Thoughts on the Canada game

[Mike-McD]

Sheppard looks comfortable at this level. He has great court vision and quick hands, and he knows when to slow it down.

Mitchell was a pleasant surprise.

Thiero looks like a warrior. He's going to spend a lot of time at the foul line this year.

Edwards looked like he was determined to show that he can score. Tried a little too hard at times. Still, if he can be a three point threat, we are hard to beat.

We really lack rebounding at the moment. Need our bigs back. Got dominated on the offensive boards.

Reeves looked like his old self again, but he is gunning a little. Bogans 2.0? I'll take it.

This is the exact same kind of breakneck pace we showed last year in the Bahamas. And then the season started and Cal snapped leashes on all their necks and we went to boring stall ball. So not getting my hopes up.

 

[JonathanW]

How can we not get Canada into the Canada game at least for 1 min?

 

[WolfTix]

Reeves is an elite scorer
Like i told everyone on here months ago
Him coming back was a gamechanger

 

[docholiday51]

Entertaining team to watch, more basketball skills than last season. Coach Stoops would say still plenty of stuff to "clean up". A real shame that Uno didn't get to play.

I thought the competition would be a little better and maybe the last game will give us a test. Thiero and Edwards are pretty tough dudes, Mitchell has been a nice addition, Burks is somewhere between Toppin and Ware and can give us minutes here and there. We have guards who can do what they need to do for a change. So far these kids look look they enjoy playing basketball.

All around a nice bonus for Cat fans in the middle of July.

 

[STL_Cat]

I really like the pieces this team has and think it has a ton of potential.

These teams we are playing are not as good as I expected them to be.

 

[CincyUKFan]

Reeves is an elite scorer
Like i told everyone on here months ago
Him coming back was a gamechanger

He does really well against lesser talent. Let’s see what he does against top tier teams this year. I’m rooting for him, because I want the Cats to actually make noise again, but I expect him to be up and down again and shoot poorly/play his usual terrible defense in the games that matter most.

 

[STL_Cat]

He does really well against lesser talent. Let’s see what he does against top tier teams this year. I’m rooting for him, because I want the Cats to actually make noise again, but I expect him to be up and down again and shoot poorly/play his usual terrible defense in the games that matter most.

He scored 37 on the road in a hostile environment against a good Arkansas team. That kind of goes against the argument that he really only does well against lesser talent.

We needed Reeves back in a BIG way. I think he will be our leading scorer this year.

 

[Cals_Prairie_Dog]

It‘s really going to be interesting to see how these kids play once they‘re subjected to horrible NCAA rules mixed with biased officiating.

 

[STL_Cat]

It‘s really going to be interesting to see how these kids play once they‘re subjected to horrible NCAA rules mixed with biased officiating.

And just better, more physical teams.

 

[UKAlum88]

I really like the pieces this team has and think it has a ton of potential.

These teams we are playing are not as good as I expected them to be.

I expected the Canada team to be our toughest test!

 

[saxonburgcat]

I expected the Canada team to be our toughest test!

Same here.

 

[ArtLaibsGhost]

My guess is Germany will beat Canada

 

[ala_kat2]

Sheppard is our best point guard, period. Court awareness, defense, passing and ability to score are all there. If we can get Dillingham to quit dribbling with his head down and involve his teammates more we’ll be set at the guard position. Need the bigs back for interior defense and rebounding.

 

[csjones240]

Chapman is our best point guard, period. Court awareness, defense, passing and ability to score are all there. If we can get Dillingham to quit dribbling with his head down and involve his teammates more we’ll be set at the guard position. Need the bigs back for interior defense and rebounding.

Who? Lol

 

[uk78]

Certainly how our team has played so far has been a pleasant surprise. It just is hard to assess the competition. I see many poor passes by our opponents, several unforced long passes out of bounds, dribbling into traffic leading to turn-overs and fast break opportunities. Is it because of our defense? Maybe. Is it because they don't have elite point guards or have other issues? Maybe.

What I have noticed so far in the two games is neither team stopped our team from playing offense within the comfort zone. The pace has been favorable, we have not had ball pressure on the perimeter, etc. But, when we played Germany the last 4 minutes when they did press and we slowed down, we did not look anywhere near as good. I anticipate Germany will play us again in the Gold Medal game and probably learned and observed what happened near the end. I expect us to win but it not be as much a run-away.

I would like the coach to tell Dillingham to quit playing hero ball (not Herro), and Adou to remember he is not a 3-point shooter because both are really good when playing their game. Sheppard looks like the most skilled team player with impressive passing and a nose for what to do on both ends of the court. Shep didn't play that much against Germany and that might make a difference in the final game as well. Hopefully, Cal will instruct better guarding of the 3 and not going under screens if we face them. In any event, this has been fun to watch.

 

[baseball is life]

Sheppard is our best point guard, period. Court awareness, defense, passing and ability to score are all there. If we can get Dillingham to quit dribbling with his head down and involve his teammates more we’ll be set at the guard position. Need the bigs back for interior defense and rebounding.

You do realize that Dillingham had 9 assists and 1 turnover in 18 minutes against Canada?

 

[ArtLaibsGhost]

You do realize that Dillingham had 9 assists and 1 turnover in 18 minutes against Canada?

The narrative that Dillingham " plays out of control" is out there and will be parroted by many regardless of what his stats say. Amazing how easy it is to Influence opinion.

 

[Ukgold]

Some of Treys thoughts about the team

 

[ukcatz12]

Reeves is an elite scorer
Like i told everyone on here months ago
Him coming back was a gamechanger

Anyone who didn't think we really needed Reeves back is an idiot. Just because he had a bad game against KSU doesn't mean he's not a key piece.

 

[Sparkaces1]

The narrative that Dillingham " plays out of control" is out there and will be parroted by many regardless of what his stats say. Amazing how easy it is to Influence opinion.

It is pretty funny that people are saying he is selfish lol, he literally has a 10 to 1 assist to turnover ratio in two games. He’s prob forced three shots, but any elite player is gonna take tough shots, Edwards has forced way more in two games!

 

[Cawood86]

Sheppard looks comfortable at this level. He has great court vision and quick hands, and he knows when to slow it down.

Mitchell was a pleasant surprise.

Thiero looks like a warrior. He's going to spend a lot of time at the foul line this year.

Edwards looked like he was determined to show that he can score. Tried a little too hard at times. Still, if he can be a three point threat, we are hard to beat.

We really lack rebounding at the moment. Need our bigs back. Got dominated on the offensive boards.

Reeves looked like his old self again, but he is gunning a little. Bogans 2.0? I'll take it.

This is the exact same kind of breakneck pace we showed last year in the Bahamas. And then the season started and Cal snapped leashes on all their necks and we went to boring stall ball. So not getting my hopes up.

Reed does look comfortable. Seems to have a good court awareness.

Edwards just needs to relax and just play.

Think Wagner can be dynamic. Dillingham has to learn good shots.

Mitchell really plays well. Smart and confident.

Thiero is a dude. Grown man baller. Love how this kid plays

Curious how Cal engrains Ugo and Bradshaw.

 

[jauk11]

Who? LolThanks,

 

[bucsrule8872]

Reeves just needs to be more consistent.

37 against Arkansas is great, but 1-15 and just 5 points against K-State is not.

 

[EliteBlue]

Posted in the game thread a few min ago as I just got to watch but reposting bc it fits here.

”Big takeaways is how open the offense is playing 4 out and even 5 out at time. Clamored for this for years when you’ve had the type of guards we’ve had. It opens up the middle and gives them space to drive and attack without running into help defenders and a clogged lane. It’s literally the “DDMO” concept at its core.

I don’t know if the spacing, 4 out, and increase in 3s is a product of Cal trusting Welch to implement an actual offense that isn’t predicated in size and bully ball, or if it’s a product of us not having our bigs available.

If it’s only bc Ugo and Bradshaw aren’t on the floor then I’m hoping we don’t regress and play slower with less ball movement and spacing when Bradshaw and Ugo are on the floor.

Hoping Cal sees the value of an explosive offense with great spacing and movement and lanes to drive w guys like Wagner, Dillingham, Edwards, Thiero, Reed, Reeves. And that everything doesn’t have to be about bigs and defense. As a matter of fact having big guards and playing guard/sf heavy lineups can make really good defensive teams. You’re just not focusing on guarding the rim (which is what Cal prefers) and your emphasis is on speed and taking away passing lanes and pressuring the ball. It’s a swarming defense not a sit back and challenge the shot defense”

This is the best actual basketball (skilled, artful, “the beautiful game” type basketball) we’ve seen once 2020 if we are being conservative w it since it’s regular season games but probably realistically 2017 or maybe 2019 depending on how the season plays out once we have bigs back and if Cal sticks to this style or forces the ball through the 4 and 5 instead

 

[WallMashKyBall]

Reed will always be an off guard and 3rd choice point guard. DJ will be given the pg keys most of time, however after the Canada game, I was starting to Jones more on Dilly than I had been, his speed, athleticism and 9 assists was off the charts. He seems bigger than he did when i watched his games last year.

 

[Rideordiewildcat]

I just saw the box score for the first time, I knew Edwards had played better but did anyone realize he shot 16 times in like 18 minutes? 5/16.

I really hope that's not him.
We don't need a chucker out there.

 

[NC Weasel]

Canada just had their team tryouts like 10 days ago or something like that. Hence the defense is plain vanilla. I actually think they're potentially better than Germany, but it didn't look that way vs. UK.

The smaller lineup made our movement better, but obviously our rebounding suffers. So I think we will look different at full strength. But I certainly hope we continue to push the ball and substitute freely. We have enough depth and it might keep them all engaged. I know Reeves will want 30 min, and when he's hot thats fine. But several guys looked like they bring different things to the table. If Reeves goes cold, those other players provide things he doesn't. Which isn't all bad. As long as we can get points somewhere ..... which was a problem last season. DJ, Edward's, Dilly, Mitchell, and even Shep look like they can find a basket when when we need one.

But, it's early. Nobodies girlfriend has dumped them or had a pregnancy scare. Nobody is failing English 101 yet. Playing time isn't an issue yet, etc.

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

My guess is Germany will beat Canada

Depends on whether they bomb pearl harbor again.