pass: cameron rundles. three-star recruit, and showing why. he'll make mistakes like all freshman point guards do, but we've got a good young 'un here at a critical position.
pass: strait and hasquet. getting better, both individually and as a low-post tandem. in orlando hasquet set up strait with several nice passes.
pass: bryan ellis. penetrates, pesky defender, great story. main rap: doesn't shoot enough.
fail: gus chase. he's no kamaar davis, and even if he learns the playbook, he'll still be 6'3" and woefully undersized. by all accounts a nice young man, but the single biggest disappointment to me of the early season.
fail: matt martin. too small and too slow. enduring picture of the west virginia game will be martin lunging way too late from way too far away at west virginia's three-point shooters. from a projected starter and team leader, he's dropped in my estimation to a seventh or eighth man off the bench, a streaky shooter that might get you back in a game from three-point range.
fail: stewart mayes. wha happen him? we could really use his ahtleticism, his perimiter defense. he almost single-handedly turned around the sac state game at sac last year.
incompletes: austin swift, kyle sharp, ryan staudacher, dave vanderjagt. after chase, my biggest single disppointment is that none of these guys has really emerged, and yet the season rides on at least one of them--hopefully swift--doing just that. if any two emerge as key players by march, we'll really be tough. but vanderjagt looks to be a project.
incomplete: entire coaching staff. tinkle will become a great head coach, but it's obvious we lost a lot of experience and stature when we lost krysko and huse.
honorary degrees: criswell and matthews. any even slightly offensive thing i ever uttered about either of them is totally forgotten, okay? we miss them greatly.
pass: strait and hasquet. getting better, both individually and as a low-post tandem. in orlando hasquet set up strait with several nice passes.
pass: bryan ellis. penetrates, pesky defender, great story. main rap: doesn't shoot enough.
fail: gus chase. he's no kamaar davis, and even if he learns the playbook, he'll still be 6'3" and woefully undersized. by all accounts a nice young man, but the single biggest disappointment to me of the early season.
fail: matt martin. too small and too slow. enduring picture of the west virginia game will be martin lunging way too late from way too far away at west virginia's three-point shooters. from a projected starter and team leader, he's dropped in my estimation to a seventh or eighth man off the bench, a streaky shooter that might get you back in a game from three-point range.
fail: stewart mayes. wha happen him? we could really use his ahtleticism, his perimiter defense. he almost single-handedly turned around the sac state game at sac last year.
incompletes: austin swift, kyle sharp, ryan staudacher, dave vanderjagt. after chase, my biggest single disppointment is that none of these guys has really emerged, and yet the season rides on at least one of them--hopefully swift--doing just that. if any two emerge as key players by march, we'll really be tough. but vanderjagt looks to be a project.
incomplete: entire coaching staff. tinkle will become a great head coach, but it's obvious we lost a lot of experience and stature when we lost krysko and huse.
honorary degrees: criswell and matthews. any even slightly offensive thing i ever uttered about either of them is totally forgotten, okay? we miss them greatly.
