Excited to see our new players and who has improved among the returners. Also excited to see how the new coaching staff operates. However, I am hearing that we may be minus a few players due to assorted minor ailments so not sure we will get the full picture tonight.

^^ Taking a guess that means Amir, Chase, and Jamison are probably all questionable for tonight. The latter two should be able to suit up on Tuesday at Towson. Haha BM that's a good one! Don't have that kind of insider scoop

Don't think anybody cares too much in terms of scouting for this game since it doesn't count, but Hood will be led by guards Michael Riley (who attended future Colonial Lincoln Ball's school in Williamsport) and brothers Mason and Evan Wang.

Riley, a senior, is more of a three point specialist, knocking down 38% of his three point attempts, although his high usage hampered his overall field goal percentage, shooting just 39% overall. Riley averaged 13 ppg last year and is a solid rebounder, averaging 5.3 rebounds at the D3 level. He is a capable passer, but tends to defer the lead facilitation duties to the Wang brothers who are both juniors.

Of the two brothers Mason has more of a scorer's mentality, leading the Blazers last year in scoring with 17.9 ppg. Mason is a true three-level scorer (46% from the field, 82% from the line, and 38% from deep) and truly stuffs the stat sheet. Apart from pacing the team in scoring, he was third in rebounding (3.6 rpg), second in assists (3.0 apg), and also led the team in steals (2 spg). Sharing the court with his brother, Ethan allows Mason to play off the ball, and the ability to have two great passers in the backcourt makes Hood tough to defend in the backcourt. Ethan also averaged double figures last year with 11.9 ppg, preferring a bit more to get his scoring closer to the hoop (shooting 49% overall). While he is not as dangerous from deep (35%) or the line (79%), he will still command the attention that his brother Mason gets as well. The Riley, Wang, and Wang trio accounted for 52% of the Blazers overall field goal attempts last year. 

Their backups will be Keith Claiborne Jr. and Kobe Butler. Neither sees more than 15 minutes a game, but of the two, Claiborne has been the more efficient shooter when he's shot the ball (56% overall, 44% from deep which might have led the team had he played more, and a solid 77% from the line). He averaged 4.9 ppg last year, and is a serviceable rebounder and passer as well. Butler struggled from deep last year, making just 29% of his threes, and has a lot left to be desired at the line as well (just 51%). He is more comfortable as a game manager on offense. Freshman Will Pataki may not see time right off the bat, but he put up an impressive 18 ppg, 4 rpg, and 2 apg at Mountain View HS. Not sure about the level of competition, but those numbers would suggest immediate impact guy at D3 level. Fellow frosh Glenn Swenson Jr. also enters the fold but the guard from New Jersey has struggled to stay healthy, battling injuries his last two years of HS.

While Hood has quite a deep backcourt, their frontcourt will be filled with newcomers and guys who may struggle to defend down low. Tyler Evans is their returning leader. Evans shot a reasonable 43% from the field, but his attempts at being a stretch big didn't come to fruition last year as he converted just 25% on his treys. Expect him to get a lot of run as the 5 in a lineup with four guards dotting the perimeter in his final campaign.

I would be very surprised if head coach Chad Dickman didn't throw his frosh into the mix immediately this season. Lual Chol and Andrew Warehime seem the most intriguing based on their height alone. Chol stands at 6-6, which is the tallest on the team, and he averaged 8 points and 5 rebounds per game in HS. His length and athleticism gives him a lot of potential down the road as a key defensive piece and he is developing a perimeter jumper as well. Warehime averaged 8 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game at South Carroll HS. Those near double-double numbers alone would make him a good candidate to play down low immediately. Although the step up in competition will be higher, the Blazers were in desperate need for any semblance of rim protection. The team held up pretty well defensively, but they were at risk of getting torched at the rim every night. Granted, at the D3 level, having a tall frontcourt is not a necessity, but it is a good extra dimension to have. Brian Barrett stands at just 6-3, but is 215 pounds so maybe he could have a Juice Williams like impact down low. Barrett has the ability to score inside and out and was a two year captain at Riverside HS in Virginia. Ryan Hollwedel is yet another option as one of the bigger guys on the team. Hollwedel was an all around impact guy in HS, pitching in 10 ppg, 6 rpg, 4 apg, and 2 spg, and figures to play multiple roles on the Blazer team in the future. The problem is that Chol, Warehime, Barrett, and Hollwedel are all freshmen. Dickman didn't play his frosh as much during the season last year, so maybe he chooses to sacrifice size for speed, but the new batch of newcomers seem to be good pieces for Hood's future. They will be looking to build off last season's success where they won 17 games and finished second in the Middle Atlantic Conference last year.

While we could easily just feed Arnaldo and Javier underneath and let them feast all night, it will be a good time to see what we have in our backcourt and new-look offensive scheme. Hope floor spacing is good and that we get good quality threes (even if they don't necessarily go in). Equally as interested to see our new on-ball pressure look on defense.

One final thing I'll mention is that Hood played 3 D1 programs last year. They played JC's alma mater Mount St Mary's tough, ultimately falling 87-81. MSM had one of the youngest teams in the country last year, so I'm not surprised by that result. They fell to an average at best UMBC squad by 21 and a mediocre Robert Morris squad by a whopping 57 points. They also beat Catholic by 12 points, which is more than we did in our exhibition last year. Margin of victory doesn't matter tonight, but just thought I'd provide a basis of comparison anyways.

Last edited by dmvpiranha (11/01/2019 11:01 am)

Is the game being streamed online?

Looks like all 3 are not playing-  they are in their Dockers Uniforms (Khaki and polo)

Going to really miss CHAT.

Rough start.  Lots of nerves and lost handles on ball.  Really are going to need some help on outside- Hood is packing it in which would be a great recipe for success against us.  2 shot clock violations in 9min

Mazzulla shot solid from the corners.  Much improved off the ball

Toro playing an undersized front line but he still brings a ton of energy to the Boards.  Will enjoy watching that again this year

Looks like the days of the Bolden/DJ Williams mid-range jumper are over

I was impressed with how efficient Jameer was getting all 20 of his points in the second half with only a couple of missed shots. He also handled Hood's press effectively and dished out six assists. Toro's positioning looked really good and he looks fully recovered, and Mezzie also impressed scoring in a variety of ways, while also doling out five assists. Maceo shot with confidence and Mazulla's three-point shot looks much improved from last year. Overall the team shot 42.4% on three-pointers, which is nice to see especially taking into account that the line is now at 22'1" versus 20'9" last year.