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Post by letsgoeagles on Jan 1, 2024 16:25:03 GMT -6
Hernandez and AJ will be solid the rest of the year and should get 32+ plus minutes a game. My largest concern is still the point guard. Campion is the best we have but his shot has really been off this season. I still like him but I like him more as a back up. Hittle played the best game I have ever seen him play...he seems to be using his size more to his advantage. He can still be very clumsy with the ball and has very little lateral movement. But he can set a massive screen and break to the basket. I do wish KP was about 20 pound heavier...but he still alters shots and seems to be shooting better. I am not sure what to think of Moore. Coach is giving him opportunity to play but he can't shoot, and often plays out of control. I do love the play of Milke who really values his minutes. He is a smart player who knows what he can and cannot do. This next week will be an interesting one as well. TSU is not the team I thought they would be but you would think they would handle USI easily, but will they? Right now I have Tennessee Martin and Morehead far ahead of anyone else in the OVC.
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Post by eagle87 on Jan 1, 2024 16:45:48 GMT -6
Agree with all points said. I was shocked when I heard Hittle was starting,but then I saw Baby Shaq starting for Lindenwood and understood why. He was able to put a big body on him and keep him under control. He sets good hard screens and can shoot free throws….but man he struggles to make shots, even 1 foot away. But he had his best game since coming here and he was a contributor.
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Post by letsgoeagles on Jan 1, 2024 17:14:13 GMT -6
Agree with all points said. I was shocked when I heard Hittle was starting,but then I saw Baby Shaq starting for Lindenwood and understood why. He was able to put a big body on him and keep him under control. He sets good hard screens and can shoot free throws….but man he struggles to make shots, even 1 foot away. But he had his best game since coming here and he was a contributor. Completely agree....Hittle can be one foot from the basket and miss it. But he could shoot free throws blindfolded. Hittle seems like a great young man and glad to see him contributing. It would seem USI now has a three player tag team now playing center. |
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Post by shorthaircut on Jan 1, 2024 17:15:31 GMT -6
Hernandez and AJ will be solid the rest of the year and should get 32+ plus minutes a game. My largest concern is still the point guard. Campion is the best we have but his shot has really been off this season. I still like him but I like him more as a back up. Hittle played the best game I have ever seen him play...he seems to be using his size more to his advantage. He can still be very clumsy with the ball and has very little lateral movement. But he can set a massive screen and break to the basket. I do wish KP was about 20 pound heavier...but he still alters shots and seems to be shooting better. I am not sure what to think of Moore. Coach is giving him opportunity to play but he can't shoot, and often plays out of control. I do love the play of Milke who really values his minutes. He is a smart player who knows what he can and cannot do. This next week will be an interesting one as well. TSU is not the team I thought they would be but you would think they would handle USI easily, but will they? Right now I have Tennessee Martin and Morehead far ahead of anyone else in the OVC. No doubt on Morehead and UTM. Tenn State I still say can put the 5 most talented guys on the floor. But offensively they don’t move the ball and defensively they take plays off. |
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Post by letsgoeagles on Jan 1, 2024 17:25:00 GMT -6
Hernandez and AJ will be solid the rest of the year and should get 32+ plus minutes a game. My largest concern is still the point guard. Campion is the best we have but his shot has really been off this season. I still like him but I like him more as a back up. Hittle played the best game I have ever seen him play...he seems to be using his size more to his advantage. He can still be very clumsy with the ball and has very little lateral movement. But he can set a massive screen and break to the basket. I do wish KP was about 20 pound heavier...but he still alters shots and seems to be shooting better. I am not sure what to think of Moore. Coach is giving him opportunity to play but he can't shoot, and often plays out of control. I do love the play of Milke who really values his minutes. He is a smart player who knows what he can and cannot do. This next week will be an interesting one as well. TSU is not the team I thought they would be but you would think they would handle USI easily, but will they? Right now I have Tennessee Martin and Morehead far ahead of anyone else in the OVC. No doubt on Morehead and UTM. Tenn State I still say can put the 5 most talented guys on the floor. But offensively they don’t move the ball and defensively they take plays off. TSU's offense is about as less imaginative as you could possible make it and does not play to the athletic strengths they have. They also do not block out well. Penny is going to get a lot of heat if his team does not start playing to their talent level. |
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Post by EagleScreamin on Jan 2, 2024 8:43:47 GMT -6
Agree with all points said. I was shocked when I heard Hittle was starting,but then I saw Baby Shaq starting for Lindenwood and understood why. Stan said in the postgame interview that Hittle started because KP lost his composure in the film session after SEMO game and was not going to start because of that. Causewell was then going to start but he was 3 minutes late for the bus leaving for the Lindenwood game. Hittle was then inserted as the starter. I initially thought KP wasn't starting to keep him from fouling early so he would be more available late in the game. Starting Hittle turned out to be a great move because he had a GREAT first 6 minutes. I really think Hittle can contribute a solid 10-15 minutes per game for us in conference games. Once he plays more his offense around the basket may get better as he settles down a little. |
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Post by eagle87 on Jan 2, 2024 8:56:28 GMT -6
Interesting reason why Hittle got the start. I was thinking it was a strategic move to counter baby Shaq from Lindenwood. Turns out if was for discipline reasons for the 2 in front of Hittle. Hittle played his best game as a USI player to date so it worked out,but not from strategy but rather from Stan once again being a hard discipline guy. If Hittle can just rebound and use his body against the biggest more physical centers he can be a value to the team. But, he needs to limit his shots to put backs and wide open 1 footers. He seems like a great kid so it would be nice to see him step up, but I think Stan needs to be very strategic where and when he uses him going forward. There is a chance he will be needed when we play a few teams that are really big so hopefully he can help us again in those games.
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Post by shorthaircut on Jan 2, 2024 8:57:51 GMT -6
Interesting reason why Hittle got the start. I was thinking it was a strategic move to counter baby Shaq from Lindenwood. Turns out if was for discipline reasons for the 2 in front of Hittle. Hittle played his best game as a USI player to date so it worked out,but not from strategy but rather from Stan once again being a hard discipline guy. If Hittle can just rebound and use his body against the biggest more physical centers he can be a value to the team. But, he needs to limit his shots to put backs and wide open 1 footers. He seems like a great kid so it would be nice to see him step up, but I think Stan needs to be very strategic where and when he uses him going forward. There is a chance he will be needed when we play a few teams that are really big so hopefully he can help us again in those games. We may need him Thursday as Tennessee State has a monster coming into the SEA. Now he doesn’t always play to his strength, but the dude is just enormous. |
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Post by schnautza on Jan 2, 2024 9:25:57 GMT -6
The first several minutes of that game, it seemed like Hittle had a pretty good awareness of who was open on the floor and was able to dish out several critical assists to open guys on the perimeter. Not sure if he was just extra amped up to be starting and looking to prove something, or if this is really the player Stan thought he recruited finally starting to show.
I agree, his putbacks are far more valuable than his field goal attempts. His second-chance points really impacted this one - if he can really lean into this role hard, he has a lot of potential. But he needs consistency.
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Post by shorthaircut on Jan 2, 2024 9:46:11 GMT -6
The first several minutes of that game, it seemed like Hittle had a pretty good awareness of who was open on the floor and was able to dish out several critical assists to open guys on the perimeter. Not sure if he was just extra amped up to be starting and looking to prove something, or if this is really the player Stan thought he recruited finally starting to show. I agree, his putbacks are far more valuable than his field goal attempts. His second-chance points really impacted this one - if he can really lean into this role hard, he has a lot of potential. But he needs consistency. He definitely played well on Sunday, no doubt about it. |
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