I'm posting this about halfway into practice. Due to the nature of what's happening today, I don't know that I'll have much to add, but I will do so later in a response to this post if there's anything worth reporting.
First, some confirmation on the secret scrimmage with Illinois. Vanderbilt won by three and my understanding was that it led comfortably most of the way and then had to hold on at the end.
Second the “injury” rumor. Everyone was participating at practice. The only place I can figure this came from was the fact that Ejike Obinna has been dealing with a hamstring issue and was limited to about 2-3 minutes in that game due to it.
Finally, on Matthew Moyer: As I’d said they’d probably do a few weeks ago, they’re petitioning to get him an extra year of eligibility. He won’t play this year at VU, but that would get him three years instead of two. They think they will hear back “soon” on that, though it’s the NCAA and so I’d never guarantee anything.
So, on to practice.
Tomorrow is an off-day and then five straight days of practice. So today was a light day where they spent a couple hours working on fundamentals—shooting, post defense, ball movement—but no real scrimmaging. I know better than to draw sweeping conclusions from that, but I did watch and asked a lot of questions and here’s what I know.
The stories of practice have been Saben Lee and Joe Toye. I heard before practice started that Saben had been the most improved player over the summer, so evidently that translated.
On Toye, one quote stuck out: “I think he’s played too well not to start.”
I was also told Simi Shittu had been playing at the 5 a good bit.
So with that, I’d expect their starting lineup to be this::
PG: Darius Garland
SG: Lee
SF: Matt Ryan
PF: Toye
C: Shittu
If I’m wrong, them I’m guessing Yanni Wetzell starts somewhere and Toye would move out. But either way it sounds as if Toye will be a big part of what they do to start the season.
On Shittu, I’m still not certain they know what they have right away. That’s not an indictment of him, it’s just a big transition from playing in high school/AAU to the SEC. The same applies to Garland. “You can’t get away here with some of the stuff you do in AAU ball,” was the quote I got. That shouldn’t send off any alarm bells—that happens about everywhere—but you may temper your expectations just a bit to start the season with those two.
On the third freshman, Aaron Nesmith: I’m hearing he’s had a really good fall. I think he’ll be a significant contributor right away.
That’s about all I have, feel free to ask
First, some confirmation on the secret scrimmage with Illinois. Vanderbilt won by three and my understanding was that it led comfortably most of the way and then had to hold on at the end.
Second the “injury” rumor. Everyone was participating at practice. The only place I can figure this came from was the fact that Ejike Obinna has been dealing with a hamstring issue and was limited to about 2-3 minutes in that game due to it.
Finally, on Matthew Moyer: As I’d said they’d probably do a few weeks ago, they’re petitioning to get him an extra year of eligibility. He won’t play this year at VU, but that would get him three years instead of two. They think they will hear back “soon” on that, though it’s the NCAA and so I’d never guarantee anything.
So, on to practice.
Tomorrow is an off-day and then five straight days of practice. So today was a light day where they spent a couple hours working on fundamentals—shooting, post defense, ball movement—but no real scrimmaging. I know better than to draw sweeping conclusions from that, but I did watch and asked a lot of questions and here’s what I know.
The stories of practice have been Saben Lee and Joe Toye. I heard before practice started that Saben had been the most improved player over the summer, so evidently that translated.
On Toye, one quote stuck out: “I think he’s played too well not to start.”
I was also told Simi Shittu had been playing at the 5 a good bit.
So with that, I’d expect their starting lineup to be this::
PG: Darius Garland
SG: Lee
SF: Matt Ryan
PF: Toye
C: Shittu
If I’m wrong, them I’m guessing Yanni Wetzell starts somewhere and Toye would move out. But either way it sounds as if Toye will be a big part of what they do to start the season.
On Shittu, I’m still not certain they know what they have right away. That’s not an indictment of him, it’s just a big transition from playing in high school/AAU to the SEC. The same applies to Garland. “You can’t get away here with some of the stuff you do in AAU ball,” was the quote I got. That shouldn’t send off any alarm bells—that happens about everywhere—but you may temper your expectations just a bit to start the season with those two.
On the third freshman, Aaron Nesmith: I’m hearing he’s had a really good fall. I think he’ll be a significant contributor right away.
That’s about all I have, feel free to ask
