Just How Good Are They (basketball)

[Knight_Light]

Terribly selfish player? Those are some harsh and strong words for the player who lead us in assist last year. If he was selfish in his shot selection then I am still ok with that because out of all the guards he had the best 2pt FG%. He shot .500% from 2P%, higher than BJ and Adonys.

Yes, he might not of been the best FT shooter but he tied BJ with FTA per game @ 4.1. BJ made 2.9 and Brandon made 2.5. Yes, FT should be freebies but the difference in BJ and Brandon was separated by 0.4 pts. I don't think it changed any games for us. Like I said, he lead the team in assist and also steals. He was the third leading scorer for us.

Was he selfish? Well, I don't think so. He was 1st in steals and assist, 3rd in scoring, and had the best 2P% for all our guards. He was a starter as a sophomore. He should be missed more than hated or called selfish.

The major thing I would say he needed to work on was his 3PT%. He was worst on the team. But I don't think he took too many. The reason why I say that is because he barely took 2 a game (2.2), which was 6th on the team. His 3's kept the opponents honest, even though he only shot .262%.

Despite what some think, he was a major part of our team last year (played the 2nd most minutes) and he had chemistry with our team. It's sad that he left and it DOES hurt us, but he wasn't the #1 or #2 guy for us.

Brandon improved from his Freshmen to his Soph season but the worst part about his departure is that it came way too late, well after late signing period in April (ironically, its called the regular signing period with early Nov signing period becoming more and more popular, thus basically the new "regular" signing period) so it looks like UCF will have 12 scholarship players for this season, instead of the hopeful 13.

Only thing I would disagree on was your statement that Brandon's 3 pt attempts kept teams honest. I think most teams wanted him to shoot 3's because of his poor shooting %.

Brandon was good at going to the hole and sometimes dishing but I think his poor FT % kept him from driving more.

Wish him the best at his new home at Univ Nevada in Reno.

 

[Knight_Light]

People love to rip on players when they leave. I felt he was one of our best players last year and one of the most fun to watch. Was looking forward to seeing what kind of improvement he made. In most games I felt he was the only player we had that would push the tempo.

While others (strangely, many of those that don't even support the program) love to rip on current players all the time.

Its what some people do.

 

[spacecoastknight]

I'm not really ripping on him. I just watched every game last year and I've coached basketball over 15 years at the high school and AAU level (including some UCF players currently on team). From what I saw, he was pretty selfish.

 

[ucf_71127]

We have some good young pieces on our team..but I'm still not expecting much unfortunately. Maybe 14-15 wins this season depending on our OOC schedule. Donnie Jones is a nice guy, but I hate the way we play right now. We look like we are playing pickup basketball most of the time. It's a shame because he is a young guy who isn't a bad recruiter. Outside of 2010 the only thing he's really done for us is bring NCAA sanctions our way.

I think you're right UCF10, we certainly do have some good young pieces in place right now. But I think (and hope) they will surprise us this year. It already looks like Adonys has improved and hopefully with more talent on the team it will allow BJ to play a little easier (not have to do and force so much).

Bahmas has been nice to watch the players. I was very surprised with how well AJ Davis played in the 1st game (13pts and 10reb) and he followed it up with another 7pts and 10 rebound game in game 2. But I was more surprised with Shaheed and his performance last night 22 pts and 14 reb. If he plays consistent and performs strongly then I think we can have a very good year. We have multiple positions that can lead the team in scoring. I think are 1-4 positions are pretty solid.

PG- BJ 6'2 (sophomore)
SG- Adonys 6'6 (sophomore)
SF- Shaheed 6'9 (senior)
PF- AJ Davis 6'9 (sophomore)

Blare is a guy who fills up the stat sheet but quietly. He doesn't put up high amount of points to make him a top center in the league, so he is an average AAC center who gets the job done. McBride has potential because of his size and touch but he has to control his weight. He started off really well but fouled out last night. Who knows what Tacko will do? Tell ya what, it's going to be fun to watch this year.

 

[KNIGHTTIME^]

We have some good young pieces on our team..but I'm still not expecting much unfortunately. Maybe 14-15 wins this season depending on our OOC schedule. Donnie Jones is a nice guy, but I hate the way we play right now. We look like we are playing pickup basketball most of the time. It's a shame because he is a young guy who isn't a bad recruiter. Outside of 2010 the only thing he's really done for us is bring NCAA sanctions our way.

If we win 15 in regular season that would be really good considering the AAC schedule and still young. Just being realistic. As far as coaching, we have a former NBA assistant on our staff for crying out loud. The biggest problem was no depth, center not in playing shape, and dealing with injuries with the few players remaining. I'm expecting a big move upward in talent, win total, and overall athletic ability. Winning 15 games would put our rpi around 90-125. I think the following season will be our year.

 

[KNIGHTTIME^]

I think you're right UCF10, we certainly do have some good young pieces in place right now. But I think (and hope) they will surprise us this year. It already looks like Adonys has improved and hopefully with more talent on the team it will allow BJ to play a little easier (not have to do and force so much).

Bahmas has been nice to watch the players. I was very surprised with how well AJ Davis played in the 1st game (13pts and 10reb) and he followed it up with another 7pts and 10 rebound game in game 2. But I was more surprised with Shaheed and his performance last night 22 pts and 14 reb. If he plays consistent and performs strongly then I think we can have a very good year. We have multiple positions that can lead the team in scoring. I think are 1-4 positions are pretty solid.

PG- BJ 6'2 (sophomore)
SG- Adonys 6'6 (sophomore)
SF- Shaheed 6'9 (senior)
PF- AJ Davis 6'9 (sophomore)

Blare is a guy who fills up the stat sheet but quietly. He doesn't put up high amount of points to make him a top center in the league, so he is an average AAC center who gets the job done. McBride has potential because of his size and touch but he has to control his weight. He started off really well but fouled out last night. Who knows what Tacko will do? Tell ya what, it's going to be fun to watch this year.

Matt Williams will hopefully be another body that plays well. If Blair and McBride can play well they can open up our good shooters. Tacko could be a nice plus but we will have to see. Staying realistic, but we do have much more depth and talent is overall better. Stinks about Brandon though. He really started playing well.