Exhibition Game Player Evaluations

[TheRealUW]

Does it look like Vernon has the athleticism to guard some of the bigger guards in the league?

Have to agree with NowherePoke on this. Vernon's game is really only suited to one position in the college game...power forward. He lacks the lateral quickness to stick with quicker guards on the perimeter. He would be a huge defensive liability if Shyatt chose to match him up with a small forward.

Unfortunately for Vernon, he is quite undersized for the power forward position in the college game. His high motor, physical strength, and scrappy playing style were enough to allow him to dominate at the high school ranks, but the size of front court players in the college game is going to be a major adjustment for Vernon. His skills are such that he can be a very good MWC player if he can figure out how to translate those skills against bigger players. If he can't, then it will be hard to justify much playing time.

 

[DVDA]

I only caught the second half, but these are my observations.

Starters:

Nance - It looks like he has continued to get even better than what we saw at the end of last year. He has a complete offensive game to complement his outstanding defensive abilities. If only he were a few inches taller.

Cooke - At the end of last season I was hoping he would improve his understanding of Shyatt's defense and improve his shooting motion for free throws. It looks like he has improved in both areas. He may not have much of an offensive game, but he is going to do his work on defense and on the boards. The fact he can now shoot free throws respectably means he is no longer a liability.

Sobey - Last year he struggled driving to the hoop. He didn't handle the physicality of division I basketball that well which lead to a lot of turnovers when he drove to the hoop. It looks like he is handling the physical defense better and the new rules will help him even more. He has deceptive quickness that is going to lead to some exciting dunks. I wasn't a fan of his shot last year, but he still put up over 40% shooting on threes. I wouldn't be surprised if that dropped but he has already proved he can shoot over 40%. Hopefully he proves me wrong again.

Adams - His defense is going to be good again but he still hasn't reached his potential on offense. He has a solid shot, but he usually screws up it by fading away on his shots. It looks like he is still doing that when he tries to create his own shot. I expect that he will be a good spot up shooter and reduce his shooting percentage when he has to create his own shot. I expect to see a lot of Sobey driving the paint with Adams on the weakside.

Grabau - He looks about the same as last year. He doesn't really do anything that makes you say wow and he doesn't do much that makes you want to pull your hair out. His attempted jump pass that resulted in a turnover was uncharacteristic of him. I thought that TW3 looked better than him but I only watched the second half. I wouldn't be surprised if he lost his starting job to TW3 later in the year as TW3 grows.

Bench:

Granberry - I thought his shot on free throws looked pretty ugly, but it went in. As long as they go in I don't really care how he shoots. When I first saw him I thought he was Leonard Washington. He's built well and should be a good piece for the defense. He seemed to be forcing everything on offense which may be due to not starting. He isn't quick enough to beat people off the dribble, he needs to play to his strengths. He didn't seem to look for his shot at all; hopefully that changes soon.

Washington - He clearly isn't ready defensively which will change as the season moves forward. He is an exciting offensive player who will improve the bench this year. I wouldn't be surprised if he moves above Grabau on the depth chart this year.

Haldorson - If he wants to play, he's going to have to produce on offense due to his lack off defense and rebounding. It's nice to see that he has added a little to his offensive game, but he is still to skinny to play in the MWC. He really could have used a red-shirt year last year. He'll be a match-up player which means he'll play sporadically this year.

Vernon - I liked his energy and physicality. He's a good rebounder but needs work on his defense. That's nothing new for a true freshman, hopefully he can pick up the system quickly. The development of his offensive game should be interesting. I would expect his game to become more perimeter oriented but you never know.

Herndon - I didn't know you could be that skinny. He played physical but it's clear he isn't ready yet which is to be expected. I hope he takes a red-shirt because he has some potential. He seems capable of handling the ball so he may end up as a 3/4 type of player rather than being restricted to 4/5 positions. I think he may be ready to contribute in two years at the earliest unless he hits a horizontal growth spurt.

Bentz - He is the walk-on version of Grabau. He doesn't do anything that is impressive but usually keeps the offense moving and doesn't do the stupid stuff. Missing free throws is going to reduce any minutes he may get. He needs to show he can knock them down in practice otherwise he's going to see another season of mop up duty. TW3 may make that happen anyway.

Sellers - I agree with the OP about the way Sellers was used. He is not a dribble hand off kind of guy. As has been stated before on this board, he is a 250 pound ogre. His game is to get position on the block and knock down a hook over a smaller defender. Hopefully we see him get those opportunities so we can judge how he has actually progressed. Until then, he is a match-up player who will be used against the Colton Iverson kind of guys who Haldorson, Vernon, or even Nance and Cooke can't match physically.

McManamen/Hankerson - Agree with the OP about this being strange. I'm not believing anything right now and hoping for the best. I've met Hankerson once and he was a cool guy. McManamen was fun to watch vs Rober Heyer (who is red-shirting at Boise this year) in high school even though they never guarded each other. Hopefully all is well and these guys get to contribute on Friday.

Stull/Tyser - I saw Tyser put in a lot of time at the gym at the end of the spring semester. He's a nice guy and I hope he gets a chance to contribute by the time he graduates. I would have liked to have seen these guys play, but it is definitely more important to give those minutes to the current bench/depth guys.[/quote]

 

[seattlecowboy]

Shyatt said that it was his decision not to play Hankerson and Jason, he said they are ready to go for Friday night. I am also interested to seeing these guys and to see if they are in the rotation once we get the real season under way.

That is the part that concerns me. What is the reasoning that Shyatt decided not to play them? Because they regressed and aren't up to par (which wouldn't make much sense to me) or did they get in some type of trouble and he just doesn't want to air it out since we have had multiple incidents on the basketball team the last couple of years? We may never know unless they both don't play again next week which would damper some of my enthusiasm as I had thought Hankerson might be a decent pick up.

I thought someone mentioned that Shyatt did not play Washington last year during the exhibition game because others needed more work / wanted to evaluate other rotations and there was no question Washington was ready to go? Suppose that would be too much to hope for in this case?

I remember Shyatt not playing Washington in the exhibition game last year. Shyatt had the insight (and experience) to know Washington would get tired before the season ended, plus he wanted to get some PT for his new players. Shyatt has more knowledge about how to handle college basketball players (I'm not talking about Martinez type problems) than we have seen at UW in a long, long time. I don't question his decisions much at all.

Actually the reason Washington didn't play last year in the exhibition games was because Washington was finishing out serving his suspension from the trouble he got into. It had nothing to do with Shyatt resting him because he thought he would get tired.
So these are two entirely situations and that is why it is so strange.

I agree that Shyatt knows a lot about basketball and knows what he is doing but that is why I am wondering what is up with Hankerson. Doesn't matter I guess as we will find out soon enough if he plays or not but it has nothing to do with Shyatt "resting" him for the season. Either Hankerson isn't up to par to be able to get into the 9 or 10 man rotation or he got in some type of doghouse with Shyatt.

I was hoping the Hankerson would be good enough to live up to some of the hype but this has me wondering if he is or not. If he isn't then that changes my outlook on the season quite a bit. Doesn't matter what I think anyways. Just hope we end up being better than what I think we might be.

 

[WYCowboy]

Shyatt said that it was his decision not to play Hankerson and Jason, he said they are ready to go for Friday night. I am also interested to seeing these guys and to see if they are in the rotation once we get the real season under way.

That is the part that concerns me. What is the reasoning that Shyatt decided not to play them? Because they regressed and aren't up to par (which wouldn't make much sense to me) or did they get in some type of trouble and he just doesn't want to air it out since we have had multiple incidents on the basketball team the last couple of years? We may never know unless they both don't play again next week which would damper some of my enthusiasm as I had thought Hankerson might be a decent pick up.

I thought someone mentioned that Shyatt did not play Washington last year during the exhibition game because others needed more work / wanted to evaluate other rotations and there was no question Washington was ready to go? Suppose that would be too much to hope for in this case?

I remember Shyatt not playing Washington in the exhibition game last year. Shyatt had the insight (and experience) to know Washington would get tired before the season ended, plus he wanted to get some PT for his new players. Shyatt has more knowledge about how to handle college basketball players (I'm not talking about Martinez type problems) than we have seen at UW in a long, long time. I don't question his decisions much at all.

Actually the reason Washington didn't play last year in the exhibition games was because Washington was finishing out serving his suspension from the trouble he got into. It had nothing to do with Shyatt resting him because he thought he would get tired.
So these are two entirely situations and that is why it is so strange.

I agree that Shyatt knows a lot about basketball and knows what he is doing but that is why I am wondering what is up with Hankerson. Doesn't matter I guess as we will find out soon enough if he plays or not but it has nothing to do with Shyatt "resting" him for the season. Either Hankerson isn't up to par to be able to get into the 9 or 10 man rotation or he got in some type of doghouse with Shyatt.

I was hoping the Hankerson would be good enough to live up to some of the hype but this has me wondering if he is or not. If he isn't then that changes my outlook on the season quite a bit. Doesn't matter what I think anyways. Just hope we end up being better than what I think we might be.

You are right - I forgot that. CRS

 

[NowherePoke]

Shyatt said that it was his decision not to play Hankerson and Jason, he said they are ready to go for Friday night. I am also interested to seeing these guys and to see if they are in the rotation once we get the real season under way.

That is the part that concerns me. What is the reasoning that Shyatt decided not to play them? Because they regressed and aren't up to par (which wouldn't make much sense to me) or did they get in some type of trouble and he just doesn't want to air it out since we have had multiple incidents on the basketball team the last couple of years? We may never know unless they both don't play again next week which would damper some of my enthusiasm as I had thought Hankerson might be a decent pick up.

I thought someone mentioned that Shyatt did not play Washington last year during the exhibition game because others needed more work / wanted to evaluate other rotations and there was no question Washington was ready to go? Suppose that would be too much to hope for in this case?

I remember Shyatt not playing Washington in the exhibition game last year. Shyatt had the insight (and experience) to know Washington would get tired before the season ended, plus he wanted to get some PT for his new players. Shyatt has more knowledge about how to handle college basketball players (I'm not talking about Martinez type problems) than we have seen at UW in a long, long time. I don't question his decisions much at all.

Actually the reason Washington didn't play last year in the exhibition games was because Washington was finishing out serving his suspension from the trouble he got into. It had nothing to do with Shyatt resting him because he thought he would get tired.
So these are two entirely situations and that is why it is so strange.

I agree that Shyatt knows a lot about basketball and knows what he is doing but that is why I am wondering what is up with Hankerson. Doesn't matter I guess as we will find out soon enough if he plays or not but it has nothing to do with Shyatt "resting" him for the season. Either Hankerson isn't up to par to be able to get into the 9 or 10 man rotation or he got in some type of doghouse with Shyatt.

I was hoping the Hankerson would be good enough to live up to some of the hype but this has me wondering if he is or not. If he isn't then that changes my outlook on the season quite a bit. Doesn't matter what I think anyways. Just hope we end up being better than what I think we might be.

It has to be something off the court (or undisclosed injury) for both Hankerson and McManamen. I am not sure how much each one of them will help the Pokes this year, but I guarantee that from a strictly on-court perspective they will help more than some of the players that saw playing time against UCCS.