I sure enjoying these reviews much better after a Sycamore win. Let me start by saying that is one of the best 20 minutes of basketball I have seen in the HC since Mike Menser, Matt Renn and Co. I was just a kid then so I haven't seen a ton of basketball in my life, but that was excellent team ball. Something like 11 assists in the first half to only 6 turnovers, once again a pretty good ratio. The Sycamores have a bright future! Sycamores move to 1 game over .500 and 3 and 1 in the Valley. Here we go.
Odum: Once again continues to shine in the first half, he played very well early on had something like 7 points 3 steals in the first half. His defense along with his effort continues to impress me. Not much else you can say about the RS Freshman at this point. Keep doing what your doing young fella, the fans enjoy watching 13 play! 10 pts, 7 ast, 3 stls. 3 rbs. BOOM!
Steve: I was criticized for spelling his last name wrong the other night, so I will stick with Steve from here on out. lol In all seriousness I didn't see this kind of game coming from him, especially so soon. I have said that Golden is hard on Odum because he didn't see his success coming so soon, well Golden I didn't see Steve playing this well this early. He had the touch early on - let me tell you how well he (and the team were shooting the ball) would make a shot and as you looked around people were just shaking their head like who the heck are these guys. 15 pts, 3 rbs, 3 ast, 2 stls BOOM!
Walker: Had a great first half, really got us going and was the major reason we got off to such a great start. His D in the paint was fantastic, he made some shots that he hadn't been making this season. Did struggle a little bit in the second half, missed a dunk. But I'm not going to be picky at this point, he played very well.
Printy: He is shooting the ball about as well as I have ever seen him shoot. Had a great bank shot leaner in the second half, he is knocking them down from all over the floor. Having him back healthy has been really important, his value to this team is not talked about enough. I am hard on him because he doesn't do much outside of shoot the 3, but he doesn't turn the ball over and he is a decent defender.
AC: I am honestly not sure what AC did tonight? lol I know that he made a few 3s and that's really all I can recall. I don't think he played major minutes in the second half, gave him a breather for fresh legs come Sunday.
Koang: Continues to rebound the ball very well for us, made a deep 3 in the first half. It was snowing outside the HC tonight, but it was raining 3s in the HC on Friday night. I did the work for you Golden, call me Rex Ryan. I get a little worried when Koang has the ball in his hand, not a very good ball handler. But that's really the only knock on his game.
Richard: Well we lead by 20 plus at half and Richard was held scoreless, that seems amazing to me. Thought he forced a few shots in the second half, but other than that Carl played a pretty good game. If the Sycamores are going to make noise in the Valley they are going to need Carl to play good ball inside. His D was pretty solid tonight on one of UNI's better players.
RJ: Shooting the rock pretty well for us right now, has given us a huge lift! Would personally like to see him be a little more selective inside, he kinda forces it sometimes but again this is me being picky (made a nice runner of the glass in the second half) Only other thing I don't get at this point is why he's shooting under 70% at the line, knock emm down like you do the 3 ball!
Martin: Thought he played good in limited minutes, had a bucket and a few blocked shots. UNI threw in the towel long before he got into the game, but he played well. Would be nice to have him back up Walker a little bit.
Eitles: Don't want to leave anyone out tonight, because this was a team effort - so here is my team effort. They both got in the game late, the handle the ball very well and they see the floor. I see them being role players for us 2 years from now. Until then it's nice to have the local flavor on the bench, like these kids and what the bring to our roster!
Now granted we have seen 3 of the first 4 Valley teams we have played on the road, but it's quite obvious to me that the Valley is down. I think we are better than every team we have seen so far. A win on Sunday would be huge, these guys should have a lot of confidence heading into that game. We keep being positive and saying that we really need Lathan and Kelly back to be serious contenders, I pose the question, do we really need those guys to be contenders? I think the most obvious answer is yes, you need their experience and athletic ability if nothing else. But we have seen the last 2 weeks what not turning the ball over will do for your team. 19 assists to 11 turnovers is fantastic basketball. Oh how sweet it is to be a Sycamore! Don't sleep on these guys.
Side note, that was a solid crowd in the HC tonight. Not a huge crowd in numbers, but from the opening tip that place was rocking pretty good. Also the Northview pep band was excellent. I aint one to get my jollies off over pep band but they were way better than Norths band. Hopefully the Sycamores won over some fans tonight!
Odum: Once again continues to shine in the first half, he played very well early on had something like 7 points 3 steals in the first half. His defense along with his effort continues to impress me. Not much else you can say about the RS Freshman at this point. Keep doing what your doing young fella, the fans enjoy watching 13 play! 10 pts, 7 ast, 3 stls. 3 rbs. BOOM!
Steve: I was criticized for spelling his last name wrong the other night, so I will stick with Steve from here on out. lol In all seriousness I didn't see this kind of game coming from him, especially so soon. I have said that Golden is hard on Odum because he didn't see his success coming so soon, well Golden I didn't see Steve playing this well this early. He had the touch early on - let me tell you how well he (and the team were shooting the ball) would make a shot and as you looked around people were just shaking their head like who the heck are these guys. 15 pts, 3 rbs, 3 ast, 2 stls BOOM!
Walker: Had a great first half, really got us going and was the major reason we got off to such a great start. His D in the paint was fantastic, he made some shots that he hadn't been making this season. Did struggle a little bit in the second half, missed a dunk. But I'm not going to be picky at this point, he played very well.
Printy: He is shooting the ball about as well as I have ever seen him shoot. Had a great bank shot leaner in the second half, he is knocking them down from all over the floor. Having him back healthy has been really important, his value to this team is not talked about enough. I am hard on him because he doesn't do much outside of shoot the 3, but he doesn't turn the ball over and he is a decent defender.
AC: I am honestly not sure what AC did tonight? lol I know that he made a few 3s and that's really all I can recall. I don't think he played major minutes in the second half, gave him a breather for fresh legs come Sunday.
Koang: Continues to rebound the ball very well for us, made a deep 3 in the first half. It was snowing outside the HC tonight, but it was raining 3s in the HC on Friday night. I did the work for you Golden, call me Rex Ryan. I get a little worried when Koang has the ball in his hand, not a very good ball handler. But that's really the only knock on his game.
Richard: Well we lead by 20 plus at half and Richard was held scoreless, that seems amazing to me. Thought he forced a few shots in the second half, but other than that Carl played a pretty good game. If the Sycamores are going to make noise in the Valley they are going to need Carl to play good ball inside. His D was pretty solid tonight on one of UNI's better players.
RJ: Shooting the rock pretty well for us right now, has given us a huge lift! Would personally like to see him be a little more selective inside, he kinda forces it sometimes but again this is me being picky (made a nice runner of the glass in the second half) Only other thing I don't get at this point is why he's shooting under 70% at the line, knock emm down like you do the 3 ball!
Martin: Thought he played good in limited minutes, had a bucket and a few blocked shots. UNI threw in the towel long before he got into the game, but he played well. Would be nice to have him back up Walker a little bit.
Eitles: Don't want to leave anyone out tonight, because this was a team effort - so here is my team effort. They both got in the game late, the handle the ball very well and they see the floor. I see them being role players for us 2 years from now. Until then it's nice to have the local flavor on the bench, like these kids and what the bring to our roster!
Now granted we have seen 3 of the first 4 Valley teams we have played on the road, but it's quite obvious to me that the Valley is down. I think we are better than every team we have seen so far. A win on Sunday would be huge, these guys should have a lot of confidence heading into that game. We keep being positive and saying that we really need Lathan and Kelly back to be serious contenders, I pose the question, do we really need those guys to be contenders? I think the most obvious answer is yes, you need their experience and athletic ability if nothing else. But we have seen the last 2 weeks what not turning the ball over will do for your team. 19 assists to 11 turnovers is fantastic basketball. Oh how sweet it is to be a Sycamore! Don't sleep on these guys.
Side note, that was a solid crowd in the HC tonight. Not a huge crowd in numbers, but from the opening tip that place was rocking pretty good. Also the Northview pep band was excellent. I aint one to get my jollies off over pep band but they were way better than Norths band. Hopefully the Sycamores won over some fans tonight!
