Below are the notes as I was watching games on opening day.
North Dakota VS Miami (OH)
- Caleb Nero is a nice addition. Aggressive, showed range, decent ballhandler
- UND needs ballhandlers who are not Nero to step up
- 1st half defense was pretty solid, 2nd half seemed a step slow
- Rebraca was tied down even though stats don’t show it
- Rebraca had a couple post moves hat put a smile on your face, shows why he can be special
- Rebraca has to be quicker against the doubles or it’s going to be a long year.
- Urbonavicius was solid in limited minutes. active on the offensive glass
- Who steps up to help out down low
- Good 1st half defense, step slow second half
- seems like they can count on more guys this year.
Oral Roberts vs Missouri
- Kareem Thompson is a unique player, smooth, long, active. Might be this year’s big-time newcomer for ORU
- Nate Clover sure doesn’t look like a freshman. Might be able to give some defense down low
- tough matchup for Obanor. Athletes who match up with him. Can’t physically dominate
- Great 1 on 1 athletes all over this team, but everything feels 1 on 1. Might work better in conference but against an SEC team not as much
- ORU isn’t winning a lot of the 50/50 balls but when they do it seems to be Francis Lacis
- Abmas with some nice mid-range game
- The defensive lapses
South Dakota State vs West Virginia
- We need to quit pretending Noah Freidel is just a shooter
- So sound defensively
- I wish everyone played with as much effort as Douglas Wilson
- They do the little things right (spacing, extra pass, block out, hands ready defensively every time, etc). They physically shouldn’t be in this game but they find a way. The most efficient team I watched today
- Hendo might compete with MN football coach PJ Fleck on the most exercise by a coach during a game.
- Great adjustment couldn’t find a way to get Wilson involved so get him the ball up top.
- A clear difference between the Summit League teams with a lot of turnover and SDSU with almost none. Players know where teammates are going to be, play so well together. That stuff takes time
- Dentlinger is in the right spot most of the time
- against a team like WVU have to constantly do things right. WVU would pull away during any SDSU lapse.
- I didn’t mind Wingett coming off the bench. Spark when he came in
- South Dakota State had the best showing of Summit League teams today
South Dakota vs Colorado
- hustle kept Coyotes in the game against a really good Colorado squad for the first 10 minutes
- guards had a tough time keeping players in front of them but understandable given the opponent
- tough matchup for Umude.
- Umude is going to need more help in the future
- Plitzuweit showed best for the newcomers but need more from the newcomers in general.
- Surprised at the low number of minutes for Heiman. Didn’t show anything on offense but active on the glass and defensively.
- We might be getting a glimpse into Umude’s role. Might lead the Summit in shots taken this year.
- Chisom is active and doing work on the glass, has runs where he looks like he might be the complement to Umude
- Heiman likes layups under the basket at 6’11
- Don’t be too discouraged Coyote fans. Colorado is a good team, not sure what this Coyote team will look like yet