As I'm sitting here watching Gill dominate the paint as we finish the first half on a 12-0 run, I feel like it might be a good time to address what I've seen from this team so far.
First off, we seem more physical than we were a year ago. Now, this could be due to several factors, namely the weak competition we've faced so far. However, remember Bennett talking about how great our strength and conditioning coach is? I'd like to think we're actually stronger and faster than a year ago.
On another positive note, how about Justin Anderson? Man, has he played some good ball.
He's calm and -- generally speaking -- choosing his shot well. We know he has the ability to drive, but his shot has been and will continue to open things up for our offense. He's reportedly lost about 20 pounds too, so his fitness should certainly be better than it was a year ago.
I also want to give a shoutout to the first-years, specifically Marial Shayok and Isaiah Wilkins.
I'm still very unsure of what our rotation will look like in a couple weeks, but for the past few games, Shayok has been the first off the bench. His athleticism is obvious, and I've been impressed with his shot so far. He's definitely starting to get on a roll.
Meanwhile, you can see the potential with Wilkins. Before tonight, he was second on the team in blocks with 6. To put that in perspective, Darion Atkins leads the team with 7 in essentially double the minutes. Wilkins hustles up and down the court, and he always seems to be in the right place at the right time, at least defensively. And for Bennett, that'll get you some playing time.
Still though, these first 4 games have not presented mistake free basketball. No, it doesn't really matter in the game's outcome -- what's the difference between a 20 and 25 point win? But there are definitely some areas we need to clean up.
Primarily, especially against George Washington, we committed far too many turnovers. Part of that was the zone and just not being comfortable against it, but those mistakes can't continue against Maryland and VCU next week, especially on the road.
On a different note, there's really only one thing that concerns me about this team -- its lack of a pure shooter. Last year, obviously, that guy was Joe Harris. Even when he was having an off game, teams still had to respect him as a deep threat.
This season, we don't really have that go to guy. Malcolm, Perrantes, Anderson, Nolte, Shayok, and even Hall can make a 3 here and there, but none of them are really known for just getting on a hot streak.
Maybe it won't make a difference. Maybe this team is more about driving than shooting. Maybe the ability of Perrantes/Anderson/whoever to hit one here and there is sufficient.
But I keep going back to the UNC game last year where Harris scored like our first 9 points, all from bonusphere. I thought maybe Hall could step up into that role, but after not even seeing the court on Friday, I certainly have my doubts.
Like I said, maybe we've improved enough to where we don't need that go to guy from deep. But come tournament time, he'd obviously help.
Regardless, we definitely have ourselves a good squad, although I still haven't figured out the rotation. Toby, Gill, and Atkins work the 4 and 5 positions, but will Wilkins carve out a role?
How about the backcourt? Who will Shayok and Hall spell?
And where, if anywhere, does Nolte fit in?
This group isn't as easy to figure out as in years past just because each guy has a different skill set, and we still don't know how well they complement those of others.
There are still a lot of questions. But these questions are what separate us from a sweet-16 team and a final-4 type of team.
Worst case-scenario, we finish fourth or fifth in the ACC. When you think about it, that's still pretty damn exciting.
No doubt, this group has the talent that combined with Bennett's genius, can take us deep into March.
NOTE: I probably won't have much time for very detailed posts about basketball until mid-December, but be sure to follow along on Twitter for more HOOps insight!
And as always, Go Hoos!
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