WKU Basketball: Tops edge out Campbellsville in Exhibition, 87–79
There were low points, but more importantly there were high points. When March comes around, Hilltopper fans very well could be thinking in their minds the lyrics from Drake, “We started from the bottom, now we’re here.”
With that thought in mind, come mid-February and the beginning of March we will look back at this rough exhibition game and be reminded of how far this basketball team has come.
I’ll give you my three take aways from this one
This offense is fast, and the kinks will take time to be worked out.
WKU turned the ball over 12 times and allowed 20 points off of those turnovers. The Hilltoppers played very fast, and for much of the night the fast pace played to their favor. It allowed Justin Johnson (22 points, 12 rebounds) to run and throw down a dunk in the first half, as well as have open three point jumpers (he finished 2-for-3 from distance).
The offense had it’s spurts where it would climb off to a run, and then would have a drought allowing the Tigers to climb back in it (the Tops had one span of a four-minute field goal drought). I think we will see that change.
Last week Stansbury, as well as Justin Johnson and Ben Lawson (12 points, 6 rebounds), said that communication on the court is still a huge problem for this team and they need to communicate better. Having this fast paced offense with communication problems definitely could have lead to the 12 turnovers.
All in all, this offense will be fun to watch, although it was difficult to stay awake for some of the second half. But give it some time to work out the kinks, and you’ll see a fun Hilltopper team that can get to a double digit lead fast and stay there.
This team doesn’t have the depth Stansbury would like.
Que Johnson (four points, one rebound) was a limited factor due to foul trouble, and his 15 minutes was far less than he was expected to see on the court. Having Que off the court showed some problems for Stansbury.
Que going off the court gave freshman Damari Parris extra playing time (20 minutes, four points, four rebounds, four assists, no turnovers) than Stansbury has planned. It also forced an injury recovering Junior Lomomba (11 points, five assists, three rebounds) to play the three spot - something that Stansbury said they hadn’t even practiced thus far this season.
Both Lomomba and Justin Johnson have missed multiple days of practice late due to minor injuries, showing that health could be a huge determinent for this team as the season prolongs.
I think the team’s depth will grow, slowly in part of Stansbury continually figuring out this team, as well as the improvement of the young guys in the mix, including afore mentioned Parris, Tobias Howard (nine minutes, two rebounds) and Marty Leahy (two minutes).
If a team plays small, based on tonight, WKU loses Big Ben.
In saying that, I don’t literally mean WKU loses Ben, but Lawson will practically be ineffective. Ben shined in the opening half, he boasted 10 points on 4–4 shooting, also adding five rebounds in 14 minutes.
However, when the Tigers went small in the second half, been became almost non-existent. In just six minutes of play, Lawson had two points, one rebound and one block.
Campbellsville used a center that was able to spread the floor, and was someone that Lawson couldn’t keep up with.
The small ball lineup is one that I think can work for WKU, seeing as the pieces that were used much in the second half have the potential to produce adequate numbers. However we weren’t able to see the true small ball lineup with the absence of Que.
But, as Stansbury said in the post-game presser, the Tops have another foe that looks to be stouter than the Tigers coming in on Saturday, and we could very well see a better glimpse of how this team will react to small ball and practically the absence of one of their senior leaders on the court.
Rounding this out, the first outing of the year was one that offered hope for this season. Stansbury is still trying to figure this team out (rightfully so with so many new faces) but come February, I think we’ll see a lot more fans than the 3,900ish we saw tonight, as well as a team that could possibly (not trying to jynx anything here) make a run for the C-USA championship.
Time will tell, no doubt.
