Might give a longer write up later, but enjoyed watching the team practice today. A few quick notes:
1) While J.J. And Yante are our best players, I think D.O. can be right there with them. I expect a big year from him. He strikes me as a very consistent player who knows his strengths - I love guys like that, especially ones who clean up on the boards.
2) Very excited About the newcomers. First time I have seen them alive. I've heard that Harris is well behind Crump in terms of being ready to contribute, but that is not my view after today. There will be a learning curve, but by end of the year both should help quite a bit. Diatta reminds me of a less awkward Cam Forte. Both have 'old man' games, but Diatta seems to be a better shooter and a little more smooth.
3) All 3 newcomers drew the wrath of coaches at various points for lack of effort or decision making. Fox told Harris he'd have to raise his 'RPM's by about 50' and give more effort on D if he wanted to play. "If you don't defend in this league, you don't play." Diatta wasn't doing a drill quickly enough at one point for coach Rosemond (pretty intense guy) and also turned the ball over after rebounding a free throw, and assuming a 'point forward' role by taking the ball in transition. Though his pass to Yante was deflected and resulted in a turnover, I think his skill set will really help us once he gets comfortable.
4) Biggest concern to me is shooting guard. Pick 2 out of Turtle, Crump, Parker, Harris, ET, Diatta for the wing positions and we have some options, but no natural scorer at the 2 worries me. Helps that JJ is such a good scorer which lessens the load of the position on some level, but would love for someone to stand out. Parker is solid, but don't see him giving us more than 6-8 ppg.
My preference would be for Turtle or Harris to ultimately take this spot (I know Turtle isn't a 2, but that doesn't bother me to have 2 primary ball handlers on the floor if one can score like JJ).
5)ET looked more aggressive. At some point this season, I expect it to click for him and to really help.
That's all for now, but this team most definitely has the talent to dance this year. In my opinion, this is a good test of Fox's coaching. If we see Kessler and/or Geno start at all this year, then I will be extremely disappointed. They can help on some level in limited minutes, but we have options now. Both are hard workers though; KPG actually isn't too far off from contributing more, but just not consistent enough shooter or finisher.
1) While J.J. And Yante are our best players, I think D.O. can be right there with them. I expect a big year from him. He strikes me as a very consistent player who knows his strengths - I love guys like that, especially ones who clean up on the boards.
2) Very excited About the newcomers. First time I have seen them alive. I've heard that Harris is well behind Crump in terms of being ready to contribute, but that is not my view after today. There will be a learning curve, but by end of the year both should help quite a bit. Diatta reminds me of a less awkward Cam Forte. Both have 'old man' games, but Diatta seems to be a better shooter and a little more smooth.
3) All 3 newcomers drew the wrath of coaches at various points for lack of effort or decision making. Fox told Harris he'd have to raise his 'RPM's by about 50' and give more effort on D if he wanted to play. "If you don't defend in this league, you don't play." Diatta wasn't doing a drill quickly enough at one point for coach Rosemond (pretty intense guy) and also turned the ball over after rebounding a free throw, and assuming a 'point forward' role by taking the ball in transition. Though his pass to Yante was deflected and resulted in a turnover, I think his skill set will really help us once he gets comfortable.
4) Biggest concern to me is shooting guard. Pick 2 out of Turtle, Crump, Parker, Harris, ET, Diatta for the wing positions and we have some options, but no natural scorer at the 2 worries me. Helps that JJ is such a good scorer which lessens the load of the position on some level, but would love for someone to stand out. Parker is solid, but don't see him giving us more than 6-8 ppg.
My preference would be for Turtle or Harris to ultimately take this spot (I know Turtle isn't a 2, but that doesn't bother me to have 2 primary ball handlers on the floor if one can score like JJ).
5)ET looked more aggressive. At some point this season, I expect it to click for him and to really help.
That's all for now, but this team most definitely has the talent to dance this year. In my opinion, this is a good test of Fox's coaching. If we see Kessler and/or Geno start at all this year, then I will be extremely disappointed. They can help on some level in limited minutes, but we have options now. Both are hard workers though; KPG actually isn't too far off from contributing more, but just not consistent enough shooter or finisher.
