Men's basketball pre-season thoughts and concerns

[Irondawg]

With basketball season starting here are some thoughts and questions that will need to be answered:

1) Who steps up and takes the leadership mantle on this team? Ideally it would be Perry but maybe a guy like Woodard steps up.

2) Can Nick stay healthy when he comes back? He's missed a ton of games and he's really our only true PG. He needs to be healthy during the SEC stretch

3) Will some reliable bench bodies emerge? Right now Molinar looks to be the backup guard and Feazell the main post sub. Can Stewart and Oduro give us quality minutes when we need them to?

4) Does Perry make the jump from very good to elite and can Woodard make the jump to very good? I think a lot of our season depends on how those 2 play, especially early.

5) Can we survive the first 10 games without Nick? Turnovers will be a problem at times, especially against teams that press so we need to not suffer a bad loss for the RPI.

6) Need the offense to be reliable - there have been big stretches over the past few years where we look totally out of synch and playing pickup offense. Can we improve our shot selection and run plays with more precision to get better looks?

All in all this is our most well rounded team we've had since Howland took over. Lots of experience in the starting lineup with some experience on the bench as well. Hoping this can be a nice year for us.

[Johnson85]

SO:
Adu
Perry
Woodward
Carter
Nick

And then Molinar and Feazell round out the rotation?

[KOdawg1]

3 pt. shooting is one of my concerns. We all know Tyson can knock them down. Woodard can hit one if you need him to, but that's not really his game. Nick is good from mid-range, and even though he did shoot 38% from 3 last year, he's still pretty streaky.

Hopefully some of the guards off the bench can provide a spark in this area. I think posing a threat from outside is the difference in this team being good and being special.

[Ifyouonlyknew]

With basketball season starting here are some thoughts and questions that will need to be answered:

1) Who steps up and takes the leadership mantle on this team? Ideally it would be Perry but maybe a guy like Woodard steps up.

2) Can Nick stay healthy when he comes back? He's missed a ton of games and he's really our only true PG. He needs to be healthy during the SEC stretch

3) Will some reliable bench bodies emerge? Right now Molinar looks to be the backup guard and Feazell the main post sub. Can Stewart and Oduro give us quality minutes when we need them to?

4) Does Perry make the jump from very good to elite and can Woodard make the jump to very good? I think a lot of our season depends on how those 2 play, especially early.

5) Can we survive the first 10 games without Nick? Turnovers will be a problem at times, especially against teams that press so we need to not suffer a bad loss for the RPI.

6) Need the offense to be reliable - there have been big stretches over the past few years where we look totally out of synch and playing pickup offense. Can we improve our shot selection and run plays with more precision to get better looks?

All in all this is our most well rounded team we've had since Howland took over. Lots of experience in the starting lineup with some experience on the bench as well. Hoping this can be a nice year for us.

1. I think the leaders of this team will be Nick & Woodard vocally. Tyson & Ado more by action.

2. Nick has missed 1 game due to injury since he's been at MSU. He missed 10 last year due to suspension.

3. At full strength I think we have a 9 man rotation with Molinar, Feazell, DJ, & Prince. If they can consistently bring 20-25ppg & 10rpg we'll be in good shape.

4. Perry will be a SEC POY candidate. I'm expecting a huge year from him. Like 16-17ppg & 10-12rpg. Woodard value is more important than scoring. More important than stats. He can really be the heart & soul of the team. My hope is that Woodard becomes the MSU Shane Battier.

5. I expect to lose a couple non-conference games but nothing that should hurt us.

6. I think that was sometimes a product of the type of PG we had. It will ugly sometimes without Nick too but he's back I expect an offense that's run with more of a purpose.

I think this team will mirror a lot of Howland's Pitt teams. Big, physical, rugged, & athletic. It wasn't always the prettiest but the results were good.

[WPDawg]

With basketball season starting here are some thoughts and questions that will need to be answered:

1) Who steps up and takes the leadership mantle on this team? Ideally it would be Perry but maybe a guy like Woodard steps up.

2) Can Nick stay healthy when he comes back? He's missed a ton of games and he's really our only true PG. He needs to be healthy during the SEC stretch

3) Will some reliable bench bodies emerge? Right now Molinar looks to be the backup guard and Feazell the main post sub. Can Stewart and Oduro give us quality minutes when we need them to?

4) Does Perry make the jump from very good to elite and can Woodard make the jump to very good? I think a lot of our season depends on how those 2 play, especially early.

5) Can we survive the first 10 games without Nick? Turnovers will be a problem at times, especially against teams that press so we need to not suffer a bad loss for the RPI.

6) Need the offense to be reliable - there have been big stretches over the past few years where we look totally out of synch and playing pickup offense. Can we improve our shot selection and run plays with more precision to get better looks?

All in all this is our most well rounded team we've had since Howland took over. Lots of experience in the starting lineup with some experience on the bench as well. Hoping this can be a nice year for us.

wow.. that makes me want to jump in the car and make the game early. Anyway to write that in a positive slant or at least present positives to look for? My basketball knowledge does not merit me writing a breakdown of the team but if you presented that type of diagnosis in a company meeting, most would figure you might be about to lose money or close in next few months. I am sure you are positive about the opportunity to have a good season with players another year older, stronger and wiser.

[confucius say]

I hope we are more physical and rugged. I like that about TN teams the last couple years.

[KOdawg1]

I hope we are more physical and rugged. I like that about TN teams the last couple years.

I think having a 3-4-5 consisting of Woodard, Perry, and Ado gives us that

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

5. I expect to lose a couple non-conference games but nothing that should hurt us.

Do you know what fan base you are talking to here?

As soon as we lose one OOC game this place will be full of posts such as:

“Howland has lost it. He needs to hire an X’s and O’s guy“

“We could have hired Kermit”

“I wish the men weren’t lazy, and would hustle like the girls”

“Can Vic just coach both teams?!?”

[Ifyouonlyknew]

Do you know what fan base you are talking to here?

As soon as we lose one OOC game this place will be full of posts such as:

“Howland has lost it. He needs to hire an X’s and O’s guy“

“We could have hired Kermit”

“I wish the men weren’t lazy, and would hustle like the girls”

“Can Vic just coach both teams?!?”

Sadly all of these quotes will be used.

[chef dixon]

I wouldn't say Nick is a true PG. Very few teams have pure PGs anymore with such an emphasis on scoring these days. Lamar was a pure PG about 50% of the time. I haven't seen Molinar enough to know if his game really fits that mold.

[Lord McBuckethead]

The Vic one has some merit though.

DJ Stewert and Molinar are going to surprise some folks I think. Let's get ready to run, boys.

[THE Bruce Dickinson]

The Vic one has some merit though.

Nope. It doesn’t

[Irondawg]

PG is my biggest concern b/c even though Nick hasn't missed a bunch of games he's played injured a ton and it's slowed him down. We haven't really seen him play a ton of pure PG though so I'm willing to see what he's got. I really though we'd add a grad transfer PG to at least be a stable backup but hopefully Molinar or Carter can suffice.

We are going to be a good team, but I'm curious to see if we'll turn our really good or fighting to get into the tournament.

[Ari Gold]

Nope. It doesn’t

Not only nope it doesn’t... but nope it ****ing doesn’t...

[Coach34]

I think by January we will be very good at Guard with Nick and Little Carter- than Molinar and DJ backing them up.

This is Perry's last season in Sville. Enjoy the show

Ado and Woodard play hard and I think this team will finally have some toughness we missed the last couple of years. Consistent 3 point shooting is a concern but we will be a physical team that plays hard- so we can offset that some. Plus, Perry and Woodard will hit a few 3-balls so that will help stretch the D to penetrate. Looking forward to this season

[OLJWales]

SO:
Adu
Perry
Woodward
Carter
Nick

And then Molinar and Feazell round out the rotation?

Adu: TN HS player of the year. We beat out a few blue bloods for his sig.

Perry: McDonald's All American ranked the 16th best HS player in the Nation

Woodard: Ranked the 46th player in the Nation; 2 time MS Gatorade player of the year, MS's top prospect that year

Carter: Top 100 player coming out of HS

Nick: 5th best PG in the nation coming out of HS; ESPN top 100

I'm sure there are some other schools with 5 better HS resumes than ours but I'd be willing to bet that # would be in the 20's MAX.

Sports God owes me some good hoops after this aborted football season.

[chef dixon]

Molinar looks the most comfortable as far as handling and getting the ball up the court smoothly. Definitely seems more natural to him than Tyson or Nick. First time really seeing him play tonight, he's got some Russ Westbrook in him, albeit not as freakishly athletic. May not be a natural distributor but a fluid ball handler which we definitely lack.

[Johnson85]

Not only nope it doesn’t... but nope it ****ing doesn’t...

It has as much merit as wondering why Lemonis doesn't coach the softball team. Coaching is coaching in some respects (mainly teaching I think, but also managing players and motivating), so it wouldn't shock me if Vic could be a good men's basketball coach any more than it would shock me if Lemonis was a good softball coach. But I think Vic's tough love approach mixed with men's players brought up through the AAU ranks would quickly make him a hall of fame level coach at Lipscomb University.