As part of the University's Alumni & Parents Weekend (Homecoming) 2014 on Saturday, October 25 the annual Fairfield Men's Basketball Red and White Scrimmage will be played in Alumni Hall from 9:00 am to 10:30 am.
The first full practice can be six weeks prior to the team's first game. Which means, depending on Sydney's schedule of preseason practices, we might have our first official full preseason practice this Friday.
However, as is pointed out in the article ...By NCAA rule, college basketball teams can practice 30 times in those 42 days prior to the first game. Or, in other words, take 12 days off...
Should be interesting to see how the newcomers look on the 25th, since we have a fairly good idea of the strengths and weaknesses of our returning players.
Its a little early, but here is what I will be looking for at the Red-White
KJ Rose - did he develop a pull-up jumper from 10 feet, and FT shooting Segura - Can he drive and dish, and shoot from outside. StevieJ - Is he more that a jump shooter Chappell - will all that talent emerge into a complete player.... could be big surprise Threatt - will he hit the ground running with a scorers mentality, and be a "Lead" Guard Nelson - is he a MVS type player or will he show that he is the answer as a complete player (i.e. handle the ball) Smith - improve either his passing/Balhhnadling to be a SF or improve his Rebounding/Defense to be a PF Marcus - Improved ballhanding and passing. Amadou - healthy, grab every rebound and the development of a jumper from 5-10 feet Malcolm - Agressiveness to block enough shots to be an intimidator Kirkland - Is he a mirror image of Amadou or do we have more or less Degnan - a Day 1 impact player. Skilled and Strong Coleman - aggresiveness in his eyes and body language. Can he be our best low post player? Harper - a surprise at PG
I am also interested to see the newcomers, but I really think the improvement of Chappell will be something to watch.
Last Edit: Sept 30, 2014 13:13:00 GMT -5 by JoeStag
Post by nashvillestag on Sept 30, 2014 13:25:59 GMT -5
Wonder how Sydney will handle the new situation? My guess is that with all the new players, getting started as soon as possible is the way to go with a day or two off at the correct time the perfect way to keep the team from getting mentally dragged down from problems that are sure to arise as he tries to put the pieces together. On the other hand maybe he will feel that a tighter schedule of intense practice days without the breaks would be the better way to go. Not sure which way he will go, but getting it right is important in the building of confidence that this team needs in order to start the season off on the right foot.
Spreading 30 practices over 42 days makes good sense to me. This allows for healing time for injuries that happen early in the practice season to heal before the start of the regular season games. Also any student who truly wants to be a student-athlete(I believe there still are a few left) have some time in between practices to catch up on their school work.
Its a little early, but here is what I will be looking for at the Red-White
KJ Rose - did he develop a pull-up jumper from 10 feet, and FT shooting Segura - Can he drive and dish, and shoot from outside. StevieJ - Is he more that a jump shooter Chappell - will all that talent emerge into a complete player.... could be big surprise Threatt - will he hit the ground running with a scorers mentality, and be a "Lead" Guard Nelson - is he a MVS type player or will he show that he is the answer as a complete player (i.e. handle the ball) Smith - improve either his passing/Balhhnadling to be a SF or improve his Rebounding/Defense to be a PF Marcus - Improved ballhanding and passing. Amadou - healthy, grab every rebound and the development of a jumper from 5-10 feet Malcolm - Agressiveness to block enough shots to be an intimidator Kirkland - Is he a mirror image of Amadou or do we have more or less Degnan - a Day 1 impact player. Skilled and Strong Coleman - aggresiveness in his eyes and body language. Can he be our best low post player? Harper - a surprise at PG
I am also interested to see the newcomers, but I really think the improvement of Chappell will be something to watch.
I am expecting KJ to have improved his mid-range game. We need his foul shooting to improve dramatically. I expect it will. And let's hope Segura, recruited as a pure PG, and perhaps Harper pressure for minutes. Intrigued to hear that Chappell has improved. That would be a big boost for us at the backup 2/3. Steve Smith looks bigger. If he and Chappell have made a big jump we will have solid depth. We all know how critical it is that Threatt can really play. I also expect Stevie to be stronger with the ball. Nice if Nelson can give some quality minutes. Maybe this year our size will play to expectations. Amadou is healthy. Malcolm has another year of competition. Degnan should be an impact frosh. Kirkland should be a beast and Coleman could put it all together. We need 3 of 5 to excel. Marcus is Marcus. Unassuming as he is, it's his team. I expect he'll be improved in every part of his game.
Looking forward to the scrimmage and some practice reports.
Yes, lots of questions. And we are looking for improvement in all areas. But IMO, the most important position where we need to have tremendous improvment is 2G. That is a position that we need to see Double Digit Points, a Go-to-Guy, Leadership, Passing/Ballhandling, and the guy that can "Create offense" when the clock is running down. That is a LOT to ask of ONE player, but each of those qualities are exactly what Needham provided and exactly what we need from that position for us to win a MAAC Championship.
I realize that we should not be expecting any ONE our players to step right in and be a Needham; However, I do expect to see that we have multiple players that can play to 80% of Needham's ability. I am very high on the trio of Threatt, Nelson and Chappell, as I feel that all 3 have the potential to be starting 2G's. I would not be surprised to see all 3 of them on the court at one time, as Threatt did play PG in JUCO. Nelson at the 2G, and Chappell at the 3G. Add Marcus at the 4 and Degnan at the 5 and I feel we have the capability to have an explosive offense. Don't know how that will translate to defense.
The annual publications sure are cynical and they are more objective than us. It has me thinking that we may again be over optimistic. Based on past few years, Sydney will be shuffling players from most of the season to find the right combination of guys to gel together.
The annual publications sure are cynical and they are more objective than us. It has me thinking that we may again be over optimistic. Based on past few years, Sydney will be shuffling players from most of the season to find the right combination of guys to gel together.
The annual publications should be cynical based on last season's performance and the fact that most of the players from the team who were responsible for the bad performance are returning (minus of course its best player in Mo Barrow). But really, most of these magazines are not very thorough in their investigation of the makeup of any team and in fact account for little if any of the impact that newcomers may provide. Quite frankly the only publication I take any stock in would be the Blue Ribbon, who really doesn't begin compiling any info until after the semester begins in Sept. And apparently it is Paxton again who has done the MAAC write-up. I believe he has personally called all the coaches in the league for first hand knowlege of things that may be going on with each program. Actually I really don't see a lot of overly optimistic prognostications here from the regulars, but rather a wait and see attitude where things MIGHT turn out a lot better if certain things fall into place. The truth is, this season is about as unpredictable as any that the Stags have ever had in their history. Certainly this creates an air of uncertainty for sure, but at the same time a feeling of excitement for what might be around the corner.
Yes, lots of questions. And we are looking for improvement in all areas. But IMO, the most important position where we need to have tremendous improvment is 2G. That is a position that we need to see Double Digit Points, a Go-to-Guy, Leadership, Passing/Ballhandling, and the guy that can "Create offense" when the clock is running down. That is a LOT to ask of ONE player, but each of those qualities are exactly what Needham provided and exactly what we need from that position for us to win a MAAC Championship.
I realize that we should not be expecting any ONE our players to step right in and be a Needham; However, I do expect to see that we have multiple players that can play to 80% of Needham's ability. I am very high on the trio of Threatt, Nelson and Chappell, as I feel that all 3 have the potential to be starting 2G's. I would not be surprised to see all 3 of them on the court at one time, as Threatt did play PG in JUCO. Nelson at the 2G, and Chappell at the 3G. Add Marcus at the 4 and Degnan at the 5 and I feel we have the capability to have an explosive offense. Don't know how that will translate to defense.
No doubt about it JS, we MUST get the that 80% or so combo (Needham) effect from the players you mentioned. And yes your theoretical line-up would be highly skilled and tough to stop. But yet defense is important, and quite frankly this crew as a group would not be good on that end IMO. Therefore I would be surprised if those 5 players were ever on the court at the same time together. But they would be fun to watch for sure!
I realize that we should not be expecting any ONE our players to step right in and be a Needham; However, I do expect to see that we have multiple players that can play to 80% of Needham's ability. I am very high on the trio of Threatt, Nelson and Chappell, as I feel that all 3 have the potential to be starting 2G's. I would not be surprised to see all 3 of them on the court at one time, as Threatt did play PG in JUCO. Nelson at the 2G, and Chappell at the 3G. Add Marcus at the 4 and Degnan at the 5 and I feel we have the capability to have an explosive offense. Don't know how that will translate to defense. No doubt about it JS, we MUST get the that 80% or so combo (Needham) effect from the players you mentioned. And yes your theoretical line-up would be highly skilled and tough to stop. But yet defense is important, and quite frankly this crew as a group would not be good on that end IMO. Therefore I would be surprised if those 5 players were ever on the court at the same time together. But they would be fun to watch for sure!
I would not expect my suggested line-up would start, nor get a lot of minutes..... but I do think we might see Threatt at the PG for 5-10mpg. I hear he is capable of running the team. And like Todd giving Goode a rest, and Needham giving Wade a rest, it certainly would give the team a different look. And If Nelson and Chappell prove to be impact players this year, then we might have an over-abundance of 2G's that could allow us to play a 3G line-up. It is very difficult to win in the MAAC without playing 3 guards at the same time..... or at least having a SF that has guard-like skills (passing, ballhandling and shooting..... Tony George, Shane Miller, Nick Delfico, Rakim Sanders.
Wonder how Sydney will handle the new situation? My guess is that with all the new players, getting started as soon as possible is the way to go with a day or two off at the correct time the perfect way to keep the team from getting mentally dragged down from problems that are sure to arise as he tries to put the pieces together. On the other hand maybe he will feel that a tighter schedule of intense practice days without the breaks would be the better way to go. Not sure which way he will go, but getting it right is important in the building of confidence that this team needs in order to start the season off on the right foot.
Post by nashvillestag on Oct 24, 2014 11:15:28 GMT -5
Big day tomorrow as the 2014-15 edition of the Fairfield Stags will be on display to the public for the first time. BTW I like the fact that they are listing the time period for the scrimmage to be a half hour longer than has been listed in the past. Don't know if that means extra scrimmage time, or maybe extra warm-up time, or maybe even just a period after the action when maybe the fans can talk to the players. Whatever, I am certainly looking forward to it. As far as what we will see and hope for, it looks like JS and others have posted reasonable points above to be looked for. I would make a general statement here however that as far as these things go, many times the scrimmages in the past have not been a good indicator as to how well that particular edition of the team would do during the season. HOWEVER last year that statement would be totally untrue. I recently reviewed our comments from this very day last Oct., and unfortunately the negative impressions that were made on this board the next few days sadly reflected a preview of what was to occur during the season. So I do think that because (again) there are a lot of new pieces to the puzzle that have to be put together, I would hope to see a little more cohesion in this event this time around. So yes while it is true the team will not win or lose a game tomorrow, the fact is they will create an impression. And for a fan base that is currently a bit on the negative side (based on last year), a good effort certainly might lift the spirits of a lot of people.
Post by reindeerfan on Oct 24, 2014 15:43:39 GMT -5
Unfortunately, I am going to miss this event because its parents weekend at my sons college. I'll be interested in getting a full and hopefully candidate assessment from all in attendence. I agree that this really scrimage generally doesn't mean much but the poor shooting last year was certainly indicative of what we ended up seeing last season. I am most interested on impressions of the new players as I haven't seen them play myself and I am going to get glowing reports on someonebody.....anybody.....
While scrimmage starts at 9am, typically the team is practicing at 8am to 9am. While I do not expect to see a lot of team chemistry at this point, It is very obvious to see the skill levels of each of the players. Especially ballhandling, Passing, quickness, physicality, Basketball IQ, and Defense..... all things we need to improve upon this year. The most important things to look for are
1. Improved Team Ballhandling 2. Do we have a "Special" Guard, and have we solved the 2G problem of last year 3. Does Marcus look like like an All-MAAC Player 4. Is the team more Physical and tough 5. Do we have more players that can Create offense off the dribble 6. More Passers 7. Will our defense return tho the best in the MAAC
