Forgot about that.

we look a little rusty but still up 38-16 at the half. Good to see the freshmen getting some playing time. I'd say TJ Hall was the most impressive of the group, looked strong on both ends of the court. Rico showed he has a nice drive to the basket.

biggest crowd reaction of the 1st half was when Cooper pulled a 360 spin around a defender at half court like it was nothing and never broke stride.

I'll be mighty happy if D.J. doesn't have to go into "Cooper Mode" all the time for this team to win. He's a fantastic clutch player, but I don't know if any player could have that weight on their shoulders for four straight years. Last year while Bassett was wandering through space the first two-thirds of the season, Cooper had waaaaay too much responsibility for the team's wins and losses heaped upon him. I think back to that BG game at Anderson Arena and he was pressing in the closing seconds because he didn't trust anybody else out on the floor. 

I think they've surrounded him with enough solid parts on the perimeter from the beginning of the season to let him just do his thing. It should make him into a much more complete player (as if he wasn't about the most complete player Ohio has ever seen as a freshman.). I think his assist numbers will blow up this year.

But letting him just naturally control a game rather than trying to impose his will is for the better of this team in the long run.

And it's nice to know that if he needs to go into takeover mode, he can do that as well.

RARRR Sunday basketball game argument!

My initial thoughts, for what little they are worth, especially given that it is tough to discern too much from an exhibition:

The offense wasn't as fluid as it will be later in the season, but I thought the defensive effort was pretty strong, at least for the first 30-32 minutes or so. 

Ivo Baltic looked much improved, confident and collected at the offensive end, and very active on defense.  If he can maintain that effort all year long he'll be a significant contributor. 

I didn't notice as much visible improvement from Keely, personally, and his hands cost us a couple turnovers on plays he wasn't ready to get the ball, but overall he was solid in the post.

Cooper's and Tommy's long-range shots picked up where they left off last year, which is good news for us. 

Sayles looked more assertive on offense, and showed off some nice moves and touch.  Given the strength of his defense, it would be huge if he could also step up to become an 8-10 PPG scorer to give the opposing defenses something else to account for.

Although T.J. Hall had more points, I thought that Rico Johnson was the most impressive of the freshmen.  He isn't flashy, but his hands were quite active on defense and his shots all came within the flow of the offense.  Hall has a better outside touch than I expected, although some of his first half shot selection was questionable, and he seemed to get beaten on some defensive rotations throughout the game.

Kellogg looked reliable when handling the ball, and will be able to knock down open shots.  I couldn't help but notice, though, that the offense lost a lot of its flow when he replaced Coop at the 1.  It's obviously early, and things will improve in that regard, but right now it appears we'll need Coop on the floor as much as possible.

Ethan was much more athletic and active on defense than I was expecting.  He also had at least one beautiful pass to set up a layup on a late fast break, and a nice touch on his FTs.  His offensive game will take some time to come around, and he could use some more muscle, but in time he's going to be a really nice player.  Not nearly the project some of our past 7-footers have been.

All in all, a pretty impressive performance for a first exhibition, especially given the fact that for long stretches we were playing with 3 freshmen and 2 sophmores on the court.  This team will have its ups and downs, but it could be dangerous come MAC time once we get our rotations worked out. 

By my count, TJ took shots on about 75% of his touches.

Really liked the court awareness Rico had.  Nice ability to create some space on the drive.  Doesn't force shots.

Nick is still learning the offense.  We'll see how he comes along as the season progresses.

Liked Keely a little more than Mr. Mogenized.  The key, just like last year, is how he responds to the physical play of the MAC.  But he's showing more skill in doing the dirty work.

Ivo showed more poise.  I hope that continues, because whenever he hesitates, he might as well throw the ball in the stands.

Tommy had a great three on a fast break.  Got set for the shot lightning-quick.  DJ started getting back on defense before the ball was even in the air.

DJ: I think he will score as much as he needs to.  If the other guys are getting it done, he'll dish.  If he needs to, he'll take over.  Ideal situation for a point.

Also, Dennis has a teenager running around the house now!  If he seems frazzled the next few years, you know why.

Ivo looked very good.  As I said before, he's reminded me last year of a young DeVaughn Washington...  It's exciting that he is already looking like he could be a big-time contributer..

I agree with others on Ricardo Johnson.  He wasn't flashy, but he will absolutely play some huge minutes for us this year.  He picked Wooster's pocket clean 4 or 5 times, and that almost always resulted in a fast break finish for him.  I love that he can get down the floor that fast and finish.  He's going to be a good one...  

TJ Hall goes strong to the rim, if he can keep that up with improving competition he'll contribute this year too..

I definitely noticed a difference when Kellogg was alone running the point, but that is more a testament to Cooper then anything.  He's not quite as flashy, but defensively he is probably already better off against the biggest guards who try to take it to the rim.

Keely's hands did cost us more then once, but he was also probably our best rebounder..

Hopefully DeVaughn comes back ready to play.

I agree with the notes most people said about our players so I wont restate that but no one has really said much about Wooster...

• I have never seen so many white kids, who looked like they couldn't lift a gallon of milk, on the court at one time.  They played 18 different guys, none of which did anything remotely impressive besides hit the occasional wiiiiide open 3.  We easily could field a team from Ping that would challenge our players more.
• The last time I heard a fan from the away team yelling during free throws in a 30pt blow out was last year @Pitt, and I had never been more embarassed.  I hope every single Wooster fan felt that embarassed because of that clown from NE Ohio behind the basket.

Also not to re-open an old wound but - I see we are trying that whole "Stand for Defense" thing again, with about 35% participation. I think I'm officially against it now, hardly anyone does it and it just makes me feel pathetic when people do it reluctantly then sigh and clap as soon as the other team scores so they can sit down without persecution.