The Hoop Magic vs Clyde's game on Saturday should be a good one for GW fans.  All four GW teams play on Sunday with Takeover vs Tombs probably the best game.

Kenner Roster

July 26, 2012- Thursday
7:30pm ON POINT VS CANT BE STOP
8:50pm TOWN TAVERN VS BEYOND BELIEF

July 27, 2012- Friday
7:30pm A.WASH ASSOCIATES VS ON POINT
8:50pm EMERY HEIGHTS ELITE VS DCX

July 28, 2011 - Saturday
12:00pm CANT BE STOP VS TEAM TAKEOVER
1:20pm PREMIER ATHLETICS VS BEYOND BELIEF
2:40pm HOOP MAGIC VS THE CLYDE’S
4:00pm  THE TOMBS VS TOWN TAVERN
5:20pm HIGHER LEVEL VS TREE & THE TOP BOYS
6:40pm A.WASH ASSOCIATES VS EMERY HEIGHTS ELITE

July 29, 2011- Sunday
12:00pm ON POINT VS TREE & THE TOP BOYS
1:20pm TEAM TAKEOVER VS THE TOMBS
2:40pm PREMIER ATHLETE VS THE CLYDE’S
4:00pm CANT BE STOP VS TOWN TAVERN
5:20pm BEYOND BELIEF VS HOOP MAGIC
6:40pm DCX VS HIGHER LEVEL

Apparently some change in the Friday schedule according to this post on the GU board.

If I'm reading this correctly the post from the GU Board (copied below) indicates that the 4:00 game from Saturday (Clydes vs Higher Level) will be tonight at 9:25.  Does anyone know if the Saturday DCX-Hoop Magic game is getting moved up to 4:00p.m.?

Not sure what you are talking about GW Fan. Hoop Magic is schedule to play Clydes, not DCX on Saturday. I'd imagine it will stay the same since the game that was moved was scheduled for afterward. Are you looking at the right weekend?  

The question is will the Hoop Magic-Clyde's game still start at 2:40 or will they move the start time back because there will be 5 games instead of 6 on Satrurday? They may start the first game at 1 instead of 12 like they did last Sunday. We should get more clarification tonight on the Georgetown boards because a lot of them will show up to watch Tombs.

I was looking at the 2011 Kenner Schedule that I had saved on my hard drive. Guess I may want to think about deleting that one so I don't end up at McDonough to watch some Hoyas vs Mason players. :-) 

 Pato is dressed. 

No Joe today, and Kethan not dressed.  

A mixed game from the GW fan's standpoint.  Clydes was loaded with GU upperclassmen and graduates including Jeff Green plus a big dollop of Dwayne Smith.  Hoops Magic just didn't have the guns to compete and lost by 19.  Our Hoop Magic guys got less minutes than the other two games I've seen.  Smith was the only Colonial to start and none of the others were first off the bench.  My notes:

• Dwayne (9 pts) When he was focused and not trying to dribble past the opposing PG one-on-one, he was what you would expect.  He will be a steady, but unspectacular force for us this year.
• Kopriva (9 pts, 3 reb).  Value add guy.  Probably has a year to go before he really shines.  Hit a couple of nice mid-range shots and a three pointer.  Defended Jeff Green for much of the game leading to Greens high point total.   I guess he did OK going against an NBA player.  Not sure if he knows it's a summer league:  First to greet the team into timeouts, constantly setting picks, coaching on the bench and in the huddle...
• Jonathan Davis (4 points).  Limited minutes on the loaded Clyde's team, but pretty quiet.  No boards, two fouls.
• Paris (2 points, 2 reb).  With Ayegba, Larsen and Kopriva fighting over the paint, Paris was a bit outshined today.
• Larsen (7 pts, 4 reb).  Less effective going against the GU bigs, but picked it up towards the end of the game.
• Garino (7 points).  For some reason, he only got into the game with six minutes left.  He scored his points in the last three minutes on a breakaway dunk, a breakaway layup and an open three.  Played solid one-on-one D on Dwayne..

 I have been watching most of their games and I dont understand why Ayrgba plays so much when he is not doing anything. Larsen, when gets the ball something good almost everytime comes out of it.

Garino he is a defender that will lock down anybody. Im very excited to see him tomorrow.

Paris is soft, but skilled, he will be good in 2years for us, but it will be hard for him to get minutes with the loaded frontcourt

McDonald was hurt today

Excited to watch the guys tomorrow, especially Garino since I haven't seen him yet. 

Yeah, Moses Ayegba looked to be afraid of the basket today. I mentioned in the Josh Hart thread that Georgetown would run out players to make room for 2013 recruits, M.Ayegba is a strong candidate to be one of those players. Kevin Larsen showed no fear when he was in the game, unlike M.Ayegba. Despite the limited minutes Garino and Paris got you can see they are skilled players(in addition to the other incoming freshman who we've already praised). In past years, some of the GW incoming freshman(who have sinced transferred) looked like random guys picked out of the crowd to play, not players on scholarship!! I'm going to assume that Coach Symmonds will give Garino more time tomorrow, he looked quick, defended well and hit a 3 in his limited minutes.

I think Dwayne Smith got into a one-on-one type of thing with George Mason's Vaughn Gray after V.Gray crossed him over and made him fall to the ground!! Kethan Savage and Kevin Larsen were laughing hard at him, I'm sure they will make sure he never forgets it!! LOL

It was odd that Garino sat so long, especially since the outcome was never in doubt during the 2nd half. I did like how he ran the floor and wanted the ball in transition during the short time he was out there. He also looked very active on D. I thought this was Kopriva's best performance. He shot the ball with confidence and had a nice pull up jumper in addition to hitting a three. He drew the toughest defensive assignment he'll see all year in Jeff Green and did better than I expected he would. He's definitely progressing. I'm excited to see how the new and returning players gel after they get more practices under their belts. With so many new players the Italy trip should be a great opportunity to get additional organized games together prior to the season.  

Thomas!!!!

Fantastic observation about the GW class coming in. You know, your observation from just a few minutes seeing Garino is to the norm of knowlegeable basketball people. I was just looking to see if we could see the Nat'l Invitation that was held up at G'Town Prep after this past season. We got to see Monteverde and Garino play 3 games and, while there were notable players everywhere, the announcers couldn't stop going back to Garino and how he was impacting the game in SO MANY ways, not the least of which was that he could guard 1 through 5. He is a bit Mike Hall in that way.

When on good wheels, Garino has the speed and skill to blow by anyone running at him. He can finish at the rim. When I first mentioned, "think point forward," many here thought I was suggesting that he would be bringing the ball up the floor. No, he can dribble, but you can run plays (especially in a flex set) through a guy like Garino and he will kill the D with his awareness and feel for passing angles. Like most sports, the reason that you run plays and sets is to create an opportunithy. Some guys get you closer to the score and some guys just are so bad that they allow the D to recover and negate the play. Garino is one of those guys who help break down the D. If a defender is trailing by a half a step, his pass will lead to 2.

Thomas, I also appreciate your mention of Paris. He may not look like much in a city summer league game right now, but put him on the floor with real pressures and college refs and he will hurt the other team with his bag of offensive options. The biggest difference will be that both larsen and Paris can hurt you for 10 to 15 feet, where, last year, GW would be playing at leat one guy who wouldn't shoot from outside of 6 or 7 feet and couldn't really break you down eaither.  That meant that, at important junctures of games, GW would be going against an extra man sagging in the paint. This would take away Pellom and Smith as they would have to drive against their guy AND someone else's.

This year, we will have range at both the 3 and 5 all year long and extended range from the 4.

When you look at the number of quality (for GW) players, it is stunning. The plus is, and you may be noticing, I think that you are, is the speed and athletic ability. This is not going to be Taylor for 23 or a loss sort of team. Frankly, given the lack of a scoring 5 and issues with ball handling and guys who can't create their shot, Lonergan played out last year by slowing the pace. It took some players a good 3/4 of the season before they started to appreciate the offense and what it gave them. 

Coming into this season, Lonergan is looking at a very deep bench. To get all this depth into the game, I predict that he will do a tactical 180 and hit the gas. A guy like Kromah is best suited to a game which has a certain amount of scramble and mayhem--same with Bynes. When the game turns into a 84 foot contest, guys like Armwood, Smith and Pellom are way big enough to deal with the competition and much faster. Even Kopriva is fast.... Paris is also much faster than some are noting. Stop the running game and what happens when you get a steady diet of FLEX with Larsen, Pellom, Mikic and Savage... along with McDonald. I have to think that Lonergan is going to stomp on the gas and see if he can use his speed and depth to take the doubt out of the outcome of games.

 

DM,

i hope you are right about the gas because i agree the team should excel at up-tempo play.  we will make more rookie mistakes in hyperdrive but it will be worth it.  both mcdonald and savage seem to have an extra gear - they are fast and explosive as are both bynes and kromah.  the only guys who aren't really fast, mikic, larsen, paris, garino, all pass well and see the floor.  add to that, depth that in spring training at least,  is impressive.

agree about the flex, with all due respect, you get better opportunities if you can get down the floor before the defense sets up than you can in a half court set.  i just hope we recognize that pushing the ball isn't just about taking the ball to the hoop, its a great way to free up your 3 point shooters.  i would hope mikic and ? will get better looks this year and hopefully hit a much higher percentage.  we kicked out very little last year.  that was in part because we didn't shoot the 3 very well and in part because we seldom pushed the ball.

finally our defense should be much stronger and you only get chances to push with defensive stops and turnovers.  we should be big enough, strong enough and quick enough to get many more stops, force many more turnovers.

still and all, i'm also looking forward to a team that can run an offensive set when they do find themselves in a half court possession.  it has been many years since we have been able to do that.

On Mikic, his problem will be getting on the court with the numbers game. The defense against GW was pretty easy. Stay in Mikic's shorts with anyone over 6'3... pressure Taylor. Sag on Edwards. Fall back into the paint on Ware. Make Kromah dribble. Challenge Bynes on the dribble drive with the extra defender. Try to keep a body on Pellom and deny entry passes.

Subtract Edwards and Ware and add, Garino, Larsen, Armwood, and Paris... with Savage and McDonald replacing Taylor, we have much better strength in the paint. I can only expect that Kopriva, Smith, Kromah, Bynes and Pellom will be at least as good as last year....

Garino, Larsen and Paris can all shoot. Kopriva has extended his range and willingness to shoot. That's going to open up the driving lanes for Kromah, Pellom, and Smith. Even in the set offense, if a team chooses to put a big on Mikic, that will just open up more room for our play in the paint. Pato and Armood will start to remind us of the Montrell days. I know that Lonergan likes the pressure 3/4 to chop up the shot clock. If memory serves, that's when Taylor picked up a lot of silly fouls that we could ill-afford.

What's more, with the rule changes (some organized practices in the summer) and also the early training granted for the Italian trip, we are getting a lot more of the sets into the current useable playbook. Last year, it was like we had to limit what we ran early on based on who was on the floor. Finally, from a pure recruiting basis, look for GW to start out up-tempo to add a bit of excitement to the season and the vision of GW basketball. We have some top notch players looking in. We have a chance to show off what we are about and I don't think that this opportunity will be lost on the recruits.

I'm with you on the Mikic controlled break and I like the guys who will be on the floor with him to make him more successful. In fact you will see that much of the time, Garino will also float to the 3 and wait for a kick-out. He is a deft passer and already has shown that if a 5 steps to cut off a drive, he will dish for dunk. Mr. Pellom is going to love this guy.

A couple of other notes:

• Garino was taller than I thought.  Maybe the full 6'7"?
• I was thinking that the frontcourt is going to be massively overcrowded next year.  Pelom, Larsen and Armwood should start and/or get big minutes.  Smith, Mikic, Garino, Paris, Kopriva and Davis will have to fight over the remaining playing time.  Could be a long year for Paris & Davis.

Colonial Hoops

unless the other players shoot blanks i don't see Mikic getting much playing time this coming season.

i think mikic's future depends on several factors;

1. how well he shoots
2. how much his defense & rebounding improve
3. how well he manuevers inside the arc
4. opposing matchups

the fact is, his overall game got a lot better last year, its just that his shooting didn't keep up.  his defense wasn't quite there but if he continues to improve his game and finds his range, it will be tough to keep him off the floor.

i think mikic will get on the floor often when only one of pellom/armwood/larsen are on the floor.  same goes for kopriva.  both will have difficulty matching up against fast 3's and powerful 4's. ML's track record is to utilize a fairly deep lineup so i think we'll wind up with 10-11 players getting between 15-25 minutes and a lot of situational adjustments. 

His shooting also improved as his game came together.  He shot 41% from three during conference games.  No way you sit a Junior 6'8" marksman.

 I was also at Saturday's "Hoop Magic" game.  Sadly, I cannot make it today.  Hard to take much out of this game because the teams were so mismatched.   Hoop Magic really had nobody on the skill level of a Markel Starks, Austin Freeman, Jonathan Wallace or even a Dwayne Smith, yet alone Jeff Green.   Clydes blew out Hoop Magic from the opening tip.  It was never competitive.  Don't know why neither McDonald nor Savage were suited up.   GW supposedly had 6 players play today...Kopriva, Maragkos, Larsen and Garino for Hoop Magic, and Smith and Davis for Clydes.  I said I assume there were 6 because until BM mentioned that Jonathan Davis played, I did not even know he was there...his game was that invisible.  FWIW...4 of the 9 players on Hoop Magic were from GW.  0 of the starters for Hoop Magic were from GW.  I can confirm that Garino is the foreign looking guy who was sitting on the bench not suited up all season.   I kinda assumed that Garino is being eased back into play after his injury and that is why he only played the last 6 minutes of the game.  Cannot comment on his game yet.  He did hit all 3 of his shots, including a 3, but he was wide opened and all alone when he shot the 3 (from the base line) and was the recipient of a 2 on 1 break for the other 2 baskets, again each in garbage time.  So, I will pass on commenting further on his game.  Some day Maragkos will be the superior player to Mikic.  He seems to have a bigger arsenal.  However, right now, Mikic is better.  The only way I see Marakos surpassing Mikic in minutes this year is if Nemenja refuses to rebound.    Larsen shot about 50% from the field, showing his usual.  It appeared to me that he forced the issue a bit too much when he got in the game, as his playing time was limitede because of Ayegba.  Of course I am not objective, but I do believe that Larsen is the superior player.   As for Kopriva, he showed a very sweet touch from the oustide on 2 occasions (one was a 3, the other was about 15 feet out.).  He also showed us a couple of bricks.  He also displayed all of those positives on and off the court that do not show in the box score, as BM described, which make him an added asset to the team.  Do not see him as a starter.  Still, the best GW player on the court today was Dewayne Smith.  Even though this is just summer league, you can see he is much further along and developed than any other GW player in the game today.  Used correctly, he is an asset on any team.  Just a couple of comments on some of the non GW teammates.  Princeton player Ian Hummer (I believe is a senior) is a nice player, averaged over 16 points per game for the Tigers last season.  Still, he never met a shot he didn't like.  The coaches son, Curtis Symonds, a junior at Essex County College, tries hard to show that he should be playing at a higher level.  He doesn't.   Yet, he probably played more minutes than anyone else on the team.  Probably because we were short on guards today, but maybe there was a bit of favoritism going on to.  Finally, for this I will ask our summer time expert Thomas....what is the skinny on Jerome Diggs (#3 on Hoop Magic".  Listed as 5'11" without possibly weighing more than 155 pounds, he is fearless.  Walks around with a perpetual smile on his face.  He had a put back slam dunk yesterday which was just amazing.  Seems good enough to be playing Division one somewhere, but he was listed as St. Joseph's of Maine.  Any word on him, Thomas?

Well, BM, thanks for your read on Pato's height. I had been asking for the rocket-metric. Garino seemed taller than 6'5. Garino is Mikic's problem in the numbers game. He is easily faster and can shoot from range, dribble and take it to the hole. AND, he can rebound. If someone drops a zone on us, I could see both players on the court.  Garino has the talent to fit in in several roles, similar to Mike Hall.

i was curious about him as well.  the 1st game i watched he was spectacular, but as the games progressed it became clear he had no shot.  still, his speed, ball handling and passing have been something to watch.

that last post was in reference to LSF's comments on Diggs

Yeah that putback dunk in traffic was one of the most spectacular I've seen at Kenner.  I could swear his head and shoulders were above the rim.

One reason you may not have known that Jonathan Davis was playing was because you never heard his name. The announcer probably had an out-of-date roster because he was calling Davis the wrong name for the entire game.  

 Watched Hoop Magic get beaten pretty badly by Beyond Belief today. Kethan Savage was real aggressive and had some nice moments. Larsen made a couple turnaround jumpers and had a few steals in the lane. Garino was about 0-4 from 3 but made some nice passes. And Paris didn't play much but hit a 3 at the end. No Macdonald or Armwood. 

This guard who I think is prepping somewhere was sabotaging the team pretty bad. Ball stuck to him for a lot of possessions, no passes and instead a forced drive or a terrible 3 attempt. 

According to someone I was speaking with in the stands the loss eliminated Hoop Magic from the playoffs. Onward to Italy I guess. 

Didn't see any GW coaches but JT2 and 3 were there. 

I really liked Kethan's aggressive play throughout Kenner. Today he was matched up against DJ Strawberry (former Terp & Phoenix Suns player), and showed no signs of being intimidated by the matchup. He's been able to get by his man and finish in traffic (and get to the line) in every game and doesn't shy away from contact. I have a feeling we're going to reading his name (along with some of the other freshmen) on the A-10 weekly honor roll throughout the upcoming season.  

Mikic is GW's only consistent 3pt threat this year and thus will get playing time as long as he shoots it at a reasonable level and continues to give good effort on rebounding and defense. Mikic's actually one of the best 3pt shooter's GW's ever had and I'm expecting a bounce back year from distance for the Serb.

Savage has been inconistent from distance in the Kenner scoring mostly on drives to the basket and Garino shoot poorly most of the games we saw on TV latter in the year.  Maybe he'll be better when healthy but it's not clear that he'll be a consistent shooter in college yet.  Maybe Kromah but he was very much up and down last year shooting-wise and is more of a good scorer/streaky shooter than the pure gunner Mikic is. 

LSF, I also looked up information on Jerome Diggs after seing that spectacular putback dunk he had on Saturday. I follow local high school hoops and had never heard of him, I actually knew more about Curtis Symmonds Jr high school playing days(because he played for a high profile high school team) than I did J.Diggs. The St.Joseph's listed for J.Diggs is a prep school, it will be interesting to see what college interest he'll get. I've got to believe the athleticism, ball-handling and speed will get him at least some mid-major looks. I'm guessing J.Diggs either didn't play for a high-profile high school team or AAU team and wasn't exposed to many recruiters. I watched J.Diggs closely today and he seems to be erratic, for every highlight-reel play he makes, he'll make 2 ridiculous plays. Part of that may be due to the fact that his minutes were inconsistent with Hoop Magic. I'd like to see what he could do if he were on a team where he got a lot of minutes.

I agree with GW Fan's take on Kethan Savage's game, he definitely has no fear of any player on offense and defense. He's been matched up against some very good players in the Kenner League and has held his own against them. That should serve him well when he suits up for GW. Lasan Kromah was a no-show for Team Takeover's win today, I did see him holding an ice pack on his knee after Saturday's game. I arrived after Team Takeover had already played and just saw him sitting in the stands. Abe mentioned that Hoop Magic was eliminated from the playoffs with the 2 losses this weekend, the standings did have them in 4th place in their division through Friday behind Higher Level, Premier Athlete and Tombs, which would have qualified them for the playoffs. I think they had 3 wins. Clyde's, Team Takeover and DCX are in the playoffs

I forgot to mention that Jerome Diggs is from Virginia, that's probably why he's playing for Curtis Symmonds, I believe C.Symmonds has been working with youth basketball in Virginia for many years now. Apparantly, his basketball passions are Virginia youth hoops and GW basketball!!!

Curtis has been an advocate for Virginia Youth Sports believing that VA athletes don´t get the respect they deserve.  I believe Kethan Savage is a product of his passion and hard work.  Curtis has spent several hours in the gym working with him.  We might not all agree with his coaching style but he loves GW basketball.  We are lucky to have him as an advocate.  

He is also well known around the DMV.  If a spot ever opened up on the GW coaching staff, ML should really consider him.  Parents like and trust Curtis to give them the truth even when the truth hurts.  He puts the kids first and would be an excellent recruiter. 

Symonds profile pieces.

Thanks to everyone for these reports.

It seems like our team is about where we thought it would be, more or less.  Very hopeful we'll get reports from Italy.

On the plus side, Larsen sounds even better than some of the write-ups on this board suggested and it sounds like as long as his defense and rebounding aren't liabilities, he'll get major minutes.  Garino in limited action sounds like he showed what we saw in multiple TV games (a player who can contribute right away, maybe even start).  Savage sounds as good as advertised, but better than I expected (sonds like he really can attack the basket at this level so he can be an effective player even before that jump shot develops). Paris sounds like what I thought (some skillm but a year or two away from being a real factor). Armwood sounds as advertised.

The one real question is Joe McDonald. Sounds like he has been a pass-first guy who has shown real promise but hasn't taken over his team.  

This Italy trip will be huge for him - a chance to play with the team in a system that should be a good fit for him, and in a better environment for his type of game than the unstructured Kenner League.  Based on all these reports, he seems like the key guy to our season - if we can get quality PG play from him, we could suprise people, but if he struggles like most freshmen and we're forced to rely on Bynes too much, then the most important position on the court becomes our achiles heel.

Regardless, with the addition of Larsen and Armwood,  a full season from Smith, some improvement and more strengthn from Kopriva, and hopefully Pellom back to form by games, we should have the best front court since the Dokun Akinbade/Rob Diggs/Damian Hollis era (deeper but less experienced than that).   With Kromah and Garino on the wings, along with Savage and Mkic, we should be deep and talented there.  

So again, the one question mark really is the adjustment period for Joe McDonald.

For those who have seen them play, and aren't just going off reports on tihs board like I am, please correct me if you think my impressions are wrong.

Judging from the games I've seen, Joe plays the game at a slower and more deliberate pace than Kethan.  Where Kethan is all about speed and aggressive moves to the basket on offense, he also over-commits on D and regularly gives up easy layups.  Joe is more likely too pick his spots.  He takes less shots and penetrates less, but also plays a much more solid man D.  He somehow ended up in the scrum for rebounds with the big guys and, perhaps obviously, has a great eye for setting up his teammates without over-thinking it:  When Larsen is in a good matchup, Joe simply lobs the ball to him and stands aside instead of trying to make the spectacular pass.

Optimistically, I'd say his game doesn't show well in Kenner and he'll have plenty of time to adjust to ML's system and his teammates before the season starts.  Realistically, I'll assume that he'll take some time to adjust to the speed of the college game and opposing PGs will pester him all the way up the court.  I assume Bynes will spend plenty of time at the point if Lonergan wants to play by current ability.  Kopriva's heavy usuage last year tells me he does give "aspirational" minutes to players though.

I suspect that a lot of those "aspirational" minutes (as you put it) will go to Garno this year, though I'd say it's more about guys who runs the plays properly and do the little things than being "aspirational". 

On Joe, do you think he could at least be a Bernard Barrow type of PG this year - one who doesn't hurt you and doesn't make mistakes, but who doesn't shoot much and mostly just sets up the offense?  Frankly, I could live with that if Kromah and the frontcourt step up.

Barrow type is a good comp, albeit in completely different offensive systems (if you want to call TP-ball a system).

At this point I'm pausing to note that I also thought Larsen was a long-term project and Travis King was the point-guard of the future.  Trust the coaches, not me.

I was more optimistic in reading McDonald/Savage as currently a poor man's Pearsall/Surles back-court combo.

 It's a lot to ask a freshman to come in and run point, so I think we are going to be hearing the name Brian Bynes a lot more this year than we thought.  I don't mean to dig up old cobwebs, but you could take our current uncertainty with this all of the way back to Hobbs.  There were a few people here who saw TT heading into his junior year wondering who was being groomed by Hobbs to take his place at pg when he graduated.  

Everyone here focused on Copes when Hobbs left and the whole in the middle, but the question mark today is not in the front court, it's in the back court.  Of course we are rooting for McDonald and Bynes to play big this year.  Hopefully one or both of them will step up, it could be the single difference between a decent and not-so decent season.

Don't remember Pearsall's early seasons, but he was certainly a pass-first guy later in his career.

I don't remember who was Alvin P's backup as a starting freshman PG but I'd say that if Bynes does not start, a senior BB is one of GW's better backup PGs we've had in years.  Clearly superior to what TT had his freshman year and better than what Shawnta R, C Elliott (w/ TJ as starting SG) and likely A Pearsall had to help them out their freshman years.

I don't remember who was Alvin P's backup as a starting freshman PG but I'd say that if Bynes does not start, a senior BB is one of GW's better backup PGs we've had in years.  Clearly superior to what TT had his freshman year and better than what Shawnta R, C Elliott (w/ TJ as starting SG) and likely A Pearsall had to help them out their freshman years.

Something else to take into account concerning Joe McDonald's Kenner League performance is that he was on a team with 3 other point guards so it may have been hard for him to establish any sort or comfort level in games. Didn't he have a rep for being a scoring point guard in high school? The lack of consistent minutes and competing against stronger and quicker guys may have limited what he could do. A poster mentioned that former GW recruiting target Patrick Holloway didn't fare to well when he played against Hoop Magic, but in recent games Higher Level had just 6 or 7 players which allowed P.Holloway to get lots of playing time and show what he could do. J.McDonald(and Kethan Savage) would've been a lot more effective in a situation like that.

I've only seen one Kenner game and one of Garino's game in the NHSI so most of what I'm going on is other reports and general impressions, but my expectations are a bit tempered. I think without a doubt the team will be better than last year and is on an upward trajectory, but I would be cautious expecting big contributions from the freshmen right away.

Garino is a real high IQ player and does a lot of little things well but keeping him on the floor might be giving up some offense unless his shooting improves. Larsen has some nice moves around the bucket and can shoot short jumpers, I think he'll play a fair amount especially if Pellom isn't ready at start of season. Savage is great fun to watch but there might be an adjustment period for him learning to drive against bigger competition. Paris I would agree looks like more of a project at this point. Macdonald will definitely get some time at PG and we'll see how that goes. And from the sound of it Armwood is going to be a starter right away.

Good point, Thomas.  That's part and parcel of the point I was trying to mkae about him - that the format probably hasn't allowed him to get comfortable or truly show what he can do, and so the Italy trip will be a big chance for him to take over and show his skills in a game and system that better suits his talent.

Abe, I'm not sure Garino has to be a great shooter to stay on the court. I think his passing is going to be a big boost to our offense. I'm guessing he might be the best player we have at feeding the post, at quick ball reversal to Mikic or Kromah for the open three, and at hitting cutters.  I think his passing alone will give a dimension to our offense that we lacked the last coupe of years and that he doesn't have to shoot like Mikic to keep his defender honest enough to be a factor.  But again, this is based off seeing the guy on TV twice in HS games so who the heck knows.

I phrased what I said about Garino poorly, FQ. I agree with your points though you may be a bit too bullish. From what I've seen he's not a great scorer but I think like you said he can contribute on offense in other ways.

If we are significantly better this year, it is because of Kromah, Pellom and Smith, plus an improved Kopriva and maybe Mikic.  The immediate help will be the addition of Armwood and Larsen.  Hopefully, Bynes will also be improved.   Don't see the others as signficant game changers their freshman year based on my limited observations during Kenner.   Garino I did not see enough of (only 6 minutes, as he is coming off injury) and Paris did not overwhelm me.  McDonald may be a good A-10 point guard in the future, but I don't think this year.  As for Savage, we will see glimpses and even some highlight reel stuff,but he wil not replace TT's points this year and, I really hope that his defense is better than what I saw at the Kenner.  It was really quite bad.