[scorecard]

Powell indeed looked like a different player.  Upper body looks filled out, but it just looks like the light has come on for him.  Small sample size of course against overmatched competition, but reminded me a bit of how Fields just blossomed as a senior.  He was much more aggressive, and he looked more decisive with the ball (there were times last year when he was a turnover just waiting to happen, poor passing, bad handle, etc.)  Made some real highlight plays.  Hoping this carries over to the rest of the season.

Huestis may also have a breakout year, great defender on the perimeter, excellent timing on blocks.  He looked confident on his 3 pointers as well, squared up nicely and showed a clean stroke.

Our defense looked pretty good (again hard to tell due to level of competition), active, swarming, and long on the perimeter, switching everything.  However, the rebounding is a concern, especially considering how long we are.  Despite having a brobdingnagian size advantage, we do not seem to have anyone with a real nose for the ball other than maybe Huestis.  Or even a big body to keep the other team off the boards (in the vein of a Darren Allaway or Rob Little).  I was hoping Verhoeven would be that guy, but neither he or Allen hit the floor. 

We will probably be vulnerable to a post player in the middle, but I don't think any of those exist in college basketball anymore.

We did seem to hit a major lull at the end of the first half where we looked a little lost as a team, and as washingtonismoney said, a timeout could have helped slow the momentum. 

All in all, saw some good things and some areas for concern, but we are a deep team with a lot of size, and we should definitely make the tourney this year.

[scorecard]

Powell indeed looked like a different player.  Upper body looks filled out, but it just looks like the light has come on for him.  Small sample size of course against overmatched competition, but reminded me a bit of how Fields just blossomed as a senior.  He was much more aggressive, and he looked more decisive with the ball (there were times last year when he was a turnover just waiting to happen, poor passing, bad handle, etc.)  Made some real highlight plays.  Hoping this carries over to the rest of the season.

Huestis may also have a breakout year, great defender on the perimeter, excellent timing on blocks.  He looked confident on his 3 pointers as well, squared up nicely and showed a clean stroke.

Our defense looked pretty good (again hard to tell due to level of competition), active, swarming, and long on the perimeter, switching everything.  However, the rebounding is a concern, especially considering how long we are.  Despite having a brobdingnagian size advantage, we do not seem to have anyone with a real nose for the ball other than maybe Huestis.  Or even a big body to keep the other team off the boards (in the vein of a Darren Allaway or Rob Little).  I was hoping Verhoeven would be that guy, but neither he or Allen hit the floor. 

We will probably be vulnerable to a post player in the middle, but I don't think any of those exist in college basketball anymore.

We did seem to hit a major lull at the end of the first half where we looked a little lost as a team, and as washingtonismoney said, a timeout could have helped slow the momentum. 

All in all, saw some good things and some areas for concern, but we are a deep team with a lot of size, and we should definitely make the tourney this year.