basketball game that I did not watch

[chinngiskhaan]

iI’m glad our starters shot well from the free-throw line. That might be the only stat that translates from this game to more difficult contests.

A couple of things that jump out – Keita hit 5 of 6 free throws. That seems to signal improvement in shooting from him, but it’s only one game so who knows?

Also, Tarlac was 1 for 6 from the free-throw line. WTF? No wonder he hasn’t been playing. Is he that bad of a shooter? I could do better than that with my eyes shut. Assuming this game wasn’t just some sort of strange anomaly, that is some truly putrid shooting. It’s too bad because he seems to be able to contribute well in other ways.

One more question – Where was Exacte? His name isn’t even on the ESPN box score.

[Omaha]

I caught a bit of the game, Tarlac’s free throws were AWFUL. Not even close on most of them.

Keita looked comfortable at the line, which was a plus for how often he should get to the line with how active he is.

Wahlin also struggled, but his misses were almost exactly the same, missing long each time. That I would hope was some nerves more than anything.

Announcers said Exacte was dealing with a minor injury, but I don’t recall hearing them saying specifics.

[NashvilleTNUteFan]

I was there. Tarlac couldn’t have looked worse at the line. The misses weren’t even close. Zero touch. Exacte is hurt, should be back in 1-2 weeks

[Distantute]

And you should have seen how badly those tarlac missed fts were. The hoop could have been the size of a garbage can and they would have missed. Made shaq look like bird from the line.

[chinngiskhaan]

a basketball hoop isn’t much narrower than a garbage can. Shooting free throws is not hard. 1 of 6 is an indication that someone doesn’t practice enough.

[GameForAnyFuss]

A couple of notes from the game:
– Keita is now a grown-ass man. He put on about 20 lb of muscle in the offseason and he’s learning how to use it. As noted, his free throws have improved and he’s actually got a nice touch at the line.
– It was nice to have the real Gabe Madsen back. He was absent in the exhibition game, but he took over in this one. Same with Rollie…he stepped his game up last night.
– Bajema is the key to all this. His range really stretches the floor.
– Guys who weren’t as good in this one compared to what we saw vs. Westminster were Lovering and Erickson.
– FREE LUCA TARLAC! In all seriousness, he is doing everything well…except shooting free throws. And as Omaha pointed out, his FTs look terrible.
– Wahlin has really struggled in both games. I know Craig really likes this kid, but I’m not seeing it.
– As a team, the improvement in shooting is obvious if you look at the numbers. But they actually started really slow – at one point about 8 minutes in, I looked up at the board and they were shooting 29%. The rest of the way they must have shot 60%. This team is really fun to watch. I hope everyone will give them a shot in person this year!

[dwainegf]

I was at the game as well as most games last year. My observation was that this team plays defense with intensity, very similar to last year. This year we have more big bodies to help Brandon Carlson (Lovering started at center) Keita and Ben Carlson off the bench. Branden had an off night from the floor. The shooting from the rest of the team was much improved. Bajima was a big addition, Ben Carlson didn’t hesitate to shoot it from the corner. Madson seemed to play more freely. Worster didn’t need to pick up the slack from 3 PT range and was a slasher to the basket. Rebounding was better. Everyone ,except Teat, that played scored.
E. Wash was a very good Big Sky team last year, if they are still at that level, last night’s game’s result is a very good sign for this year’s team. We will find out more when we play in the tournament at the end of next week.
I’m optimistic that this team could get into the NCAA tournament. A NIT bid would be my worse case scenario.

[NashvilleTNUteFan]

My biggest takeaways from the game were that we are still pretty devoid of athleticism. Keita is by far our most athletic guy. I was really excited to watch Erickson but he looked horrible in the time he was on the floor. Bad decision making, sloppy ball handling, and just didn’t contribute anything positive. During warm-ups he was throwing down filthy dunks, so I was excited to see him play but he stunk. Ben Carlson looks like he improved his 3 point shooting in the off-season. He’s no longer just a slightly more athletic version of Riley battin, he can actually knock down some shots. Worster looked more aggressive than I’ve ever seen him, he could have a solid season. This team plays hard and is fundamentally sound, but I just don’t see us making the big dance with this squad. We’re a couple of athletes shy of making that jump. I predict we’ll be in the hunt until February and end up in the NIT

[chinngiskhaan]

One of our most athletic players did not play (Excacte), so when he comes back we should be a little better off there.

I don’t know anything about Erickson.

This team is last years team + some possible improvements from the incumbent contributors, and most importantly, massively improved depth. We have at least three guys coming off the bench that are arguably as good as a starter. If Madsen and Worster made some steps forward, we may be good enough to make it to the Big Dance.

[Staples]

I was also at the game last night and overall I was impressed. We have a lot more meaningful depth, really nice 4 man rotation at the 4/5 with the Carlson boys, Lovering, and Keita. Andrew Crowley on the Runnin’ Hoops podcast compared Ben Carlson to Trace Caton, and if game 1 is any indication, it’s a good comp. Does the dirty work, will hit the occasional three pointer, type of guy you need on a team. The one concern, just like last year: no true backup PG for Worster. Erickson is definitely more of a combo guard than a point. Has good vision, made some really nice passes, but also had 4 turnovers and doesn’t seem to have the handle to be at the 1 a lot.

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