Findlay Observations

Findlay presented one tough challenge as expected and never backed down. In the end we prevailed 79-76 but the last four minutes turned into a bit of a nail biter. After being up most of the game by 10+ most of the game the bad free throw shooting and the turnovers (YIKES 28 of them!) helped the Oilers crawl back into it. Josh Bostic could help any D1 team in the country, the guy is that good. Here is what I walked away with impression wise of our guys:

D. Jackson (solid defensively again, but he is not a natural point and that is evident when he leads the break. we will be fine if that who Miller goes with at the '1' but he has work to do.)

BJ Raymond (he will lead this team in scoring this year and will swing between guard and forward depending on who else is on the floor with him. he stepped up and hit free throws when we needed them.)

CJ Anderson (we are lucky to have this often overlooked piece. he remains a bull when he drives the ball and has the moxie we need to make a complete team. ft shooting by him was horrible tonight.)

D. Brown (he rolled his ankle in the second half of the game but did return to the bench. Miller stated he will be out for a while (hopefully he will be 100% for the PR tournament), he remains his usual jumping jack self and will be a big reason we compete for the A10 title this year.)

J. Love (he will be in a battle to keep his starting job. not that he played horribly but he did pick up 3 fouls in the first half which led to Frease starting in the 2nd half.)

T. Holloway (he was Miller's first sub and made some nice plays on both ends of the floor, if he wants to be there at the end of the games he needs to tighten up FT shooting. i still think he finds his way into the starting lineup at some point)

J. McLean ( a D Brown clone without the jumpshot. active boardman and very, very good at flushing the ball when the opportunity is there. he will play major minutes no doubt)

K. Frease (much better than i thought he would be this first game. he did instantly draw a foul setting a moving pick checking into the game and drew a technical after his first slam but outside of that it was all positive. he will be a scoring force for us and swatted some shots as well. it is nice to have a productive big man who should only improve under miller and staff.)

B. Walsh (he doesn't jump out at you but he was on the floor at the end of the game when things were tight due to his solid overall game. he appears to be BJ's main backup at this point)

B. Redford (the crowd wanted him to shoot whenever he touched the ball. he handled some pressure situations decently for most of the game but coughed it up towards the end at a crucial point. he drained all his free throws and will be our technical foul shooter when he is on the floor for sure. he did drain a 22 footer much to the delight of the crowd in the second half. he still has work to do to insure a regular spot in the rotation this season.)

The talent on this team is very good. As I watched the game Jordan Crawford crept into my mind often. IF, IF we get him eligible watch out NCAA.