Austin Toros Game Notes: 11/25/2006

[ChumpDumper]

The Toros lost to the Fort Worth Flyers 111-96. It was fairly close until Jamar Smith had to leave the game with a quad cramp or strain with six minutes to go in the fourth quarter.

This team has no point guard. It was really sad watching vet big men like Smith and Scott Merritt trying to direct the guards themselves and reverting to a two-man game excluding all of them to stay in the game. Brock Gillespie is nice and quick but has zero point guard instincts. Melvin Scott was slightly better in that regard, but was very prone to indecisiveness and overdribbling.

Smith started at small forward as coach Johnson promised. His defense was pretty good although he drifted away from his man into the paint too much. He looked like he was trying to use every perimeter move he has learned in the game, and the results were mixed. Some of the moves were effective but he did turn the ball over 7 times. Keep in mind he was handling the ball alot more than he would have had there been a competent point guard on the floor. One thing Smith can do is run the floor; he often beat the entire Flyer team down the court getting two nice breakaway dunks in the process. He ended up with 19 points and 7 rebounds.

Scott Merritt had a good game with 22 points and 10 boards, showing some post moves he probably had to keep holstered last year with Marcus Fizer playing so much in that space. Ultimately he was a bit overwhelmed at center, as the Flyers were able to run two NBA-quality seven footers, Luke Scehnscher and Charlotte send-down Ryan Hollins, at the same time. The Toros sorely missed their sole seven-footer, Jeff Hagen, who didn't suit up for the game.

Hollins deserves some mention because he looked like he was on a pogo stick all night. He blocked five shots and altered several more. Being able to run a twin towers lineup with Schenscher will be literally and figuratively huge for the Flyers this season. He ended up with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

Brad Buckman fouled out in 12 minutes in pretty poorly-called game and had one three-pointer as his only score. He did however, become the first Toro this year to receive a nickname from me. As he plays, his skin turns a pretty bright shade of crimson, not unlike a severe sunburn or a cooked lobster. From this day forward he shall be known as Dr. Zoidberg.

Fellow UT alum Kris Clack had one nice post up on a smaller Flyer. He should do that more often as he looks bigger than his listed 220 pounds. He also got seven rebounds but was otherwise pretty selfish and useless.

Anthony Fuqua from UTSA had 8 boards and defended decently without fouling as quickly as he did last year. He's still a beanpole at 6'11" and 220 pounds. He might just be one of those Mikki Moore types who will never be able to bulk up, even though his frame looks like he can take it.

BJ Elder was pretty solid at shooting guard. Good decision-making and nice strength. 22 points and 5 rebounds. Looks like he can fill Ezra Williams' role from last season, which is nice -- that only leaves four more quality guards to replace....

Dennis Johnson has his work cut out for him trying to transform two of his undersized shooting guards into points. In the meantime he's trying to stay in games by getting some isos or dumping the ball into Merritt. it almost worked tonight, but if this team is going to go anywhere, it will need a true playmaker.

[timvp]

Nice

I don't really get how Ryan Hollins dropped in the draft. Sure he did close to nothing in college but he's one of the most athletic seven-footers I've ever seen. UCLA has a recent history of taking good high-school center prospects and not involving them in their offense, causing their draft stop to plummet.

On athleticism alone, Hollins should have been a first rounder.

BJ Elder once upon a time was looking like a lottery pick ... then injuries struck. If he can get back healthy, he has an outside shot at the NBA.

I haven't seen much of Scott Merritt in a while. Is he anything close to NBA level these days?

[ChumpDumper]

Merritt's really kind of a utility player; he just does whatever is asked of him. He's not great at any one thing but is capable of good scoring and/or rebounding games. I think he would be a really good IR/practice guy in the NBA but I'm not sure he could progress much beyond that.

And yeah, Hollins is a freaking sick athlete. Sidney Moncrief is making sure he gets alot of touches, so Bickerstaff will probably be happy with his decision to send him down.

[timvp]

How Hollins averaging 7 points, 4.8 rebounds and .9 blocks last year in UCLA I'll never know. But then again, both Dan Gadzuric and George Zidek entered UCLA as the top recruited centers and left second round picks.

[ChumpDumper]

That is crazy considering how high his FG% and points per shot stats were. Damn.