Few observations:

1. Krut looks every bit the part of MVC POY contender out there. He facilitates the offense SO well. Some of those passes were unreal. Wish he could have got the triple double.

2. Kennedy will be in the hunt for MVC FOY. He has athleticism that is far beyond what most mid majors put on the floor. I recall two specific plays: (i) in the first half, after a missed shot, he came out of nowhere and SOARED for the offensive board over 2 or 3 UCD defenders and an easy putback and (ii) sometime in the second half, on defense, he FLASHED out of nowhere in a passing lane for an easy steal. He does get a little out of control driving occasionally but Porter seems good at calming him--he will realize driving isn't as easy as it was in high school.

3. As already stated on here, the cutting and passing looked SMOOTH. Like the offense of two years ago. Should only get better with Clemons.

4. That being said, the offense looked somewhat lost without one of Lucas or Krut on the floor. There were quite a few minutes when all three freshmen were on the court plus two of Hall/Pipkins/Bruno/Uguak and it was not pretty. Had trouble finding open looks with that group.

5. Seems Hall and Welch both are a little nervous out there. Some missed gimmes, a few times being out of place, etc. That being said, I think Hall has a lot of potential.

6. We need to find some consistency from 3. Obviously we aren't going to be a 40% type team from deep, but we need something more than what we have seen thus far.

7. Still too early too tell, but will be interested to see how playing time is adjusted when Frank/Clemons are back. Obviously with Frank, Welch will see his minutes diminished as Frank becomes Krut's backup. But with Clemons, I am interested to see what happens with Wojcik/Pipkins/Kennedy. I think Quise has to keep seeing big minutes as he is too talented. Wojcik plays hard and can contribute. Still remains to be seen what Pipkins will do although I did like him out there tonight.

Was fun to be back at Gentile. Wish the crowd was a little better but wasn't bad. Friday will be a big test @Furman.

There were a few minutes where Welch was on the floor at the same time as Krut, so I could see him still getting minutes and his role rotating a bit once Frank comes back.

Among the other questions going into tonight: did anyone punch swellafelon?

Nice analysis by goramblers2011.

By my count, Krut was two rebounds away from a triple-double with about 7 1/2 minutes left in the game.

With the last media timeout of the first half, the team really woke up. By my count they closed the first half on a 7-0 run.

Jaylon Pipkins showed me a lot in this game. He can/will be valuable-- can drive to the basket, shoot from outside, very athletic.

Tate Hall looks great except for finishing around the basket under pressure. He'd be super if he could make those shots. There's still a lot of time for him to get a handle on it.

Aher looked very good today, except for his shot clock expiring three. He rebounded well, and finished well at the basket. That's where he needs to play.

It's nice to have depth, and be able to trust a lot of newcomers.

I also liked Pipkins. Looked much bigger than I thought he was. Can’t wait to see him in person next weekend. Not sure why he didn’t get more minutes. He looked comfortable inside and outside, and appeared to be exactly what you would want from a JUCO guy.

Klu - I still think you were on the right side! Lol

I thought Tate Hall looked like a different player from last week. He was moving much better and played with a lot of intensity from the jump.

In addition to Kennedy skying over a near-7 footer for an offensive rebound, he also tried for another offensive board and still had the speed to get back on defense. I hope he keeps that up.

_________________
MBB Scholarship Chart

What a difference a week makes. My humble observations of a very entertaining game.
- Krut in the high post tonight was phenomenal. Will that work in conference play? Not if we shoot 25% from 3
- Lucas solid all around game. He is vital to our success this year. Duh
- Tate Hall showed up tonight. Solid D, strong to the hoop. Although to truly break through, needs to figure out how to convert at the rim. Missed 3 great scoring chances after great moves. Such a sweet stoke from deep.
- Aher was the Aher from the end of last year. His athleticism shines when he drives from the top of the key. I will be satisfied if I never see him shoot anything other than a layup or dunk. I know he can shoot. Warm ups he knocks down 3s without issue. Just gets to amped during the game with his shot.
- Jalon looked 1,000% better than the exhibition. So much more relaxed. So much athleticism. Going to earn more minutes by buying into the system.
- Kennedy deserves all the accolades he received coming into the season, but I still haven’t been convinced he can run this offense. Has he bought into the system? There were several series tonight that he went alpha wolf that did not go well. As others have pointed out, we had some incredible moments. Stealing a rebound from a 6’11 dude and the casually laying it in was priceless.
- Paxson again reminded me of Ben tonight. Comes in the game as a freshman and is all over the place. Non-stop hustle, while looking a little awkward while doing it. Ben matured into an all time Rambler great. I see the same in Pax.
- Welch was solid. I loved when he was in with Krut. High-low reminded me of Krut-Jackson in 2018. Would like to see more of that.
- Bruno - last but not least. I posted last game that Bruno should not be getting minutes anymore with the talent that arrived on campus. Tonight he showed me there is still fight left in him. Solid game from a very, very good student athlete.

Overall - team played well on offense. D was soft at times. Outside shooting is going to be an issue this year. Friday will be a real test against a solid Furman squad.

I mean, that was literally his first game. I don't think it's fair to question his buy-in. With some experience, he will learn "time and score" and how to pick his spots better. I just hope he loses the sidespin on his three point shot.

_________________
MBB Scholarship Chart

I don't think Kennedy is a selfish player. I saw him play twice in high school. Both times, most probably on instructions from Coach Bobby Frasor, he deferred to his less talented teammates for a good part of the game before taking over in crunch time.
I haven't noticed the side spin on his 3s pointed out by Nate and ahunte. Will keep an eye out for it. Kennedy's game is definitely more driving and getting up and down the court in a hurry than it is shooting 3s.
And boy can he JUMP!

Townes won the Larry Bird playing very similarly to small stretches of what Kennedy did last night, including the early shot clock jumpers. I think anyone worried about him fitting in is misguided, in my mind we have him specifically because of what he can do when things arnt working with the regular offense. As he gains experience he will get better at knowing when to do that and when not to.

Kennedy’s shot looked pretty decent in the game I watched against Simeon last year, including a few clutch, deep threes. So it doesn’t concern me all that much at this point. Freshmen aren’t going to be perfect (most of the time), but they all can get better.