Quick Thoughts on the Basketball Team

I've been lucky enough to see chunks of the Longwood game and almost all of the South Florida game. Here are some quick thoughts, two games deep into the season...

• Mustapha Farrakhan is much improved, and he seems to have a very serious role in Tony Bennett's rotation. He seems a lot more confident and explosive to me so far this season. Of all the players, I'm most excited about the improvement he's showing from last season to this one.
• This team is missing Assane Sene and (to a much lesser extent) Jamil Tucker. Our thin frontcourt has become an extreme liability without those two on the floor. USF was able to pound the ball inside once Mike Scott got into foul trouble, and we had nothing with which to counter that strategy.
• It's clear Coach Bennett's pack-line defense hasn't quite taken root and that his mover/blocker offense has only been installed in very small chunks. This season will be a learning process for this team as these systems are installed. Expect some ugly performances like the one last night. Be patient --- these two systems powered Washington State to the Sweet Sixteen.
• Jontel Evans reminds me of a young Harold Deane. Strong, aggressive, and always playing at full speed. Evans has made a lot of mistakes in his first two games, but he's a freshman point guard, it's to be expected.
• Sylven Landesberg is going to have to carry this team on offense from time to time. I think he needs to get a little bit more comfortable with the idea of being "the man" for this team. He seems slightly hesitant to me right now. Attack the basket, Syl!
• As limited as he is, we just can't keep Calvin Baker off the court. The good news is that he'll rarely be asked to be the primary ball handler, since Bennett's system seems to share that responsibility across the entire backcourt.
• Tristan Spurlock is even more raw than I thought he'd be. He's an explosive athlete, but so far hasn't shown much real basketball acumen. It could be a long year for the freshman if he doesn't start flashing some skill and discipline to go along with his speed and hops.
• Walk-on Will Sherrill is a solid player. He'll log some minutes beyond the normal mop-up duty most walk-ons enjoy.
• Jeff Jones is still looking a bit passive to me. It will probably take more than an offseason and a couple of games to coax him out of his shell. Dave Leitao really did a number on this young man's confidence.

Up next is a very tough Rider team in the JPJA on Thursday night. I'm looking for the Hoos to take a step forward and show us that they learned from the USF game. Rider is no cupcake. It will take a great effort to beat them (just ask Mississippi State.)

GO HOOS!