Josh McRoberts, Kentucky, UCLA
1. Duke's disappointing sophomore (Part I?) I don't want to come off as another Duke hater, but I could not have been less impressed with Josh McRoberts Monday night. Besides, part of the mission of 19'9" is to point out things you won't see in the box score, and anyone can see what a good game Lance Thomas had, or that I may have been right when I said that DeMarcus Nelson was poised for a breakout year.
My beef with McRoberts goes beyond the numbers, even though he's now been outplayed by one of his freshman teammates in three of the team's first four games.
He missed a couple of bunnies in the second half, when Air Force was making its run. These were not "good" misses, either; they were tentative little half-shots that he probably could have dunked. At the very least, he should have gone up stronger.
Worse -- once when he was called for traveling, once on an out-of-bounds call -- he immediately looked over to Coach K on the sideline. This is one of the captains of the team, and a guy who nearly departed for the NBA. He needs to show more maturity.
I'm going to give Greg Paulus a few more games while he gets back into his rhythm following a preseason foot injury, but let's just say he's on probation.
2. Kentucky changelings If you caught all of Kentucky's 87-81 win over DePaul Monday night in the first round of the Maui, you probably marveled, as I did, at the difference from half to half.
The first 20 minutes were ugly. The Blue Demons no doubt contributed to the harried pace, but Kentucky -- Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford in particular -- allowed themselves to get sucked into playing out of control. Several first-half possessions were complete wastes, with either of the aforementioned players racing up court with the ball, firing up an impossible shot with no thought of a pass.
The second half was markedly better. They played at a more controlled pace, and although Bradley still forced his own shot and they made a couple egregious mistakes down the stretch, they played better team basketball.
What's concerning for Cats fans, though, is that the experienced ballhandlers -- the guys you traditionally rely on to be a calming influence, are excitable, shoot-first types. They are talented scorers, but their history suggests that they are not going to turn into "smart" guards any time soon.
The only true point Tubby Smith has is freshman Derrick Jasper. He played sparingly in the second half, but he may ultimately be responsible for keeping his older teammates under control. That's a daunting task.
3. Picking nits I know it's a bit ridiculous to criticize a team that just won by 25 points and was never in danger of losing, but I thought UCLA could have shown a bit more discipline on offense. The Bruins hoisted 16 threes in the first half against Chaminade on their way to a 43-20 lead. For a while, it appeared that their offense was designed around throwing the ball towards the basket, then going to grab it off the glass.
It's not that it was a terribly ineffective offense; the Bruins were all over the offensive glass. But I'd have liked to have seen them execute their sets a bit better against an obviously inferior team -- and it'd surprise me if Ben Howland didn't agree.
My beef with McRoberts goes beyond the numbers, even though he's now been outplayed by one of his freshman teammates in three of the team's first four games.
He missed a couple of bunnies in the second half, when Air Force was making its run. These were not "good" misses, either; they were tentative little half-shots that he probably could have dunked. At the very least, he should have gone up stronger.
Worse -- once when he was called for traveling, once on an out-of-bounds call -- he immediately looked over to Coach K on the sideline. This is one of the captains of the team, and a guy who nearly departed for the NBA. He needs to show more maturity.
I'm going to give Greg Paulus a few more games while he gets back into his rhythm following a preseason foot injury, but let's just say he's on probation.
2. Kentucky changelings If you caught all of Kentucky's 87-81 win over DePaul Monday night in the first round of the Maui, you probably marveled, as I did, at the difference from half to half.
The first 20 minutes were ugly. The Blue Demons no doubt contributed to the harried pace, but Kentucky -- Ramel Bradley and Joe Crawford in particular -- allowed themselves to get sucked into playing out of control. Several first-half possessions were complete wastes, with either of the aforementioned players racing up court with the ball, firing up an impossible shot with no thought of a pass.
The second half was markedly better. They played at a more controlled pace, and although Bradley still forced his own shot and they made a couple egregious mistakes down the stretch, they played better team basketball.
What's concerning for Cats fans, though, is that the experienced ballhandlers -- the guys you traditionally rely on to be a calming influence, are excitable, shoot-first types. They are talented scorers, but their history suggests that they are not going to turn into "smart" guards any time soon.
The only true point Tubby Smith has is freshman Derrick Jasper. He played sparingly in the second half, but he may ultimately be responsible for keeping his older teammates under control. That's a daunting task.
3. Picking nits I know it's a bit ridiculous to criticize a team that just won by 25 points and was never in danger of losing, but I thought UCLA could have shown a bit more discipline on offense. The Bruins hoisted 16 threes in the first half against Chaminade on their way to a 43-20 lead. For a while, it appeared that their offense was designed around throwing the ball towards the basket, then going to grab it off the glass.
It's not that it was a terribly ineffective offense; the Bruins were all over the offensive glass. But I'd have liked to have seen them execute their sets a bit better against an obviously inferior team -- and it'd surprise me if Ben Howland didn't agree.
posted by H.S. Slam, Ph.D at 1:29 AM
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