Exhibition Opener

vrbryant · #1 (**permalink**) 11-07-2003, 11:14 PM

Managed to catch the Bucks' exhibition opener tonight, and while the competition wasn't exactly Big Ten calibur, I was very impressed with nearly everyone on the team. Clearly the man that stood out was J.J. Sullinger, with 26 points in just 28 minutes. Most of the team was on fire offensively - Stockman and Sylvester both went 6 for 10, and the team shot .587% overall, including 8 for 12 from beyond the arc. The two recognizable weaknesses were free throw shooting (13 for 24) and perimeter defense, but the latter got better as the All-Stars got winded. Six players played at least 20 minutes, and everyone but Ugo saw floor time. TDials scored sort of a quiet 14, and could have had more if he'd done better than 2 for 7 from the stripe. The other Dials wowed me in the five minutes he got. Great hustle from that guy. Come to think of it, there's really no one on the team that can't run the floor. Things are looking very, very good so far.

I imagine a starting lineup of Fuss-Cheatham, Stockman, Sylvester, Dials and Radinovic, but there are endless combinations that worked and worked well for them tonight. Fuss-Cheatham, Stockman, Sullinger, Jenkins and Dials is a great lineup against smaller teams, I think. Either way, I don't see anyone on this team averaging much more than 30 minutes a ball game, and with the talent and depth we've got, that's a great thing.

vrbryant · #2 (**permalink**) 11-07-2003, 11:20 PM

Forgot to talk about Ivan Harris. He looked okay, but when you've got Sullinger/Stockman/Sylvester each taking 10-15 shots a night, it might be tough for him to see much of the ball. Never can tell, though, and I expect him to have a couple breakout games here and there throughout the season.

Harris' line: 1 pt., 1 reb., and 2 ast. in 13 minutes.

antosu · #3 (**permalink**) 11-08-2003, 11:21 AM

This game was very exciting. The good performances were one thing but seeing so many healthy, atheletic players was golden. We dont seem to be missing any ingredients to be a serious threat to any one in the NCAA this year. We could go with about five different line ups and stay solid at every position.

The lineup I don't like though is VR and Dials playing together. They do not compliment eachother at all. VR with Jenkins and TD with Harris, seem to be the best two combo's for the front court.