Anybody go? I had a grand kids make up little league game.....anxious to get some info.

I went. It certainly was different not seeing Norris, Welch and the older guys there. With that said, here are my takeaways:

1. Returning Players: The returning players seemed confident and ready to lead. Dawson looked great. No braces, wraps. He was fluid, dunking and buried 4 or 5 3s in the scrimmage. He maybe the key to the season and we need him to stay healthy. Quinn also looked great. His confidence was evident. He made a three, directed the offense and got to the basketball. Spoke to Quinn's grandfather and he told me Quinn is excited about the season and what he's seeing in practice. Watson got off to a slow start in the scrimmage but picked up steam and looked good by the end. Rubin was solid and only had 1 block. Edwards was also clearly acting like a leader and was playing defense and very active.

Sorry don't know all the names yet, so bear with me.

2. Transfers: The transfers are all very athletic, quick, and long. We will have great depth for sure. I was a little disappointed with the guard from Drexel. He didn't do much. I was expecting him to be a bit more dynamic.

3. Freshman: These kids all have good skills. It was evident that they still need to catch up with the speed of D1 basketball. Russian kid has great build and strong. He looked like he pressing. If I had to pick a recent LU comp, I would say he's like Scwieger, except more advanced offensively. Egyptian kid told me he grew height wise since last year. He's got great skills and is long. He had a little more impact during the scrimmage than the Russian kid. The Cali kid also very skilled a d crafty with the ball. He could use a little more weight, but good instincts. The biggest surprise was the big kid from Texas. Everyone says he's a project, but he impressed me. He jump, runs the floor and he battled Rubin pretty good. He's got good hands and I was told that staff thinks his improvement since getting here has been rapid. It will be interesting to see if he is on Roster or Red Shirted. I think he's gonna be a good one.

4. Drew Comments: I think Drew made some points to keep in mind as follows:

* The team has not been together very long and they about 5 weeks to polish it up.
* Mentioned team wasn't in game shape yet, so scrimmage was a little shorter and Drew wanted them to be sharp and not sloppy due to fatigue.
* Most importantly, Drew said we would be playing three different styles this year at times. One would be a big lineup with more than one big on the floor. One would be similar to what we traditionally do. One would be a 5 guard set. This was interesting.

Final Thoughts:

* Our backcourt will be solid with good size. Quinn looks like he's ready to seize the monent.
* We will be deep again.
*Hands down most athletic team we have probably ever had.
* We may see a couple Freshman get minutes.

I like it. With our soft schedule, we should have time to hopefully build momentum and confidence by the time we get to A10. I think we gonna be very tough once conference season starts.

Mud,,,thanks for the report..sounds like there was a lot of interaction with players after the scrimmage....how was the turnout? Disappointed to hear your comment about Justin Moore from Drexel as he was maybe the best of the players in the Old timers game in August. Good to hear Quinn coming of age...was he hitting his 3?

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Mudville for the report.

Especially interesting is the 3 different styles comment. When you have depth like we have (legit 12 players who could get PT in 25+ games per year on most D1 teams), why not mix and match? Seems to me that scouting and game-planning are big parts of the puzzle at this level--- and if you've got 12 or 13 players that can give legit minutes, you're able to offset a lot of strategy against you.

We have 9 players by my count who have played starters' minutes in games they've won against A-10 teams, and that includes transfers DeLoach, Moore, Nwaokorie, and Houinsou. Dawson, Watson, Rubin, Edwards, and Quinn are the others. Now add Glascov, Young, Hendawy and Turner, and that's 13 players that would get 12 minutes or more on an average mid-major team.

We have Rubin, DeLoach, and Young able to give up to 10-25 minutes at the 5. DeLoach, Nwaokorie, Houinsou, (and I think Young) are able to play the 4 for double-digit minutes. Then you've got Watson, Hendawy, Glascov, and Housinou at the 3. Shooting guards are Dawson, Edwards, and Hendawy (at 6'8"). Points are Quinn and Moore (subbed for offense/defense), and Turner. We are a matchup nightmare, and if you think you've solved us... we'll throw a switcheroo at you.

We've got some fouls to give if we need to. A lot of fouls. Last year Rubin struggled with fouls, and Adelekun and Welch purposely made the game physical so opposing centers made mistakes. This year we'll have Rubin, experienced A-10 center DeLoach, and freshman Young able to eat up some fouls in the post. That is SERIOUS depth.

Depth is what got us the tie for the regular season league title, but we will also need some heroic virtuosity at key times and places this season. We have yet to win an A-10 post-season game because (I think) we don't have a guy who can step up and be THE guy on a team that shares so well. Our two most physically and competitively gifted players are probably Watson and Rubin, but we probably have two or three other players on this roster who could be THE guy if needed--- Dawson, Edwards, and Moore. Sometimes in freshman seasons, players quickly emerge as go-to players under pressure-- I have really high hopes for Hendawy.

Exhibition October 29th!!!

Bold prediction: If Dawson stays healthy, he will be a 1st or 2nd team All-A10 guy.

Quinn did hit 1 3pt during scrimmage. While the guys were shooting around early before they started, Quinn was working on his shot rotating around the arc and having balls feed to him. He was taking 5 or 6 from each spot like you see at a 3pt contest. His shot looked good, more fluid than in the past.

I thought Dawson was the best player at the scrimmage.

Does it appear that Rubin has enhanced his offensive skills?

I did not attend the open practice but did attend the August old times game and I thought Rubin looked more aggressive and confident. He got into some good battles with Krutwig .