My Observations Against Wmn

[Censored by Laurie]

I did not have the luxury of watching the game...so read this with that in mind.

First...I don't like the line-up of Bell, Willingham and White starting. That leaves 3-4 off-guard/wings on the bench and your best 3 ball handlers on the floor. Our problem last year was a lack of consistancy off the bench at the point. If you want Bell and White on the floor together, start Thompson or McCoy on the wing and let Dez be the back-up point.

Second...and kinda on the same topic...Josh White isn't a point guard. He's a poor man's Bo McCalebb in development...hes capable of handling the point for stretches, but a 0 assist night and a 1.2 assist average are not PG numbers.

Third...and another good segue...we had 7 assists last night...total...2 from our posts (Williams and Wooden had one each.) That is awful. Our posts need more than 6 shots a piece and that responsibility falls to the guards

Fourth...Ben Bell had a solid Ben Bell night and that is a good sign - 5-8 from the floor, 0 three point attempts, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal.

Fifth...and I think this will work itself out as the season progresses, but I feel we're playing too many people...and without any real sort of rotation. I think JJ thought that last night would be a cake walk and expiremented with some different line-ups but in order to win tonight I think 8-9 people should see extended minutes). Why did Keith only play 12 minutes? Tristan 16?

Sixth...despite JJ not wanting Players of the Game...I think Harold Stewart and Tristan Thompson are deserving. Stewart has been great in his role thus far; last night - 7 points, 7 rebounds (3 offensive) and 2 blocks...TT put up a similar night, but in just 16 minute (6 points, 8 rebounds (3 offensive), 2 assists and a steal)

Last night may've been rust after 9 days off...and I think some of that blame has to fall at the feet of JJ and I think he knows it...his post-game comments were very uncharacteristic and I think he was most upset at himself. Look for a tighter rotation tonight...and TT back in the starting lin-up.

To those who saw the game please feel free to critique this assesment...thanks.

[CMJ]

Did anyone actually see the game? It didn't sound like there was one NT fan in Las Cruces last night - and maybe a dozen total.

[NCMeanGreen]

We started out fast...but seems like we slowed down a bit in the end. Hopefully it was just knocking the rust off after so many days off, and not becuase we did not condition enough during that time off.

[e-bone ver2.awesome]

I think JJ is still trying to figure out his rotations and see who is going to play ball. By time conference play starts I expect there to be a tighter rotation. Starting fast is always great, but the only way we are getting to the NCAA tournament is by winning our conference tournament, and I can take some bumps in OOC play as long as things come together by the time the conference schedule starts.