OK...so let me preface this by saying it is hard to judge much of anything based on a scrimmage where very little defense is played. With that said though, here are some observations from Hilltopper Hysteria.
Feel free to give your thoughts as well. Would love to hear what others who watched the Tops last night thought.
- Lady Toppers are going to be good again this year. Michelle Clark Heard has a loaded team on paper and it looked to be the case on the court as well. I am calling it now...Lady Tops win minimum of 25 games and get back to NCAA tournament.
- On the Men's side...the athleticism of this years team is way ahead of the past couple years.
- Between Willie Carmichael, Ben Lawson, Anton Waters, and Jabari McGhee the WKU post looks solid and athletic.
- Ben Lawson looks to have a new found confidence in himself. The senior will benefit from better outside shooting and floor spacing this season. He has a personal goal for himself as well to become WKU's all time leading shot blocker. He will need about 3 blocks per game this season to beat Jeremy Evans record.
- I didn't include Justin Johnson in the last comment because he will play more inside and out this year. Look out CUSA. JJ has developed a solid 3 point shot and has much improved ball handling from away from the basket. He showcased a little bit of his newly refined skill set on Friday night and it was enough to leave me thinking he could be a CUSA player of the year candidate.
- The graduated seniors Lomamba, "Que" Johnson, and "Pancake" Thomas fill the immediate need for starting caliber players in the back court.
- Lomamba looked fairly comfortable at the PG position and does a good job seeing the floor. He completed a few nice passes and did a good job handling the ball
- "Que" Johnson and "Pancake" Thomas, will both be big time scorers. Neither put that on display much Friday night. But you can tell by the way they shoot the ball and carry themselves that confidence is not an issue for the two. I expect both to average double figures in scoring this season easily.
- Demari Parris looked like an absolute steal in recruiting. The freshman guard did a great job penetrating and spreading the ball around on offense. This is definitely a kid who slipped through the cracks. WKU is lucky to have gotten him on board.
- TJ Howard has a solid shooting stroke. Although he was 1-6 from 3 point range in the scrimmage...his form is solid. I wouldn't expect a player who shot 40%+ in high school from deep to struggle very often from deep.
- Lamonte Bearden is the real deal. He will have to sit out this season due to NCAA transfer rules. But his speed and athleticism at the PG position will be invaluable for WKU next year.
- The offense is a lot more free flowing this season. Ben Lawson compared it to similar to what Marshall is doing now and I agree with him. The players have the green light to do some things and push the pace as much as they can. I would expect the Tops to put more points up on the board this season for sure.
- Overall I think this team has a chance to be very good this year. A lot of people are talking about the 2017 season because of the recruits that WKU has coming in. However, do not look past this season. The talent is definitely there to be an NCAA tournament team. It will all hinge on all the new faces coming together as a team.
- Rick Stansbury was absolutely all smiles last night. He was very happy with the turnout (approx 3500-4000) and said he expected it to continue to grow in the future.
Feel free to give your thoughts as well. Would love to hear what others who watched the Tops last night thought.
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