts.
-It was nice to run into some fellow Gopherholers.
- Andre Hollins is very quick, and his jumper looks very smooth. He was shooting it more than usual, and it was going in. At the end of the game, when it was no longer in doubt, he was going for some big time dunks. His ups are absolutely insane, and he's fun to watch. However, Diggs and Rundles and Ohnstad did a pretty good job of staying in front of him in the half court sets. He still needs to work a lot on his court vision, but he's good at making the passes when he sees them. Plus, he's obviously working very hard on his distribution. And his D was pretty good (when he was trying).
- Joe looked better. His turnaround J was pretty money this time, but his ordinary jumper was still off, and he still looks for his shot way too much, to the extent of cherry-picking sometimes by lagging back on D. Obviously, that'll be different in the real games. Looked better than he had, but I still don't see him making a major contribution in the big ten this year (probably too much to expect from any freshman, really).
- Oto jammed his finger or something, so he didn't play that much in the second half. From what I saw of him at the end of the first half, he still looks good. The shot's still smooth, and he's shown a willingness to pump fake and get in the lane. I'm still excited to see him in maroon and gold.
-Halverson worked hard, and can really fly.
- I really wish we would have taken more of a look at Jonah Travis. The kid's obviously smart and a tremendously hard worker with some incredible physical ability. Just an amazing athlete.
- In the second game, Rodney's the only one who played that I cared about. Surprisingly, his shot's really started to show up, and he shot a better percentage from three than Blake (whose shot was off, and usually very contested, but still). Plus, he had his two or three highlight reel dunks/blocks. However, there were some tough fellas there, and he almost got in a few scuffles with number 5 for the opposing squad. Because of that, he didn't go to the basket like I'm still waiting for. He can finish in the lane, he just goes passive for stretches. Other than that, the second game was far more entertaining. Number 12 for Rodney's team, and the kid from MSU Mankato can both really fly, so there were some crazy dunks, and plus, the trash-talking was intense. The two teams appeared to hate each other. Just another fun night at Pulley.
-It was nice to run into some fellow Gopherholers.
- Andre Hollins is very quick, and his jumper looks very smooth. He was shooting it more than usual, and it was going in. At the end of the game, when it was no longer in doubt, he was going for some big time dunks. His ups are absolutely insane, and he's fun to watch. However, Diggs and Rundles and Ohnstad did a pretty good job of staying in front of him in the half court sets. He still needs to work a lot on his court vision, but he's good at making the passes when he sees them. Plus, he's obviously working very hard on his distribution. And his D was pretty good (when he was trying).
- Joe looked better. His turnaround J was pretty money this time, but his ordinary jumper was still off, and he still looks for his shot way too much, to the extent of cherry-picking sometimes by lagging back on D. Obviously, that'll be different in the real games. Looked better than he had, but I still don't see him making a major contribution in the big ten this year (probably too much to expect from any freshman, really).
- Oto jammed his finger or something, so he didn't play that much in the second half. From what I saw of him at the end of the first half, he still looks good. The shot's still smooth, and he's shown a willingness to pump fake and get in the lane. I'm still excited to see him in maroon and gold.
-Halverson worked hard, and can really fly.
- I really wish we would have taken more of a look at Jonah Travis. The kid's obviously smart and a tremendously hard worker with some incredible physical ability. Just an amazing athlete.
- In the second game, Rodney's the only one who played that I cared about. Surprisingly, his shot's really started to show up, and he shot a better percentage from three than Blake (whose shot was off, and usually very contested, but still). Plus, he had his two or three highlight reel dunks/blocks. However, there were some tough fellas there, and he almost got in a few scuffles with number 5 for the opposing squad. Because of that, he didn't go to the basket like I'm still waiting for. He can finish in the lane, he just goes passive for stretches. Other than that, the second game was far more entertaining. Number 12 for Rodney's team, and the kid from MSU Mankato can both really fly, so there were some crazy dunks, and plus, the trash-talking was intense. The two teams appeared to hate each other. Just another fun night at Pulley.
