Sycamore Basketball Begins Practice, Scrimmage Set For Saturday Morning

WANTED: Passionate Sycamore Fanatics. That You?

Register NOW to join our community of die-hard Sycamore fans.

Register Log in
Jason Svoboda

Jason Svoboda

The Bird Level
Administrator
BYLWBWYKKGDJILU.20160727161536.jpg


The Indiana State Basketball team hit the hardwood for the first time in the 2016-17 season when the Sycamores held their first official practice on Friday afternoon (Sept. 30) at the ISU Basketball Practice Facility.

Read more at GoSycamores...
 

Become a Supporting Member to remove this ad and help support the site.
Scott, Barnes and kessinger looked good offensively. I think kessinger is already our best low post scorer
 
meistro said:
Scott, Barnes and kessinger looked good offensively. I think kessinger is already our best low post scorer
Click to expand...

I've just seen videos of BK, and it appears that he's got some mastery over pumping the ball...and fakes, or what I like to call as Muppet Moves....and he uses them...especially if your the sucker that bites on them.

Also, can anyone explain the team picture. BK is listed at 6' 8", but in the team photo ER, and the Flyin' Dutchman appear to be a head taller than BK.

Is BK really more like 6' 5 1/2", or is he really 6' 8" and the picture is outta-wack?....or did ER and Bunschoten grow to 6' 11" since the last photo!
 
Last edited:

Become a Supporting Member to remove this ad and help support the site.
I would say BK is about 6'8". He has footwork and a soft touch with either hand like we haven't had here much. He looks very good. He scored over or around all of our bigs and blocked Rickman once. A skilled, prototype PF that we haven't had much.

Barnes played under control and smart. He is VG also. He made 3 consecutive 3's in the first half.
We have 750 lbs. and 15 fouls at center. I thought they all held their own against each other. Last year, Rickman was a boy, this year he is a man. Murphy can't jump much and that limits him. I think the 3 centers were pretty equal and can all play this year and Rickman has the most upside.

Q is ready to play. He is quick-on-quick and can do everything except the jumper. He handled the ball well and plays tough D.

With the quickness of Q and Barnes, I thought EC looked less effective than I had expected.

MVS and Scott have the green light and were very aggressive offensively. I think we have 5 non-shooters that will play significant minutes and I think Coach is expecting these two to do a lot of scoring. MVS missed a lot of shots, though. I think he needs a little more arch. Scott is very hard to guard since he can shoot or drive. I want to emphasize that he has a double green light (at least he did today).

Knight's handle is better than I expected and he can really get up.

Franklin looked good, with athletic ability and a good shooter.

Niels needs to get more aggressive and get more shots. I think Niels, Knight and Ojinnaka will be at the bottom in minutes.



Remember, these comments are from watching ONLY one practice. Take them for what they're worth.
 
Last edited:
sycamorebacker said:
I would say BK is about 6'8". He has footwork and a soft touch with either hand like we haven't had here much. He looks very good. He scored over or around all of our bigs and blocked Rickman once. A skilled, prototype PF that we haven't had much.

Barnes played under control and smart. He is VG also. He made 3 consecutive 3's in the first half.
We have 750 lbs. and 15 fouls at center. I thought they all held their own against each other. Last year, Rickman was a boy, this year he is a man. Murphy can't jump much and that limits him. I think the 3 centers were pretty equal and can all play this year and Rickman has the most upside.

Q is ready to play. He is quick-on-quick and can do everything except the jumper. He handled the ball well and plays tough D.

With the quickness of Q and Barnes, I thought EC looked less effective than I had expected.

MVS and Scott have the green light and were very aggressive offensively. I think we have 5 non-shooters that will play significant minutes and I think Coach is expecting these two to do a lot of scoring. MVS missed a lot of shots, though. I think he needs a little more arch. Scott is very hard to guard since he can shoot or drive. I want to emphasize that he has a double green light (at least he did today).

Knight's handle is better than I expected and he can really get up.

Franklin looked good, with athletic ability and a good shooter.

Niels needs to get more aggressive and get more shots. I think Niels, Knight and Ojinnaka will be at the bottom in minutes.



Remember, these comments are from watching ONLY one practice. Take them for what they're worth.
Click to expand...

Pretty much on point with what I saw today as well.

JB also showed he could hit the 3 off the dribble and off the screen. 2 of them he just raised up with the defender right in front of him and the 3rd one he came off a screen, turn and drilled it. Freshmen tend to be tentative, especially going against an upperclassman incumbent but he just went right at EC and I dug that.

Kessinger had probably the move of the scrimmage I think with a nice step to the right, then spun back across the lane and finished with his left hand while getting fouled.

TJ Bell has a bit time block at the rim where he would have put the ball into the bench area. He could have easily balooned after his injury but he looks like he really dedicated himself to getting and staying in shape.

Brenton's defense has come a long way since his first scrimmage several years ago when Greg just yelled at him the entire time. He is going to have the green light and probably should average close to 20ppg I'd think.
 
sycamorebacker said:
We have 750 lbs. and 15 fouls at center. I thought they all held their own against each other. Last year, Rickman was a boy, this year he is a man. Murphy can't jump much and that limits him. I think the 3 centers were pretty equal and can all play this year and Rickman has the most upside.
/QUOTE]

Sounds like we can rotate and keep them fresh. Having 3 players with similiar abilities and different skill sets could cause opposing 5s some troubles on both ends. And there is not too much wrong with giving several fouls at that position IF they are smart and used at the right time.
Click to expand...
 
Didn't go but talked to many who went. I asked them, "who looked good" and two names were more common than the rest.

Jordan Barnes and Kessinger. I plan to go to a practice soon to see for myself but excited to see what we have
 
SycamoreStateofMind said:
Didn't go but talked to many who went. I asked them, "who looked good" and two names were more common than the rest.

Jordan Barnes and Kessinger. I plan to go to a practice soon to see for myself but excited to see what we have
Click to expand...

Well----you couldn't say who played well without saying Scott; but I'm sure we all expected that so there was no need to mention it.

I also thought Q did well.

With JB and BK, I feel like we've finally replaced McIntosh at the point and we've got our version of Matt Howard.
 
Last edited:

Become a Supporting Member to remove this ad and help support the site.
No, other than Washington on the bench with the team. Liked what I saw from Barnes and Kessinger. Rickman looks improved other than stamina issues. Pleased to see Bell out there and going all out. Q needed to be much improved and he looks like he's getting there. Claycomb is very intriguing as a walk on, big wing that is no stiff. Scott was still the badass he was last season..That about covers the positives. Just keep reminding myself it was just a 1:30 snapshot 2 practices into a new year. Nevertheless, great to see some live bball!
 
BankShot said:
http://www.tribstar.com/sports/loca...cle_3885b1b9-e216-54b7-b56d-1d3c64735b25.html

- Golden's Trib-Star article w/good question given the "traditional" perimeter-based offense of Lansing. Interesting stat re: Matt Renn being ISU's LAST "big man" to make 1st or 2nd team MVC in 15 yrs.
Click to expand...

Nice article, but I would quibble about a few things. I don't think the 3 bigs give them much in "rotation" options. I doubt that we will play two of them very much if at all. Also, in the context of the article, Renn was NOT a big man. It's no secret that we have not had a lot of talent in the middle. The MVC is pretty much a guard oriented league since the high majors get the top of the crop in centers and we have to get players we can develop.
 
Curious...if we eliminate Renn, who was the last ISU BIG MAN to gather All-MVC 1st or 2nd team honors?
 

Become a Supporting Member to remove this ad and help support the site.
All-Missouri Valley Conference:

1978 Larry Bird (MVP) Harry Morgan (Second Team)
1979 Larry Bird (MVP) Carl Nicks
1980 Carl Nicks
1983 John Williams (Second Team)
1984 John Williams (Second Team)
1985 John Williams
1986 John Williams
1988 Eddie Bird (HM)
1990 Eddie Bird (HM)
1991 Eddie Bird (HM)
1992 Travis Inman (Coaches Second Team, media HM) Greg Thomas (media HM)
1993 Greg Thomas (Second Team)
1996 Jim Cruse (Second Team)
1997 Jim Cruse (Second Team)
1998 Nate Green (HM)
1999 Nate Green (Second Team)
2000 Nate Green (MVP) Matt Renn (Second Team) Michael Menser (HM)
2001 Matt Renn Michael Menser (Second Team) Kelyn Block (HM)
2002 Kelyn Block (HM) Djibril Kante (HM)
2004 David Moss (HM)
2005 David Moss (Second Team)
2008 Gabe Moore (HM)
2009 Harry Marshall (HM)
2009 Jay Tunnell (HM)
2010 Harry Marshall (Second Team)
2011 Jake Odum (HM) Carl Richard (HM)
2012 Jake Odum (Second Team)
2013 Jake Odum (First Team)
2014 Jake Odum (First Team) Manny Arop (HM)
2015 Devonte Brown (Second Team)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top