Basketball observations

A few more reflections from last night's 77-44 win over Presbyterian:

-- Landry Nnoko was the story of last week's exhibition win over Lander, and last night was more of a struggle for him. Missed some box-outs and air-balled a mid-range jumper from the baseline. He got a little frustrated and you could tell. He also missed a put-back after a nice offensive rebound and had two turnovers. He scored a point in 16 minutes. Coaches want to get his legs stronger. He's impressing with his work ethic. Spends a bunch of time watching film and studying the game.

-- Mentioned this last week, but the on-ball defense is going to be a lot better this year. The perimeter defense as a whole was lacking at times last year with Tanner Smith and Andre Young, and Adonis Filer brings a frenetic, relentless presence at the top. The key is going to be Filer and the other freshmen keeping their legs during the grind of the season in late January and February. But right now, the ball pressure is reminiscent of Brad Brownell's first year when Demontez Stitt and Zay Anderson thoroughly harassed opposing point guards and disrupted initiation of offense.

-- Perhaps the biggest question entering the season was where the outside shooting would come from, and you can see some real promise there. T.J. Sapp has a nice stroke, and Filer banged two 3-pointers last night. K.J. McDaniels has worked hard on his jumper and has the green light to shoot 3s if he's open, though Brownell got on him early in last night's game for taking a couple of quick shots outside the flow of the offense.

-- Roper didn't look all that good in the exhibition game, but Brownell pointed out that he did well in the closed scrimmage against Georgia. Brownell is confident Roper has the tools to be a good player in time, and he showed why last night. McDaniels told me he was surprised soon after Roper's arrival here to see the new kid creating his shots off screens and elevating over guys for long jumpers. "I thought he was just a point guard. He can get through a lot of defenders. He's real crafty." Roper also scored on a runner with a really nice scoop shot. Roper did have two turnovers on ill-advised passes from the top against Presbyterian's zone. He also needs to improve his defense, but you can definitely see potential there because he's quick.

-- Fans are going to really like Filer. He's an inner-city Chicago kid who carries himself with confidence and flair, but it's not over-the-top yapping. And he has the game to back it up. Needs to get better at finishing drives. He also missed three of four free throws last night.

-- Sapp played just 13 minutes as a result of cramping, but I liked what I saw when he was in there. He was aggressive at penetrating Presbyterian's zone from the baseline, and on one first-half possession he drove and made a really nice find in getting it to Damarcus Harrison on the backside baseline for a layup.

-- Harrison is a smooth player. Got yanked in the first half for casually fighting through a screen, but otherwise he looked good. Good mid-range jumper, and doesn't look like a particularly good shooter from long range (0 for 3). In the first half, he missed a 3 but hustled to the other end to disrupt a fast break and force a turnover.

-- Stat of the night: Zero turnovers from Rod Hall, McDaniels, Sapp and Filer in a combined 81 minutes

-- Quote of the night: "They've got a heck of a defensive team. Their perimeter defense did a heck of a job against our offense. Their on-ball screen defense was tremendous." -- Presbyterian coach Gregg Nibert

-- Early read on this team: Freshman class is more advanced than we thought, meaning this team won't necessarily have to play above its head every single night to win games. Producing offense is going to be a challenge against good teams, but if the execution is this good this early it bodes well.

LW