Observations vs Orlando

1. Anthony Davis will learn that many times there won't be a striaght line to the glass to secure rebounds.
- obvious he has graceful skills.
- learn to shed blockout defenders as for now he lack the strength etc to simply "bang off" bodies.*upgrade footwork
-nice abilty on "weakside rebs" as he went after a miss and had a nice tip in while in the crowd.
- must master 'catch and face" from the post.
-nice defensive timing to alter or get the block.

2. Brian Roberts-like how he keeps the dribble in pick&roll situations...gives time to read the roll and defensive reactions.
-court vision was good..."runs the horizon"..meaning he sees corner to corner which allows him to look into the lane.
-head is up in the open floor as he advances the ball.
-Good stroke on the jumper and shifty quick gets him deeper into the defense. *will watch him *..thought he was the best pt guard vs Orlando.
-defensive effots is there.

3.Al Farouq Amino.-where is the "attack mentality?"
-still want to see a lil more "off the bounce" into the lane.
-needs a more assertive offensive approach.
-ran the floor hard and gave a decent enough defensive effort...tends to straighten up and allows hander to get the angle on him.
-would love to see the one or two bounce into the shot move...should have had it consistently by now * will observe.
-seems to be working a lil harder.

4- Austin Rivers-"keep the head up" and see the floor and in the lane...tends to put head down and look for shot or drive...misses some folks.
-plays hard but must not allow that to influence his shot selection..."know when to pass and when to shoot " something that rookies will struggle with.
-point guard instincts not here yet for 'set play" playmaking concepts..* still very young.
- open floor game has tons of potentail,but what he does at the end of the play will evolve...pass,at the rim or pull up?
-gutsy and will attack....wil learn the sense of pace
-obviously has basketball skills and love of the game.

Remember this is based on just ONE Preseason game as I locked into certain players regardless of the score.

TEAM PLAY
-offensive struggle early in the game
-when to hit cutters?
-lacked "looks into the post" in early quarters.
-shot selction was poor as well as offensive spacing...trialed by 19
-poor spacing put them in poor rebounding situations.
-slip cuts and weakside cutters etc were a problem..lack of "off the ball" alertness was the cause as well as not communicating.
-transition defense had moments of slippage.."see the ball!" and "cover back!"
-2nd team and team hustle improved in later stages ( thats why they won) displayed better focus on the task at hand.


Was nice having some hoops to observe again wasn't it?

One pre seson game is not something to go nuts about as nerves and never having played in a game situation as a team was obviously holding them back.

Will discuss Vasquez next time based on games 1 & 2 and others...