Peggy Po's
-Gipson is going to be a load. His conditioning is bad. Subbed out three times because he was completely gassed and lacksadaisical on one end, but did not get yanked for some mistake. He took himself out once. He played some decently sized bigs physically, but I could see him struggling against length. He is not confident/aggressive enough about getting a shot in the lane from the block. Is not establishing himself enough physically, too willing to fade away or throw a little hook without movement toward the basket. Hopefully he works on this. On the positive side, he has a very, very polished touch and appears to have some decent skills in the mid range.
-Angel of Doom with a great debut. Not nearly as fast as I might've thought but a very good first step, very good ball control. Able to knock down open shots and good distribution. Very exciting. Frank praised his diligent shooting over the summer.
-Will Spradling is our rock. I am astounded. One thing that must be said: these Mo-Kan kids are Big 12 ready. Will going down with the injury and going back to the locker room with two Hinkins was terrifying. His return was much appreciated, but it is still a little scary. He plays defense, he runs the offense and he has developed an ability to hit shots off screens. He had a very nice sequence when he hit one just off the top of the key and then later hit a nice shot at the elbow.
-Our tiny dancer had a nice little ball game. I am very worried about Martavious. With all the other combos and small-bigs that Frank can Frank around with, my precious is under threat. Please no. Please no. He played a lot of minutes, but this was largely because Rodney had a stinker, Will had an injury and it was a 30 point blowout. He had the highlight of the game and is overall a very enjoyable presence in nearly every category.
-JO is not the skinniest big any more. It must feel great. He is a legit Big 12 7 footer. He is extremely active on the boards. He is a defensive presence in the lane. He has learned how to use his height. He has some moves in the post and is so long that he can always find a shot. He doesn't make himself small any more. I am being very positive! He is going to get hacked alot this year and if he shoots that poorly from the line it may not be a terrible strategy, but I think he'll get better.
-"looking good Frank" gave him the wink and gunshot and he appreciated/chuckled. In the post-game, Frank described the team's preparation and effort game being as though it were a regular season game and went on to criticize the students for not showing up. However, the exhibition feel was apparent in the steve dave resort wear guayabera.
Nancy Neg's
-Jamar being Jamar.
-Rodney played like crap. It was a little disconcerting to see Rodney struggle like that. He got yanked because he let his offense affect his defense. Just had a really terrible game. Ended up down the bench commiserating with Shane Southwell. Those two should not have anything to talk about. Please Rod, don't.
-Victor Ojeleye not sure if this was just a Frank moment, if he took most of Jamar's minutes, if he took most of Rod's minutes. Not sure if this was some sort of Semi bone getting thrown. Any way you slice it, it sucked. I actually like Vic because he seems to realize that he kind of sucks. His Victor wince face tells me this. Chris Merriweather or Clent Stewart never seemed to have that level of self-awareness. Well, make the most of it Vic. Turn evil. Start throwing elbows and jawing at the competition. Something.
-Shane being Shane.
-Omari/Nino. Oh what hijinks these two will get up to. I'm kind of hoping Jamar takes him under his wing and tells them all about how to piss off Frank. Wait, no I don't. Maybe they realize that there are a ton of minutes out there when people go in to Frank's dog house and start working really hard. Or maybe they look at the roster and transfer. I hope we have some junkyard cats in the making. However, that recipe takes 1 year to bake.
-Tall Skinny guy. Welp, hopefully you turn in to JO. No one will really be expecting that, but good luck.
