Bahamas summer basketball

Guards are active on defense. Love that.

Bowser is struggling on defense. Frolov, while slower, showed some physicality on the glass. Made a great pass, and had a nice offensive rebound putback.

Thanks for the updates

Few more thoughts.

- Jordan Smith... If the coaches can get his foot work more squared when he pulls up, his shooting percentage will go up. I noticed on most of his misses, he wasn't quite squared up, was falling off to one side. On the one three he did make, he got his feet and shoulders nice and square.

He's not Darius. Completely different player. MUCH better defender/rebounder, more physical around rim. Not going to shy away from contact. So he will have a similar overall impact on the team, just not as pure a shooter as Darius was. His passing looked fine. Hopefully Cal will get him to emphasize getting to the FT line. He has the mentality to do so.


- Toure... has more of a fundamental 3pt/2pt shooting form. Squares everything up and really drives his legs up and thru. Will be tough to block his shot.

He shoots the gaps well on defense and offense. Will get a lot of steals, run out dunks, and offensive rebounds. Really explosive and can go up and block shots when plays break down and he's last line of defense.

Reminds me of a better shooting version of Jordan Walsh.

- JJ showed a lot. Offensively he was effective shooting and driving to the bucket. Only thing he needs to work on is his patience. Had a few unforced turnovers do to him getting in a rush. I like that he wants to get to the rim, but sometimes he would be better off just shooting the ball when the defender is off of him.

Active on defense.. had 3 steals. Will have to stay out of foul trouble.

- Wilkinson can obviously hit 3's at a high clip and percentage. Curious to see how he will be used this year because Jordan is going to be primary ball handler.

Not sure how effective he will be on defense. He's a little undersized. I think if he's able to just keep the ball in front of him he will be fine.

- Thompson has abillity to knock several down as well. I just worry about his youth and decision making. He's got talent, just a little undersized like Wilkinson.

As far as the big men go..

- Maker had the biggest impact. IMO he needs to be #1 in that department. He can move, really works for position down low on both sides. High motor and shows some great fundamentals on both sides of court. Can be a 10/10 type player and average 3/4 blocks a game. His length is going to be important for us. We just have to keep him out of foul trouble.

- Bowser didn't impress. Yes he is super athletic, somewhat long, but when he was guarding someone with ball in post he struggled to stop them.

- Frolov showed some promise. Had some real nice rebounds, didn't get pushed around. He just is a little slow, and gave up a couple buckets on defense in the post.

- Ourigou really impressed me for only being here 10 days. He really showed aggression when he got the ball in the post. He wants to be physical and dunk the ball. Not sure if he will get huge minutes this year, but I love his mentality.

When Miikka is added to that group of players this team will be tough to beat if they play defense.

Going off what I've seen so far starting line up should be..

Jordan Smith
Abdou Toure or Wilkinson
Billy Richmond
Miikka Muurinen or JJ Andrews
Maper Maker



I know we didn't get to see Miikka play, but a guy with that much skill set is going to start. Too long and athletic to be on the bench long. Trevon's replacement.

Then you've got Bowser, Thompson, Toure, Andrews, Ourigou, Frolov, Wilkinson ready to roll.

Honestly, this will be the deepest Arkansas team in history. So much talent, and Cal will have plenty of options. Hopefully everyone will accept their roll. But i see minutes for just about everyone.

They'll have better competition tonight against the Canadians.

JSJ today




21 pts
11 assist
11 rebounds