IMO, after only four games, I've come away with the following takeaways: *The four following starters, seem set, Agee, Crawford, Van Eyck and Gist. *I'm going with Jelly as the fifth starter, even though his play hasn't fit in with the TC style that I've been used to, as he tends to force things with his one on five style. I'm hopeful that, in time, he'll contribute to the rhythm and flow offense, that I've come to expect. An added plus, is that he's an excellent rebounder and defender. *Ben Perez seems to have lost confidence in his shot. We need him to rediscover that confidence, as I still think he's our best 3pt shooter. But he can't continue to pass up open shots. *It's looking more and more that this will be a RS year for Colton Cashaw. Not enough minutes to go around. Of course that will be the case next year with IW and Asante back. At least (if this RS happens) will have the PG position protected through 2022. Now the question, can he play PG at the DI level? *As with TC's health, I have no idea what we can expect from the two Serbian players. Having Risto for three more years, would be a big, and necessary plus. Keep in mind, in last night's game, Agee and Thiam finished with four fouls, so a little insurance would be a good thing. *Best surprises, so far, Ross and Van Eyck. Both will be solid rotational contributors. *Realistically, Princeton seems our only hope to finish the OOC portion of the sked, 3-4.
*December does mean a visit from Santa Claus. Just hoe we've been good.
IMO, after only four games, I've come away with the following takeaways: *The four following starters, seem set, Agee, Crawford, Van Eyck and Gist. *I'm going with Jelly as the fifth starter, even though his play hasn't fit in with the TC style that I've been used to, as he tends to force things with his one on five style. I'm hopeful that, in time, he'll contribute to the rhythm and flow offense, that I've come to expect. An added plus, is that he's an excellent rebounder and defender. *Ben Perez seems to have lost confidence in his shot. We need him to rediscover that confidence, as I still think he's our best 3pt shooter. But he can't continue to pass up open shots. *It's looking more and more that this will be a RS year for Colton Cashaw. Not enough minutes to go around. Of course that will be the case next year with IW and Asante back. At least (if this RS happens) will have the PG position protected through 2022. Now the question, can he play PG at the DI level? *As with TC's health, I have no idea what we can expect from the two Serbian players. Having Risto for three more years, would be a big, and necessary plus. Keep in mind, in last night's game, Agee and Thiam finished with four fouls, so a little insurance would be a good thing. *Best surprises, so far, Ross and Van Eyck. Both will be solid rotational contributors. *Realistically, Princeton seems our only hope to finish the OOC portion of the sked, 3-4.
*December does mean a visit from Santa Claus. Just hoe we've been good.
Good post. Would also add that EJ is still getting going, and not quite at POY level form yet. Expect this to change as we get more games under us.
So far Jelly has impressed with his unselfishness and his ability to move the ball. Yes, he has to clean up some poor decisions and for himself look for more baby jump shots like MoMo Jones used to do. Perez will to better shooting when there is more team ball movement. . .while Crawford, if he does more slashing to the basket, he'll open up better 3-point attempts for himself. I'd like to see Thiam doing more banging around the basket than taking 3s. And while we could have won the first 2 games. . .with a lot of new players it may take a few more games for the team chemistry to jell and the 3-point shooters to consistently deliver. The Iona team should be fine and hopefully so will be Coach Cluess.
looks like we already have our 8 man rotation set. Starters:
Agee-beast, I actually would like to see him take more 3’s as he seems to make a high percentage and if he kept doing that teams would have to come out and play him and that could make him even more dangerous inside. Crawford-hasn’t been quite himself yet. I think the longer 3 point line hurts his line drive shot and could his weight loss possibly have hurt his inside scoring? He seems not quite as strong with his shot down low. Van Eyk-also like to see him take more 3’s as his shot looks very good and it will also open up the lane for him to go to the basket. love his energy and athletic ability. Gist-also not quite playing as well as he did late last year but I think that will change Washington- at times looks like an electric point guard and at time looks lost and out of control. if Cluess can get back I think he would help Washington be more consistent. love his potential and his rebounding and defense.
First 3 off the bench: Perez-tons of energy, plays d, hustles and can hit the 3 when open. Perfect off the bench Ross- Very similar to Perez but not quite as good a shot but a better nose for the ball, and I’m impressed with his basketball smarts. Thiam-has a very nice 3, like to see him do a bit more inside. A weapon as the third man off the bench
I think after this you will see McNeil get a few minutes due to his athletic ability and his high last year 3 point percentage, but seems like he doesn’t have much experience in a team offense. Seems a bit lost out there. Cluess could help this kid as well, does have a lot of potential.
Risto-would be 9th man but my gut says he’s gone Nic- my gut says he’s still around and will be our emergency big man getting some quality minutes here and there
cashew- probably redshirting?
Overall Iona has never had this many guys who seem like decent defensive players, but right now as a 3 point shooting team we haven’t been good, but there are a lot of guys who could be good, so I think this will improve. Still believe a Cluess team is dependent on hitting 3’s, but this team will be less dependent than usual due to its better defense. By March they will be good again, especially if Cluess is back, but to win the maac tourney they are probably going to need Cluess back coaching for most of 2020.
Last Edit: Nov 24, 2019 12:33:01 GMT -5 by Joebird
looks like we already have our 8 man rotation set. Starters:
Agee-beast, I actually would like to see him take more 3’s as he seems to make a high percentage and if he kept doing that teams would have to come out and play him and that could make him even more dangerous inside. Crawford-hasn’t been quite himself yet. I think the longer 3 point line hurts his line drive shot and could his weight loss possibly have hurt his inside scoring? He seems not quite as strong with his shot down low. Van Eyk-also like to see him take more 3’s as his shot looks very good and it will also open up the lane for him to go to the basket. love his energy and athletic ability. Gist-also not quite playing as well as he did late last year but I think that will change Washington- at times looks like an electric point guard and at time looks lost and out of control. if Cluess can get back I think he would help Washington be more consistent. love his potential and his rebounding and defense.
First 3 off the bench: Perez-tons of energy, plays d, hustles and can hit the 3 when open. Perfect off the bench Ross- Very similar to Perez but not quite as good a shot but a better nose for the ball, and I’m impressed with his basketball smarts. Thiam-has a very nice 3, like to see him do a bit more inside. A weapon as the third man off the bench
I think after this you will see McNeil get a few minutes due to his athletic ability and his high last year 3 point percentage, but seems like he doesn’t have much experience in a team offense. Seems a bit lost out there. Cluess could help this kid as well, does have a lot of potential.
Risto-would be 9th man but my gut says he’s gone Nic- my gut says he’s still around and will be our emergency big man getting some quality minutes here and there
cashew- probably redshirting?
Overall Iona has never had this many guys who seem like decent defensive players, but right now as a 3 point shooting team we haven’t been good, but there are a lot of guys who could be good, so I think this will improve. Still believe a Cluess team is dependent on hitting 3’s, but this team will be less dependent than usual due to its better defense. By March they will be good again, especially if Cluess is back, but to win the maac tourney they are probably going to need Cluess back coaching for most of 2020.
Post by St. Louis Gael on Nov 24, 2019 12:50:34 GMT -5
I haven’t posted in a while because I had nothing to add. I have only seen three of the four games played, albeit two on replays.
I am wondering how long Coach has been battling health issues and if this battle has anything to do with our scheduling problems. Regardless, get well soon Coach! I’m sort of liking what I see from Coach Arnold. This would have been a much easier transition if we had the D1 experience of a Coach Grasso or even a Coach Eaton. However, this team is responding to Coach Arnold.
My take is that our early opponents (Ohio) decided to harass the 3 point line. In that game, we did not have enough of an inside presence to counter that move. On the video, it looked like we still had the “Wet Paint” sign under the basket. We are now starting to see more of Tajuan posting down low. I see some “relief of Tajuan” minutes here for Niksa to assert some muscle when he is healthy. To me he is the only big we have who actually likes to park his ass in the paint. With Washington’s and Gist’s ability to penetrate, there are some clean-up opportunities in the paint aisle.
I really like the D we are showing so far this season. Is this a coaching decision to emphasize D and let the offense evolve as the season progresses – a reversal of previous early season trends?
