Basketball - I went to the Junction Jam and Practice

[gtowndawg]

The Junction Jam was a great event, very unique. The weather was great, just a great vibe. Watching basketball in the junction at night was pretty wild. Good crowd too. In fact, Purcell mentioned it was more people than expected. They did a skills challange, 3 point content, dunk contest, etc. It's really just an excuse to introduce the teams and get people excited.

The open practice Saturday though was very interesting. It was a real practice, drills, lots of scrimmaging and condititiong. Getting to sit courside for that was outstanding for anyone that enjoys basketball.

A few things:

- Hubbard is Hubbard, clearly the leader.
- Cam is a beast, I can't imagine what he would look like in football pads.
- Riley Kugel is so smooth...I see why Kansas wanted him. He's a HUGE addition to the team.
- The player that I'm most interested in after watching practice is Claudell Harris Jr (BC transfer). They ran multiple set plays (both in the offense and out of bounds) to get him corner 3's. I think they know Hubbard is going to have defenders draped on him and they need someone to hit open 3's when that happens. From what I saw, Harris will play a role there. I also loved that he stayed by himself after practice to shoot 3's and free throws both. Most everyone else got out of there (granted the football game was only 2 hours away from starting). If he can score 6 or 7 a game, he could be a key player.
- Gai Choi is bigger and stronger. He's put some weight on but I still don't see him playing very much.
- KeShawn Murphy will play a ton. He was very active all practice...they are clearly depending on him.
- Shawn Jones seemed to be dealing with a slight injury. He practiced but he was slow.
- RJ Melendez (Georgia transfer) is a good shooter but very streaky. Miss 5 straight then make 4 straight.
- The team does a lot of 3 point shooting drills. Everyone shoots 3's from the wings (broken into teams) and they compete against each other. I think they called it Bulldog shooting and they ran that drill at least twice if not 3 different times. Basketball is basically positionless at this point and having everyone practice 3's multiple times in the 1 hour we were allowed to watch proves that.
- They have tape everywhere on the floor, from the dunker spot to where guards should penetrate to when running the offense. Lines and X's and squares all over the place. That's a great teaching tool...no guess on where to be...you know exactly where you are supposed to be.
- The scrimmages were never "first team v second team" - for example Hubbard and Matthews never played together. Point being, we have good depth and they really could make two equal teams and the quick scrimmages were always close.
- Conditioning is worked in between scrimmagess and drills. They are always running, not a big surprise but he wants them in shape to play hard defense.
- Oh, a name for the future...Dellquan Warren. I don't see him playing much this year but he's a SMOOTH point guard. Freshman who picked us over Florida St.

We had a great time in Starkville this weekend. The weather was great, restaurants and streets where busy, the Junction Jam was fun and honestly the football game was fun. But the practice was our (my boys and I) favorite part. I hope they do it again next year.

[bulldawg28]

Great post

[Coach34]

good report. A 3 point shooting team that plays D? Now THAT should be a fun watch

[RockyDog]

You mentioned Harris shooting 3s but then say he should be good for 6-7 points per game. Is he expected to come off the bench?

[gtowndawg]

You mentioned Harris shooting 3s but then say he should be good for 6-7 points per game. Is he expected to come off the bench?

Great question. My gut reaction was he would get alot of minutes off the bench. BUT as I said, the obvious starters did not scrimmage together on the same team. I think Hubbard, Kugel, Matthews are locks as starters. Murphy and the two transfers will rotate alot at the 5. Harris very well could be the other starter since he's a wing. Hubbard and Kugel would be your two main scorers.

[msstate7]

No mention of clary. Was he practicing?

[RockyDog]

Great question. My gut reaction was he would get alot of minutes off the bench. BUT as I said, the obvious starters did not scrimmage together on the same team. I think Hubbard, Kugel, Matthews are locks as starters. Murphy and the two transfers will rotate alot at the 5. Harris very well could be the other starter since he's a wing. Hubbard and Kugel would be your two main scorers.

Great. That’s what I was thinking when you say that. We need Kugel to give us a 12ppg average or better. We know that Cam and Keyshawn can score in spurts so we really need consistent scoring from the 1,2 and 3.

[gtowndawg]

No mention of clary. Was he practicing?

I left him out on purpose because quite honetly I'm not sure what to make of him. He practiced and seems like a good player but he didn't stand out to me. He's definitely no bigger than 5'11" if that. Strangly enough, he and Hubbard usually played at the same time, on the same team in the scrimmages (at the 1 and the 2) but I can't imagine that will happen in real games (two guys under six feet playing at the same time)? He's a mystery to me, but, we saw 1/2 of one full practice so some of this is an educated guess.

[parabrave]

Can't wait to see Cam going to the basket/ Now what about FFs.

[MoreCowbell]

The Junction Jam was a great event, very unique. The weather was great, just a great vibe. Watching basketball in the junction at night was pretty wild. Good crowd too. In fact, Purcell mentioned it was more people than expected. They did a skills challange, 3 point content, dunk contest, etc. It's really just an excuse to introduce the teams and get people excited.

The open practice Saturday though was very interesting. It was a real practice, drills, lots of scrimmaging and condititiong. Getting to sit courside for that was outstanding for anyone that enjoys basketball.

A few things:

- Hubbard is Hubbard, clearly the leader.
- Cam is a beast, I can't imagine what he would look like in football pads.
- Riley Kugel is so smooth...I see why Kansas wanted him. He's a HUGE addition to the team.
- The player that I'm most interested in after watching practice is Claudell Harris Jr (BC transfer). They ran multiple set plays (both in the offense and out of bounds) to get him corner 3's. I think they know Hubbard is going to have defenders draped on him and they need someone to hit open 3's when that happens. From what I saw, Harris will play a role there. I also loved that he stayed by himself after practice to shoot 3's and free throws both. Most everyone else got out of there (granted the football game was only 2 hours away from starting). If he can score 6 or 7 a game, he could be a key player.
- Gai Choi is bigger and stronger. He's put some weight on but I still don't see him playing very much.
- KeShawn Murphy will play a ton. He was very active all practice...they are clearly depending on him.
- Shawn Jones seemed to be dealing with a slight injury. He practiced but he was slow.
- RJ Melendez (Georgia transfer) is a good shooter but very streaky. Miss 5 straight then make 4 straight.
- The team does a lot of 3 point shooting drills. Everyone shoots 3's from the wings (broken into teams) and they compete against each other. I think they called it Bulldog shooting and they ran that drill at least twice if not 3 different times. Basketball is basically positionless at this point and having everyone practice 3's multiple times in the 1 hour we were allowed to watch proves that.
- They have tape everywhere on the floor, from the dunker spot to where guards should penetrate to when running the offense. Lines and X's and squares all over the place. That's a great teaching tool...no guess on where to be...you know exactly where you are supposed to be.
- The scrimmages were never "first team v second team" - for example Hubbard and Matthews never played together. Point being, we have good depth and they really could make two equal teams and the quick scrimmages were always close.
- Conditioning is worked in between scrimmagess and drills. They are always running, not a big surprise but he wants them in shape to play hard defense.
- Oh, a name for the future...Dellquan Warren. I don't see him playing much this year but he's a SMOOTH point guard. Freshman who picked us over Florida St.

We had a great time in Starkville this weekend. The weather was great, restaurants and streets were busy, the Junction Jam was fun and honestly the football game was fun. But the practice was our (my boys and I) favorite part. I hope they do it again next year.

Awesome post thanks.

Regarding Keyshawn Murphy. At the start of last year he was our first or second best player. Idk what happened but he got in the doghouse and seemed to never find his groove again. He has legit NBA potential. I think we are going to be really good. Jans is the man.

[Pancho]

we chomped up the tickets for the games up here in Tupelo and are pumped. Do either our roundball teams play a game in the Landers Center in southaven?

[MaroonFlounder]

The big mystery is post play.

Keyshawn as an athletic stretch 4? He should be happy with that, since he almost jumped in the portal to transfer.

[StarkVegasSteve]

we chomped up the tickets for the games up here in Tupelo and are pumped. Do either our roundball teams play a game in the Landers Center in southaven?

Men play Utah there in Southaven on November 17.

[msstate7]

Men play Utah there in Southaven on November 17.

Is it considered neutral or home site?

[StarkVegasSteve]

Is it considered neutral or home site?

Neutral.

[msstate7]

Neutral.

Good job scheduling then

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Awesome post thanks.

Regarding Keyshawn Murphy. At the start of last year he was our first or second best player. Idk what happened but he got in the doghouse and seemed to never find his groove again. He has legit NBA potential. I think we are going to be really good. Jans is the man.

Keyshawn can be lazy, inactive, and slow. But when Keyshawn is active, engaged, and hustling, he makes us so much better. He's long and can play inside and out. He's a key piece to this team.

[gtowndawg]

The big mystery is post play.

Keyshawn as an athletic stretch 4? He should be happy with that, since he almost jumped in the portal to transfer.

I didn't comment on the two big transfers because it just wasn't enough time to tell who's going to get the nod. They both seem solid but I'd need to see real game action for those two.

[gtowndawg]

Keyshawn can be lazy, inactive, and slow. But when Keyshawn is active, engaged, and hustling, he makes us so much better. He's long and can play inside and out. He's a key piece to this team.

I 100% agree with this statement. We need good Keyshawn, not tuned out Keyshawn.

[Coach34]

Keyshawn can be lazy, inactive, and slow. But when Keyshawn is active, engaged, and hustling, he makes us so much better. He's long and can play inside and out. He's a key piece to this team.

yeah he was literally told that. If you want to ball and play hard- stay here. If you cant do that- need to go somewhere else.

[somebodyshotmypaw]

yeah he was literally told that. If you want to ball and play hard- stay here. If you cant do that- need to go somewhere else.

Sometimes he's just going through the motions or standing around. But when he is hustling, he is a decent rebounder, he can use his length to be disruptive on defense, and he's a gifted offensive player. When Keyshawn is giving good effort he makes us a ton better.

[NCMSTFAN]

Thanks for this thread, Im really looking forward to basketball this year!!

In one of Jans recent interviews he said we could see Keyshawn Murphy play some at the 5 this season. Us having a guy like Cam Matthews who can literally guard every position will allow us to do that because he can gaurd some Centers so don't be surprised to see Keyshawn playing some at the 5, Cam can slide over and help him on defense or they can switch. A very intriguing lineup would be:

PG: Josh Hubbard
SG: Claudell Harris (Jans himself said Harris had been good and been a surprise on defense)
SF: Riley Kugel
PF: Cam Matthews
C: Keyshawn Murphy

I'm not saying this will be the starting lineup but this would be hard to stop. Like one of the earlier posters said, Murphy has legit NBA potential if he focuses, he is that skilled. Riley Kugel was considered an early to mid 1st round pick at one point, and we all know what Hubbard and Cam brings. We have a really good team with good depth.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Thanks for this thread, Im really looking forward to basketball this year!!

In one of Jans recent interviews he said we could see Keyshawn Murphy play some at the 5 this season. Us having a guy like Cam Matthews who can literally guard every position will allow us to do that because he can gaurd some Centers so don't be surprised to see Keyshawn playing some at the 5, Cam can slide over and help him on defense or they can switch. A very intriguing lineup would be:

PG: Josh Hubbard
SG: Claudell Harris (Jans himself said Harris had been good and been a surprise on defense)
SF: Riley Kugel
PF: Cam Matthews
C: Keyshawn Murphy

I'm not saying this will be the starting lineup but this would be hard to stop. Like one of the earlier posters said, Murphy has legit NBA potential if he focuses, he is that skilled. Riley Kugel was considered an early to mid 1st round pick at one point, and we all know what Hubbard and Cam brings. We have a really good team with good depth.

That's probably pretty close to what we will roll out there this year. We may see one of the transfer centers start the first few games but I could see Murphy starting there after the first few games. We are going to play smaller this year and faster. Jans has told a lot of people that.

[NCMSTFAN]

That's probably pretty close to what we will roll out there this year. We may see one of the transfer centers start the first few games but I could see Murphy starting there after the first few games. We are going to play smaller this year and faster. Jans has told a lot of people that.

I agree and like this lineup. Murphy is 6'10" 230 himself and I've heard he has put on a few pounds so he can at least hold his own alongside Cam in the paint, but he will be more of a stretch 5 which can be very beneficial for us. I'm not familiar with Nwoko or Foumena just yet other than seeing videos but I'm sure one or both of them will help, I like Nwoko's athletic abilities. Can't forget Chol either who contributed in the first part of the season last year behind Jimmy Bell when Tolu was out. We have depth and options

[somebodyshotmypaw]

Keyshawn Murphy is very important. If we get the focused, hustling, big effort version of Keyshawn we will be tough. If we get the lackadaisical, going through the motions, lethargic version of Keyshawn we will have some holes. Keyshawn can be a matchup problem with his length and skills. Which version will we get?

[gtowndawg]

FYI, we are an 8 seed in Lunardi's latest bracket projection that came out yesterday (yes, yesterday). That would be 3 years in a row to make the tournament.

[Coach34]

I'll be disappointed if we arent a 6 or better come March provided we dont have any crazy injuries or anything

[cheewgumm]

I'll be disappointed if we arent a 6 or better come March provided we dont have any crazy injuries or anything

Agree.

I think we will be really good.

[Rawdawg]

Melendez is going to be a much bigger pick up than he?s getting credit for. Very similar metrics to DJ Jefferies but a better scorer.

[gtowndawg]

Melendez is going to be a much bigger pick up than he?s getting credit for. Very similar metrics to DJ Jefferies but a better scorer.

That is interesting because I really focused alot on his shooting (I mean he was one of 3 players in the 3 point contest) but his highlights from Georgis show a lot of slashing to the goal. I do think he can help for sure.

[NCMSTFAN]

I'll be disappointed if we arent a 6 or better come March provided we dont have any crazy injuries or anything

I agree. This is Jans best team he's had on paper and we bring back enough production from last year to at least be a 6 seed or better. In my opinion from top to bottom this is one of our most complete rosters we have had in a long time. Our only concern is the Center position but at worse if all we get is defense, rebounding and shot blocking out of Nwoko, Chol and Foumena that's a win because we have so much offensive power at all of the other positions.

[msstate7]

I can't help but worry some about this team. I feel like Jans has gone a different philosophy with this team, and I'm a little worried. We know Jans can coach a defense first team, but this team seems to be offense first.

[Coach34]

I can't help but worry some about this team. I feel like Jans has gone a different philosophy with this team, and I'm a little worried. We know Jans can't coach a defense first team, but this team seems to be offense first.

Nahhhhhhhh. Team will still be very defensive minded. He hasnt stopped preaching defense. But we no longer want to grind on offense and attack thru the block. More dribble drive- faster paced offense.

Think of it in terms of what Mullen did in 2014/2015 due to the teams he had. We ran the ball more in 2014 because of the OL we had plus JRob and crew. 2015? Had a young OL with a bunch of new starters with a vet QB and 3 pretty damn good WR's.

[msstate7]

Nahhhhhhhh. Team will still be very defensive minded. He hasnt stopped preaching defense. But we no longer want to grind on offense and attack thru the block. More dribble drive- faster paced offense.

Think of it in terms of what Mullen did in 2014/2015 due to the teams he had. We ran the ball more in 2014 because of the OL we had plus JRob and crew. 2015? Had a young OL with a bunch of new starters with a vet QB and 3 pretty damn good WR's.

I hope so. I love the talent we've got.

[NCMSTFAN]

I can't help but worry some about this team. I feel like Jans has gone a different philosophy with this team, and I'm a little worried. We know Jans can coach a defense first team, but this team seems to be offense first.

Go listen to all of the players recent interviews and they all speak on how much Jans preaches defense and when they were being recruited he told every one of them they had to play defense to play for him... trust me, defense is and will always be his strength and main philosophy but he knows to compete in a league like the SEC he has to expand the offense more...

Im telling you now, I honestly think this team has the pieces to make a huge run this year, we are very talented.

[NCMSTFAN]

I know we have 2 closed scrimmages soon. Does anyone know when?