Player expectations

[rock70]

I've been thinking about what we need from certain players if we hope to be successful this year. Here is a short run down on some of the key players and what I think we'll need from them in order to win twenty games and via for the Horizon League championship.

Ronnie Thomas - I started out with Ronnie because he will be critical to the success of our team. I can tell you right now that he looked ten times better Monday then he did at any time last year when he was injured. So what do we need from him on the court this year?
- First and foremost we need him to average at least 5 rebounds per game and play solid post defense on the opponents big man. He needs to average 5 or 6 points per game to at least keep the opponent honest.

Cory Cooperwood - Cory has to be an animal on the boards. We will need him to average 8 or 9 boards per game. With his sweet stoke from the foul line I think he can also give us 9 or 10 points per game. It will be critical that Cory stays out of foul trouble because we're going to need his presence in the paint especially on the boards.

Todd Brown - I don't see either Todd's or Vaughn's points per game increases drastically because our offense is not designed to have one or two players score all the time. I do see Todd averaging 14 points per game but where we will really need Todd is to be much more effective on the boards. It has been discussed at length on this board how rebounding is a big concern so if Todd can average over 5 or 6 boards per game it really takes a lot of pressure off of our big men. Todd has put on almost 15 lbs so he should be physically up for the challenge this year compared to last year.

During Monday's exhibition I was thrilled to see Todd drive the ball to the rim for two baskets. It is important that Todd does not become one dimensional and be content with launching three's all game long. With Todd vertical and his ability to rise above other players I really hope to see him drive the lane more this year and hit that pull up jumper. It is such a tough shot to defend and he has a soft touch on the ball.

Will Graham - Will might just be the most critical player on the team. He will be the quarterback of this team so he needs to know when to push the ball and when to set the offense. I feel Will needs to be more of an offensive threat and look to penetrate more and get to the line. What Will does NOT need to do is launch three's. His game is dribble penetration and either taking it to the rim or dish off for an assist but regardless he needs to be more aggressive on offense. I really believe that Will can average 8 points per game. Will needs to average at least 5 assist per game and keep his turnover to 2 or less. Will is one of the more physical point guards in the Horizon League so it would not surprise me if he averaged over 3 rebounds per game. This is Will's senior year and I am expecting big things from him!

Vaughn - Well Vaughn clearly is our best player and much is expected of him. Sometimes he is to unselfish on offense. This year I would like to see him create his own shot more during the course of the game. Vaughn should average 15 or 16 points per game and be our defensive stopper on the other teams top guard. I would also like to see him average 4 boards a game and 3 assist per game.

So in summary here is what I think we need from our starters this season.

Ronnie: 6 ppg, 5 rpg, and post defense
Cory: 9 ppg and 8 rpg
Todd: 14 ppg and 5 rpg
Vaughn: 16 ppg, 3.5 rpg, and 3 apg
Will: 8 ppg, 5 apg, 3 rpg, and less then 2 turnovers per game.

This would give us 53 ppg and 24.5 rpg from our starters. With our depth this year I would think we can easily get another 17 points per game and another 8 rebounds from our bench.

Feel free to comment on your expectations for our starters and the remaining players on the team.

[bballraider]

Nice job Rock70, numbers look pretty good and sound about right for the starters as an average. Will's numbers may not be as high scoring, if he is getting a lot of assists. Also his numbers may depend on the health of John David too, but Will is quite capable of getting at least 8 pts./game if he plays under control and doesn't force things. He is so quick and gets to the rim easily, but sometimes goes in so fast he puts the ball up too hard on the glass, and it bounces out, he may have led the team in missed lay ups last year because of that. If he can learn more body control once he is flying towards the rim, then he could become a very good scorer.

My next blog was going to be kind of a breakdown on each of the players, but maybe I will just enter it on here later, we will see, but again nice breakdown Rock70.

[Tipp City Raider]

I think the extent of our success will be determined by our bench. If you look at box scores from last year, our starters stacked up well with any team we played. When we lost, it was usually because we got little to no contribution from our bench. We need to be able to go 8-9 players deep every night and have all 8-9 of those players contribute.

[rock70]

Nov 14, 2008 15:01:29 GMT -5 bballraider said:

My next blog was going to be kind of a breakdown on each of the players, but maybe I will just enter it on here later, we will see, but again nice breakdown Rock70.

Hey bballraider, thanks for the kind words and I can't wait to see your evaluations on all our players strength and weaknesses. Your insight is always respected and appreciated.

You brought up a good point on Will and maybe 8 ppg might be a bit wishful thinking on my part but I was kinda basing that on the assumption that both Vaughn and Todd are always threats to score that their man can't leave them to double Will if he is driving to the hoop plus Will is a decent free throw shooter and if he is more aggressive he should get more attempts which will help increase his ppg form last season. You are right that Will needs to slow it down just a tad and not jack hammer the ball off the glass when he does go strong to the rim.