Tuesday Howard Pulley thoughts

Just got back from the HP games and thought I'd share some impressions.

Carlstrom v. Hudson (minus T-Hud)
Game 1 was all Mbakwe. He is definitely the real deal on defense and will do a great job locking down the PF position next year. He's an absolute physical specimen and had several huge blocks and a couple of rim-rattling dunks. The few times he matched up against Royce on defense he pushed him around with ease and had two solid blocks on Royce. He dominated the paint and although he wasn't very aggressive on the offensive end, when he did look for a shot he went hard and didn't look to settle for fadeaways. There's no question he should be starting PF this year.

Devoe looked solid throughout the game. Played the 2 guard most of the night but also looked good when he did play the point. He didn't look to create a lot of shots for himself and settled for a lot of jumpers instead of driving the lane. One plus was that he got hot from behind the arc in the second half.

Royce didn't do much. He seemed to be playing a lot more on the wing than he did in the first game I saw him play in. Made a few athletic plays to go with a few out of control drives. Played tough defense and seemed to avoid the "pouty phase" I noticed the first time I saw him. On a side note Hudson Enterprises looked 3-4x better this time around and Hudson wasn't there. Coincidence?


A&A Mills v HP-Bye (not sure who they were but definitely weren't high schoolers)

No Gophers in this game so not much interest there. It was fun to see Quincy Lewis suit up but that's about it.

I was also at the HP games tonight and continue to be impressed with Mbwkwe. He is so aggressive going after the basketball, plays very good post defense and has excellent moves around the basket. He shoots free throws fairly well, but does not appear to have any confidence shooting a jump shot anywhere on the floor. Williams Arena will get very loud when he explodes for one of his put back slams this year. He will be a fun player to watch.

I thought Devoe struggled with his shot early, but got hot later in the game. He really looks small on the floor with his slight frame when he goes up against the bigger players in the HP league. I like the fact that he does not lose confidence in his shot. Devoe's outside shooting will be very important to the Gophers this year.

I am anxious to see Tubby's influence on Royce. Royce has excellent skills and at times looks great. He had some great passes tonight and several strong moves to the basket. A few minutes later he gets too fancy and has multiple turnovers in a row. My guess is that Tubby gives Royce some tough love early to ensure Royce puts forth more consistent effort. Royce's ceiling is high, but he has to keep his focus to be effective.

I was also in attendance. Joseph seemed quicker in Pulley play than he did in the Big Ten. He showed that he has the potential to provide a lot of offense now that we have two point guards. Mbwake was a tough on the boards and will at minimum provide us with a taller Stamper type presence. I thought Royce White got too fancy on a few occasions( it's Pulley), but he showed the same three qualities that stuck out to me last season when I watched him. 1)He sometimes struggles with finishing in the post or with free throws 2)his basketball IQ is off the charts and it shows with his anticipation 3) he does the of little things- tips passes, finds the open man from the post, etc. He's going to do a lot of things that won't necessarily show in the box score and might be our smartest player really soon. Mbwake and White will provide us with some post presence that was sorely missing last season.