Open Gym

[Dave in Green]

Really enjoyed watching the Zips scrimmage in their open gym session this morning. Zeke, Tree and Deji were all in classes. But the rest of the players were there, and it was fun watching the new players working out with the veterans. They all look healthy and energetic, and played continuously at a frantic pace without anyone gasping for air. The coaches all left the gym prior to the scrimmage per NCAA rules, and the players did a nice job of running things.

First impressions are that they're really loose and enjoying themselves, but playing intensely enough that a few players hit the floor from hard contact. There were no hard feelings, though, and it looks like everyone is getting along well with everyone else. Chauncey was especially vocal throughout the scrimmage, and drew a lot of smiles, as did Q. Those two not only showed a lot of energy and humor, but both were on fire from the field. Both were hitting most of their 3s, and both were finishing around the rim at a high percentage.

It was interesting to watch Rico and Melo going at each other. Rico obviously has more experience and is more familiar with his teammates. But Melo looks like he fits right in. His style of play is similar to Rico's. His main focus is on ball distribution, and he made some really nifty moves and passes. Really, all the players were doing well on ball movement and finding the open man. This looks to be a pretty unselfish team.

Egner looked good. He nailed a few mid-range jumpers and a nice hook shot, and also had the best block of the day to prevent a breakaway layup. When Egner stood next to Harney, it appeared that Harney is now at least an inch taller than Egner not counting hair height. Harney was clearly the tallest player on the court in Zeke's absence, and he was really going hard after rebounds. Harney still has his smooth, deceptive moves to the bucket, and the same, flat-footed set shot from the outside that looks like a throwback to the 1950s.

Justice did a nice job bringing the ball upcourt on a few occasions, hit a few deep 3s and also had a nice drive to the basket for a tough score against a tight defender. Walsh was everywhere, as usual, with sound passing, shooting and rebounding. McAdams looked as good on the floor with veteran D-I players as he did on TV during the HS tournament. He can handle the ball like a PG, shoot 3s from the corner like a shooting guard and rebound like a forward. Kretzer also looks like a capable player.

A new walk-on was scrimmaging with the Zips for the first time. All I heard about him is that he transferred from University of Illinois Chicago, he's about 6-8, and that he may be of Lithuanian heritage. For his first time scrimmaging with the Zips, I was impressed with the effort he made to set screens, go after rebounds, and stay with his man on D. He appeared to have pretty good fundamentals as a lot of European players do. He seemed to start running out of breath with the pace of play, so he may be a little out of shape from lack of recent playing.

Looking forward to attending more open gyms, especially when Forsythe shows up and starts going head-to-head against Zeke.

[scottditzen]

Whoa, thanks for the play by play!

Very excited looking forward to next season