A few notes to get conversation started:
- Practice begins October 16th
- From what we're hearing, Jordan Vandenburg is showing some of the most impressive work ethic that they've seen around the program in a while
- Farnold Degand is more focused than he's ever been. A good thing, considering this is his Senior season and he has to beat out two other pretty legitimate point guards for the starting role.
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16 Responses to "Open Thread: 9/12/2009"If Jordan has the type of work ethic you speak of he could be legit in his first year. Hard work ethic, being 7 foot, and he is supposed to have a high basketball IQ. I like to think that he will contribute more than originally planned. If he could get stronger I think he would be the total package at center.
Real quickly... a whole lot of teams are probably installing 3-2 zones after the end of last season. Your guards seemed to have a lot of trouble making passes into the interior from around a zone.
If your 7' guy can come out to the foul line and make low-post passes, and sink a jumper, you'll have a weapon to bust zones.
Other than defense and rebounding, zone offense is probably one of Coach Lowe's big items on his to-do list.
The 3-2 zone Maryland used against us should be the standard that opposing coaches use against us. Lo Brown would have given us a guard who can dribble penetrate, the question now is can Javi, Mays, etc suffice for one year. From another post, is J. Thomas really questionable to contribute this year? If so, I hope we can work a "big" line up of Howell, Smith, and Painter down low substituted with Wood at SF for the 3-ball. From the team photo it does look like guys are in much better shape than previous years. I still have an optimistic feeling for this year. Hopefully we can step up our defensive effort as well.
Disregarding injuries, if that's possible, I just wish we have 1 point guard step up and take the leading role. I don't care who it is.
i dont see us winning more than 15 games,i hope cj or javi steps their game up,but i just dont think it'll happen. i believe wood is a gem,and i am really believe he will make an immediate impact,i think horner will have an outstanding year. ive never liked degand at all,i dont think jordan will be a factor at all,much less see any significant playing time. tracy smith is just a beast,he has an incredible upside,i believe he'll be first team all acc.painter is from the 757,that should say enough,the 7 citys has a history for putting out nothing but top quality players over the years,and painter will just continue the trend. howell is my dark horse,i just dont know,we could be drawing dead on him,or we could hit the nuts. anyway im not a basketball guru like jose or many others on here,im just someone who loves wolfpack basketball and these are my opinions
I'm not a basketball guru either, I just hope and pray one of the two-"drawing dead on him”, or “hitting the nuts"-is a good thing; both sound grim if you ask me.
In any event, I too sense Jordan may be a non-factor this year. That's not to say I don't think he could contribute down the road it's just… I think others will step up so that he won’t have thrown into the mix just yet. Hard worker or not, it looks as if this kid needs to do some major time in the weight room to compete against ACC (or for that matter) division one basketball. Our guard play has to be consistent and it does seem like someone has to step up and early. What I didn't particularly like about last year was that Lowe really didn't know his rotation until real late in the year. It would be nice to see a solid rotation early on and I think that means one guy has to be deemed as the point guard. Perhaps the philosophy of-if you bust butt in practice you play-is a good one in theory and it’s a good way to make a point but I think at some point, you have to evaluate talent and let the best guy play on a consistent basis. As for Wood, this guy I think is going to turn a lot of heads; I'm excited although I think he needs to put some muscle on as well but… I think he can make do with what he has in his position. I hope that Horner finally turns the corner. I personally think he'll contribute but do nothing astounding. But who knows; no one really does and none will until the year starts.
I think that state could be 12-2 or 13-1 in non-conference play, losing to Marq or possibly Arizona. Win half of the conference games, and this could be a tournament year.
FYI, CJ Leslie and Luke Cothron were both at the football game with Sid and the players.
I'd pick losing to 'Zona over losing to a complete rebuild with Marquette.
And I think that Horner turned the corner last season. He may be one of the best ball handlers on the team and can play smart.
Unlike many of my friends who haven't been following the team during the off-season or recruiting, I'm really looking forward to this season. I have really high hopes going into this year. Now I'm not to saying my expectations are high too...
I can see this year being the perfect storm and Sid getting us back to the big dance. We have to have a pg step up, which I can see either Javi or Julius doing. Javi took great strides last season, and I usually felt confident with Julius on the floor last season even though he was a freshman, something I didn't feel with Degand. We have the pieces at every position on the floor, we just need everybody to step up and play.
Even though football season is heating up, I can't wait for basketball season to get here!
Go Wolfpack!!
""CJ Leslie and Luke Cothron were both at the football game with Sid and the players""
Really? I've read that they're not on the best of terms. Of course, I read that on a message board, so I took it with a grain of salt. I'd also read that CJ was spotted with a few from the team @ the football game.
That's good. I know some don't think we have a chance w/ Leslie, and maybe we don't. But maybe we do. The fact that he's a neighbor and makes frequent appearnces around the campus and CF is a encouraging.
And if Cothron was there, that's also encouraging. Either one of those guys would complete an excellent '10 class.
Vandenburg will be a factor jus look at his size that alone is a big factor and one we have needed aganist other bigs in the league for some time plus he does have pretty good skills for some one his size .
^^^ Yep, we did know that. We'll have an update from Luke posted tomorrow morning. There was also another surprise visitor.
"suprise visitor"...Was it Cothrons teammate maybe? the one who transferred to Flora this year?
^quincy miller???
"I'm not a basketball guru either, I just hope and pray one of the two-"drawing dead on him”, or “hitting the nuts"-is a good thing; both sound grim if you ask me."
Dude, that is hilarious! Please keep feeding us your takes, anony. Guru or not, I like your style. Personally, I hope we aren't 'hittin' the nuts.' I think Jules would agree with me. Peace.
Go State!
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