Nova vs Columbia thoughts

[ChuckSullivan97]

Don’t care that this is the wrong board.

I thought it was a decent performance for Game 1, a little bit ugly but that’s expected. Was a little surprised that DiVincenzo didn’t start, but Jay called him a 6th starter in the post game interview.

Paschall was a beast and looked very confident in himself. Will be interesting to watch him develop now that he is playing his more natural position (4) most of the time. Brunson will be consistent all year, and appears to be the leader of this team. DiVincenzo’s athleticism is fun to watch. Team 3pt shooting and FT shooting will improve. I’ll be in attendance again on Tuesday night against Nichols St.

 

[JoshNaso]

Paschall was really impressive. It's going to be fun to watch him this year. Donte's first stint of the bench had me concerned, missed shot and two turnovers that were reminiscent of early last year, but he looked much more like the Donte we all expect as the game went on. Spellman started to get more assertive in the second half and looked great.

I was surprised that Gillespie was the first freshman off the bench, and he looked by far the most comfortable and ready to contribute from the class of 2017. I still think Samuels will be fine, he was pressing a bit and trying too hard to make things happen. He just needs to slow down and trust his skills.

As you said, some typical rust and hiccups, but to be expected in the first game of the season and all-in-all a solid performance. Have a few more games to iron things out and get in a rhythm before they head to Battle 4 Atlantis.

 

[ChuckSullivan97]

Samuels was absolutely trying to do too much, but I agree that he'll be fine once he slows down a bit and lets the game come to him.

The Battle 4 Atlantis should be fun, and it will obviously give us a much better idea of where we stand against some legitimate teams. Assuming we get past Western Kentucky in the 1st round, we play the winner of Purdue (ranked #20/#21) and Tennessee in round 2, and then a possible date with Arizona (#3/#5) in the final. Swanigan is gone from Purdue but they still have the 7-footer Isaac Haas. Then again, in theory our front court should be able to defend against good bigs better than last year. Looking forward to it.