Early first thoughts

[brooklyn brownstone]

King - awesome. Star player potential. Handle and shot both look legit, he could finish at the rim and he was 6-6 at the line. Loved everything I saw.
Hunt - mostly good, with exception of 1-5 from 3 and 3 misses at FT line. Was all over the court. Fearless and brought the energy.
Noyes - played in control, hit 2 threes, skied for some boards and overall didn't press, let the game come to him. Hope he begins to assert himself and gain confidence.
Bigelow - similar to last year - looks great at times, invisible others. Should never shoot a 3 when not squared or when moving laterally at all. His feet are way to close together on the jump and he drifts. Surprisingly was the first sub out (for Dji) as Moon went smallish against a small VMI team. Will be needed against bigger/more athletic teams.
Quinn - exactly what we need from him. Some points, lots of boards, good passing and to just be a vertical presence against smaller guys while not fouling. Made good decisions all game.
Bailey - looked like he played with much more confidence. Defensively was impressive and was aggressive on offense. Gotta finish those layups/follows and make the FTs but a great start for him.
Roche - 2-5 from three, and 3-4 from line. What we expect and why we want him to get shots.
Tyne - looked legit. Definitely in the KA0 mold but I felt confident that he'd be secure with the ball and make good decisions. Need to see more of his offensive game and if he can not get exploited defensively, because - like most of our guards - he's small.
Walz - Seemed improved, some okay stretches of play. 2 turnovers again an issue and he didn't run back on one of them even with a 8 foot lead the guy beat him downcourt for a dunk.
Soulis - skinny and raw but his blocked shot was nice.
Harris - Spiders were up 26 when he came in so tough to gauge his play. Looks like a slightly heavier version of Bigelow. May need him against bigger teams, VMI was not it.
Smith - A little skinnier than I expected, another small guard. Nice steal, but dribbled one off his foot out of bounds and jumper was a bit funky. Need to see more.
Tanner - couldn't tell much, didn't touch ball much in his 4+ minutes.
Graham - looked kind of confident with the ball, bigger than I expected he'd be.
Southall / Weaver - good for them.

Great win, no doubter. Having a lead guard who might be a star is exciting, especially if Moon lets them play and the tempo and pace stay quick. Defense needs to be better overall on the perimeter. We clearly will go for lots of steals but the counter to that is open looks.

 

[72Spider]

Might be a star?

 

[GKiller]

Disclaimer - had a conflict & didn’t see game. VMI is really bad but they were never in the game so we did what we should have.

My concern is 3 pt shooting. Bigs & Hunt r not threats. I know 1 game but everything we expected. Need to minimize how many they get in the O. 35% is just ok vs a small team like VMI. And King won’t continue to shoot 50%. Not sure how much Noyes and Roche played together. Need more 3 ball attempts from them but I fear they split too much time. If so we need to have a 3rd threat out there always. Or it will be a continued problem. May not be on roster.

 

[GKiller]

Also a little disappointed w attendance. Just over 5k. How does that compare w past openers? I feel like the 1st game we normally draw well tho it takes $5 tix. We r coming off a poor season & picked 11th in A10. Doesn’t help but again historically I think we draw better. And then see big drop off next few games. Maybe the 5k was legit number & not distributed tix.

 

[fan2011]

Disclaimer - had a conflict & didn’t see game. VMI is really bad but they were never in the game so we did what we should have.

My concern is 3 pt shooting. Bigs & Hunt r not threats. I know 1 game but everything we expected. Need to minimize how many they get in the O. 35% is just ok vs a small team like VMI. And King won’t continue to shoot 50%. Not sure how much Noyes and Roche played together. Need more 3 ball attempts from them but I fear they split too much time. If so we need to have a 3rd threat out there always. Or it will be a continued problem. May not be on roster.

If you watched the game you wouldn't take away that we are a poor 3pt shooting team. The stats got skewed once the bench went in the last 5 minutes. Normal rotation players shot ~40% (13/32) from 3. The deep bench, including 3 walkons, went 0-5 from 3 in the final minutes.

King was a huge driving threat and a great finisher at the rim, not just a 3pt threat. He looks like he will be able to find a way to score even if his 3s aren't falling. The guards are very quick.

 

[GKiller]

If you watched the game you wouldn't take away that we are a poor 3pt shooting team. The stats got skewed once the bench went in the last 5 minutes. Normal rotation players shot ~40% (13/32) from 3. The deep bench, including 3 walkons, went 0-5 from 3 in the final minutes.

True they would have skewed the overall 3 stats of 35%. But I wasn’t looking at the deep bench guys anyway. Also I never said my takeaway is that we r a poor 3 pt shooting team I said it’s a concern & who is getting too many or too less of those shots. We’ll see how it goes as we get into a much larger sample size.

 

[brooklyn brownstone]

I qualified the star comment bc VMI is projected to be awful. I think JayNel had a pretty big first game last year too - not this big, but something like 18 points.

Agree in Hunt’s shooting, need him to hit more 3s. Need Bigs to just take fewer IMO.

Attendance didn’t look great on tv. Hate those low angle shots where you see all the empty seats behind the baskets. Winning will turn ppl out.

 

[Long Island Spiders]

Disclaimer - had a conflict & didn’t see game. VMI is really bad but they were never in the game so we did what we should have.

My concern is 3 pt shooting. Bigs & Hunt r not threats. I know 1 game but everything we expected. Need to minimize how many they get in the O. 35% is just ok vs a small team like VMI. And King won’t continue to shoot 50%. Not sure how much Noyes and Roche played together. Need more 3 ball attempts from them but I fear they split too much time. If so we need to have a 3rd threat out there always. Or it will be a continued problem. May not be on roster.

You’re killing me.

 

[Not-A-Homer]

King - awesome. Star player potential. Handle and shot both look legit, he could finish at the rim and he was 6-6 at the line. Loved everything I saw.
Hunt - mostly good, with exception of 1-5 from 3 and 3 misses at FT line. Was all over the court. Fearless and brought the energy.
Noyes - played in control, hit 2 threes, skied for some boards and overall didn't press, let the game come to him. Hope he begins to assert himself and gain confidence.
Bigelow - similar to last year - looks great at times, invisible others. Should never shoot a 3 when not squared or when moving laterally at all. His feet are way to close together on the jump and he drifts. Surprisingly was the first sub out (for Dji) as Moon went smallish against a small VMI team. Will be needed against bigger/more athletic teams.
Quinn - exactly what we need from him. Some points, lots of boards, good passing and to just be a vertical presence against smaller guys while not fouling. Made good decisions all game.
Bailey - looked like he played with much more confidence. Defensively was impressive and was aggressive on offense. Gotta finish those layups/follows and make the FTs but a great start for him.
Roche - 2-5 from three, and 3-4 from line. What we expect and why we want him to get shots.
Tyne - looked legit. Definitely in the KA0 mold but I felt confident that he'd be secure with the ball and make good decisions. Need to see more of his offensive game and if he can not get exploited defensively, because - like most of our guards - he's small.
Walz - Seemed improved, some okay stretches of play. 2 turnovers again an issue and he didn't run back on one of them even with a 8 foot lead the guy beat him downcourt for a dunk.
Soulis - skinny and raw but his blocked shot was nice.
Harris - Spiders were up 26 when he came in so tough to gauge his play. Looks like a slightly heavier version of Bigelow. May need him against bigger teams, VMI was not it.
Smith - A little skinnier than I expected, another small guard. Nice steal, but dribbled one off his foot out of bounds and jumper was a bit funky. Need to see more.
Tanner - couldn't tell much, didn't touch ball much in his 4+ minutes.
Graham - looked kind of confident with the ball, bigger than I expected he'd be.
Southall / Weaver - good for them.

Great win, no doubter. Having a lead guard who might be a star is exciting, especially if Moon lets them play and the tempo and pace stay quick. Defense needs to be better overall on the perimeter. We clearly will go for lots of steals but the counter to that is open looks.

Nice summary!

When King scores 30+ I think the Spiders will be in most games. When he ends with 9, better not let the opponent get more than 50-55.

Hard to accurately assess when the opponent is low skilled, but overall I liked what we saw. Less 3's from Hunt and Bigelow could be an improvement. If we combine Noyes/Roche performance (Mooney flipped them one for the other most of the game) their play was a little better than I expected.

Guard play was improved, and I thought that Bailey was effective as small forward. Long haul, I think getting the ball to Quinn (and maybe Noyes, Bigelow, & Soulis) in low block will pay off. Going to need more inside scoring in my opinion.

 

[CarolinaSpider]

Also a little disappointed w attendance. Just over 5k. How does that compare w past openers? I feel like the 1st game we normally draw well tho it takes $5 tix. We r coming off a poor season & picked 11th in A10. Doesn’t help but again historically I think we draw better. And then see big drop off next few games. Maybe the 5k was legit number & not distributed tix.

On TV looked like a good crowd!

 

[CarolinaSpider]

Also VMI coach knowing we had a lot of new faces, did the smart thing and went to full court zone press
to delay us getting into offensive rhythm. It worked well if they hit their shots but we ran out well on their
misses.

 

[Ferrum Spider]

Also a little disappointed w attendance. Just over 5k. How does that compare w past openers? I feel like the 1st game we normally draw well tho it takes $5 tix. We r coming off a poor season & picked 11th in A10. Doesn’t help but again historically I think we draw better. And then see big drop off next few games. Maybe the 5k was legit number & not distributed tix.

Monday night game with an even earlier start to the season. My recollection is most season openers were on friday and typically sellouts. Will be curious what the crowd looks like saturday worth the football doible
header.

 

[Section9.RowD]

Monday night game with an even earlier start to the season. My recollection is most season openers were on friday and typically sellouts. Will be curious what the crowd looks like saturday worth the football doible
header.

I thought crowd last night was pretty good for Mon night. Student section for the 1st half was quite full. Suspect Siena game will be close to sellout.

 

[97spiderfan]

My thoughts.

Our guard play is a SIGNIFICANT upgrade from last year. Do not miss Jaynel at all.

King is a baller and while he clearly won't shoot as well every game as he did last night, he plays with confidence, high IQ player, and is going to be one of top PG in the A-10.

Hunt: As we suspected, he is not a great shooter, but that is the only thing I don't like about his game. He is quick, aggressive on both sides of the all, and as Mooney noted, you can see his leadership skills on the court.

Tyne: Did not play like a freshman in his first game. He has a college ready body (same cannot be said for the other freshman) and seemed to play unafraid.

Granted we were playing a crappy VMI team, but to me the takeaway last night is that our guard play is way way better than it was last year.

 

[SpiderDad75]

My thoughts.

Our guard play is a SIGNIFICANT upgrade from last year. Do not miss Jaynel at all.

King is a baller and while he clearly won't shoot as well every game as he did last night, he plays with confidence, high IQ player, and is going to be one of top PG in the A-10.

Hunt: As we suspected, he is not a great shooter, but that is the only thing I don't like about his game. He is quick, aggressive on both sides of the all, and as Mooney noted, you can see his leadership skills on the court.

Tyne: Did not play like a freshman in his first game. He has a college ready body (same cannot be said for the other freshman) and seemed to play unafraid.

Granted we were playing a crappy VMI team, but to me the takeaway last night is that our guard play is way way better than it was last year.

Like I've said before...I think we got a steal with Mikkel and once he adjusts to the speed of the game and controls his lightning speed and quickness, he could be special.

 

[Spider-Law]

Like I've said before...I think we got a steal with Mikkel and once he adjusts to the speed of the game and controls his lightning speed and quickness, he could be special.

Gotta also give some props to SpiderDad's man, Dji. He played with intensity off the bench - and was a force all over the Court. I think he'll fit that 6th man role really well.

[And yes, I know VMI is BAD, but its nice to have at least a day or two of positive vibes on this board....nice change of pace, if you will :--) ]

 

[97spiderfan]

Like I've said before...I think we got a steal with Mikkel and once he adjusts to the speed of the game and controls his lightning speed and quickness, he could be special.

Yes, you were on this with some of our practice observations. Of the freshman, Mikkel was far and away the one who seemed ready for the moment last night.

 

[gcarter52]

Like I've said before...I think we got a steal with Mikkel and once he adjusts to the speed of the game and controls his lightning speed and quickness, he could be special.

I really liked what I saw last night, we will get better in time as team chemistry develops with repetition.

 

[SpiderK]

King and Hunt were pleasant surprises at the guard positions. The rest of the team played EXACTLY as expected. We would have lost this game without King. Tyne and Smith are no where close to being ready. Nice to see us out rebounding someone. Turnovers were super low until the scrubs lost control of the game. 1-0 is always a nice start.

 

[SFspidur]

Was unable to watch the game in real-time, but caught up late last night.

I know we'll face bigger and quicker teams this year, but I was impressed with how we handled the press. Our guys looked like they'd been playing together for a few years, not a few months. Cleanly passed back and forth and got it into the front court with ease.

King was a beast...great handle, super quick, good shooter. Just gonna assume he keeps this up all year because that would be so much fun.

Hunt is a ton of fun, love his energy. Agree his shooting might be iffy, but he does so much else well.

Quinn did exactly what we needed. Didn't have to score a lot, but passed and rebounded just like we need our big to do.

Bigelow and Noyes were pretty quiet, but 6–7 points, and 3–4 boards each in only 15–16 minutes is nothing to sneeze at. Roche was in a similar category...only 15 minutes but got 5 shots up (plus got fouled some) and scored 9. Hard to ask a lot more from a guy coming off the bench.

Dji was a nice spark...aggressive with the ball, active on D and hauling down boards. I'm sure he's frustrated missing those couple of bunnies, but overall very solid.

Walz didn't show much offensively, but again, didn't necessarily need to. Good to see him get in fairly early and often. Couple of turnovers, but also good contributions with court vision. Can see the potential and every minute on the court is helping him improve.

Soulis showed some flashes, but he's gonna be behind Quinn and Walz all year. Don't see any of them playing together outside of some weird scenario. Soak it in and get stronger, Ryan...we're gonna need you in the coming years.

Tyne definitely showed potential with good poise. Shooting could have been a bit better, but he looked like a pretty experienced guard out there and fit right in with the other guys who've played 3–4 seasons.

Harris...coming into the season thought we'd see more of him than this, but tempered my expectations given lack of news from scrimmages. Did a few nice things in very limited minutes. Should take it as a good sign about the rest of the roster if he's that far down the pecking order.

Tanner/Smith...not a whole lot to report on. Would have liked to see them get a few points. That scoreless final 5–6 minutes wasn't fun to watch. Even given the lineup we had out there, they need to be producing something.

Overall, as many have pointed out, slow the roll on the rose-tinted glasses because this was VMI, but we looked much better than I'd feared we would, certainly over the first ~33 minutes. We look fairly deep, and even though those last five minutes were ugly, I think even with those guys we could mix 1 or 2 of them in with the regulars and be successful. Just can't roll out an entire five of those guys together quite yet.

 

[RichmondNative]

Like I've said before...I think we got a steal with Mikkel and once he adjusts to the speed of the game and controls his lightning speed and quickness, he could be special.

Yes, you were on this with some of our practice observations. Of the freshman, Mikkel was far and away the one who seemed ready for the moment last night.

This was the biggest takeaway for me last night. Tyne can contribute on Day 1. Smith seemed a little “down” to me and perhaps he knows that a redshirt may be in his future. Tanner will probably be asked to consider a redshirt as well in my opinion. Soulis is probably going to have to play some, but he definitely has to get adjusted to the speed of the game. (Edit - based on other thread I guess there are no redshirts this year, which is surprising to me because it seems like both Smith and Tanner would have benefited from taking one. Doesn’t seem to bode well for the future).

Speaking of playing under control, that is what I want to see from Dji. On his first drive to the basket in the first half, I said to my wife “Obviously Dji is trying to kill himself.” Definitely not scared of getting injured again, which is a good thing, but take it easy man. Was in better control with the no look pass drive. On his layup miss, it looked like he couldn’t decide whether he wanted to dunk it or lay it in and ended up with neither. He definitely looks like he is a full go at this point in the year.

 

[97spiderfan]

Tyne and Smith are no where close to being ready.

???? You didn't think Tyne was close to ready? I think you might be the only one. I was very impressed with his first game on a D-1 court. Quick, strong, the moment was not too big for him.

 

[SFspidur]

Smith seemed a little “down” to me and perhaps he knows that a redshirt may be in his future. Tanner will probably be asked to consider a redshirt as well in my opinion. Soulis is probably going to have to play some, but he definitely has to get adjusted to the speed of the game.

Again, unless these guys get injured early in the season and get a medical, they've already burned their potential redshirts.

 

[SpiderDad75]

???? You didn't think Tyne was close to ready? I think you might be the only one. I was very impressed with his first game on a D-1 court. Quick, strong, the moment was not too big for him.

Yeah, I don’t know what K was watching. Mikkel will have solid back up minutes. Not a ton but enough to not hurt us.

 

[97spiderfan]

Again, unless these guys get injured early in the season and get a medical, they've already burned their potential redshirts.

I'm glad no one is redshirting. I don't see much value in it with the portal. If anything it gives false hope to a kid who probably isn't going to be playing major minutes at the A-10 level.

 

[RichmondNative]

Again, unless these guys get injured early in the season and get a medical, they've already burned their potential redshirts.

Yep was editing my post when you created this. I was thinking that there was at least a game or two to decide for some reason.

 

[SpiderDad75]

This was the biggest takeaway for me last night. Tyne can contribute on Day 1. Smith seemed a little “down” to me and perhaps he knows that a redshirt may be in his future. Tanner will probably be asked to consider a redshirt as well in my opinion. Soulis is probably going to have to play some, but he definitely has to get adjusted to the speed of the game.

Speaking of playing under control, that is what I want to see from Dji. On his first drive to the basket in the first half, I said to my wife “Obviously Dji is trying to kill himself.” Definitely not scared of getting injured again, which is a good thing, but take it easy man. Was in better control with the no look pass drive. On his layup miss, it looked like he couldn’t decide whether he wanted to dunk it or lay it in and ended up with neither. He definitely looks like he is a full go at this point in the year.

Yeah he told me he was going to dunk and ball slipped a little then went for the layup and then the tip. It happens, I don’t think it will be an ongoing issue. In the past Coach would have yanked him but now he depends heavily on Dji out there esp in regards to his IQ. They (coach & Dji) were constantly talking. Which I love bc he now has that trust with Dji.

 

[RichmondNative]

I'm glad no one is redshirting. I don't see much value in it with the portal. If anything it gives false hope to a kid who probably isn't going to be playing major minutes at the A-10 level.

I think it is is valuable for the player. Gives a player another year to mature and see if he can develop to the level he needs to be at or if not can portal out to another program if he won’t see the court. I agree that it doesn’t help the school as the extra year may never be leveraged.

 

[97spiderfan]

Yeah he told me he was going to dunk and ball slipped a little then went for the layup and then the tip. It happens, I don’t think it will be an ongoing issue. In the past Coach would have yanked him but now he depends heavily on Dji out there esp in regards to his IQ. They (coach & Dji) were constantly talking. Which I love bc he now has that trust with Dji.

That was not his best sequence for sure. But I like that A, coach didn't yank him, and B, he played a really good second half.

The only yank I saw from coach last night was on Walz when he turned the ball over and then did not hustle back on defense. That was a well earned yanking, in my opinion.

 

[spider23]

Agree with 97 here, I was not surprised that everyone burned their RS last night. May as well keep working on being ready now. Portal makes it less likely that you sit out and benefit.

 

[SFspidur]

When have developmental redshirts worked out well for us? Not saying it doesn't happen, but it's rare. And yeah, in the days of the portal and immediate eligibility, there's less reason to do it.

2021: Noyes (jury still out, but looking decent), Dread (transferred)
2017: Schneider (transferred), Ford (transferred)
2014: Diekvoss (transferred), Friendshuh (non-factor, eventually left team)
2011: Davis (decent role player), Nelson-Ododa (decent role player), Piotrowski (transferred)
2010: Sparrow (role player who eventually transferred)

I'm probably missing a few, and it's possible a couple of the guys above redshirted at least partially for injury rather than strictly developmental, but that didn't immediately come to mind for any of them.

 

[97spiderfan]

When have developmental redshirts worked out well for us? Not saying it doesn't happen, but it's rare. And yeah, in the days of the portal and immediate eligibility, there's less reason to do it.

2021: Noyes (jury still out, but looking decent), Dread (transferred)
2017: Schneider (transferred), Ford (transferred)
2014: Diekvoss (transferred), Friendshuh (non-factor, eventually left team)
2011: Davis (decent role player), Nelson-Ododa (decent role player), Piotrowski (transferred)
2010: Sparrow (role player who eventually transferred)

I'm probably missing a few, and it's possible a couple of the guys above redshirted at least partially for injury rather than strictly developmental, but that didn't immediately come to mind for any of them.

Good list. You can add Jaynel to that list as well. And shoot, it would have been nice for coaching staff to know a bit more about Jaynel on a college court before annoiting him as our starting PG.

Our history with development redshirts is not good and mainly validates that if you aren't ready to paly as a freshman, the redshirt really is just hiding that from everyone for another year. I think of that list Nelson-Ododa and possibly Noyes are the only ones who made some sense. Again, both of those were pre-portal. Different era, we need to adjust, looks like we are.

 

[GKiller]

Monday night game with an even earlier start to the season. My recollection is most season openers were on friday and typically sellouts. Will be curious what the crowd looks like saturday worth the football doible
header.

We’ve started Monday last few years. Friday was in the past but yep the weekend start would have helped that’s where the bigger crowd openers were usually. But last 2 years we got over 6k to both Monday openers. Roughly a 1k drop which is significant imo. And 2O21 still even had some covid effect I’d guess. Certainly a decrease last night.

Maybe we get a little bump from football but I don’t think much. Long day of football could mean some choose to bag hoops. Sat night is a lot better tho so would be nice to have a big near sellout crowd. I’m skeptical, hope to be wrong.

 

[SFspidur]

Good list. You can add Jaynel to that list as well. And shoot, it would have been nice for coaching staff to know a bit more about Jaynel on a college court before annoiting him as our starting PG.

Good point. I left Nelson off because I thought there was an injury involved in that. But while he did have a toe injury that he was coming off of, it sounds like he could have played (if Gilly had ever subbed out) and the redshirt really was developmental.

 

[GKiller]

Good point. I left Nelson off because I thought there was an injury involved in that. But while he did have a toe injury that he was coming off of, it sounds like he could have played (if Gilly had ever subbed out) and the redshirt really was developmental.

Was going to say Ryan Butler but think he redshirted technically for medical too. But worked out that we had him instead for ncaa year.

 

[SFspidur]

We’ve started Monday last few years. Friday was in the past but yep the weekend start would have helped that’s where the bigger crowd openers were usually. But last 2 years we got over 6k to both Monday openers. Roughly a 1k drop which is significant imo. And 2O21 still even had some covid effect I’d guess. Certainly a decrease last night.

Tuesday is the normal first allowable date...strictly speaking, the Tuesday prior to the second Friday in November. But because it coincided with Election Day (which is now widely considered a day off for civic engagement in NCAA sports), it could be bumped back to Monday this year. (Same was true last year.)

I'm not sure when that changed from second Friday, but it hasn't been too long, and there was the late COVID start in 2020–21 that was a one-time occurrence.

 

[GKiller]

Tuesday is the normal first allowable date...strictly speaking, the Tuesday prior to the second Friday in November. But because it coincided with Election Day (which is now widely considered a day off for civic engagement in NCAA sports), it could be bumped back to Monday this year. (Same was true last year.)

I'm not sure when that changed from second Friday, but it hasn't been too long, and there was the late COVID start in 2020–21 that was a one-time occurrence.

Thx. Sorry 2021 was a Tues opener not Monday. But Monday or Tuesday no difference. So last 2 years…1 Monday 1 Tuesday both lot better than last night. Hopefully not much to read into there but idk.

 

[SFspidur]

Yeah, definitely a step down this year compared to other recent Mon/Tue starts. Low expectations sapping enthusiasm? Maybe King eye-opener and overall performance last night will shift things back.

VCU was a sell-out last night for the Willy Wade show, but I don't think those folks got their money's worth.

 

[97spiderfan]

Yeah, definitely a step down this year compared to other recent Mon/Tue starts. Low expectations sapping enthusiasm? Maybe King eye-opener and overall performance last night will shift things back.

VCU was a sell-out last night for the Willy Wade show, but I don't think those folks got their money's worth.

Yeah, whomever scheduled the Will Wade return for the first game of the Odom era, did Odom no favors.

 

[97spiderfan]

Was going to say Ryan Butler but think he redshirted technically for medical too. But worked out that we had him instead for ncaa year.

Believe Butler played a few games and then got injured and was able to use the medical redshirt. I would count Butler in the category of a good use of a redshirt though as his body was not ready for college ball his first year.