Thoughts on Sycamores vs. Bradley

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SycamoreStateofMind

SycamoreStateofMind

The Odum Level
Supporter
Boy the forum was quiet tonight? Maybe that's because they had a pretty good turnout at the game, considering the Pizza Hut Classic was going on with North playing Sullivan tonight I was pretty happy with the turnout. Hopefully Kelly is able to get his knee to feeling better, looks like it was an issue in warmups and just came out tight. Nothing to serious hopefully, well here is my breakdown.

Lathan: Took care of the ball better than he normally does. Not sure why a 70% FT shooter is the one we are running inbound plays for at the end of the game? He had 2 nice backdoor dunks in the first half, nice passes from Odum. Thought Lathan played more under-control tonight.

Carter: One of his better games as a Sycamore. Made some big 3s early and then mixed it up nicely with some tough shots in the lane. He just brings a level of toughness to this team that we have to have. Thought he played pretty good D also on one of Bradley's better players.

Odum: What's not to like about his game? 8 assists, 5 steals and 0 turnovers? Is this kid a freshman? He doesn't play like one, what I like the most about Jake Odum is he doesn't have to score to have an impact on the game. That says a lot to me about a young player. He sees the floor so well and I think he also had 5 plus rebounds. He's going to be damn good boys.

Walker: Missed some shots inside that you would like to see him hit and as always going to the FT line is an adventure. But I still like his size inside, he gives us a big body and that's what we have been lacking in years past. He defends the basket pretty well and we shouldn't take that for granted. Some have said they wish he would kick it out sometimes and re-set, totally agree with that.

JP: First game back and he looked a little rusty. He will get it going again before long, needs to get his legs under him. I am sure he is a little out of shape with the long layoff. You would assume he has been cycling and such to stay somewhat in shape, but that doesn't simulate the actual game.

RJ: Thought he played pretty well, still waiting for him to get his shot going? Not sure what the deal is with that? Hit a nice baseline jumper under 6 to play that was huge. Also played very well around the rim tonight, has trouble with bigger players around the rim though.

McWorther: Hit a couple big 3s and missed a few - but hey that's part of the game. He gives us a pretty good lift off the bench and he plays his role. He is going to be a good player, but it's going to take time.

Martin: Didn't play big minutes, thought he played well when he did play. Had a nice shot under the basket early, but other than that didn't get a chance to do much. Not sure if he played in the second half or not?

Richard(s): according the back of his uni, he did go to Richard(s) high school I think, or was it Richard High School? Anyway, Carl didn't play his best game tonight. Struggled shooting and couldn't get a call around the basket. Carl just go up strong a DUNK it, stop trying to lay it up - they block it 9 times out of 10 it seems like. He needs to step inside the 3 point line also, he shoots a better mid range jumper than he does 3.

Well I don't know if I missed anyone or not? Don't believe so... Thought the Sycamores played a heck of a ball game - great D in the first half. The best first half they have played all season with the exception of the ND game. They took care of the ball and they passed the ball better than they have all season. 19 assists to under 10 turnovers is a pretty good ratio - still can't say enough about Carter and Odum tonight. Both played VERY well. Didn't think that Bradley was very impressive, if we are going to win on the road in the Mo Val, that game will have to be one that we plan on winning. If you can "plan" on winning on the road in college basketball... lol
 
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Missed Koang, I thought maybe I missed someone. Well he made a 3 that I can recall and he forced a 3 that I can also recall. Had a couple big rebounds inside something that he need him to do more of. He is a nice option with his length and with him shooting well he adds depth to a bench that seems to be getting deeper and deeper. Good news for sure!
 
If I calulated right, we have 3 freshmen shooting a combined .534 and averaging over 11 ppg.

I think our team is leading the MVC in blocks and we had 10 tonight.
 
Thanks for the report, missed the game. Very nice win. We needed it to have a strong conference season, I think.
 
Good crowd..Just need to add some more excitement during media timeouts. Get's annoying hearing We Will Rock You 24 times a game. Other than that I was very happy with what I saw...
 
Just a quick thought, I appreciate Odum's style and there is no doubt 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals makes for a great game, but I'd like to see him shoot a little more. Looking at the stats, he lead the team with 34 minutes on the floor and took just four shots. We know he can score as well and while that isn't what we needed from him tonight, I hope he's not hesitant to shoot more when given the chance. McWhorter is the back up and had six shots in half the minutes. Not a criticism at all, just wouldn't mind seeing Jake encouraged to shoot more.

Also, looks like it was a bad shooting night for Bradley's starters. How much credit does our defense deserve for that?
 

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bent20 said:
Also, looks like it was a bad shooting night for Bradley's starters. How much credit does our defense deserve for that?
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Give our guys the credit. They really took Bradley out of whatever they wanted to do, in the first half particularly...
 
First live game I've seen this year. Odum is the real deal...right now. He has the "it" factor. I can't express how impressed I was by him tonight. I know it's just one game, but he was calm, ran the offense well, was all over the place on defense...REALLY heady player.

McWhorter and RJ contributed a little more than I expected, which is definitely a good thing.

Carl had a tough game, but still managed 7 and 4.

Carter was big this game...flash in the pan, or no?

A/TO? 19/10...almost 2/1. That needs to happen every game.

This team still had that 5-7 minute drought in the second half that they've had ever since I can remember watching them...I hate it so much.

Probably won't see the team live again until St. Louis. If the team I saw tonight sticks around...we won't play Thursday night.
 
bent20 said:
Just a quick thought, I appreciate Odum's style and there is no doubt 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 5 steals makes for a great game, but I'd like to see him shoot a little more. Looking at the stats, he lead the team with 34 minutes on the floor and took just four shots. We know he can score as well and while that isn't what we needed from him tonight, I hope he's not hesitant to shoot more when given the chance. McWhorter is the back up and had six shots in half the minutes. Not a criticism at all, just wouldn't mind seeing Jake encouraged to shoot more.

Also, looks like it was a bad shooting night for Bradley's starters. How much credit does our defense deserve for that?
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I think Odum would shoot more, but he really seemed to be playing in the flow of the game tonight. Carter was white-hot in the first half and he just kept going to the well. I appreciate a ball handler who knows when he needs to score and when he doesn't...and to have that as a freshman is really special in my opinion. If I had to guess - and that's all it'd be - I'd say he has the green light to shoot if he's being given the keys to the car as he was tonight.

Bradley missed some open shots, but we did a really good job of rotating/helping/doubling when necessary tonight...solid defensive effort.

My biggest beef right now is our post entry passing game...sometimes our entry passes to Walker, etc. are about a 2 or 3 count too late. That's a REALLY small beef, but I think it could be improved on.
 
sycamorebacker said:
Strange to say that about a senior that has proven himself for 3.5 years.
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I've never seen Carter take THAT kind of control in a game like he did tonight. The closest I've seen him come was the first half of the Purdue game that I saw on TV. Granted...he's always been a big effort guy who's worked hard, but he really looked like a scoring leader tonight. Great to see.
 

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Made the short trip to TH and really enjoyed the game. Overall, I thought it was a solid effort. Good defense and better decision-making (for the most part) by a lot of the guys. I know Bradley isn't the strongest team in the Valley, but I'm nonetheless optimistic about the MVC season!

My only complaint was that the beer in the Varsity Club room wasn't cold enough. This definitely needs to be addressed. :D
 
Kelly is "out" with a "Tweaked" ankle...not a knee problem.
Carter put the team on his back last year for 5 games down the streach (when we only had 8 players). He averaged something like 19 pts & 9 reb per game. He's a 6'4", hard-nosed player that brings it every night. He should get more minutes.
 
Ong Hop said:
Kelly is "out" with a "Tweaked" ankle...not a knee problem.
Carter put the team on his back last year for 5 games down the streach (when we only had 8 players). He averaged something like 19 pts & 9 reb per game. He's a 6'4", hard-nosed player that brings it every night. He should get more minutes.
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Thanks for the report on Kelly, I gathered that from the paper today.

Also I think Carter is playing his way into more minutes, Lansing is starting to show a little more confidence in his bench and I think that will go a long way at getting AC and others more involved in the game. He realizes that AC is doing a good job, I don't think anyone would disagree that he should get more minutes.

Personally I thought that the Sycamores played better without Kelly in the starting line-up? Any thoughts? That's not to say we don't need Kelly, he is obviously one of our better players - maybe or best, but who cares about that. I wouldn't mind seeing him come off the bench as maybe a 6th man role. That bench looks a whole lot deeper with Odum, Lathan, Carter, Richard, Walker starting and Kelly, JP, Koang, McWorther, RJ, Martin on the bench. Not sure that Kelly would be cool with that idea?
 
Lovin it !!

About a perfect nite of basketball as th Sycamores were the best they have been this year. Passing was very good, moving was very good and shooting reflected it. Nice to see us when coach has time to prepare for an oponent.
The Braves were never in the game from the first 3 by AC, to the end. It is especially fun to THUMP the Braves. The only downer was the loud music, as it is bad enough the choice of tunes, but to add the earth shaking volume is more than bearable. If someone in RP office is listning "turn the volume down !!
 

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SycamoreStateofMind said:
Personally I thought that the Sycamores played better without Kelly in the starting line-up? Any thoughts? That's not to say we don't need Kelly, he is obviously one of our better players - maybe or best, but who cares about that. I wouldn't mind seeing him come off the bench as maybe a 6th man role. That bench looks a whole lot deeper with Odum, Lathan, Carter, Richard, Walker starting and Kelly, JP, Koang, McWorther, RJ, Martin on the bench. Not sure that Kelly would be cool with that idea?
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I think you're onto something. I think we might be more effective if Lathan and Kelly aren't on the floor at the same time, but also agree that it likely won't happen. Once, and if, Printy gets going again maybe he is in there instead of Carter. Of course it's whoever has the hot hand and right now that is Carter. We need that three point/shooting threat out there.
 
It was a good performance. My player of the game was Odum. I really like the fact he only took a few shots. I don't think he has a good shot yet. He knows what he can do, and does it well. In my eyes he controlled the game both offensively and defensively.

ISU seemed to move the ball better with Kelly out of the lineup tonight. I'm not really sure what to take from that, but my eyes tell me the offense just ran smoother.

Another poor performance by MVC referees. Thought the 1st half was well called and then the 2nd half was totally different. I'm not sure why refs can't be more consistent. It's like they went in at halftime and said "we aren't playing enough of a role."
 
SycamoreStateofMind said:
Personally I thought that the Sycamores played better without Kelly in the starting line-up? Any thoughts? That's not to say we don't need Kelly, he is obviously one of our better players - maybe or best, but who cares about that. I wouldn't mind seeing him come off the bench as maybe a 6th man role. That bench looks a whole lot deeper with Odum, Lathan, Carter, Richard, Walker starting and Kelly, JP, Koang, McWorther, RJ, Martin on the bench. Not sure that Kelly would be cool with that idea?
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I agree with all of this, for whatever my opinion is worth. I'm not slamming Kelly, but if he isn't cool with it then I'm sure he knows what he'd need to do to get his starting job back. I'd like to think that every player wants what's best for the team's success.
 
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