Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball

[kdubnation]

Re: Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball

If we can ever get Watson to agree to a home/home with us, I'll suggest to the KWC admin to get custom printed tissue boxes for the giveaway and advert them for the first 250 USI fans through the gate.

[glvcpro]

Re: Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball

Wisconsin at Xavier, Hankins getting some minutes. Might be a good player but boy he has terrible taste in hair style.

[kdubnation]

Re: Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball

I'm disappointed we didn't keep the score closer, but all in all tonight's game went about like I expected. Bellarmine's defense looks really good. We aren't good enough offensively to be able to attack a defense that in sync. We'll get there, though. The players Cooper has brought in are the type that will learn from a game like this and improve from it, so in the long run it was good for us.

[Looking For 9]

Re: Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball

Agree

[Knightmoves]

Re: Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball

I thought KWC represented themselves well. Obviously there was a large talent and experience gap on the floor, but the effort and execution for KWC was good. I certainly think they will do better in the G-MAC than the coaches poll predicted. Cooper has already done an outstanding job in putting an entire new team on the floor and getting them coached up. I think y'all ought to enjoy the season and benefit from reduced expectations. .500 is not out of the question and would warrant a COY award in the G-MAC.

It looked like conditioning is a factor, KWC seemed to wear down, but BU does have a bunch of athletic and long bodies to throw at the opponent.

BTW, attendance was pretty good despite the atrocious weather.

[pantherfan]

Re: Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball

The atmosphere at the SC was great for the BU game. I was so happy for the team to see so many come out and root for them. They did seem to get a little worn down, but BU had long bodies in and out and didn't miss a beat when subs came in. That team is really good. But, KWC competed in the first half and battled through playing a team that out-sized them in almost every facet. I was impressed with Tarik's guard play, and was again surprised by just how much Bezold can contribute to the team.

I was excited to see the hot start at Evansville, but that same expected outcome happens in those D1 exhibitions.

I think this team can be competitive in the GMAC, and likely finishes above their preseason ranking. My biggest concern right now is the high amount of turnovers they have had every game. I know Coach Cooper has said he is focusing on that, but I think they have had nearly 20 TO's in every game so far. You can't be that reckless with the ball and expect to pull out the close ones in conference play. Hoping they have a good week of recovery and practice and play well at home for the thanksgiving tourney before that early conference road stretch.

[Short Haircut]

Re: Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball

Coach Cooper is on the upswing and likely won't be at Kentucky Wesleyan for long. But he is exactly what they needto get the program back to where it was.

YITF

[schnautza]

Re: Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball

YITF

"Yesterday, I tootsy-farted"

[Knightmoves]

Re: Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball

"Yesterday, I tootsy-farted"

Schnautza, I was going to suggest that you not feed the troll, but I'm loving your translations!

[kdubnation]

Re: Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball

Thanks for saying so, however I would point out that people have been saying that Scott Davenport will move up to the D1 level any time for years now. Not every successful D2 coach wants to rush up the ladder, so we could have Coop for years to come.

Even though the score doesn't show it, last night's game at Evansville was exactly the kind of effort we needed. I agree that turnovers are too high...but I feel like that's largely a product of young players adapting to a new system and we'll improve on that front as the season progresses. To be honest, had we hit a few open 3s that we typically have been hitting, we could have had it down to single digits late in the game last night. That's one thing that does worry me a little about being such an outside oriented team - it's very easy to have an off shooting game that just kills you offensively. Live by the 3 die by the 3, etc. But with the guys we've got we will (hopefully) have more "on" nights than "off".

Edit: Oops, I forgot to add an acronym.

TTFN

Sorry, that's all I can come up with in a pinch.

[Looking For 9]

Re: Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball

I think Cooper is learning about his players as much as the players are learning about the speed of good basketball. I see flashes of what we need to do for 40 minutes. We have young players that will (see it in some already) get better as the Asst. coaches work with them and they just get floor time. We must remember only two of our players ever played against D1 teams and even then if was for minutes.
I think it is time to play D2 teams and build our confidence.

[kdubnation]

Re: Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball

I fully agree. The only D2 team we've played we beat by 20+. I'm not counting Bellarmine as a D2 team right now. Seeing them in person for the first time in a few years, to be honest I thought they LOOKED like a D1. We'll call them D1.5 maybe. And make no mistake - Bellarmine and teams of their caliber are where we NEED to be. But I don't think anyone reasonable would expect us to be there at this point.

Looking ahead to next week, Salem comes in a dangerous team. They're better than they were the couple of years they were in the G-MAC. New coach, new level of effort. They played West Liberty the other day and lost 127-101. That makes 2 games out of their first 3 where they scored over 100 points. I do think they're going to be somewhat similar to Kentucky State, however, in that they will likely be athletic but not overly disciplined. It's definitely a game we can win, but it's also a game we could lose if we don't play well.

Hell, this year that's going to apply to every game, no matter who we're playing. But, I definitely still feel like we are moving in the right direction. The players all seem to be buying in, for the most part. I will tell you that Erik Bell was benched during the second half of the Bellarmine game. I'm not 100% sure specifically what he did, but I know he wasn't running the team like Cooper wanted. Cooper told him "this is not a battle you're going to win" and he didn't check back into the game. He must have gotten himself out of the doghouse, though, because he started and played over 20 minutes against U of E last night. Honestly, I think that highlights exactly why only Erik and Hunter were retained by Coach Cooper. The more he brought back, the more he was going to have to fight the players to get the right system installed. I sincerely hope Erik takes the lesson to heart, as he's a very good basketball player. My only complaint about his skillset last year was that he had a terrible jump shot, but he has been shooting the ball very well this season, so I'm assuming he worked on that during the summer. We need him on the court, so I really hope he can swallow his pride and do what the coach asks him to do.

[pantherfan]

Re: Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball

Best I could tell the issue between Bell and Cooper was centered around Erik giving a dirty look to either an assistant coach or teammate when something was said about his play. Cooper saw it, pulled him, Erik was jawing a bit, Cooper made that quote, then Erik denied making the said face, and Cooper called him on it. I was clenched during the confrontation as that was a glimpse into the past of last year's cancerous attitude. But something different happened. Erik stood in the huddle, then took his seat, then proceeded to cheer on his team. Clearly Cooper has a better group of players this year, and the respect factor seems to be back on the sidelines. Seeing Erik start against UofE seems to me that Cooper and Bell talked it out after the game and Erik responded well. I'm sure hoping that's the case because I love when Erik and Tarik are on the court together. May lose some height, but definitely gain a step.

[kdubnation]

Re: Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball

I totally agree. Thanks for the insight regarding the incident ... I missed the offending look and really didn't know anything was going on until Coop's quote that I mentioned. I felt like Erik had a good head on his shoulders last year but being just a young soph he let the toxicity from the upperclassmen on the team rub off on him to his detriment. I, too, was happy to see him respond the way he did after being benched. I can guarantee you NONE of the guys last year would have handled it that way.

[alumnifan]

Re: Kentucky Wesleyan Basketball

My old friend from KWC was right. LOL. This team is terrible. When Wesleyan loses at home to Salem, it's going to be a terrible season. Well.....the writing was on the wall. Now we know what this year is going to be like, as we mostly expected. When this season sinks in, the reality may not be so pleasant. New young KWC team. Hmm. I am not sure what to think of it.