BASKETBALL Oliver Baltz: A new hope

[Matt Dossett]

Here

 

[altshauf]

I went back and watched the game a second time last night. Like I said during the Florida trip, I was reserving judgment until I could actually see them play. I will say, after last night, I am very encouraged. The nice thing is you can see we don't have 1 guy that is a winner. We have several. I thought Shuler, Davis, Jordan, and Dishman were all game changers and truly first year competing in game for CNM. Milner, Sims, Coleman-Jones, were also very good last night.

The difference in this team and the past 2 years is the aggressiveness. We have guys who will defend and get all the way to the rack instead of only settling for the outside shot. Dishman reminds me a lot of Michael Cuffee from several years ago. What plays in MT's favor is the fact that we are very deep. I can name those 8 above plus Jackson and Jayce who will have major minutes this year. It is critical to have the depth this year when you play teams back to back and can only make minor adjustments from Friday to Saturday. Fortunately, for the first time, we are able to have that needed depth.

The only glaring issue I saw last night was when Coleman Jones was out. We had 6-6 and 6-5 post defending. With Jackson getting healthy I know that won't be AS BIG of a deal. Remember a huge difference maker v high quality teams is the ability to neutralize the post. If they are scoring there, you need to be able too OR you stop each other from scoring. I am convinced our guards are good enough to hold their own inside CUSA for sure. Remember though, Bassey is right around the corner up in Bowling Green.

Based on what I saw last night, this team has the formula to be a winning team. Not only that, but for the first time in 3 years I think this team will be fun to watch!