Wildcat Report
This year's Wildccat team is not a Ferrari. It's not flashy with tons and tons of power under the hood. It is also not a city bus with tons and tons of players. Actually, it's not like a car at all, that was kind of a stupid analogy and I ahve no idea where it was going.
This year's team IS quite good and it feels good. Feels like home. There's not a huge amount of excitement and not a lot of expectations, but everyone has a role to play and it is one of those classic UofA teams that quietly goes about its job and make a trip to the Final Four. Here are a few points from what I have seen at the Red Blue and today's scrimmage.
*No fat on this team. None!! Every single team member looks cut and it looks like everybody spent a lot of time this past summer in the weight room. Isaiah Fox is no longer soft. He looks great and plays much better because of it.
*Frye has put on about 10 pounds of muscle and will dominate the Pac-10. His touch is still soft and he looks like he has expanded his shooting range a bit. I think Channing will be the leader of this team and again, if he doesn't make All-American first or second team I wil be shocked. He is that good.
*Andre Iguodala is still quite amazing. He made quite a few treys and his outside shot should help his game quite a bit. He also had some Beautiful dunks. Andre will be another big surprise for people this year and could also be an all-american candidate.
*Hassan Adams had a spurt where he had 3 blocks in a few minutes and a few nice midrange shots. He sem to kind of play in bursts. Spectacular for a few minutes, but then kind of disappears.
*Shakur is YOUNG. He looks young and he plays young. He is defintely quick, but can't shoot very well and is a little timid at the point. Has a lot of potential, but will take about a year for him to really be comfortable I think.
*Chris Rodgers looks a bit better, but is still a spaz. I think Lute may try to play Shakur and teach him to be the starting point guard rather than play Rodgers more. Tough to say. Either way, point is our weakness this year.
*Salim Stoudamire is freakin' good. He had a nice breakaway dunk, about 5 or 6 steals and his shot is that same old Salim sweetness on long range and free throws. He dribbles a bit less and I would like to see him run Point every now and then. He;s still definitely a shooter but seems to play a bit more under control than the other two.
*Walters will see some playing time this year. Not too fast but pretty strong and seems like a smart kid. not amazing, but will be a solid replacement for Fox/Frye whenever they leave.
*The rest of the second team is basically only good for practicing against. Somebody may turn into a Kevin Flannagan or something, but even that is probably asking too
much.
*Some funny quotes by Lute:
(to Shakur) "Don't foul the driver, our big men will take care of it."
(to Rodgers, after he didn't get up on D when he was supposed to be meeting at half court) "Take Chris out, put Salim in. Chris, get down here. (slow saunter pretending he didn't hear Lute) YOU'D BETTER COME FASTER THAN THAT!" It was pretty funny.
*Final score was 115-72, first team winners.
* Took a few photos and will post those sometime soon. Basically, I think we should fel good about this team. Not a top 5 team, but they deserve the top 10 ranking. Should probably lose about 6 or 7 games, but could make a deep run into the tournament. Here's to a good season you freakin' Joes.
This year's Wildccat team is not a Ferrari. It's not flashy with tons and tons of power under the hood. It is also not a city bus with tons and tons of players. Actually, it's not like a car at all, that was kind of a stupid analogy and I ahve no idea where it was going.
This year's team IS quite good and it feels good. Feels like home. There's not a huge amount of excitement and not a lot of expectations, but everyone has a role to play and it is one of those classic UofA teams that quietly goes about its job and make a trip to the Final Four. Here are a few points from what I have seen at the Red Blue and today's scrimmage.
*No fat on this team. None!! Every single team member looks cut and it looks like everybody spent a lot of time this past summer in the weight room. Isaiah Fox is no longer soft. He looks great and plays much better because of it.
*Frye has put on about 10 pounds of muscle and will dominate the Pac-10. His touch is still soft and he looks like he has expanded his shooting range a bit. I think Channing will be the leader of this team and again, if he doesn't make All-American first or second team I wil be shocked. He is that good.
*Andre Iguodala is still quite amazing. He made quite a few treys and his outside shot should help his game quite a bit. He also had some Beautiful dunks. Andre will be another big surprise for people this year and could also be an all-american candidate.
*Hassan Adams had a spurt where he had 3 blocks in a few minutes and a few nice midrange shots. He sem to kind of play in bursts. Spectacular for a few minutes, but then kind of disappears.
*Shakur is YOUNG. He looks young and he plays young. He is defintely quick, but can't shoot very well and is a little timid at the point. Has a lot of potential, but will take about a year for him to really be comfortable I think.
*Chris Rodgers looks a bit better, but is still a spaz. I think Lute may try to play Shakur and teach him to be the starting point guard rather than play Rodgers more. Tough to say. Either way, point is our weakness this year.
*Salim Stoudamire is freakin' good. He had a nice breakaway dunk, about 5 or 6 steals and his shot is that same old Salim sweetness on long range and free throws. He dribbles a bit less and I would like to see him run Point every now and then. He;s still definitely a shooter but seems to play a bit more under control than the other two.
*Walters will see some playing time this year. Not too fast but pretty strong and seems like a smart kid. not amazing, but will be a solid replacement for Fox/Frye whenever they leave.
*The rest of the second team is basically only good for practicing against. Somebody may turn into a Kevin Flannagan or something, but even that is probably asking too
much.
*Some funny quotes by Lute:
(to Shakur) "Don't foul the driver, our big men will take care of it."
(to Rodgers, after he didn't get up on D when he was supposed to be meeting at half court) "Take Chris out, put Salim in. Chris, get down here. (slow saunter pretending he didn't hear Lute) YOU'D BETTER COME FASTER THAN THAT!" It was pretty funny.
*Final score was 115-72, first team winners.
* Took a few photos and will post those sometime soon. Basically, I think we should fel good about this team. Not a top 5 team, but they deserve the top 10 ranking. Should probably lose about 6 or 7 games, but could make a deep run into the tournament. Here's to a good season you freakin' Joes.
posted by devin at 5:06 PM
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