Charleston Pony wrote:Can't wait for November to get the season started. If the newcomers are what we are hoping they will be and team chemistry is as good as what the early reports are, this could really be a fun season.
https://smumustangs.com/news/2021/10/17 ... hoops.aspx
Jank tends to have the same quotes coming out every year.
That said, I think last year's team was a challenge for multiple reasons:
- Jolly clearly wasn't Jolly
- Hunt didn't grow physically, wasn't a good shooter. Great athlete, but had the offensive game of a 4 and a defensive game of a 2-3. Tough to place.
- Ethan was a 5 athletically but a 3/4 offensively. Could cause matchup issues but a hard fit defensively.
This team needs time to gel. But it is a much, much better team overall, and a much easier team to coach.
Nutall is a scoring guard who will play next to Davis, and is the best fit we have had next to Davis. He is a more consistent scorer than Jolly was. He is an upgrade at that position.
Phelps will give us depth behind them at guard. Phelps is Shake, maybe a little worse shooter coming in, but a better driver and better defensive player as a frosh.
I think Band and Michael Weathers will play the 3 in a 3 guard lineup. Both have length for their size and are slashing types of players that will provide movement off the ball around the two other guards. I know the attention is on Marcus, but don't sleep on Michael. He can't shoot the three, but he can get to the basket and averaged 9 points in 20 minutes a game at OK State a couple years ago. Band is a better shooter, so that rotation will be interesting.
Marcus Weathers is the most complete starting 4 we have had here in a while.
Clark/Jasey/Young is a very solid 3 headed monster in the post. If Clark is healthy, he is going to be a plus player in the league.
I think we lack depth at the 4, which might cause us to run very small at times. Jank experimented with some double post last year, and we might see that again. The health of Clark is going to be really important.
Overall, I think the team will be the best team we have had in quite a while. We have a lot of scorers, but we lack elite shooters, which is going to bite us against teams that slow it down and play good defense. If Kendric, Nutall and Band can shoot 3's at 40% this is a great team. But I think this should be a better defensive team that can score enough on offense to cause problems and will finish 3rd in the league, good enough for an NCAA berth (albeit an early exit). If Clark is really healthy and Kendric, Nutall, and Band shoot well, and we have a good backup at the 4, this is a sweet 16 team. But expecting those guys to shoot that much better is a stretch.
Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2021 4:27 pm