Mean Green Men’s Basketball

chrisfisher · January 8, 2008

Sorry this is so long…

After two agonizing conference road losses, we get our first SBC win tonight in dramatic fashion. Believe me when I say this, the Denver/Troy road losses where PAINFUL; however, I think some over-reacted. Denver and especially Troy represented significant improvements in our overall road play. The full court press killed us in the past, but in the past 5-6 games (especially the last 2 or 3) we have improved 100x, though we still have trouble in-bounding the ball from time-to-time. Recall that we used to call frequent time outs b/c of the full court press corning us in our own end of the court. How often do we see this now?

In my opinion, we are fortunate to be 10-4 for a variety of reasons...... We are relatively young team (4 freshman and 3 sophomores out of 15 players). In fact, we have numerous freshman players out on the court, plus a transfer or two at any given time… this team is still learning how to play together and the best is yet to come…… Our guards shot very poorly early in the season and caught up to us at UTA…. Our first fully healthy game (minus Mangrum) was played a game or two ago. Josh (hamstring), Dennis (ankle sprain), Wooden (microscopic surgery), and Dez (can’t remember) all suffered injuries early in the season. You can throw in Mangrum too if you like. More recently, Wooden was injured again (ankle) against Troy and missed tonight with ULM. Nonetheless, injured, freshman, or whatever… we must win on the road to get back to the tourney. Arkansas State needs to be a statement game, and I believe it will despite their recent domination of a very good ULAR team. As JJ said after the Troy loss, championship teams must win on the road.

Bell’s senior leadership really stands out this season with his command of the offense. He plays like a savvy, seasoned veteran. I think his biggest improvement is his ability to drive the ball to the basket (kind of reminds me of the Spurs’ Parker in the way he drives). 9 times out of 10, Bell scores or gets fouled when going to basket, and should drive hard at every opportunity. Bell’s free throw shooting has significantly improved too. Josh White’s play is fantastic all around, especially his scoring ability, and he is a nationally ranked freshman. Josh only needs to improve his ability to manage the full court press...... Willingham recently “found his shot” and could be a huge contributor as the season continues… I am slowly becoming a big time Willingham fan.....Dennis is rock solid, and I expect to see much bigger things/roles for him this season and next. Good find JJ!!. Tristan made a solid start. He is offensively minded and frequently drives to basket, but picks up too many offensive charge calls. Tristan will be force over the next 3 seasons, though I don’t think this is his year b/c he is overshadowed by several seasoned guards.

In terms of post/forward play, I believe that the template for this team’s success was laid out to perfection in the Oklahoma State game. Wooden demonstrates the most improvement (with Bell an extremely close 2nd) since last season. The addition of a fantastic (and accurate) mid-range shot, as well as a nice, semi-hook over the shoulder shot makes Wooden unstoppable. In fact, he shoots 50-80% most games no matter the opponent (UT, OSU, Memphis, etc.). The key to victory is to feed “the monster” in the paint. He’s hungry. Like the OSU game, Wooden must be accounted for on every play and this opens up clean looks for our guards. Remember Josh and Wooden both got 20+ points at the OSU game? ……Hogans may turn out to be a real gem. He shoots at a decent percentage and improves which each game. JJ gave him quality minutes against Troy and he didn’t disappoint. Hogans is EXTREMELY aggressive, almost an angry looking player when anyone gets near “his basketball,” as in “I own this basketball.” He exhibits a “that player is trying to take food off my table” mentality, and I love it. Hogans’ biggest flaw is his free throw shooting…..Quincy is solid this season, especially with rebounding. He recently stepped up on his scoring. For some reason, Q looks slower this season??? I hope that he returns to championship form by February and March (and April!). Stewart gives us some quality minutes, though he needs to continue working hard at improving his game. I hope Stewie is ready to take over the post his senior year. Finally, believe or not, Howerton stepped up his game this season, presumably because of added minutes and expectations. He’s given some quality defensive minutes, and looks more and more confident/aggressive each game.

With all this said, I think that we have a strong chance to return to the NCAA tourney. Our obvious Achilles’ heel is our road play. If we can get this weakness in order and play like we do at home, we will advance past the first round, no question. GO MEAN GREEN!

Edited January 8, 2008 by chrisfisher