These are all opinions. Feel free to agree or challenge them.
Every year at the beginning of the season I'm reminded that unlike the NBA, college hoops with a closer 3 point distance, gives teams with less athleticism but good shooters a better chance to defeat a team of better physical stature. That was certainly on display last night. Those St. Thomas guys can shoot.
Grant Newell looked really impressive. It might be because the team as a whole looks more cohesive on offense. Is this a Madsen/Fox result? Not sure because its only one game. Hopefully Grant's injury is not too serious. Late in the second half he was back on the floor during the huddles. Lets hope he's back ASAP.
Jalen Celestine appears to be an excellent college basketball player. What I notice the most about him is that he is able to play under control and still have deceptive quickness. Kind of similiar to UCLA/now pro Kyle Anderson. He doesn't look like he's moving that fast, but in the end he's always moving FAST ENOUGH. Nice too root for a guy that misses an entire year with an injury and doesn't end up transferring.
On the St. Thomas possession under 20 seconds to go, I was really impressed how when the ball went to the corner, the Bears reacted so quickly by trapping the ball recipient into an impossible situation - regardless of the fact that the game was on the line. Again, is this a Madsen vs. Fox issue? In any case it was great to see.
Finally, I know having replay is better than not having it, but some times it feels like BS. And the announcer and Ben were commenting on how the refs were considering accesing a foul on JC near the end, but I thought the only thing they can do is reverse an out of bounds decision, not decide to call a foul that was never called in the first place. If the foul before the timeout question was really an issue wouldn't it be irrelevant because the ref never even called a foul to begin with. Somebody help me with that, but I ask that if you do you're certain of the current rules.
All in all, at the very least I think the Bears will be watchable, as opposed to last year when it was really a struggle to make it through the season. Go Bears!
Every year at the beginning of the season I'm reminded that unlike the NBA, college hoops with a closer 3 point distance, gives teams with less athleticism but good shooters a better chance to defeat a team of better physical stature. That was certainly on display last night. Those St. Thomas guys can shoot.
Grant Newell looked really impressive. It might be because the team as a whole looks more cohesive on offense. Is this a Madsen/Fox result? Not sure because its only one game. Hopefully Grant's injury is not too serious. Late in the second half he was back on the floor during the huddles. Lets hope he's back ASAP.
Jalen Celestine appears to be an excellent college basketball player. What I notice the most about him is that he is able to play under control and still have deceptive quickness. Kind of similiar to UCLA/now pro Kyle Anderson. He doesn't look like he's moving that fast, but in the end he's always moving FAST ENOUGH. Nice too root for a guy that misses an entire year with an injury and doesn't end up transferring.
On the St. Thomas possession under 20 seconds to go, I was really impressed how when the ball went to the corner, the Bears reacted so quickly by trapping the ball recipient into an impossible situation - regardless of the fact that the game was on the line. Again, is this a Madsen vs. Fox issue? In any case it was great to see.
Finally, I know having replay is better than not having it, but some times it feels like BS. And the announcer and Ben were commenting on how the refs were considering accesing a foul on JC near the end, but I thought the only thing they can do is reverse an out of bounds decision, not decide to call a foul that was never called in the first place. If the foul before the timeout question was really an issue wouldn't it be irrelevant because the ref never even called a foul to begin with. Somebody help me with that, but I ask that if you do you're certain of the current rules.
All in all, at the very least I think the Bears will be watchable, as opposed to last year when it was really a struggle to make it through the season. Go Bears!
