There is plenty that happened last night at Hoosier Hysteria, (and be sure Dollinger, Osterman, Cohen and yours truly will have more 'official' coverage and stories,) but for now, here are a few small observations about the actual play of the team:
* Verdell Jones stood out in the scrimmage. Not only did he score the first and last points of the game, he also did a nice job of dishing the ball off to open teammates for some easy points. One play in particular that struck me as impressive was after he turned the ball over, he hustled back to block a layup by Daniel Moore, sprinted cross court with the ball before dishing a nice bounce pass to Devan Dumes, who hit the open lay up. Jones just had that look of a division 1 basketball player.
* Tom Pritchard looked more athletic than I anticipated. Dollinger noted this last night in our alliance blog of last night, (see below,) But I agree. I never saw Pritchard play before last night, and he wasn't what I expected - but in a good way. He had more agility and speed then I anticipated. He also was assertive in crashing the boards, something i'm sure Crean and the coaching staff love.
* Tijan Jobe is still a mystery. I got the feeling last night that the crowd really wants Jobe to succeed, and if he does he could be an instant fan favorite. He has a chance to be a factor, he's not just 7 feet tall, he's ripped. He also dove to the floor a couple of times to make some plays, which for a guy his size is cool to see. However, he struggled mightily getting back on defense, something Pritchard made him pay for a couple of times. He also didn't seem too comfortable shooting from the corner during the drills. Jobe will play this year, but how productive he can be remains a mystery.
* Devan Dumes and Nick Williams looked like the most natural scorers. I guess this is to be expected given the scouting reports we've heard, but seeing it in person reinforced it for me. Williams is a strong finisher around the basket, and Dumes seemed comfortable taking shots both inside and outside the 3 point arc. Look for one of those two to consistently lead the team in scoring.
* The team playing last night will not be the team that plays on November 15th. Crean admitted that the staff hasn't put the offense in motion just yet, and that the team is taking it slow. Expect the offense to look a lot different their first game against Northwestern State.
Those were some things I noticed last night, how about you? To anyone that was in attendance, did any player, or thing stand out?
