@openwheel Outside it helping us win games... DeVries figuring out how to get Sherrell to thrive, and become an NBA caliber prospect, would be pretty consequential for our program. And if he doesn't, and Sherrell has a bad experience this year... I wouldn't be overly comfortable that Wabbington will ever actually step foot back in Bloomington. Not to mention the impact on him attracting other elite level modern bigs going forward. A lot riding on Sherrell being really good this year, potentially.
@iunorth Maybe, but just on rebounding #s, he played 18 mins, and 1 reb. Regardless, just has to be better. Alexis played 13 and got 5 rebs, Manhertz played 13 and had 2. Samet played 26 and had 10, and probably could've had 2-3 more if he'd just learn to gather and chin the ball when he gets it. Sherrill was also -7 in those 18 minutes. It was 1 game, but everything points to the fact that we need him to be more physical on D when he's in there.
@kkott The program he's coming from, has been up and down defensively. Either bad, or elite... kinda weird. So I'm not sure on how well coached he was at Bama, defensively. But Bama was mediocre defensively last year, the year Sherrell was a big minutes guy. Sherrell himself, was active and impactful though, averaging 6 rebounds and 2 blocks. We do need those types of numbers from him, I agree.
I have no clue the ins and outs of how this is going down... but the narrative on him when he entered the portal, was he wanted to play more away from the basket than he did at Bama. I DO NOT want CDD to revert back to a Woodson like approach, and anchor both Sherrell and Yigi down in the paint. So having him operating mostly on the perimeter isn't a problem, for me.
Maybe Sherrell just isn't gonna be the type of guy that rebounds well away from the basket? If that's the case, I'd probably try to make sure we play some extended minutes with Sherrell as the "5" man when Yigi is on the bench. We might need that anyways, if teams continue to attack Yigi with pick and roll actions. Like Edey a few years ago, Yigi is putrid guarding decent guards coming off pick and rolls. I'm sure Sherrell would be quite a lot better, in that specific situation.
@iunorth No problem with all that, but most rebounds are defensive, and especially if we go to a 4 out, he's going to need to anchor the paint some. Seems a fair compromise: we'll let you play on the perimeter more on offense to highlight your NBA potential, but we're still going to need you protecting the paint on D. Playing out on O might cut into his rebounding #s a tad, but most will still come from the defensive end. Still cracks me up that Painters pitch to TJD was allowing him to play out on the floor and not anchor him in the paint, like, ahem, TJD (who's still in the NBA!).
@kkott Agreed... just pointing out that he's going to be hunting for those rebounds, from further out (in general), than he was last season at Bama. Most teams we play will be more 4 around 1 type teams. So he'll much more often be defending out closer to the perimeter when shots go up. Different mindset and approach rebounding from out there, than when you're largely defending the paint area.
No excuse, lots of 3s and stretch 4s, rebound the hell out of the ball. We need him to as well. Good news is HE needs to, for his future career prospects. Its up to he, and the staff, to go make that happen.
After a night to sleep on it...
Positives:
-Burton was really good. Love to see that.
-Harris was really good. Love to see that.
-Mustaf was really good. Love to see that.
-Syracuse was pretty long, and fairly athletic, and we outrebounded them.
-22-26 from the FT line is very good.
-Love how we closed the game in the last 4 minutes, taking control in the last 2.
Negatives:
-Sherrell wasn't overly impactful.
-Yigi is a liability in some ways, especially defensively. His rim protection, I'm not sure, is good enough to overcome his issues guarding on pick and roll.
-Inconsistent defensive energy.
-Inconsistent ball movement on offense. Both those inconsistencies killed our team last year. Not a fan of seeing them in each of our first three games.
-Our BLOB plays are way too slow developing. Its good action, but too slow. We had a 5 second call, and numerous others that could have been called.
-While we closed well from the 4 minute mark down to the end... we didn't close the actual game out well, giving them a look to tie it at the end. And we looked pretty shaky handling the press at the end.
-We have to be better guarding good attacking lead guards. Their main 2 attacking lead guards killed us all night.
Too early to tell what kind of team Syracuse will end up being. New coach, tons of new players. They looked to be pretty talented, and overall, well coached. But hard to tell how good a win this will end up being.
I'd go with scoring from the wing and guards, depth, and overall size and skills on the front line as the greatest positives.
Burton is 6 of 9 so far on 3s. I like the # of attempts. At ND he was a career 33%, but 37.5% his 2nd year. If he could stay at that % it would be very helpful.
From what I've seen/ read about Mustaf, he's historically been very active in all respects including some bad shots and TOs. So far he's using good judgment
I'd go with lack of elite speed & quickness, including Burton, Lindsay, Sherrell, and Yigi, as a negative. Burton & Lindsay weren't able to control the little white kid on D. I'd add average jumping ability for Sherrell and less than average for Yigi. Looks like CDD may maximize time for Mustaf & Manhertz. What can Sisley do that Manhertz can't?
Our O looks to have a higher ceiling than our D.
@bigmike The offense looked better when he went to a 4 out, with only 1 big guy. Sherrell made 2 threes, and don't think he had a miss, so I'm less concerned about that, than I am a 7'er getting 1 rebound. Wasn't he a decent shot blocker and rebounder at Bama? Seems he's struggling feeling comfortable in this new role. Outside of the 2 threes, he really wasn't a factor yesterday.
Feels like CDD's preference would be to play the 4 out, with someone like Alexis but 2" taller being the 1 in.
He was forced to get a couple of big bodies to satisfy the boosters/mob,but really doesn't know what to do with them.