In retrospect, Sunday's scrimmage showed the value of RP's coaching. Last year, without the benefit of a PS, our 3Pt shooting was just so-so if you remove Isaiah Ross from the equation. At least that is how I saw it. On Sunday it was great, and while I don't have the final stats, but late in the game someone told me that at least one of the teams was shooting over 50%. And, individually, Colton Cashaw who struggled from deep, last year, and was looked upon as a defensive player/ball handler showed confidence in his shot. He finished with 13/4/3, and I don't remember him missing many/any shots. I credit RP for his improvement, along with the player, himself. JMO.
While on this subject, from the video clip provided by Guy; I thought DVE got his shot off much quicker than last season. As I recall from the video, it was only a sample size of two shots; but there was no "should I or should I not". It was quick and in the flow of the game.
Hard to say for sure re DVE. There was a time not on video where he hesitated to shoot and Pitino yelled at him. Perhaps others who were there remember that as well as other instances.
DVE has some pressure on him to score points this year. If he's not productive, he could lose more minutes to Slazinski, who's a better offensive player but I'm not sure if he's as good defensively as DVE. Similarly, Tyson Jolly has some pressure on him to get up to speed quickly given how well Ryan Myers has played, though Jolly's game is overall more complete than Myers.
When I look at this roster, I see a ton of versatility--not just in lineups, but in what you get from them. Iona has several guys who are very balanced players--Jolly, Joiner, DVE, BJL, Slazinski, etc. No one-dimensional players there. Guys like Myers who are bucket getters complement those do-it-all types very well for sure but until Myers has a more complete overall game he's not going to get starter minutes for Pitino. Hopefully we see Myers' game jump this season and then he just steps into the starting 2G role next year understanding that it's more than just hitting 3s that will keep him on the floor.
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Two things: 1. DVE was the leading rebounder (13) and had five assists, playing his usual type game. 2. What might have contributed to the high FG percentage were the basket rims. While I haven't been to a game in two years, almost, I just don't remember them being so soft. SPU always seemed to have the hardest rims, and while ours were never that hard, they were more 'middle of the road' IMO.
Schedule for games in Greece now posted. First 2 games this Sat/Sun. Final three games Wed/Thur/Fri. All of the games are at 10AM. Hopefully, Iona has somebody in the group tweeting updates during the games and final game stats
P.S. I know that neither 86 or sharkey were at the scrimmage, but am sure that both watched Guy's video. What did you think?
The team has a great deal of potential... they are very deep. My take from the film (thanks Guy)...
Myers - His 3 point shooting is starting to look like he could be mentioned in the same breath as Casimir or Sean Armand. Wildy - Put twenty pounds of muscle on this kid and he will be an ALL MAAC player down the road. Duach - will need to adjust to the speed and spacing of the college game. When he does he will be fun to watch. He has a lot of talent. Clayton- Very underrated player. He will learn a ton this year playing against Joiner in practice. I don't want to jump too far in front of things, but he could have a career very similar to Rickey McGill, without the heavy bumps McGill took freshman year. ALL-MAAC Down the road. Cashaw - Looked way better than I expected. DVE & BLJ need to shoot more and learn to trust themselves. DVE put up some nice all-around numbers. Jolly - Rusty, the trip to Greece should really help him. Slazinski - looks to be the player he was projected to be when he first arrived at Louisville. James - Looked better physically. He needs another year of development banging with our bigs in practice. Will be a major factor down the road. Joiner - better than advertised. All-MAAC Joseph - he is a machine. All-MAAC Weiss - nice to see him connect on a few long balls. He hustles his ass off and is the kind of player every team needs. Being ginger he has no soul. But that could be helpful in laying down a few hard fouls when the situation warrants.
Based on the video and reports posted on the board, a couple hot takes.
Slazinski..showed much more "game" than I expected. Handled the ball very well. Nice fade away jumper on the baseline. Funny, when Rothstein tweeted he was 6'9" Louis Ville fans said there is no chance he's that tall.wasnt meant as a knock to him since the Louisville fans loved him and were sorry to see him transfer. So to the guys that were there, is he a legit 6'9"?
Clayton Jr...the one question was that he needed to improve his 3pt shooting. His shot/stroke looked pretty smooth.
James..knowing stats are not most important in scrimmages, I would have still liked to see some more production. Was hoping he was a little more further along in his development. Might need him to be able to contribute 10-15mpg
Wildy..has been talk he would redshirt this season, but I have the feeling he has the talent, especially on defense, to force his way into the rotation. He had a nice recovery block of a layup at the rim on the video and reports say he had a couple other blocks. Sounds like the type of player Pitino likes at the back of the press
Shema/Brown..too bad they can't make the trip. To be honest I don't expect much from Brown this season. Poor kid can't stay healthy throughout his entire college career, even before Iona. Just hasn't played much the last few years because of injury. No idea how long Shema has already been out. I know he's expected back in 2 weeks. After missing so much time last season let's up this knee issue gets resolved quickly and he's able to stay healthy for the entire season.
Based on the video and reports posted on the board, a couple hot takes.
Slazinski..showed much more "game" than I expected. Handled the ball very well. Nice fade away jumper on the baseline. Funny, when Rothstein tweeted he was 6'9" Louis Ville fans said there is no chance he's that tall.wasnt meant as a knock to him since the Louisville fans loved him and were sorry to see him transfer. So to the guys that were there, is he a legit 6'9"?
Clayton Jr...the one question was that he needed to improve his 3pt shooting. His shot/stroke looked pretty smooth.
James..knowing stats are not most important in scrimmages, I would have still liked to see some more production. Was hoping he was a little more further along in his development. Might need him to be able to contribute 10-15mpg
Wildy..has been talk he would redshirt this season, but I have the feeling he has the talent, especially on defense, to force his way into the rotation. He had a nice recovery block of a layup at the rim on the video and reports say he had a couple other blocks. Sounds like the type of player Pitino likes at the back of the press
Shema/Brown..too bad they can't make the trip. To be honest I don't expect much from Brown this season. Poor kid can't stay healthy throughout his entire college career, even before Iona. Just hasn't played much the last few years because of injury. No idea how long Shema has already been out. I know he's expected back in 2 weeks. After missing so much time last season let's up this knee issue gets resolved quickly and he's able to stay healthy for the entire season.
Slaz closer to 6-6 than 6-9. Him and DVE are similar, except as you said, DVE more of a power forward and Slaz more of a small forward (he has more guard skills). Other thought I had since is DVE came off the bench late last year and that worked in keeping him out of foul trouble. Since he is use to that, and it worked, I am now leaning towards Slaz starting and DVE coming off the bench. I think overall their minutes will be similar and their minutes will depend on matchups and how they are performing that game.
A couple of other tidbits I left off in my initial player thoughts:
Nelly took and hit a few 3's between practice and the scrimmage, if he is hitting 3's look out (as Guy mentioned on podcast).
Cashaw's offensive improvement is tremendous. His offense is now good enough to fight for legit minutes.
Re heights, they're actually more accurate than in the past. SID was telling me about a few of the heights guys were listed at. Slaz was no more than a tick shorter than DVE. They also reduced Trey James' height a bit. I don't recall what SID said now exactly as to how or why the height issues were rectified, but if he sees this perhaps he can clarify.
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