So my home computer wouldn't let me do this last night, so I had to wait until I was done with work tonight to get to this, since it takes me a little longer to do these than quick posts.
So we'll do this tonight and do football final thoughts on Monday.
The offense looks good, and for the first time so did the defense. There's still too much fouling going on, but there were enough positives to make me forgive that for a day. Love the way the ball is getting moved and the personality of this team not caring about who scores the points. Wrote a little about that tonight.
Have a few things to mention about specifics, but I'll do that in the individuals.
So without further adieu, let's go man-to-man.
Joe Efese: Got "mean" as coach Howie Dickenman put it, and became the beast inside we've known he can be for a while. 2 things: 1) Can he ever do it consistently? 2) Can he ever start making the little jump hook he has with any regularity? If yes on both, he's a 10 and 10 guy.
Ken Horton: Has yet to be the leading scorer, is still getting 20 a game. I love that he is so unselfish, but I don't want to see him become strictly a jump shooter, either. Mix in some other offense and he goes back to being the unstoppable Ken Horton. But I'm nitpicking about a kid averaging 10 a night. He didn't rebound as well Saturday, likely because Efese was doing so well at it.
Kyle Vinales: Two things come to mind immediately, one easy to spot and one you might have missed that I caught because it happeend right in front of me.
First, is that Vinales found a way to contribute when other guys were shooting well. We learned that not only can he be a distributor, but he doesn't mind doing so. That's big. He didn't sulk about only taking six shots. He had seven assists (though the TOs remain high). As for that subtle thing? He threw a pass to Robby Ptacek who made a jumper right in front of me. Vinales then pumped his fist and celebrated as though he had hit the shot. And this is a compliment. He was just as excited that Ptacek had made a big shot as he would have been had he hit it. Great to see.
Malcolm McMillan: Only took three shots, but picked his spots well and hit two. He had seven assists to one turnover. And he had five steals. A really strong performance, and more than enough numbers to make up for not scoring much.
Robby Ptacek: Remember when I complained he was being too quiet? 31 points shut me up for a day. I still wish he was a little less streaky, but he added five boards to his day and played well on defense. He couldn't have been much better.
Adonis Burbage: Didn't play a big role on this day, but I still like him. He's going to be a good utility guy at the very least.
Shelton Mickell: We haven't seen too much of him yet. He hasn't shown what I'm told he's capable of, but he's three games into his CCSU career. No reason to panic.
David Simmons: Efese took a lot of his minutes, but he gives CCSU the depth it very much needs up front.
Terrell Allen: The other player who took minutes from Simmons. Two blocks and a steal to go with five boards. He was a presence inside and an energetic one at that.
De'Angelo Speech: Shin splints kept him out of this one. Don't think it's a long term thing, but not sure he'll play Tuesday or Saturday. Better to rest him now than have it become a longer-term thing.
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