Valley Exhibition Games

[Khan4Cats]

To temper the McCloud enthusiasm a little, he is NOT as athletically talented as Washpun. Washpun was a bit of a freak athletically with his speed and vertical, Juwan did not show any of that.
What I did see and what I would compare him to is Van Vleet. I know that may be heresy to WSU fans, but he has a similar body-both 5'11, Juwan is a little smaller listed at 175 to Fred's freshman listed 190. What really strikes me is the presence on the floor. Other than the first few minutes, he just looked totally comfortable running things and in sync with the veterans already. He had a late shot clock play that he got the ball with 5 seconds left and just calmly set up his defender and buried a step-back three like it was routine. A couple of those type of things were what reminded me of Fred. Now, whether he will develop into the bulldog defender that Fred was, I don't know and I am NOT calling him out as an All-American by any means. He definitely looks better than Deon Mitchell did as a freshman, and I would take another Deon running point for UNI without hesitating.

The other newcomers that will be counted on for playing time look about what you would expect from a Jacobson team. Nothing overly flashy or eye-popping exciting, but a lot of particular skill-sets that gives Jacobson a chance to work his magic. The two most promising of these are the big guy, Dahl, simply because his size adds promise, and Brown, who played the 4, 5, and a little bit of point Friday. He looks like a young Jeremy Morgan with his length.

Still two weeks til tip-off. I would assume there will be a closed scrimmage again this year as Jake seemed to like that last year.

[shockalot]

Speaking of closed scrimmages, it sounds like WSU had a fairly easy time over Oral Roberts yesterday. Report is Shamet, Smith, and WIllis stood out for WSU.

[Wufan]

If I was a Panther fan (and I am in the non-con and post season), I'd be optimistic about the program in the future. They will good this year, but I certainly haven't seen enough to know how good.

As I said in the "third place" poll thread. The talent at UNI for the freshman (RS and true) class is higher than it's ever been as a group, and I'm not sure it's close.

You mentioned McCloud, Halderman, Rhodes, Ashton, Brown and Lohaus.

McCloud is going to be really, really, good. He's athletically where Washpun was last year at 18 years old. Once he gets a feel for the game it's going to be nuts to see a PG with that skill set in a UNI uniform. He threw a no look, thread the needle, pass in the lane to Haldeman for a lay up in the second half and I'm not sure I've ever seen a Panther throw a pass like that.

Haldeman is the new Matty Bo who was the new Marc Sonnen who was the new Johnny Moran. He's not going to dazzle anyone athletically. He's mostly unremarkable. However, he shoots and he shoots well. He knows what he can and can't do. He is an ideal "Jake system" guy.

Rhose - see Haldeman. He won't break anyone ankles. He'll likely lead very few fast breaks. Likely won't fill a stat sheet. He brings intelligence and poise being a junior and having won a JUCO national title. He's nearly the exact opposite of McCloud in style of play but looks like a solid back up for two years.

Ashton starting was a shock to nearly everyone outside of the program. Him looking as good as he did was a shock to everyone as well I think. He should add a nice "calmness" on the court. Grad transfer that played for a S16 team last season. May have a big game here or there but should be a decent role guy. He and Wyatt are likely very similar players and depending on match ups the starter/rotation could change. Both are just going to do what's asked.

Brown is going to be Jeremy Morgan but *potentially better. If he has J-Mo's work ethic he will win DPOY. I think a RS would be great but you don't get a kid from Texas and redshirt him his first winter in Cedar Falls....

Dahl is a big, big man. He's lost a ton of "baby fat" and looks like a post player now. He's got a ways to go but I see him being better than Eglseder was simply beacuse he has better control of his body and none of the leg/feet issues Jordan did as a kid, thus he'll move better. He's raw and will need a year or two to still develop. It helps that Koch is only a JR this year.

I feel much better about the team than I did before the game. I know it's a D2 exhibition, but to see freshman play like they did was nice. Growing pains will still happen. Lay ups will be missed. TOs will happen. Unexplainable losses will happen. On the flip side of that, Morgan and Ashton are the only two seniors this year. We are set up pretty nicely for a few years.

Lots of hyperbole here. I saw a lot of what you saw, but I didn't see anything that made me think McCloud was as athletic as Washpun or that Brown was going to be better than Morgan, or that Dahl was going to be better than Egleseder. They were good, but they were young. Some will develop, and some won't. Enjoy the ride!

[Rollbird5]

Speaking of closed scrimmages, it sounds like WSU had a fairly easy time over Oral Roberts yesterday. Report is Shamet, Smith, and WIllis stood out for WSU.

So Jeff Goodman said "Told Wichita State won the controlled session of scrimmage, Oral Roberts won 40-minute game, 70-67."

Anyone know the difference between the controlled and uncontrolled part? no refs or what? lol

[Wufan]

Speaking of closed scrimmages, it sounds like WSU had a fairly easy time over Oral Roberts yesterday. Report is Shamet, Smith, and WIllis stood out for WSU.

So Jeff Goodman said "Told Wichita State won the controlled session of scrimmage, Oral Roberts won 40-minute game, 70-67."

Anyone know the difference between the controlled and uncontrolled part? no refs or what? lol

Not sure what that means. First quote was that they won handily. Second quote was as above. Doug Gottlie had a quote too about the Shockers being down 16 in the first half.

[Khan4Cats]

Speaking of closed scrimmages, it sounds like WSU had a fairly easy time over Oral Roberts yesterday. Report is Shamet, Smith, and WIllis stood out for WSU.

So Jeff Goodman said "Told Wichita State won the controlled session of scrimmage, Oral Roberts won 40-minute game, 70-67."

Anyone know the difference between the controlled and uncontrolled part? no refs or what? lol

Not sure what that means. First quote was that they won handily. Second quote was as above. Doug Gottlie had a quote too about the Shockers being down 16 in the first half.

I think they use refs for the whole thing. The controlled part is a lot like scripted scrimmages in football: set up specific situations to run plays, practice in-bounds from different spots, work on different defenses or play certain combinations without having to worry about foul situations that may arise in an exhibition.

[UNIFanSince1983]

I don't know when it is, but UNI has a closed scrimmage against Wisconsin still before the season starts.

[sixth ace]

Evansville played a closed scrimmage against SLU. Rumored UE pulled out a narrow victory

[DUBulldog]

Drake played a "secret scrimmage" with Western Illinois...Bulldogs won 74-59. Timmer and Wampler both with 20+ points for Drake.

[Blers]

Loyola held an open scrimmage among the team (Maroon vs. Gold); lots of impressions on the Ramblers board (starting 5 post). Also closed scrimmaged with Northwestern and will be with Chicago State. But i have no word of how NU went; not on their board either.


*EDIT* Northwestern won the scrimmage by 6, Andrew Jackson and Clayton Custer led the team with 10 pts each. Richardson was also apparently impressive per The Catch and Shoot.