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PTL Week 1 Thread

LOL. It's the PTL folks. Glorified YMCA league at best. What a player does or doesnt do MEANS NOTHING. LOL.

Great, I ordered my final four tickets for next year thinking Iowa is going to make it based on these games. With the kind of next level insight you have you could have let us all know a little earlier!
 
TOP 7...by minutes
PG Gesell / Clemmons
G Jok ... really impressive
F Uhl ... really impressive
F Uthoff / Dale Jones (Jones can stroke it ...I would suspect Fran will get him playing defense)
C Woodbury

Next group (3 spots for 8-9-10) ... anyones' guess..
Baer --- wouldn't surprise me he is in this group
Hutton --- the kid can play D...and he likes it.
Wagner --- he is my pick to be #8 in minutes.
Fleming / Ellington --- I would think one of them is Joks' back up.
Williams ... his PTL teammates over shadowed his game.

I think everyone of Iowa's freshman are really good team players...and all are willing to understand the learning process...it will be interesting to watch the 2nd group...who plays what.

Moss will be in there somewhere as well. I agree with your top seven with just a slight thought. At times we could move Jok to small forward in favor of Gesell and another guard. At times last season we could have used a second ball handler, and it would be great to have a second one in the lineup if we're going to start running more.
 
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Has there ever been a player who has struggled all season in the PTL and made an impact that season for the Hawkeyes?

one would have to see just about every PTL game to define struggle
Moss will be in there somewhere as well. I agree with your top seven with just a slight thought. At times we could move Jok to small forward in favor of Gesell and another guard. At times last season we could have used a second ball handler, and it would be great to have a second one in the lineup if we're going to start running more.

yep lots of possible lineups...out of 13 scholars + Baer someone(s) not going to play .. who knows who? There isn't a single player that doesn't have talent...Fran will figure it out...
 
one would have to see just about every PTL game to define struggle


yep lots of possible lineups...out of 13 scholars + Baer someone(s) not going to play .. who knows who? There isn't a single player that doesn't have talent...Fran will figure it out...

Certainly. Worse problems to have than fourteen guys working hard to earn minutes.

Off subject a little...but I was thinking what a good goal it would be for our seniors to try to lead this team to twenty-three wins. Tall order. But if they could, Gesell, Woody and Clemmons could walk away saying they won NINTY games as Hawkeyes. That would be a tough stat to look up, but I have to think that there aren't that many Hawkeyes who can say it.

And that's what this year is about, the seniors leading the way and being the biggest asset we have, and the rest of the guys bringing the best they can and understanding their roles. Roles that for some may include being patient this year.
 
Any smart phone folks going to be in Waterloo giving some updates? :) Big thumbs up for any details at all!
 
Probably because it is in Waterloo we won't see anything for a little while. Damn Jacobsen, it was better when all the games were in North Liberty. NL is between Iowa City and Waterloo so it seems fair.
 
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I watched the first two games and about a half of the third game. FWIW, here are my observations:

Generally speaking, it is really hard to judge a lot from these games. Besides the obvious, that these are just organized pickup games, it seems to me that the talent is a bit thinner this year than in years past. I'm talking about the non-Iowa and UNI players. Because of this, I suppose this is the reason, guys like Hutton and even Dale Jones end up bringing the ball up court a lot. Same for Uhl in his game. It was hard to judge a whole lot when that happens.

But as for the new and younger players, I saw the following:

Ellingson: Guy has an extremely quick release. Every shot he takes looks good, and most are. When he does miss, it's just a bit long or short, never to one side. He might be a bit taller than I thought he was.

Hutton: I wasn't impressed with his shooting in warm-ups; he has a bit of side spin on his shot. But once the game started, he was really impressive to me. He goes after every rebound. Not just ones in his area, but every rebound. He seems to play with an edge. It wasn't because something ticked him off or anything, he just plays hard. He's not super tall, but he is very athletic. He will be a great defender.

Uhl: Someone mentioned earlier that he seemed to have bulked up. He may have a bit, but I would still describe him as slender. His team was probably the least talented today and he had to play a lot and even handle the ball a lot. He looked warn out most of the time and didn't do a ton to stand out. He didn't get many rests, but he could have used a few. Uthoff was supposed to be on his team but didn't not make the trip to Waterloo. Someone mentioned Jarrod has a back issue; I don't know if that is true or not.

Wagner: Athletic and definitely has a frame to turn into a tough, physical player. Honestly I spent more time watching the other game as it was just better to watch so I didn't get much of a look at him. He is probably a couple inches shorter than Uhl, but probably a bit thicker.

Fleming: He's a guy you can count on to be a really good team mate. It's clear that from his time at Oak Hill, he doesn't get frustrated if he's not touching the ball every possession and he will continue to work hard and move without the ball until he does get a touch. There was a stretch in the second half of his game where he made three straight 3s and a driving pull up from about 8'. He plays for Jess Settles along with Ellingson, Gatens, and UNI's Wes Washpun; they are fun to watch.

Jones: He probably shot more than anyone I have ever seen in a PTL game, or any game for that matter. He didn't make a ton of them either, except for a few stretches of 3 in a row here and there. Jason Price played the point for this team, but he's not getting any younger and had his hands full with Washpun, so Jones played almost entirely on the perimeter hoisting 3s. When he did drive or post up, he looked good. I believe once he gets into a more organized system, we'll all be really glad he's a Hawkeye.

Woodbury and Clemmons played the second game. Woodbury had a ton of rebounds as one would expect. Sapp was Sapp, as in nothing spectacular but ran his team well.

Uthoff did not show.
Gesell and Christian Williams' team had a bye.
Basabe didn't show either, for those wondering.

Reading back through my comments, I'm not sure anything I said was worth the time it took to write (or anyone's time to read), but in reality, there wasn't a whole lot today that stood out.
 
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Fleming was impressive. Not a lot of extra motion on his shot. Nice mid-range game and plays hard. Ellingson looked good, I think he was 3-7 and a really good looking shot. If he is ok on defense, could be a candidate for instant offense of the bench.
 
I was there today, agree with the sentiments that it is hard to judge anything.

Sapp and Jones were a combined 7-347 on shots tho i believe.

I like Flemming a lot.

Uni guys were impressive, Lohaus is awesome.
 
Jones was 5-13 from three. That's almost 40 percent and their team had only six players so I would think fatigue may have kicked in. Like him, when he went to the basket, I think everything else went well for him. Should pull other teams bugs from the basket who'd is huge.
 
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Probably because it is in Waterloo we won't see anything for a little while. Damn Jacobsen, it was better when all the games were in North Liberty. NL is between Iowa City and Waterloo so it seems fair.
Lol, NL is between IC and waterloo. Yes, technically it is, but it's like saying waterloo is between cedar falls and IC. Not quite in the middle or even close, lol.
 
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NCAA rules limit off season work outs to so many hours a week. Drive time to and from PTL games count as hours. Ben Jacobson told Randy Larson last year, the only way he'd allow the Panthers to re-join the league again was if a certain amount of games were played in Black Hawk county. The Cedar Valley Sports Plex was brand spanking new last year. It's a far better set up to watch basketball than North Liberty, as you can see both games at the same time, and the shot clocks are far more visible at both ends of the floor for the players than at the mid court scorer's table in North Liberty. The PTL is so much better having a legitimate Top 25 team participate in addition to Iowa. Multiple venues enhance marketing, as both schools are available to their fans in both communities.

Additionally, Lohaus and Morgan have Iowa City connections, Jones has Waterloo.

Sunday games make sense for several reasons. Student athletes are less likely to have too much fun on summer Saturday nights if they have a game the next day, and I believe Sundays are non-lift days, where as Thursdays often are.

Every Hawkeye newbie has potential and an obvious upside. Each has flaws that are just as obvious. It's up to the staff to coach them up, and put them in situations where they can have success. For as much excitement as this recruiting class has, from what I saw this week, only one might have started in November 2012 ahead of then Freshmen Gesell, Clemmons, and Woodbury (Fleming over Clemmons). Granted, this class is full of 3's and 4's and the aforementioned are 1's, 2's and 5's, but this season Iowa fans will come to appreciate how special the seniors always were, and will be thankful the seniors are currently good enough to allow the Frosh to have what they never had, essentially a training wheels year devoid of super responsibility and expectations.

None of the Freshman will be asked to run the offense in their first year, or play center, or play over 20 minutes a game.

After one week of PrimeTime, I'd say what a lot of posters speculated is going to come true.

1) Shooting will drastically improve. Jones, Fleming, and Ellingson are legitimate marksmanship upgrades.

2) Rebounding will be an issue. Jones is the second biggest body, but he's Robert Horry.

3) To get Jones' shooting on the floor, they'll go zone. Defensively, man to man, he's Glenn Worley.

4) Spaghetti by Committee - The strength is in the numbers. Each noodle has a niche, and will get a chance to show how it meshes with the big picture before Christmas. Match ups will decide court time once the staff knows what it has entering conference play.

Williams looks like a redshirt. Won't speculate on Moss, but Fleming, Wagner, and Hutton will see the floor. Obviously, so does Ellingson. Baer will get a taste for curiosity's sake.
 
On top of what Galloot said, not all Iowa fans who want to watch the PTL are closer to NL. It takes me around 2 hours to get to NL, and a little under 90 min to get to CF/Loo. It would be better if the played in NL on Sundays and WL on Thursdays, but either way, I'll go when I can.
 
This is just conjecture as I won't have a chance to watch the new guys until July. But from the sound of things the many of us who have been excited at the potential, the guts of the machine, that our newbies bring are not being disappointed.

We thought that Hutton is/was an athletic player with a defensive intensity, and it appears he is.
We thought that Fleming would come in fairly game ready from his time at Oak Hill, a shooter with some leadership skills and a sound passing game, and it looks like he is.
We expected Wagner to be a top shelf athlete, and it sounds like he is a top shelf athlete.
We had heard that Williams was a 6'6" kid that came from a smaller school, but that could play point down the road, and that seems to be the case.
We read about Jones hitting 45% of his threes, and a lot of them, at Tyler, and he is taking a lot of threes and from what I gather hitting around 40% of them?

To me, again just kind of guessing off what I've been reading, it sounds like we've got five guys that much like Dom Uhl last season for those that read a lot about incoming players there wasn't much to be stunned about. We'd already heard about how excited McCaffery and staff were to land him, and his freakish athletic skills including handling the ball like a guard. And there he was just as advertised.

So it seems here we are again, but this time we bought out the store! I keep saying, you can get some pretty good stuff off those 3* racks if you know how to shop!!!! :) Are they all going to land on the floor at Carver and score double digits their first season? No. Some are going to get some playing time, others may get very little or even redshirt.

Might as well toss in Moss and the redshirts as well. Folks, this time we've got eight guys to add to six returning and key players all ready to go for the 2015/16 season. And regarding those eight guys it seems we've got the raw materials to make some good players.
 
This is just conjecture as I won't have a chance to watch the new guys until July. But from the sound of things the many of us who have been excited at the potential, the guts of the machine, that our newbies bring are not being disappointed.

We thought that Hutton is/was an athletic player with a defensive intensity, and it appears he is.
We thought that Fleming would come in fairly game ready from his time at Oak Hill, a shooter with some leadership skills and a sound passing game, and it looks like he is.
We expected Wagner to be a top shelf athlete, and it sounds like he is a top shelf athlete.
We had heard that Williams was a 6'6" kid that came from a smaller school, but that could play point down the road, and that seems to be the case.
We read about Jones hitting 45% of his threes, and a lot of them, at Tyler, and he is taking a lot of threes and from what I gather hitting around 40% of them?

To me, again just kind of guessing off what I've been reading, it sounds like we've got five guys that much like Dom Uhl last season for those that read a lot about incoming players there wasn't much to be stunned about. We'd already heard about how excited McCaffery and staff were to land him, and his freakish athletic skills including handling the ball like a guard. And there he was just as advertised.

So it seems here we are again, but this time we bought out the store! I keep saying, you can get some pretty good stuff off those 3* racks if you know how to shop!!!! :) Are they all going to land on the floor at Carver and score double digits their first season? No. Some are going to get some playing time, others may get very little or even redshirt.

Might as well toss in Moss and the redshirts as well. Folks, this time we've got eight guys to add to six returning and key players all ready to go for the 2015/16 season. And regarding those eight guys it seems we've got the raw materials to make some good players.


Given the above, if Moss also equals expectations as a very talented (albeit young) 6'5" wing, the backup job behind Jok and/or Uthoff should have lots of competition. That is exciting.
 
So, here's my take on what I saw at yesterday's PTL.....likely the only chance I will get this year.

UNI guys.....Jesperson and Washpun looked very good. A couple of other guys pretty decent.

*All the usual PTL caveats apply here...it was only 1 game, PTool stuff etc. And I saw the stats well after these observations were made so some observations might fit the stats others may not, this is just one Joe six packs thoughts.

Iowa guys: As a general observation they looked the part of serious Big 10 athletes.

Peter Jok...looked very good. He looked healthy, very fluid, and I can't say this enough but he is a GREAT team guy. He helped Dom Uhl off the floor when Dom is playing for the other team and you could just see by his interactions that he loves being a Hawkeye. He seemed very happy, smiling, talking to teammates etc. He looks healthy and in good shape and was making a good effort on defense. From all appearances he is maturing nicely as a basketball player and everything looks to be headed in the right direction.

Dom Uhl....I thought he struggled a little bit. He played hard and was active. He got hacked repeatedly inside and lost the ball but had a great attitude and kept after it. I would guess that he, Jones, and Wagner will be in a real battle for playing time at the PF spot.

Wagner...very active and as described athletically. Scored inside in traffic but I didn't see him shoot any outside shots so I don't know there. I could see him contributing this year just by concentrating on defense, rebounding, and garbage baskets.

Jones....very smooth looking shot from three. He made some even when it looked like he was floating sideways. He did take it to the basket a few times and looked good doing that. He certainly looks the part of a BG PF and looks to be a sold 6'8". When I was watching him he reminded me of Michael Ingram who played under Dr. Tom. Part of that was the knee brace and the way he moved......Jones had way more offense than I remembered from Ingram.

Hutton: I loved watching him play. He has a passion and an intensity that few can match. He has a High motor-Charlie Hustle with athleticism. He showed more offense than I thought he would. I think he comes off the bench this year if he limits mistakes......not saying he is a mistake guy, just a freshman.

Brady E....he is what we thought in those limited minutes last year. He has a very good shot and he is crafty. I think he and Flemming make for a great backup of the 2 or 3 dependent upon how Fran wants to use them.

Flemming: Again, I hate to repeat what others have said but he just has the game of a veteran. He looks for teammates, he plays hard without emotion appearing to be a factor, he has a very good outside shot and pretty good athleticism and size. I see him as quality depth for this years team and if he plays defense as well as he does offense he could see significant minutes.

Clemmons: I really like AC and I hope he has a good senior year both for him and the team....that said I didn't see anything more or different from him in this one game.

Woodbury: When his game started he didn't appear to me to be all that interested and I was looking for him to dominate down low....but what I saw as the game progressed was that he appears to be working on his shot from inside the free throw line off on both sides, and it looks improved. As the game got going he seemed to get rolling as well and I did see him aggressively throw down some dunks and make some moves through the lane for baskets.

Overall I came away encouraged...the future looks bright both for next season and down the road. IF, this next season our veterans play up to their capabilities and our new recruits provide some quality depth we will have a very strong year even in a very tough BG.....

I wish I could have seen the other guys but they obviously didn't play.
 
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NCAA rules limit off season work outs to so many hours a week. Drive time to and from PTL games count as hours. Ben Jacobson told Randy Larson last year, the only way he'd allow the Panthers to re-join the league again was if a certain amount of games were played in Black Hawk county. The Cedar Valley Sports Plex was brand spanking new last year. It's a far better set up to watch basketball than North Liberty, as you can see both games at the same time, and the shot clocks are far more visible at both ends of the floor for the players than at the mid court scorer's table in North Liberty. The PTL is so much better having a legitimate Top 25 team participate in addition to Iowa. Multiple venues enhance marketing, as both schools are available to their fans in both communities.

Additionally, Lohaus and Morgan have Iowa City connections, Jones has Waterloo.

Sunday games make sense for several reasons. Student athletes are less likely to have too much fun on summer Saturday nights if they have a game the next day, and I believe Sundays are non-lift days, where as Thursdays often are.

Every Hawkeye newbie has potential and an obvious upside. Each has flaws that are just as obvious. It's up to the staff to coach them up, and put them in situations where they can have success. For as much excitement as this recruiting class has, from what I saw this week, only one might have started in November 2012 ahead of then Freshmen Gesell, Clemmons, and Woodbury (Fleming over Clemmons). Granted, this class is full of 3's and 4's and the aforementioned are 1's, 2's and 5's, but this season Iowa fans will come to appreciate how special the seniors always were, and will be thankful the seniors are currently good enough to allow the Frosh to have what they never had, essentially a training wheels year devoid of super responsibility and expectations.

None of the Freshman will be asked to run the offense in their first year, or play center, or play over 20 minutes a game.

After one week of PrimeTime, I'd say what a lot of posters speculated is going to come true.

1) Shooting will drastically improve. Jones, Fleming, and Ellingson are legitimate marksmanship upgrades.

2) Rebounding will be an issue. Jones is the second biggest body, but he's Robert Horry.

3) To get Jones' shooting on the floor, they'll go zone. Defensively, man to man, he's Glenn Worley.

4) Spaghetti by Committee - The strength is in the numbers. Each noodle has a niche, and will get a chance to show how it meshes with the big picture before Christmas. Match ups will decide court time once the staff knows what it has entering conference play.

Williams looks like a redshirt. Won't speculate on Moss, but Fleming, Wagner, and Hutton will see the floor. Obviously, so does Ellingson. Baer will get a taste for curiosity's sake.

I have nothing to say other than your Likes Received:Messages ratio is sick.
 
I watched the first two games and about a half of the third game. FWIW, here are my observations:

Generally speaking, it is really hard to judge a lot from these games. Besides the obvious, that these are just organized pickup games, it seems to me that the talent is a bit thinner this year than in years past. I'm talking about the non-Iowa and UNI players. Because of this, I suppose this is the reason, guys like Hutton and even Dale Jones end up bringing the ball up court a lot. Same for Uhl in his game. It was hard to judge a whole lot when that happens.

But as for the new and younger players, I saw the following:

Ellingson: Guy has an extremely quick release. Every shot he takes looks good, and most are. When he does miss, it's just a bit long or short, never to one side. He might be a bit taller than I thought he was.

Hutton: I wasn't impressed with his shooting in warm-ups; he has a bit of side spin on his shot. But once the game started, he was really impressive to me. He goes after every rebound. Not just ones in his area, but every rebound. He seems to play with an edge. It wasn't because something ticked him off or anything, he just plays hard. He's not super tall, but he is very athletic. He will be a great defender.

Uhl: Someone mentioned earlier that he seemed to have bulked up. He may have a bit, but I would still describe him as slender. His team was probably the least talented today and he had to play a lot and even handle the ball a lot. He looked warn out most of the time and didn't do a ton to stand out. He didn't get many rests, but he could have used a few. Uthoff was supposed to be on his team but didn't not make the trip to Waterloo. Someone mentioned Jarrod has a back issue; I don't know if that is true or not.

Wagner: Athletic and definitely has a frame to turn into a tough, physical player. Honestly I spent more time watching the other game as it was just better to watch so I didn't get much of a look at him. He is probably a couple inches shorter than Uhl, but probably a bit thicker.

Fleming: He's a guy you can count on to be a really good team mate. It's clear that from his time at Oak Hill, he doesn't get frustrated if he's not touching the ball every possession and he will continue to work hard and move without the ball until he does get a touch. There was a stretch in the second half of his game where he made three straight 3s and a driving pull up from about 8'. He plays for Jess Settles along with Ellingson, Gatens, and UNI's Wes Washpun; they are fun to watch.

Jones: He probably shot more than anyone I have ever seen in a PTL game, or any game for that matter. He didn't make a ton of them either, except for a few stretches of 3 in a row here and there. Jason Price played the point for this team, but he's not getting any younger and had his hands full with Washpun, so Jones played almost entirely on the perimeter hoisting 3s. When he did drive or post up, he looked good. I believe once he gets into a more organized system, we'll all be really glad he's a Hawkeye.

Woodbury and Clemmons played the second game. Woodbury had a ton of rebounds as one would expect. Sapp was Sapp, as in nothing spectacular but ran his team well.

Uthoff did not show.
Gesell and Christian Williams' team had a bye.
Basabe didn't show either, for those wondering.

Reading back through my comments, I'm not sure anything I said was worth the time it took to write (or anyone's time to read), but in reality, there wasn't a whole lot today that stood out.
 
Anyone else see the guy (white team - not an iowa guy) that crapped his pants? If not that, he had a very unfortunate color stain in exactly the wrong place.
 
Of course I was burning up phone lines to friends that go to the PTL games. Perry Hawk sounds like both of the guys that I called earlier today. Both said Fleming's game is more advanced and B!G ready than the other freshmen. Both loved Wagner and Hutton's athleticism, hustle and defensive and rebounding intensity. I wish I could get down to watch live....so thanks to all who make reports of the games.

One of my eyes on the ground told me that Fleming and Ellingson look more natural moving without th ball than Ogles early in his career.
 
I was at the Sportplex in Waterloo to watch on Sunday. I think Perry gave a really good synopsis of the players who played. I also thought for UNI that Jesperson and Washpun looked great. I didn't watch too much of the other game (Uhl vs Jok) so I can't really comment on Wagner, Uhl or Jok except seeing them from across the gym when the action in the other game was paused. I did see Wagner throw down a dunk and he just exploded off the ground. I think it's safe to say he probably has the best vertical of any of the players I saw play other than Washpun. Anyway, I really liked how Woodbury played. He seems to have gotten stronger still and definitely communicates very well and mans his post inside on Defense excellently. He is a total team player, too. What he lacks athletically he makes up for it in heart. He has a respectable set shot from 15 ft in and some solid inside moves and he plays really smart and doesn't make too many bad mistakes. He did try throwing some long passes that were thrown away (maybe 2) but very rarely made any other mistakes. Could be a big year for him with a lot more playing time. I was also impressed with Dale Jones scoring ability. He does have a very sweet stroke and he can shoot with a hand in his face. I think he is legit 6'7" or 6'8". Pretty skinny. Athletic with good handles and excellent one on one moves. I wish he would post up more and play inside, but he was hanging around the perimeter on offense most of the time. Did have a few nice drives to the hoop with a dunk or two. I think he'll get a lot of playing time but he needs to really work on defense. He isn't very physical from what I saw. Hutton, like Perry said, was really active and you can tell he loves to play. He was the first player or 2nd to be out shooting before the game and his shot looks funky with a side spin. Not a natural looking shot at all like Dale Jones'. But, he plays hard and he did make some shots. I was surprised when they went in because of how funky they look. It's almost like he willed them in. I don't ever see him as a big scorer. I just don't think the coaches will want him shooting from the outside too much. He was all over the court though and a few times lost his man on defense because he was tempted to help others and get a steal. That can be corrected. I think he'll be somewhat of a fan favorite because of his intensity. I really liked Flemings overall game. I'm not sure how good of a shooter he'll be. I personally thought his shot had a little hitch to it, but he did make 3 three's in a row. He seems to know where to be on the court because he was active and around the ball quite a bit or was open a lot. Not sure who was guarding him. He guarded Hutton a lot and even blocked Hutton's shot a couple times when Hutton drove to the hoop. To me, Fleming has very high confidence in his abilities and has a high basketball IQ. He can help in a lot of different ways and really doesn't seem to have a weakness. Also, he made some really nice passes. I think he'll play a lot this year, especially if Jok has a mental lapse or has an off shooting night. I liked Ellingson, too. He will be the best shooter I think. He has an easy fluid shot. He didn't wow me with athleticism, but he was solid. He plays smart, didn't make many mistakes, plays cautiously, but you can tell if he is open he has a really great chance to knock it down. I think it's good to have a guy like him on the team. He'll be a much more efficient all around player than Oglesby I think. But, I still think he will be a guy that will have to work his butt off to get in shape so he can out hustle his opponent if he wants a lot of playing time.

I agree with Perry about Clemmons. He didn't have much help on his team vs Woody's team. He had to try and do more than he probably would (offensively) have had he had some help and they weren't playing from way behind. He looked like the same player to me as he did last season. Baer is a quick leaper and can get a lot of rebounds. He seems like a mistake free type player also, but is super skinny and sort of slouchy. He is a solid player though. Took a few 3's but didn't make any. His form looks fine. That's about all I got. I'll be interested to see how Fran decides to hand out the playing time.
 
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