Very nice win. Many, many high points, and very few lows.
Highs:
1. Student turnout...very good. O-zone was a force like I can't remember on a first or second Saturday in November. I think you can directly credit the Georgetown win and NCAA penetration for increasing student interest. As I told Mrs. LOVE, this is only going to get better as we get into MAC play. Very cool, should be a fun year on Richland.
2. DJ...I'm telling you, we are witnessing something very special in the offing. This kid is absolutely spectacular. Geno who? The two should never even be mentioned in the same sentence. Coop is not only the straw that stirs the drink at the point, but he's clearly a team leader on the floor. An extension of Groce. His defensive ability to cut off the passing lanes is unbelievable, throw in the quick hands and it's pure danger. Now that he's developing more confidence on the offensive end, it's just amazing. My favorite play today ties into #3, but right before the half Groce called for 2 possessions to their at about :53 left, Cooper immediately takes it to the hole for the and 1. Just like it was drawn up.
3. Groce...did a really nice job today on a couple fronts. Rotations and 2nd half adjustments. We were a completely different team out of the locker room and I liked going Baltic/Keely up front to start. Here is the rotation I go with for the short term and see what happens:
Cooper
Freeman
Baltic
Keely
Washington
1st off: Kellogg
2nd off: Sayles
3rd off: Johnson
4th off: Tunji
5th off: Hall
4. Baltic and Keely...whew, somebody put in some work in the offseason. Keely was a junkyard dog on the glass today. Just a man child in that slightly undersized frame. Really working hard the entire game in the paint and finding ways to accept the entry passes. Baltic looks leaner and more muscular and looks very comfortable with his back to the basket. Both have a TON more confidence in this, their 2nd year in the program. However, both looked confused a couple times and relied on ability to pull them through as opposed to the script. Delaware was playing tough, but not as tough as Akron and Kent will be down the road. These guys are going to have to maintain their focus through the long slog - and no doubt - having DVW will be a huge help. But great to see these guys improving their games from year 1 to year 2.
5. Tunji and Sayles....I think we really missed "energy minutes" last year. It's clear Groce has strong confidence in Tunji, enough where he was a strong part of the 11 man rotation today. He brings a lot of good energy and tempo to the floor, which we sorely needed during some lulls...but definitely needs to work on his shot. Maybe the flattest FT stroke I've seen. Sayles, just glad to have him back. Needs to keep his confidence up after he missed a couple 3's today, but hit a couple nice mid-range shots. Nice minutes on Defense. Just need him to be a team guy when DVW, Keely, and Ivo need blows.
The Lows: (I can't even call them lows. None of this is negative, but relative to the high's, there are some things to improve upon)
1. Freeman: Hard to call it a low, because he did so many things right that won't show up on the stat sheet, but just didn't have the offensive impact that we've come to expect. Took a while to get going and the stroke still looks good. I'm not worried in the least, just wanted to see a few more big bombs from him today. He'll be fine.
2. The Freshmen: Raw and confused. But again, Freshmen Kellogg looked pretty nervous, Johnson looked out of synch, Hall was quiet, and Jacobs was really raw. It's funny because I see a lot of Keely and Baltic in all of them, and the development on display by those two was astonishing today, so I feel great about the future. I would say in order right now, Johnson is probably the most ready to play NOW....Kellogg has a chance to be the steadiest 4 year player....Hall may be the most talented....and Ethan may have the biggest single year down the road. Best I can surmise.
3. Officiating: Stunk. Plain and simple. There were some awful calls (the over and back, gimme a break) and the one ref has been bad since Armstrong walked on the moon. Just lousy MAC officiating. Really questioning if they even knew the rules out there. Freeman took a blatant charge that went as a block. Multiple fouls given 2 shots not in the act of shooting. Cooper awarded some kind of NBA continuation nonsense for an And 1. Just funny business out there. Delaware Coach should have taken his T earlier, and probably should have added another for good measure.
4. The jackals that sit behind me. Were NOT funny last year, and are NOT funny this year. Just tons of gum flapping and personal insults to the Refs and other players. Sad. Really sad. Mrs. LOVE had to hold me back a couple times, and if anyone cares to observe - it's going to get ugly again this year. Bunch of trash giving my school a bad name and I'm not going to sit by and listen to it, nor am I going to have others subjected to it. Sorry for standing up for something....but it has to happen. Others can chime in that hear these idiots.
That's all. Great to be back in the Convo. CANNOT WAIT for Monday night vs. Oakland. Should be fun to have Devaughn back in uniform. Will give us a completely different complexion out there.