• 7/25/19 Practice Thoughts

 #14985  by CharlieFU
 Thu Jul 25, 2019 3:08 pm
Pugh did not miss! He was filling it up, and will get a chance to showcase that. I saw him make a couple and said "Who is that kid?" Did not recognize him at first, with a headband and no dreadlocks!

Jordan looks slimmer, especially in the upper body.

Marcus Foster has the longest arms I have ever seen on someone his size! Huge wing span tells me he will grow some more. Now listed at 6'4"

Slawson has made good strides. More physical.

We have a roster of 13 players. (Although web page shows 14....did not see the Lister kid there today?) Based on what I see and comments by others this is the deepest team we have had in awhile. In fact, it would not be surprising to see 10 players get decent minutes, including two freshmen, Foster and Ben Beeker--who is a bit of a surprise. 6'9" and can step out to hit the 3. Not terribly athletic (think Rafferty, who was there today working out with the team)


Top 4--Gurley, Clay, Alex and Jordan.

Next 3--Bothwell, Pugh, Slawson--not necessarily in that order, though would not surprise me to see Bothwell start. If Slawson starts, that is a decent sized front court. (Mounce looks to have put on some muscle.; look for him to shoot the mid range jumper, in addition to the 3, which we already know he can hit.)

Last 3--Clarke, Beeker, and Foster.

That leaves Kenney and Johnny Lawrence. But all this is just rank speculation at this point and could change. Do these two develop enough that they get to play some? Or are they red shirt material? Would be great to red shirt one or two, since we did not do that last year.

Did not have the chance to meet Tim Johnson or Jeremy Growe, but both were actively coaching, as was Jimmie Williams. Something tells me have upgraded our staff again. Several other fans (fanatics?) were there. Jonathan Jean was hanging out, and reports that he will graduate in August. Bahamas trip will give them a chance to bond a little bit, perhaps more important than the two games they will play.

This should be another fun season, and expect us to be in that top 4 in the SoCon. I am excited.
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 #14992  by Paul C
 Thu Jul 25, 2019 3:58 pm
Charlie - thanks for being our eyes and ears.

The slightly surprising part of your observations (granted it's just one practice and early, too) is that Lawrence and Kenney we speculated to be the Fr most likely to see time in the rotation.....of course that could still be the case. Interesting Beeker over Lawrence, at least in this one practice, in your view.

Tre Clark and Marcus Foster seem to me to be very similar players on paper...after seeing them practice is that accurate?

Pugh seemed to have a pretty sweet shot from what I saw last year, if he's improved his shooting he could be deadly. Sort of the "next" Jordan Lyons....did he play any PG or was he off the ball all the time?
Fuonetime liked this
 #14995  by tya1
 Thu Jul 25, 2019 7:05 pm
On his last podcast Bob Richey said Kenney has a ready to go game and Lawrence has an elite ability - shooting - that will earn him early playing time. Foster was looking strong but might be redshirted because of his age in order to let him develop physically. Beeker sounds like a banger, which could be a ticket to playing time.

When he was signed they mentioned that Foster had a 6'11" wingspan. That is 7 inches more than his height. The average NBA player has a wingspan 4 inches more than his height; the average man has a wingspan 2 inches more than height. Those NBA numbers also include the bigger players who naturally have longer arms than guards.

Jaylon Pugh hit 50% of his three point shots last year - 10 of 20. That was the best percentage on the team. Mounce hit 41.7% and Brown hit 41.0%.
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 #15014  by dhgolfer
 Fri Jul 26, 2019 9:24 pm
I was at Tuesday practice. Pugh and Hunter shot lights out.
Hope Beeker can bring some size inside. Should be good year.
 #15017  by apaladin
 Sat Jul 27, 2019 12:32 am
dhgolfer wrote:
Fri Jul 26, 2019 9:24 pm
I was at Tuesday practice. Pugh and Hunter shot lights out.
Hope Beeker can bring some size inside. Should be good year.
How are Lyons, Gurley and Mounce looking?