I was there for two hours and 15 minutes, and while I will pass along some of my own observations, I also spent some time talking to a couple of frequent pass observers so that I can get context. Some of these things will be one-off observations, but most of the time I spent asking tons of questions to bring as much of the full picture as I can.
Some team stuff...
Ball movement was really good across the whole practice. It's a very unselfish team. They love to share the ball and seem to see the floor really well.
As a whole, the bigs were having trouble finishing. A few times it was the defense, sometimes, though, they were just misses. Nothing to be super-concerned about, but it happened today.
It wasn't a bad shooting day from 3, but it also wasn't what the team could be. As someone said at practice, "There may well be a night this team hits 20 3s." This wasn't that day... I didn't log it but I bet the percentage was somewhere around 35-40.
I think you'll see this team push the tempo a good bit.
There were times, especially at the first of practice, where the team defended pretty well in the half-court and pushed the shot clock to the brink.
Stallings was routinely frustrated at the end of the practice with some half-court execution. We were in the practice gym and at the other end of the floor, and the echo made it hard to hear, but I know that not properly switching on ball screens was something he seemed frustrated overt least once.
It seems to be a very cohesive team. They hang out a lot together off the field. Luke Kornet and Nolan Cressler seem to be the leaders, from what I'm told.
Four-fifths of the starting rotation is likely set, or so I'm told. It'll be Wade Baldwin (PG), Riley LaChance (SG), Luke Kornet (PF), Damian Jones (C), with either Matthew Fisher-Davis or Nolan Cressler at the 3. The latter two seemed to split time with the first team evenly, though I didn't monitor it closely and could be wrong.
Those six guys wore black jerseys, while the other two sporting black jerseys were Camron Justice and Jeff Roberson. My guess is that there is some significance to this, though Josh Henderson was in a gold shirt and I think he'll be a factor also.
Overall, the vibe around this team is really, really positive, and insiders feel as if they're heading for a huge year.
Individual notes...
Damian Jones has definitely added some dimensions to his game. At one point, he took another big--I think it was Kornet--off the dribble from just outside the left side of the key, and finished to the right on a really pretty play. One of the assistants (I think it was McClellan) spent about 10 minutes with Damian alone, working on long jumpers. Damian flashed some range from about 17 at times, and what was telling was that it seemed to come in the flow of the offense, and that Stallings was fine with it. I've been told there were some times he has hit 3s in practices also. There were still some struggles and reminders that he's not a finished product--Damian air-balled about a 10-footer from the baseline at one point--but his game is obvious more versatile that it was a year ago, and I hear he's made some more progress as a passer.
Camron Justice was a really pleasant surprise, at least to me. He's built almost like a safety and is really thick from head to toe, and am told that the training staff is really pleased with his overall athleticism and what he does in the weight room. I'm not going to say he has a quick release in the manner of John Jenkins, but it's plenty quick enough that he has little trouble getting off shots. Stallings seemed to spend a lot of time with Justice on switching screens and such--I couldn't tell for sure if it was Justice, but I think it was--which I don't necessarily read as a bad thing; it seemed more like a situation where Stallings is really counting on him and wants to make sure he's fully prepared for what's ahead. Justice seems to be a guy who's instinctive about being in the right place at the right time, passes the ball well, and even has a little bit of drive-and-pull-up in his game. I don't want to make too much of what I saw, and asked a lot of questions for that reason, but I sense he's highly thought-of internally and will be too good to sit as a freshman despite the shooting depth.
Luke Kornet was about what I expected. He's put on weight and is still a dead-eye shooter. I think he nailed three straight at one point in live action, two coming from the right wing. Luke has added a decent amount of good weight and is no longer that super-skinny kid you saw the first year or two.
Wade Baldwin seemed to get to the rim at will, and I gather that's been the case for much of the fall, but had a tough day shooting, including finishing. I don't think Wade hit a 3 and missed a few of them. It's nothing I'd be concerned about, but Mitch Light commented in a recent podcast that it might be a surprise to see Wade shoot as well as he did a year ago. Was today a sign of that? I don't know. Wade also had maybe the prettiest play of the day when he drove right, went up-and-under around a defender and got the ball to a post player for an easy lay-in.
Jeff Roberson did little noteworthy good or bad; about the only memory I have was him getting an offensive rebound and a put-back while being fouled. I think that's going to be his role, with the occasional 3 thrown in.
Nolan Cressler has a really smooth shot and like Cressler, gets it off quickly. He shot about as well as anyone in practice today. He's a heady player who's well-liked... I think a lot of his role will be shooting and doing other small things.
Riley LaChance was about what you'd expect him to be. Riley shot the ball selectively and shot it well, and was careful with the ball. Riley's not going to be a slasher, but he did take it to the hole once when he had a chance (and failed to finish). Riley knows his attributes and his limitations, and they're quite comfortable with him as the backup at the point.
Matthew Fisher-Davis shot the ball about the way he did the last month of the season. One of the more pleasant surprises was MF-D showing the ability to slash from the wing, the way he did in high school. I saw him do this at least twice, and I think he finished both with scores.
If I'm correct on the rotation, and that it's an eight-man rotation as listed above, my guess is that Josh Henderson is the next guy. Henderson had a very good scrimmage today on both sides of the ball. He was efficient as a scorer inside and I thought played pretty good defense; at one point he had a swat on Jones as he went up for a dunk, and had a deflection that resulted in a steal at another time. Henderson is really, really well built through the upper body, but sported a brace on that knee that he hurt a year ago. One thing that I never really picked up on, probably because my press seats are a good way off the floor, but I had never noticed how skinny his legs are--literally, Kornet's are about twice as big. I know that's a weird observation, but I wonder if it explains a lot of his injury troubles.
Joseph Toye showed some handle off the wing. I suspect he'll be the kind of slasher he was in high school, but it wasn't quite there today. I didn't see him shoot much. I didn't see a lot today but was told on any other VU team, he'd be in the rotation. I'm not sure it'll happen this year, with this team, though.
Samir Sehic is kind of what I thought he was--can shoot a bit, can pass a bit, can rebound a bit. It's odd, I haven't heard a lot of buzz about him in the off-season... I think this is just a product of the depth elsewhere. With what Henderson showed today, I think that cuts into what he could potentially do to help this year.
D'jery Baptise, I'm guessing, is headed for a redshirt. He was hit in the face a couple of days ago and may have a concussion, and they're being quite careful with him; he rode the stationary bike all day. Physically, he looked something like a cross between Chris Woods as a senior, and Festus Ezeli right now... in other words, really, really impressive.
Walk-on Phillip McGloin drilled a couple of 3s in live scrimmage conditions, for what it's worth.
Any questions, feel free to fire away.
Some team stuff...
Ball movement was really good across the whole practice. It's a very unselfish team. They love to share the ball and seem to see the floor really well.
As a whole, the bigs were having trouble finishing. A few times it was the defense, sometimes, though, they were just misses. Nothing to be super-concerned about, but it happened today.
It wasn't a bad shooting day from 3, but it also wasn't what the team could be. As someone said at practice, "There may well be a night this team hits 20 3s." This wasn't that day... I didn't log it but I bet the percentage was somewhere around 35-40.
I think you'll see this team push the tempo a good bit.
There were times, especially at the first of practice, where the team defended pretty well in the half-court and pushed the shot clock to the brink.
Stallings was routinely frustrated at the end of the practice with some half-court execution. We were in the practice gym and at the other end of the floor, and the echo made it hard to hear, but I know that not properly switching on ball screens was something he seemed frustrated overt least once.
It seems to be a very cohesive team. They hang out a lot together off the field. Luke Kornet and Nolan Cressler seem to be the leaders, from what I'm told.
Four-fifths of the starting rotation is likely set, or so I'm told. It'll be Wade Baldwin (PG), Riley LaChance (SG), Luke Kornet (PF), Damian Jones (C), with either Matthew Fisher-Davis or Nolan Cressler at the 3. The latter two seemed to split time with the first team evenly, though I didn't monitor it closely and could be wrong.
Those six guys wore black jerseys, while the other two sporting black jerseys were Camron Justice and Jeff Roberson. My guess is that there is some significance to this, though Josh Henderson was in a gold shirt and I think he'll be a factor also.
Overall, the vibe around this team is really, really positive, and insiders feel as if they're heading for a huge year.
Individual notes...
Damian Jones has definitely added some dimensions to his game. At one point, he took another big--I think it was Kornet--off the dribble from just outside the left side of the key, and finished to the right on a really pretty play. One of the assistants (I think it was McClellan) spent about 10 minutes with Damian alone, working on long jumpers. Damian flashed some range from about 17 at times, and what was telling was that it seemed to come in the flow of the offense, and that Stallings was fine with it. I've been told there were some times he has hit 3s in practices also. There were still some struggles and reminders that he's not a finished product--Damian air-balled about a 10-footer from the baseline at one point--but his game is obvious more versatile that it was a year ago, and I hear he's made some more progress as a passer.
Camron Justice was a really pleasant surprise, at least to me. He's built almost like a safety and is really thick from head to toe, and am told that the training staff is really pleased with his overall athleticism and what he does in the weight room. I'm not going to say he has a quick release in the manner of John Jenkins, but it's plenty quick enough that he has little trouble getting off shots. Stallings seemed to spend a lot of time with Justice on switching screens and such--I couldn't tell for sure if it was Justice, but I think it was--which I don't necessarily read as a bad thing; it seemed more like a situation where Stallings is really counting on him and wants to make sure he's fully prepared for what's ahead. Justice seems to be a guy who's instinctive about being in the right place at the right time, passes the ball well, and even has a little bit of drive-and-pull-up in his game. I don't want to make too much of what I saw, and asked a lot of questions for that reason, but I sense he's highly thought-of internally and will be too good to sit as a freshman despite the shooting depth.
Luke Kornet was about what I expected. He's put on weight and is still a dead-eye shooter. I think he nailed three straight at one point in live action, two coming from the right wing. Luke has added a decent amount of good weight and is no longer that super-skinny kid you saw the first year or two.
Wade Baldwin seemed to get to the rim at will, and I gather that's been the case for much of the fall, but had a tough day shooting, including finishing. I don't think Wade hit a 3 and missed a few of them. It's nothing I'd be concerned about, but Mitch Light commented in a recent podcast that it might be a surprise to see Wade shoot as well as he did a year ago. Was today a sign of that? I don't know. Wade also had maybe the prettiest play of the day when he drove right, went up-and-under around a defender and got the ball to a post player for an easy lay-in.
Jeff Roberson did little noteworthy good or bad; about the only memory I have was him getting an offensive rebound and a put-back while being fouled. I think that's going to be his role, with the occasional 3 thrown in.
Nolan Cressler has a really smooth shot and like Cressler, gets it off quickly. He shot about as well as anyone in practice today. He's a heady player who's well-liked... I think a lot of his role will be shooting and doing other small things.
Riley LaChance was about what you'd expect him to be. Riley shot the ball selectively and shot it well, and was careful with the ball. Riley's not going to be a slasher, but he did take it to the hole once when he had a chance (and failed to finish). Riley knows his attributes and his limitations, and they're quite comfortable with him as the backup at the point.
Matthew Fisher-Davis shot the ball about the way he did the last month of the season. One of the more pleasant surprises was MF-D showing the ability to slash from the wing, the way he did in high school. I saw him do this at least twice, and I think he finished both with scores.
If I'm correct on the rotation, and that it's an eight-man rotation as listed above, my guess is that Josh Henderson is the next guy. Henderson had a very good scrimmage today on both sides of the ball. He was efficient as a scorer inside and I thought played pretty good defense; at one point he had a swat on Jones as he went up for a dunk, and had a deflection that resulted in a steal at another time. Henderson is really, really well built through the upper body, but sported a brace on that knee that he hurt a year ago. One thing that I never really picked up on, probably because my press seats are a good way off the floor, but I had never noticed how skinny his legs are--literally, Kornet's are about twice as big. I know that's a weird observation, but I wonder if it explains a lot of his injury troubles.
Joseph Toye showed some handle off the wing. I suspect he'll be the kind of slasher he was in high school, but it wasn't quite there today. I didn't see him shoot much. I didn't see a lot today but was told on any other VU team, he'd be in the rotation. I'm not sure it'll happen this year, with this team, though.
Samir Sehic is kind of what I thought he was--can shoot a bit, can pass a bit, can rebound a bit. It's odd, I haven't heard a lot of buzz about him in the off-season... I think this is just a product of the depth elsewhere. With what Henderson showed today, I think that cuts into what he could potentially do to help this year.
D'jery Baptise, I'm guessing, is headed for a redshirt. He was hit in the face a couple of days ago and may have a concussion, and they're being quite careful with him; he rode the stationary bike all day. Physically, he looked something like a cross between Chris Woods as a senior, and Festus Ezeli right now... in other words, really, really impressive.
Walk-on Phillip McGloin drilled a couple of 3s in live scrimmage conditions, for what it's worth.
Any questions, feel free to fire away.
