Overall, super happy with our effort from last night. We fought back against Troy's full court defense and ultimately out lasted them in the end. To have multiple guys with perfect FT numbers is going to be extremely valuable this year. A few other things I noticed.
AJB and El are shaping to be a constant lineup presence for years to come if they keep it up. Really fun to watch them. Elmore is a bulldozer who can drive to baseline and force fouls and AJB is just a straight up threat on both sides of the court. The steal and near dunk was amazing. Loved after one three in front of the O-Zone he just turned and gave us all a wide smirk.
Clayton can be an amazing player in the paint. Was an encouraging sign to see him inside and fighting for rebounds. The inbound dunk was awesome. I was so mad to see his legal Boals like screen get whistled unfairly, was an amazing screen.
Hadaway - Dude is an athlete and can tell he wants some more minutes. I really want to see some more of him in the future. Boals did elude to more minutes is likely in store for him (along with Ike / Hadaway)
Reef - Dude is an instant jolt off the bench. The ankle breaker he forced was crazy and he is the most intense defender we have. Some in the O-Zone were bummed he fouled out but I wasn't too upset, dude gave it his all. Shooting needs alittle work but comes off as a very unselfish guy.
Jaylin - Off night shooting from him but was perfect from the FT line which is going to be really valuable this year. Also a huge facilitator for us.
Ike - felt like I didn't get much of a look at him but seems very timid / jitterish. I think more minutes can help him get back into a rtythm.
Ajay - I hate to say it, but he hasn't shown me anything new from his freshman year to first game of sophomore year. Almost had one of his passes picked off by a Troy defender. I hope he can develop behind J and Reef this year, junior year is going to be EXTREMELY crucial.
GWiz - Really great outing from him. Now, he still gave me a few heart attacks but I'll take a 7 RB, 2 BLK, and one and 2-3 from the FT line every day. Looks way less lost on the court compared to last year.
IJ - was in street clothes on bench and standing around during warmups. Seemed to be acting normally but I'm starting to get very uneasy about having him available to play.
Overall, had so much fun last night cheering the guys on. Roommates sent me pictures of me on television as I guess ESPN liked my green / white face paint. Jaylin, Miles, AJB, Estis all came up to us during warmups which was very nice of them.
Last Edited: 11/9/2023 11:15:49 AM by Cellis033