Tom Welch played a lot at the 5 in the scrimmage and held his own. He needs to get acclimated to the speed of the college game. He was a lot more athletic and quick than I thought he would be. He reminded me a little bit of UNI's Seth Tuttle.

Tate Hall looks like he's going to be very valuable right away. He has the ability to play the classical 2, 3, and 4 positions. At 6'7" and with his shooting ability, he will create a lot of mismatches. He plays with a lot of intensity and desire. A few times when a close shot didn't fall, he looked like his shoulders sagged a bit before he gathered himself. He needs to keep from getting down on himself or pressing too hard after a play doesn't go right for him. Good outside shot with a really high release point.... no one will block his three pointer.

Paxson Wojcik looks like he's going to be a really great glue guy, with the ability to step out and score if he needs to. He really seems to like the hustle plays and defense. Has very long strides, good speed, good hands. Picks his spots on offense.

Keith Clemons, Marquise Kennedy and Jalon Pipkins got a lot of time, often playing together with Krutwig and Uguak on one scrimmage squad. Pipkins played more of a small forward type role, and Clemons and Kennedy were basically interchangeable combo guards. These three guys are pretty fast... Clemons and Kennedy both have a really quick (and long) first step. They're going to pass by a lot of medium-quick defenders. There were some moves reminiscent of Milton Doyle that we haven't seen for a couple of years, including a spin move on a driving layup. They appear willing to drive to the basket, at least for now, before they run into some of the more "physical" defenders on a lot of MVC squads.

Transfer Braden Norris and recent addition Sami Ismail also played a bit.

That's what I saw. Good crowd, and a lot of enthusiasm all around. Still worried about the "toughness" issue, especially since our backcourt is younger, less muscular, and an inch or two shorter than the past few years. I guess we just have to hope the refs keep a lid on the physicality.

Hall has a really nice shot and quick release. Kennedy is fast. Sometimes a little out of control, but can go to the hoop and finish. He can really leap and made a couple of nice shot blocks. Welch is a 4, not a 5 but is quite agile, can leap and has a nice shot. Wojcik seems to have great fundamental instincts. He does not have the speed of Kennedy but has the knack of being in the right place at the right time. He moves well away from the ball and made some nice cuts to the basket.

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Let's go Braden!

Great to be back watching basketball again. it is still early so everything we saw at the scrimmage yesterday has to be measured with the fact they still got two weeks of practice and I am not going to throw anyone under the bus cuz I saw them once. So here are some thoughts.
1. TATE HALL has a very high basketball IQ and could play all 5 spots on the floor.
2. Jalon Pipkins is one heck of an athlete...strong and quick....should be a great defender and be able to get to the hoop
3. Keith Clemons is quick and looks like he will be the lead ball handler.not as tall as I was thinking.
4. Marques Kennedy is quick, quick quick,,especially in the open court....and appears to have an edge to him...and does not lack confidence.Made some nice defensive plays
5. Tom Welch is more of a big man with more pulp than I thought...I was imagining a quicker , slender guy....in the scrimmage he was playing the 5 spot , so really did not to see how versatile he may be in being an in/out guy. He did not take any 3s that I remember.
6.Aher Uguak seems to have taken a step up. He seemed confident and seemed to be taking a leadership role. He also seems to have found the spots in the offense where he shines. Krutwig and him seemed to really work well together. Although he still seems to have bad hands.
7.Pason Wojcik seems to have a high bball iq.....and was bigger and more physically ready to play than I was expecting. Really played well within the offense and had a nice touch at the rim.worked well with in the offense.
8 Lucas Williamson was on fire from 3...and did a ton of positive things...although there was one sequence where M. Kennedy just schooled him on a drive to the hoop. He looks bigger and stronger this year...and it seems like they run sets for him to get that corner 3
9. Bruno was Bruno.....the Bruno we have all come to love/question over the years. His time may be diminished this year as there are way more athletic options.....
10.Brandon Norris....is really small...but good ball handler and quick release on the 3.
11. Cameron Krutwig was impressive...but looked like maybe put on a pound or two ??? Is really obvious how the offense works through him,,,he really is a point guard in a big mans body..... also in the scrimmage he pretty much dominated with out Big Frank to guard him..He was guarded by Welch most of the time.
OVERALL
Coach said in his post game...that the defense is ahead of the offense at this point....and I would say yep .that seemed to be the case.
Other than WIlliamson 3s were few and far between.....It seemed that Clemons, Kennedy and Pipkins are all used to having the ball in their hands and have not yet adapted to the quick ball movement that Coach likes....all 3 seem to be more used to clearing the floor and taking it to their guy. Both Kennedy and Pipkins had some very impressive one-on one moves that resulted in impressive hoops...Will be interesting to see how this dynamic finishes up...Hope Coach finds a way to create some opportunities outside the regular offense for these guys skill sets. Think Cammeron Satterwhite. Really could not evaluate if Clemons, Kennedy, Pipkins, Wocjik , Welch and Hall could shoot the 3 as between the group I think we only saw 4 and two were under great pressure. I think we will see a lot of plays at the rim this year.
It will be interesting to see how the whole group develops as the year goes on.....also how Coach works 7 new players into the line up and rotation. Really do not have a feel for how the team will do.....makes you really appreciate how bball is a team game trying to get 5 guys to coordinate as one....makes me really appreciate how smooth the Final Four team was and how well they worked together and how unselfish they were.
Was a nice turn out ....sorry I missed having a beer at Irelands......Excited to get the season going.My gut tells me that their is enough talent biut the success will depend on how well everyone buys in, fits in and how well they execute the offense. and of course how well the rest of the Valley plays.

Thanks Nate for your excellent report! Thanks also to JCT, JC64 and ahunte for theirs.

I am starting to get pumped for some basketball!

JCT - I agree with you about the Doyle comment. When his team needed a bucket late, Kennedy made a move, got into the lane, and finished a tough shot. Clay and Marques had the ability to be that type of "shot clock" guy, but this was different.

Overall, it's hard to get a read when you're trying to watch all 10 guys and we are playing ourselves. I thought Hall had a rough day in terms of finishing at the basket, but I think it was just a glitch.

I can't say I saw a lot of Seth Tuttle out of Welch. He did some nice things but he looked the most unsure of anyone. He did hold his own against Krutwig so you have to give him credit for that.

I was impressed with Wojcik as well. He's got decent size and looked like he was in the right place often.

Will be interesting to see how quickly some combo of Kennedy, Clemons, and Pipkins can get up to speed.

Hopefully we get some reports from the scrimmage with SLU Tuesday.

Norris looked like a real player to me. Very sharp. Wish he didn't have to sit out.

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Couple questions:
How was Cooper Kaifes moving around? I know he didn't play but did he shoot around at all or walk along the sidelines? I thought about him when our 3 point shooting woes were mentioned. As an aside, Cooper looks a little chunky in his recent photos.

Any clues about a possible starting lineup from the player combinations Moser used during the scrimmage?

Cooper wasn't there. Didn't get a chance to ask about him. Speaking as someone who had the same surgery as him last year, I would say he should be moving around a bit now. Probably able to do some jogging, but not much lateral movement yet. Could be wrong.

Porter said he expected to rotate more guys this year, so I don't know how much the stsrting lineup will tell us.

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How does a political consultant doing online work to elect Dems sustain a torn hip labrum?

A lot of spinning left

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I'll accept that. I was going for "Jumping to conclusions" myself.