Phil Pressey
Pressey has to be frustrated. He continues to make passes which should get assists, but this team just doesn't have the ability to finish. I thought the first half was interesting when he went out of the game and Missouri failed to get a shot up on three straight possessions. Against good defenses, this team is horrible at handling the ball and Phil is the only player who can move the ball with the dribble. Pressey's shot selection was improved and his passing was fine, just little help from the recipients of his passes. He sat out most of the second half. Grade: 5/10.
Laurence Bowers
Bowers was solid. His shot was very smooth today. My only criticism is that he is still reluctant to cut to the basket and is more content to stay at the free throw line and beyond. He had one nice cut on a break and Pressey hit him with the pass for the easy basket. Grade: 8/10.
Alex Oriakhi
Oriakhi was decent. I'm starting to accept him for what he is. He is never going to have the touch that Ratliffe had around the basket. He's a bruiser and provides nice interior defense and rebounding. I'll take a double-double from him any day of the week. Grade: 7/10.
Negus Webster-Chan
Webster-Chan looked pretty weak again in the first half, but had a nice second half as he was active on the boards and actually got the ball to places where his teammates could score, finishing the game with a team-high 4 assists. This was nice to see after the last couple of games where he was a virtual no-show on the stat sheet. Grade: 5/10.
Earnest Ross
Pretty bad. Grade: 1/10.
Keion Bell
Not much better. Did make a couple of baskets, but was otherwise a complete non-factor in this game. Grade: 3/10.
Tony Criswell
Criswell really is a Bowers-lite. He's decent in the high post as he can knock down the shot from the free throw line and showed that he can find the open man down low. Unfortunately, he still loses the ball way more than he should. Not sure if we'll see much improvement in this area this year. I certainly hope so. Grade: 4/10.
Stefan Jankovic
Jankovic is one of those players who needs to get in the game for a few minutes and get his game legs. His first touch was dreadful as he threw the ball right at the feet of Bell resulting in a turnover, but then seemed to settle down and provide some nice minutes. I still don't completely trust him though as being the type of player who can give quality minutes in a tough game. Grade: 6/10.
Ryan Rosburg
More of the same. He was given a great pass down low which he squandered by putting the ball on the floor and going to the left side of the hoop WHEN THERE WAS NO ONE THERE. Result: ball stuffed right back in his face when all he had to do was lay the ball in as soon as he caught it. These are fundamentals which he still hasn't mastered which will become more pronounced when the competition stiffens. Grade: 3/10.
Overall Thoughts
This team really needs a shooter who can knock down the open shot from outside. Right now no one seems to be able to do that and it's clogging things up and slowing this offense down. Bell and Ross were back to stinking it up as between the two of them, they finished with 5 points, 6 rebounds and 8 turnovers. That is ridiculous when you consider how little they actually handle the ball. They are just not getting it done on offense and are really hurting the team when they are putting up these types of numbers. Ross has been getting worse each game as he can't knock down the outside shot and doesn't have the handles to take the ball inside. Bell has shown some good signs but struggled today. I am really hoping that Brown can provide some solid results from the perimeter. Thankfully, from now on, we'll have all players available and will soon know whether Brown is the player that we are hoping for.
Next up: South Carolina State on the 17th (Monday).
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