The Grounds

Monteverde up 2 with under a minute to play and has the ball.

Damnit!!! That was soooo close.

Don't want to be a downer, and this has nothing to do with his scoring this game, Justin is not a superstar. He is not even involved in their offense. He just stands in the corner and waits for a pass for an open three. He has no handle at all. He is a nice passer though. I think we better look to Nolte as the more important newcomer. This is the first time i"ve seen him play.

Not worried about his offense at all. Montrose's offense doesn't look very good or inventive.... Tony Bennett has a better handle on it than that. As for Anderson's defense, he shut down the Hill kid in the 4th quarter which is the only reason they got back in the game. Anderson could have forced the ball up and took 20 shots, but he didn't look to do that. He looked to play within himself and the team. Loved everything I saw from Anderson today besides his shot not falling. His ball pressure and hustle were great. It will be an absolute luxury to have a guy that can guard 3 maybe 4 positions. I am not looking for Anderson to be a superstar, because we are not a team of superstars, I am looking for him to do everything and anything which he seems willing to do. Love his team first attitude. BTW, this is not the first time I have seen him play... probably at least 10 times now.

Not to be rude but you might want to watch a few more games of his before labeling him not a superstar. I have seen him 5 times and once in person. He had an off game all stars have off games.

Furthermore, I root like hell for every one of our recruits to be the next Sean Singletery or Roger Mason.I love Tony and want more than anything for him to build a winner. But I am objective in how i perceive things, and that's why I'm disappointed in what I see. We're not going to change our "slow offense" unless we get the right kind of players, and they need to be able to penetrate a la Mustapha.

And what I saw was an unselfish player, a + passer, college body, + athlete, a scrapper/hustle play guy with a decent 3 point shot.

That's right Mr. E. I saw that too. It's what I didn't see that has me disappointed. That's all. And believe me, if he can't get a handle he is not gonna look that athletic. It's like a hockey player without skates.

Me too if it helps. By the way, my number happens to be on one of those lockers.

He can dribble well enough to get to the rim. You said it yourself, you have seen one game. Others of us here have seen more.

yes. they have a hard time being objective and because we are objective the next thing they say is choose another team. he did not look good handling the ball and that is a huge problem. plus he always go left. great post mo. by the way TODAY He reminded me of will harris. the college will harris. once tony get a hold of him and with his great attitude i see him improving a whole lot but as of today he is only not a superstar which i said numerous times he is not a starter. at least yet

Today was an off game for Justin. I've seen him play much better. That said, everyone who has said that he has a poor handle is correct. It is definitely the weakest part of his game and a point of emphasis for him this year and this summer going forward. That said, the kid is a tremendous defender, and that's where I would expect him to have the biggest impact this season. He's long, strong, and has quick hands and a good defensive stance. He will be able to defend multiple positions in the Pack-line, and that will make him a real asset to TB and the team.

Offensively, as noted, he doesn't have the handle to take it to the hole and finish. That said, if you watch either the game yesterday or today, you will see several times when he was able to drive it enough to draw defenders to him and then dish it to a teammate in position for them to finish. As others have noted, he is a very good passer, which will also be an asset in the Blocker-Mover. He's also really developed his outside shot. He's shooting 41% from behind the arc on the season, which will force defenders to play him closer and open up the lane for Justin as well as the rest of the team.

So, next year: Expect Justin to play some solid defense. Expect him to shoot reasonably well from outside. Expect him to set up his teammates. Expect some highlight reel plays from him. But don't expect him to drive and finish or even create his own shot very often.