Westmont Game Thoughts and Reactions

100-42 final score.

Before anyone says anything, yes it was a exhibition game and it's hard to gauge where the team is based off of this kind of competition but there are still thinks to take away.

1. The new zone defense. Coach Dunlap said he wanted to make it a point today to test it out and see how it was run. They were very aggressive, there was good rotation but it needs to be a lot better for D1 Big East teams. It's still fresh to see a new scheme being thrown around, it's something new which is nice.

2. Malik Boothe played great, lots of assists really lead the offense. He was also diving for a lot of loose balls and hustling hard.

3. Justin Brownlee was the other star, his dunks tonight were out of this world!!!

4. Amir Garrett and Norvel Pelle in attendance, seemed to be enjoying the game. Student section had cheers for both of them.

5. It's a shame slightly over 2000 people showed up for the game but oh well.

Good start to the season, excited for the opener v St. Marys.

What did you guys think?

Just got back lots of positives even if it was against low level talent......

1)  Loved the press and zone defense, it's constant pressure and scrambling but the rotation looked good.  Basically it forces the ball to the side and corner and allows a nice double team, forcing a long skip pass to the only guy open.  But they do a great job scrambling to get there.

2)  Team is very unselfish, you can just see it the way they play and how they guys act on the bench.  Everyone plays within themselves and you dont see alot of people forcing shots.

3)  I dont know what the offense is or how to describe it but it looks crisp.  Lots of screens, crisp passing and players moving without the ball, but doing it with purpose.  They have one play called IBA, after the lengendary coach where two screens happen at once from the corner and top of the key.  It will get hardy shots and points. 

4)  They are going to run whenever possible.  We play small so we can do this.  We had tons of fast break points.  Here is my only worry, mainly due to the personel.  One, this team has always shown a weakness to be turning it over.  Can we turn it over less when we are going to have a lot more possessions per game?  I dont know.  Also going small in big east play?  Will we be able to rebound efficiently enough?  Time will tell, but in Nov and Dec it's the best option.   

5) The coaches were aligned weird.  Generally, its all the coaches sitting next to each other with one seat for a player.  But it was KEady next to Lavin.  Then a few seats down with player between Rico, a few seats down with Tony and then Dunlap was on the end of the bench with a paper and pad writing stuff down like a mad scientist. 

6) Polee impressed me.  He plays within himself and doesnt force much.  The athleticism and hangtime is off the charts.  Boothe played outstanding as did Brownlee.  Hardy looked real good as well. 

 

 

I thought everyone played hard. Everyone seemed to think that Evans was in the dog house, but he really hustled tonight. Good for him. We'll need him this year. Other teams are going to be bigger and stronger than these cream puffs.

Obviously we won't be playing a team like Westmont during the regular season but 100 pts in a college basketball game is impressive no matter who it's against. As a team the last few years we have played well on defense but struggled on offense so it's good to see us put up a ton of points in any game. The free throw shooting has to improve because that is a key area that we need to address. The starting lineup of Boothe, Hardy, DJ, Polee, and Brownlee was surprising to me even though that the lineup I believe Dave had us using. I just think that lineup is very small and will have trouble agains teams with big time division I bodies down low.

Obviously we won't be playing a team like Westmont during the regular season but 100 pts in a college basketball game is impressive no matter who it's against. As a team the last few years we have played well on defense but struggled on offense so it's good to see us put up a ton of points in any game. The free throw shooting has to improve because that is a key area that we need to address. The starting lineup of Boothe, Hardy, DJ, Polee, and Brownlee was surprising to me even though that the lineup I believe Dave had us using. I just think that lineup is very small and will have trouble agains teams with big time division I bodies down low.

Agreed Wods, i think if Polee is out there playing the 4, I think we'll be playing zone.  Against a BE 4 in man to man, i dont think he has the body (right now) to guard him.   

But with so much defensive movement and rotation that is needed early in the shot clock before the opposing team gets settled, he is helpful with his athleticism and movement.  But with Brownlee and Polee out there, will we be able to rebound against the big teams is an uncertainty.  That's why i think no matter what Evans will see minutes this year. 

1. Boothe was awesome. He is clearly the leader of the team. He got hurt torwards the end of the game, hope he is alright because we look alot better with him then without. He hit a 3 and played great defense. Again it is westmont but he could have scored 20 if he wanted to. He is very unselfish. Twice during the game he was on the floor with stith. It doesn't make sense to me. Stith looked ok, hopefully he can play 10 minutes backing Boothe up. He also hit a 3.
2. Hardy looked much improved. Drove to basket. Had some nice assists. Also shot well. But most importantly fought to get open. Again aginst Westmont. Coach Played DJ, Paris, and Hardy at same time which was nice.
3.  Not sure how many people were there but I thought it was a decent crowd. Crowd was into it.
4. Lavin was talking to Pelle's (I think) parents right up until game time. Pelle'e dad got a kick out of student's chanting "we want Pelle". Pelle and Garrit seem to be friends.
5. Keady was not shy at all. Not much to complain about. I really dont understand lineup with Stith and Boothe in at same time. But winning by 58 is nice.

Didn't see the game, but from the box score:

-I love Boothe's #'s.  He had 10 assists, 6 steals, and ZERO turnover's in the first half. We go as far as this kid takes us this year and it cannot be made any simpler.  DJ is Dj, Paris does what he does, Hardy will be great, our bigs will need to be better than ever, but Boothe is the x-factor this year.  We need him healthy and 100% for every game.

-A litle bit worried that Polee only had 2-3 boards and Brownlee only had 3-4.  Evans got 9, but the rest of the stats show why Sean needs to be seing only 15-20 mpg.  He was 1-5 from the line, JB2 was 1-1.  Evans didn't block any shots (no surprise) while Jb2 blocked 3 and had 3 steals to Evans' 1.  JB2 did have 5 TO's which is WAAAAAAY too many, but he scored 18!!!!

-We win this game by 25 or so last year.  A 58 pt margin of victory is excellent and 100 pts is really running.  I don't care if it's an NAIA school. 

nothing to worry about with Boothe, it was just cramps

Marillac, do not worry about rebounding as far as this games goes. There were no rebounds. We made every shot we took, and Westmont couldn't get a shot off.

Unfortunately only was able to see parts but the defense Dunlap mentioned in his pregame interview and then looked like we were using was a 1-1-3.  I personally never saw this used but it looked kind of like a match up zone.  With our quick "bigs" we really recovered nicely and were helping each other well. 

I love how Lavin said that the second half we relaxed a bit, and that will change as the season progresses.

They did slow down a bit, but it was hard for me to notice because we were up by 40 points for most of the game.

Unfortunately only was able to see parts but the defense Dunlap mentioned in his pregame interview and then looked like we were using was a 1-1-3.  I personally never saw this used but it looked kind of like a match up zone.  With our quick "bigs" we really recovered nicely and were helping each other well. 

It was difficult to tell in the beginning of the game. It went from a 3/4 pressure 2-2-1 dropping into half court 1-3-1. 2nd half they used a 2-3 match up zone.

“It is hard not to be a little shell shock, surprised, disappointed – and it is understandable that our guys would be,” said Moore of St. John’s start. “You reach high to experience what it is like to play against a high level opponent. These guys were very high level – they and UCLA. We couldn’t have picked two tougher teams. I think they will both be in the top-25 of NCAA Division I teams this year. They are probably as good as any two teams Westmont has ever played. I think my brother-in-law (St. John’s head coach Steve Lavin) has a lot to look forward to. He had them ready and he had them executing very well.”

http://presidiosports.com/2010/11/red-storm-stifle-warriors/

Really impressed with the ball movement on offence. My hope from last from last years team came true. JB2 has stepped to the front of the class. It will be interesting to see when JB1 gets back. We could have JB1, JB2, Dj, Horne and Hardy on the court at the same time 5 guys that shoot the 3 and drive to the basket. We got a chance to be really good.

http://www.redstormsports.com/allaccess/

Highlights....how about Coker with the fade away at the 2:10 mark!

I only saw a few minutes on storm tracker...was impressed with the ball movement and energy in the zone.  Hardy and Horne seemed to have more confidence out there.  Brownlee is very skilled but is still very loose with the ball.  That team was pretty bad so not much we could tell other than the tempo will definitely be increased under Lavin.

http://www.redstormsports.com/allaccess/

Highlights....how about Coker with the fae away at the 2:10 mark!

I liked that shot from Coker and Evans had a few nice baskets also. I know we are probably going with a smaller lineup but Evans and Coker can both help this team. As long as they stay close to the basket and rebound, play defense and score us a few baskets they can be valuable.

nothing to worry about with Boothe, it was just cramps

Thank God

Coker played 2 shifts one in 1st and 1 in 2nd half. In the 1st half he looked slow and rusty. In the 2nd he scored early and gained confidence. I think  we have to get him into games early and try to establish him. In the 2nd half he was controlling the paint on  defense and altering shots. He only seemed to be able to play 3/4 minutes at a time though.  When he left the curt he was gassed.

Coker started to get comfortable in the second half. He towered over anyone on Westmont.

I agree, we're going to need him to be w senior leader inside this year. There's no reason why he can't give us 6 and 6.