The Lobos played their last exhibition game of the season Friday night against Rogers State, and while it is hard to get a feel of rotations and how improved players are over last year, here are some of my observations from the Rogers State game.
Tim Williams: Tim Williams was a skilled post player in his two years at Samford and that hasn’t changed one bit. What has changed is that he has put on 30 pounds of muscle during his redshirt transfer season, which will only help his game. Williams is going to be tough for teams to handle this season and I wouldn’t be surprised if you saw Williams average 15 points and 7 rebounds a game. Williams will get to the line a lot, where he was a 74% shooter a couple of years ago, and will shoot a very high percentage from the floor.
Williams Front Court: During the game we saw Coach Neal go to a Devon and Tim Williams’s front line and I really like this possibility when Obij is on the bench. Their games seem like they should complement each other well and could be really effective against teams that only play one big. I don’t know how much this will be played during the season, but I would be surprised if we saw this line up about 8 minutes a game, regardless of the matchup.
Backup Point Guard: This game saw Tim Jacobs play in the first half and Jordan Hunter play in the second half. Coach Neal does know what he is going to get out of Tim Jacobs, but I believe that Hunter is going to get the chances early in the season to prove himself. The Lobos need Hunter to become the backup point guard, not because I don’t think Jacobs can’t do the job (because he can). I just think that Hunter by conference play has a chance to be a difference maker. As an aside, Hunter’s steal on a 2 on 1 fast break has been my favorite defensive play so far this season.
Better than Advertised: Lobo fans thought we were only getting a shooter in Elijah Brown, leaving us asking if Brown and Cullen would be able to play together on the defensive side of the ball. The answer is yes, they can. Brown has been a huge surprise in how athletic he is and how well he is able to defend, leaving no question that he and Cullen can play together for long stretches. Brown has been the most pleasant surprise for me during the first two exhibition games and could be a big factor in the Lobos having a bounce-back year.
How Deep is the Rotation?: The Rogers State game saw all 15 players that were dressed out play, and that didn’t include starter Sam Logwood, who didn’t dress out to make sure that his foot is 100% for the regular season. Coach Neal has mentioned wanting to get down to 8 or 9 man rotation, but I don’t know if Coach will actually be able to do this, as there is talent that wouldn’t be playing if he did that. I wouldn’t be surprised if after the first seven if Coach Neal goes with whoever has the hot hand in practice or simply decide who is playing based on matchups, so the rotation could change each game.
Freshmen Starters: Coach Neal gave freshmen Dane Kuiper and Nikola Scekic their first starts as Lobos to get them some early action, although both are unlikely to be starting in the early part of the season. Coach Neal mentioned that he knows what Sam and Xavier are able to do, so he wanted to give Dane a chance to make some impressions on the coaches. In my eyes, he did that, as he played well with a lot of energy and I think he will carve a role into this team. Nik is going to be a good Lobo once he develops more, but will likely need to have more seasoning before he starts seeing the floor regularly.
Late Shot Clock Situations: With the new 30 second shot clock this season, the chances are we will see more late shot clock situations. I don’t know how many of these situations the Lobos are actually going to have this year, as it is pretty clear that Coach Neal and the Lobos want to get out and run, but the Lobos are lucky to have Cullen on this team for them. He is the sort of player that will be able to get up a good shot and bail out the offense in those situations in the same way that Kendall Williams was before him. Between Kendall, SDSU’s Xavier Thames, and Boise’s Derrick Marks, we’ve seen plenty of examples of how valuable it is to have a guy like that.
Rebounding: Friday night saw many long rebounds by Rogers State off of 3-point shots, which needs to be addressed. The Lobos are going to have to team rebound this season and they have to show fight and pride in protecting the defensive glass. 14 offensive rebounds given up is too high of a number and the Lobos will lose most games this season if they give up 14 extra possessions on the glass. With their size and ability, I expect Tim Williams and Obij to lead the Lobos in rebounding with both being around 7 rebounds a game, but the guards are going to have to clean up any boards that get past those two.