2021-2022 basketball season

[Clark Addison]

God bless Shelli Barcello and her boy Alex

[jay santos]

Fun to be back in the MC. Restarting life post-COVID is sort of surreal. Pretty full arena and got really loud when we needed a little bit extra. Credit Holmoe along with everything else he's done for really improving the game environment at LES and MC. Both fb and bb home environments are becoming loud and intimidating.

Impressed with Traore. I don't know why he came out of Wasatch Academy so polished and Lohner came out so rough. But I'll take them both.

That game was pretty ugly. I'd like to see more games to see if we're that bad at O or SDSU is really that good at D.

[Bo Diddley]

That game was pretty ugly. I'd like to see more games to see if we're that bad at O or SDSU is really that good at D.

Likely some of each, but SDSU defence looked good,, as did ours.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Fun to be back in the MC. Restarting life post-COVID is sort of surreal. Pretty full arena and got really loud when we needed a little bit extra. Credit Holmoe along with everything else he's done for really improving the game environment at LES and MC. Both fb and bb home environments are becoming loud and intimidating.

Impressed with Traore. I don't know why he came out of Wasatch Academy so polished and Lohner came out so rough. But I'll take them both.

That game was pretty ugly. I'd like to see more games to see if we're that bad at O or SDSU is really that good at D.

SDSU plays great defense. We missed too many open threes, but we had to work so hard to get open that maybe it was tough to get into a rhythm. KenPom predicted a score of 68-63 I believe, so this is about the game we should have expected.

I am thrilled with our defense so far. And our depth.

Offensively, we can get much better. This could be a really good team.

[myboynoah]

SDSU plays great defense. We missed too many open threes, but we had to work so hard to get open that maybe it was tough to get into a rhythm. KenPom predicted a score of 68-63 I believe, so this is about the game we should have expected.

I am thrilled with our defense so far. And our depth.

Offensively, we can get much better. This could be a really good team.

Yeah, I'm hoping the offensive issues will resolve as the new additions acclimate to real game environment and getiused to playing together. I like that Lucas can get to the basket pretty handily, just needs to start finishing those. And our three point shooting looks horrendous. Knight looked better, but what a weird shooting form from long range. Traore is so solid. Dang.

Very enjoyable game to watch. I liked how we gutted it out.

[BigFatMeanie]

Players I liked last night::

• Traore - looks amazingly polished for a true freshman in his second NCAA game against good competition. 4-6 shooting and 8 rebounds in 27 minutes off the bench. A couple of times he got worked on D but he was defending against some really good players. On offense I do think he needs to hold his screens a bit longer, take some contact and then flash to the basket. He's cutting too quickly right now so the screen isn't all that meaningful (also the guards haven't really been able to make good passes after the screen - see Lucas below).
• Barcello - Again a stud. Team high 17 points on 6-10 shooting, 3-5 from three. I wouldn't mind him shooting more when BYU is stalled on offense.

Players that were serviceable:

• Lohner - He was awesome on the boards but I seriously doubt the game plan is for him to take the second-most 3 attempts behind Barcello (he was ofer on them).
• Baxter - He looked much better this game - more into the game and not nearly as lost. He had a nice line of 3-4, 4 rebounds, and 0 turnovers in 10 minutes and when he was in the game he was playing what amounts to the 5 against bigger competition (so was Traore). Hard to believe BYU really only has one legit center on the roster and he's out. Interestingly, SDSU lists no centers on their roster.
• George - Had a couple of nice blocks and generally did his job but the fact that coach went with Traore and Knight for much longer stretches of the game and especially in crunch time is telling.

Players that were improved but I'm still not sold on yet:

• Lucas - He played better even though he had a pretty bad shooting night, but he was money from the line. Right now my beef on Lucas is that it seems he's not even looking for the pass on the screen and roll. There were several times when I thought the cutter was open and Lucas didn't even have his head up. One time he (or maybe it was Barcello - can't remember) found Lohner on the cut and it was an easy bucket. That should be happening more often. Also, he's not looking for the pass when there is a fast break down court. When the bigs get down the court quickly I would like to see him get them the ball more.
• Knight - Rebounded pretty well and had a nice putback and some other shots but, well, he looks kind of discombobulated out there. I'm not sure how to describe it. He seems to flail around awkwardly when he has the ball down low.

Players that stunk:

• Knell - 0-3, all from 3. That makes him 2 for 10 in two games, all from three. Also had 3 fouls and a turnover. His role on offense is to basically stand off on the wing and wait for someone to pass him the ball to shoot a 3. If that's your role, you've got to do better than 20%.

Not enough data:

• Johnson - Only 7 minutes in the game. No buckets on no attempts, no rebounds. Not much more than foul and a couple of free-throws. I was hoping that he would get and make some open 3s when he was in the game, but nada. I guess he's somewhat of a defensive liability with the quicker guys that SDSU has.
• Ally Atiki - Even less of an impact than Johnson. Only 3 minutes in the game with nothing but a foul.

Regarding Harward: the SDSU write-up on the game mentioned he has some kind of heart condition or inflammation or something. So, viral myocarditis?

[Bo Diddley]

Players that stunk:

• Knell - 0-3, all from 3. That makes him 2 for 10 in two games, all from three. Also had 3 fouls and a turnover. His role on offense is to basically stand off on the wing and wait for someone to pass him the ball to shoot a 3. If that's your role, you've got to do better than 20%.

Not enough data:

• Johnson - Only 7 minutes in the game. No buckets on no attempts, no rebounds. Not much more than foul and a couple of free-throws. I was hoping that he would get and make some open 3s when he was in the game, but nada. I guess he's somewhat of a defensive liability with the quicker guys that SDSU has.
• Ally Atiki - Even less of an impact than Johnson. Only 3 minutes in the game with nothing but a foul.

I'm totally with you on Knell. As far as I can tell, he should be benched. But before I get flamed, I will acknowledge that coaches know best, plus it's really early in the season.

I really liked Johnson in the game against CC. He looks like he can play decent D and O both. I look forward to seeing him develop.

[Jeff Lebowski]

So, viral myocarditis?

Yes.

Lohner started out cold from 3 last year and then hit them consistently. They need to let him keep shooting.

People constantly whining on twitter that Barcello needs to take more shots. His shooting percentage is the way it is because he is careful about shot selection. And we need to be a multi-dimensional team. Give the coaches a little credit maybe.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Gonzaga is destroying fifth-ranked Texas at the half (they're up 47-27. It'll be interesting to see how Pope gameplans against Timme and the freshman center Holmgren (a 7-footer with great skills but makes the freshman Shawn Bradley look morbidly obese). One hopes Harward will be back, and that my new mancrush Traore can use his body effectively against the string bean.

[Green Monstah]

Gonzaga is destroying fifth-ranked Texas at the half (they're up 47-27. It'll be interesting to see how Pope gameplans against Timme and the freshman center Holmgren (a 7-footer with great skills but makes the freshman Shawn Bradley look morbidly obese). One hopes Harward will be back, and that my new mancrush Traore can use his body effectively against the string bean.

I know it's not a perfect analogy, but I get some legit Charles Barkley vibes from Traore.

[Art Vandelay]

Lebowski,

Could you add "basketball" to this thread title? It's driving my OCD crazy every time it pops up.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Lebowski,

Could you add "basketball" to this thread title? It's driving my OCD crazy every time it pops up.

Agreed. Done.

[Moliere]

Lebowski,

Could you add "basketball" to this thread title? It's driving my OCD crazy every time it pops up.

Do it, but misspell basketball

[Art Vandelay]

Agreed. Done.

[falafel]

Do it, but misspell basketball