Neon Budreau

NU 69 Kent state 60

NU 66 TU: 60

Nu 68 UNO 52

NU 66 Valpo 65

NU 70 Southern 59

I totally understand the premise that SV would be well served by a redshirt because he is such a project. However, I think we need to see Kye for more than 3 minutes before we say he is ready for meaningful time. I think if Miles thought Kye was a legitimate option at all he would have gotten more than those 3 mop up minutes last night. That being said, Kye is a hard working guy who could earn more time as the season goes forward.

I would be in for some sort of HHC shirt. I think the demand would be pretty high.

I watched a number of Doc's practices over the last few years and they were usually very intense. I would say he backed off a little the last couple of years because of injury issues. After only seeing one of Coach Miles' practices I can't necessarily make a great comparison yet. However, like I said in my other post, it was very physical. Guys were really hitting each other in some of the loose ball drills they were working on, it was a point of emphasis. Did Doc do this too, yes, and I think physical toughness is something you have to develop with the way basketball is played today. You have to remember these guys have only had a few chances to catch the new coach's eye so far, so most guys were really selling out. A couple of times I noticed guys tweak their ankles or something similar and not want to leave drills. As for breaking down players mentally, yes I saw some of the same tactics Doc used. Saturday David Rivers was the target, Miles really got after him a few times, but he also did the same to Walter Pitchford and Benny Parker. Much like the Doc regime, the assistants and teammates would then try and play good cop, and build the guys back up. It has been mentioned already, but Coach Miles really used his assistants and did more breaking into groups to work on individual skill development. I didn't notice any difference in the length of practices or breaks.

Coach Miles and staff did have a clinic for high school coaches Friday night/Saturday. I was able to go and watch practice for awhile Saturday in Devaney. Take my impressions for what they are worth, I only was able to watch for a little over an hour. -Coach Miles runs a well organized practice that is uptempo, which is to be expected. What I didn't expect is how physical the practice was, lots of contact, and the hits they were delivering during a take a charge drill were harder than any I saw Saturday afternoon in the football game. They did a lot of drill work, I didn't see them get up and down the court too much but from what I could tell about individual players. -Biggs has a very quick first step, and can elevate. Not a consistent outside shooter from what I saw but has some range. -Parker looks smooth, has a ways to go to pick up the system and things but has talent -I thought Ray, Menke, and Talley looked like our best shooters, and shooting was emphasized a lot throughout the practice. -Sergei is all of 7-1, skilled, and lanky, but needs some time in the weight-room before he's ready for the big time -Pitchford looks the part of a legit power forward, Coach was on his case quite a bit about effort and attitude, I think he expects a lot out of him. -Shields is going to be a good one, he's somewhat raw but athletic enough to get to the basket. I would expect him to play a ton this year. I saw a lot of teaching going on during the practice. You can tell it's early and a new system for the kids, but they were working hard. Miles did a nice job of using his assistants who were very involved in the practice.