I do believe that Isaiah Moss will play a significant role this season. Freshman year he played capable defense on the perimeter, staying in front of his opponent, keeping his hands up to distract and frequently the opponent would pass the ball away. Last season was a disaster for everyone on the team and the lack of acceptable defense became infectious, a serious problem that must be corrected to show improvement that is quite possible and absolutely necessary this season.....
On offense, Isaiah was at his best in transition on the wings. before the opponents' D was set. His freshman, redshirt year, he could take it to the basket and score on anyone or getting free throws if he was fouled. He has very nice moves at the basket, and is a serious problem for the opponents to stop. Last season he was open on the wings every game but would seldom receive a timely pass. Jordan was guarded so closely that his breakout passes were hampered. That should change this season with Connor at the point. He is a pass-first guard who understands the value of ball movement, especially in transition. With JoeW and Jordan breaking to the perimeter and Isaiah racing on the wings we could present serious problems for the hapless opponents. Ideally, this is how things will play out. Of course, transition depends and relies on excellent D, rebounding missed shots and stealing the ball to start our transition game which could be very good.....
The word seems to be that JoeW is quite capable of playing D. If this is true that will be a blessing, having a long tall quick defender on the perimeter will help enormously. There were entirely too many, almost uncontested drives from the perimeter to the basket and open threes rained on a constant basis.....
I have good feelings about the team rising to their potential this season and am anxiously awaiting the start. Brutal preconference schedule with Michigan State and Wisconsin games in December. We will know soon how this season could play out by the end of December. Not having Luka for that stretch will make things a bit more difficult. When Luca returns we just might be in fine shape to make a run for a place in the top half of the conference.....
Merely idle ruminations racing around my mind.....