Tag: Friends

Game 1 of 37 Quinnipiac @ Maryland

Game 1 of 37 Quinnipiac @ Maryland

We’re back!!! Finally college basketball is back. I haven’t been able to attend a college game in person since March 8, 2020 when Maryland beat Michigan to share the Big Ten title with Michigan State and Wisconsin.

I was pretty surprised however with the lack of attendance. Yes, I know we are still pushing through the pandemic and all of that. But, it was still surprising to me. I guess it will come in time.

Well this game featured a Maryland team ranked #21 with some expectations of making a deeper run into March. They got senior transfer guard Fatts Russell from Rhode Island and junior center Qudus Wahab from Georgetown. Both will provide different options that the Terps clearly didn’t have last season.

Maryland had their way with Quinnipiac all night for the most part winning 83-69.

Russell is a lightning fast guard at 5’11 165 pounds. He looked like he may have bulked up some as well. Russell provided a few scoring bunches on breakaways or from attacking from the perimeter. His first step is explosive and fast. However, the question will be his outside shooting. He’s a tough defender and moves his feet extremely well. A real pest on ball. He finished with 12 points and 4 assists.

Wahab is 6’11 and 240 pounds. He looks every bit of a traditional 5. He has the ability to hit from mid range and looks comfortable doing so. He is strong in the post, but I would like to see him keep the ball higher more consistently. He also tends to fade a lot when taking jumpers while backing an opponent down. With that said, he was making them but I would like to see him more on balance. Wahab finished with 17 points, six rebounds and 2 blocks.

Wahab and Marfo jumping center

Quiinipiac’s stars of the game were junior shooting guard Matt Balanc (no not Matt LeBlanc, doubtful Joey has hops like Balanc) and senior shooting guard Tyrese Williams.

Balanc is already up for dunk of the year as he absolutely destroyed Russell on a breakaway. Russell sized him up and Leblanc definitely got the better of him. Balanc also showed an ability to get shots off and attack the basket at will. He will be someone to keep an eye on for sure. He finished with 25 points, three rebounds and five steals.

Williams, who struggled shooting last season, looked very comfortable last night. He was pulling up from very deep and looked solid in the catch and shoot situations as well. Would like to see more versatility on offense. More aggressiveness towards the rim, but maybe that will come later this season. Williams finished with 19 points and went 5-9 from three.

Other players I was interested in seeing like Eric Ayala and Xavier Green made impressions as well. Ayala is a scoring combo guard. He will be leaned on heavily to score and he should deliver this season in my opinion. I like his game, but want to see if he can get others involved more and step up his defense as well. Green looked every part of a versatile wing defender. That will be his role on Maryland.

Eric Ayala at the foul line

For Quinnipiac senior center Kevin Marfo struggled. He’s an undersized big at 6’8 245. He struggled with Wahab and Julian Reese’s length inside. Of course he makes sure he rebounds and did the little things, but he was blocked several times at the rim. One thing that stood out to me was his ball handling and passing as a big. I wasn’t expecting that. Marfo finished with two points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals.

The other player was senior G/F Jacob Rigoni. The Australian native is Quinnipiac’s all time leader in three pointers made. Consistent shooter, and when he actually attacks the lane he is a crafty finisher. He struggled shooting going 1-8 from three in this game. That was more of anomaly. This is by far his best skill. He finished with seven points, three rebounds and three assists.

Of course I am mostly interested in watching the Senior’s due to my scouting service But If ever interested I can provide my perspective on other players as well.

On to the next game which is George Washington @ Maryland on Thursday night.

The Life of a Freelance Basketball Scout – Game 11 – Binghamton vs UMBC

The Life of a Freelance Basketball Scout – Game 11
 
January 16 – Binghamton vs UMBC

The Life of a Freelance Basketball Scout – Game 11

 

January 16 – Binghamton vs UMBC

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Another typical busy day during work and after work. At work I shoveled snow and did the all too familiar snow cleanup. I am already done with snow to be honest. I picked up the kids from my brother in law’s house. My mother in law was watching all of her grandkids there. After picking them up I brought them with me to another doctor’s appointment. This one was special. My wife is pregnant with our third child. This was the first time Winnie and Junior would get to see their new sibling on a monitor. They looked at the sonogram image on the tv monitor and were pretty unimpressed, as any typical 3 and 4 year old would be! This one will be a surprise. We have one of each so we are just going to wait until the baby is born for the shock factor. We’re pros at this now, so it won’t be much of life altering moment. We already have clothing for both sexes. We are very blessed and thankful for that.

 After the appointment. I filled up my diesel truck only halfway….. It cost 50$ just to do that. Now that is called a life altering moment….. We went back home and I started to get ready for the game. The kids ate dinner. Then the wife and I cleaned our old tv stand, so I could take it to my parents. I loaded it in the truck, and threw the kids in there as well. I dropped the kids off at Awanas at my church. It was about 6:15 at this point. The game is at 7, and about 18-20 minutes away. So not too bad. I still had to unload the tv stand and glass panels at my parents however. So I didn’t get to leave until 6:35. I ended up walking into the arena during the singing of the national anthem.

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The game was pretty uneventful. Just a meh America East game in the middle of the conference regular season. For Binghamton senior forward Caleb Stewart started off like a demogorgon straight out of the upside down. He had 13 points in the first nine minutes. He was hitting spot up jumper after spot up jumper. Now he only scored three more points the rest of the game, but he at least kept them in the game early. He chipped in 7 rebounds and three steals as well. Sam Sessoms was the only other offensive threat for the bearcats. Sessoms is a freshman point guard that will be a real issue for the America East for the next several years. He can create his own shot and has a good feel for the pick and roll. He had 15 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 7 turnovers. The turnovers were due to the fact that literally the entire offense is put on his shoulders. He struggled this game with forcing the issue, but I think its pretty clear he will be able to handle it better in the future.

 For UMBC the scoring was pretty well spread out as usual. They have many options to knockdown three’s. They hit 10 of 23 on the night. They were led by senior, Joe Sherburne and junior, Arkel Lamar. They both provide a consistency that lacks from some of the other players on UMBC. Sherburne is a smooth player. He never forces anything. As a matter of fact he should be more assertive. I’ve always thought this and he is starting to feel more comfortable in doing this on the court, but there is still more room for him to grow. Sherburne is very effective in the high post. He see’s the floor well and had some success driving the ball also. He flirted with a double-double on the night. He had 15 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals. UMBC is a much better team when Sherburne looks to get his own. Lamar is a well-rounded player. He is a sniper with deep range from three. He also rebounds and defends very well. Arkel comes off the bench at times and that seems to suit his style of play well. Lamar looks to get shots off and make plays as soon as he enters. He is the spark that UMBC needs. Arkel finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. Also, I have never seen a player that gets as much lift as he does on his jumpers. Its mind blowing……

 After the game I raced home. I said good-night to the kids. It’s always nice when I can come home and say goodnight to them. This normally only happens when its an early game or a game that is close-by like UMBC. I then threw a frozen meat lovers stuffed crust pizza in the oven, had a couple of craft beers and watched some “Friends” on Netflix with the wife. She watched all of “The Office” series; so, I in turn have to watch all of Friends. I enjoy Friends and Chandler Bing, but I’m a Michael Scott guy till I die.