BG men's basketball -- Saturday scrimmage

Here is a collection of stats, thoughts, notes, and impressions from the Falcons' Orange and Brown scrimmage late Saturday morning ...

First, thoughts from coach Louis Orr about the scrimmage: "The things we are trying to emphasize, we saw in flashes. I saw our [team] quickness and our transition ability. I thought you could tell which of our guys were more experienced. I expect our veterans to be a big part of what we are doing."

Next, some stats kept by the coaching staff: Sophomore A'uston Calhoun finished with 29 points and also had six rebounds, three blocked shots and two steals. Freshman Cameron Black had 13 pts. Senior Joe Jakubowski finished with 11 points and four assists.

In a nod to potential senility -- or poor eyesight: The Orange and Brown scrimmage featured teams wearing white uniforms and black uniforms. From this point forward, the "Orange" team was wearing white and the "Brown" team was wearing black.

Here are some "facts" from the game: In the first half, the Brown (which consisted of probable starters Jakubowski, Dee Brown, Calhoun, Scott Thomas and Black, outscored the Orange 30-16. In the second half the teams were shuffled and the score was reset at 0-0, and the two teams played to an entertaining 26-26 tie.

Before the game: The warm-up drills were more of a slam-dunk competition. If Craig Sealey is part of another dunk contest, bet the ranch that Sealey will win it.

Calhoun's point total isn't a mistake: And the best news is that he scored in a variety of ways. He had a rebound tip-dunk, make a couple of 3-pointers, stroked a few mid-range jumpers. He didn't drive much to the basket, but otherwise he showed the ability to score in close and from long range.

You won't recognize Jakubowski: If you haven't seen him recently, be prepared for a shock. His hair is short. Very short. Otherwise, it's the same player ... slashes to the basket and looks for teammates open on the perimeter wings.

Black can score in the low post: Cameron Black does have a few offensive moves that will allow him to score in the low post. There just isn't enough height on this team to determine his ability to play defense, at least at this point.

The team will play a different brand of basketball: Because of the big men on last year's roster, the Falcons were content to play a half-court game and pound the rock into the post. This season look for BG to be more aggressive in "running" off misses and even occasionally off makes. There is a lot of athleticism on this team; what's more, there were times when BG went to a "small" lineup that had Calhoun in the post. Not sure how that lineup would fare defensively, especially against a tall team, but it certainly was able to run.

Name-dropping from the game: One of the referees was former Falcon John Floyd, who is a terrific up-and-coming high school ref. ... One of the observers at the contest was Ricky Stokes, the Mid-American Conference's new associate commissioner for men's basketball. Stokes was an assistant at BG from 1988-89 and later head coach at Virginia Tech and East Carolina. ... There were a number of high school basketball players who watched the scrimmage, including a large number of underclassmen.

Comments

[Ryan]

Great roundup.

Can you add anything more about the other newcomers, Sealey, Henderson and Oglesby (sic). What about McCelroy?

[John_Wagner]

Ryan ... Thanks for the kind words. Don't really have anything to add on the players you mentioned. I'm starting pretty much from scratch on learning this team, so my focus was on the bigger guys. If I can find time to go to a practice this week or next I'll try to find something to add. Sorry.

[ryan]

Great. From what I have heard already the post might be our strength, which being as they are replacing nearly 100% of our minutes at the 4 and 5 is a very pleasant surprise.

[John_Wagner]

I've heard about several people gushing about Cameron Black, and I just wanted to say this: SLOW DOWN! A couple of things to consider ... 1. He's a freshman. Freshmen have ups and downs, for the most part. 2. It's hard to judge Black against the competition Saturday when, in reality, there wasn't any. Let's see how he fares against older, more experienced players his size.

Don't want to be a wet blanket, but I do want to be the voice of reason. He has a chance to be good, but let's watch his development first. And I think this team's strength will be the backcourt, based on its experience and previous production.

Having said that, anyone who wants to swoon over A'uston's offense on Saturday has my permission to. He was that good.

Best wishes, John