Friday, October 31, 2008

Notes from Haunted Hoops

For all who are interested, Coach Buzz Williams did mention that he has been on the job for 206 days during his speech at the fish fry. What was also interesting is that he tries to not use a microphone when he speaks in front of large groups. He does that as well as not use a whistle during practice. According to him, he wants to teach his players to key in on his voice, rather than a whistle, because during games the men with whistles won't be able to make adjustments for the team.

The scrimmage following the dinner was well balanced. However there were a few things that stuck out, which may be seen during the season. First, Joe Fulce is very fast, but can get into foul trouble very easily. During the second 15 minute half he recorded 4 fouls in just 11 minutes of game play. Next, Dwight Burke seemed to be very effective under the rim; but this must be taken with a grain of salt, because he was facing his own teammates, who are undersized. Of the younger players, I was impressed with the way that Jimmy Butler played, but he'll be behind a number of players at the 3 spot this year and may not find much playing time. Chris Otule was decent, but he will need to play more aggressively on the boards to be competitive in the BIG EAST.

In other news, AD Steve Cottingham said that the student section is sold out, as are all of the tickets for the Wisconsin game. He also said that he expects the UCONN and Syracuse games to be sold out by the end of next week, when individual tickets go on sale.

Ritchie Donnelly
MUTV Sports Director

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