Shane Schilling's brother is the biggest baby ever

Honest to god, I've never seen a player whine and cry to the refs as much as Cody Schilling with the possible exceptions of Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, and Bogart in intramurals (also "Who are three people who have never been in my kitchen).  I mean it was just sad.  Even on shots where he was clearly not touched he would toss his arms in the air like, "Dude wtf?"  I bet when he plays pick-up he's that guy who calls every ticky-tack foul and then gets jumped in the parking lot after the game because everybody is sick of him.  My favorite moment, however, was when the defense got all switched up and he ended up with Ralph Sampson guarding him and he waved everyone away like, "I got this" for an isolation play and then jacked up a three.  What a douche.

As I said after the last exhibition game I'm not going to pay too much attention to team stuff here because it's just impossible to get a read.  It was clear Tubby wanted to work on some things that didn't exactly help the team in the micro, game sense such as avoiding getting the ball to Mbakwe in the first half (it was clear they weren't making any effort to get him the ball, which I assume was coach dictated or at least I freaking hope so) and switching into a zone defense when it was clear that the only thing Augustana could do at all was shoot from the outside and they had no inside presence.  And, once again, the competition was just not there.  The only reason this wasn't a complete blowout was because Drae Murray put on an exhibition in red-hot shooting in the first half which was just fun as hell to watch.  But 5-6 point guards aren't built to score against Big 10 teams, and so that's what happened. 

Instead, once again, I'll just focus on a couple of thoughts on some of the players that I noticed (that is a terrible sentence) but I'm going to have to keep this short because it's late, I'm tired, and it's extra late because I got lost driving home tonight.  Less than 2 miles from my house.  Don't ask.

TREVOR MBAKWE:  As I mentioned they pretty much avoided him in the first half, but in the second half it became clear that he was basically unstoppable which makes since I'm pretty sure he could have bench pressed any one of their players a dozen times.  None of that really matters, obviously, but if you're looking for a positive look at his free throw shooting.  He said he'd improve it and he did, going 12-13 tonight and showing a really nice high arching shot with excellent touch.  He's going to get fouled a ton and if he can shoot 75% or so?  He's going to put up some monster numbers.

RALPH SAMPSON:  Ok so when the gameplan in the first half is clearly to pound the ball to Ralphy and then he sucks donkey balls that's not good.  It's double not good when he's taller, more athletic, and far blacker than anybody who is trying to guard him, but Ralph ended up with more turnovers (7) than points (4) and shot 1-5 against a bunch of nobodies.  One of the most pathetic things I've ever seen, and I'd be far more upset about it if I wasn't so accustomed to it.  Ralph is the keystone guy this year that will decide how good this team is.  I'm not liking their chances.

RODNEY WILLIAMS:  Ended up with 10 points but they all happened because he ended up just accidentally scoring because he was 300x more athletic than anybody Augustana had.  The were effortless baskets which makes sense since Rodney seems to be all like meh with regards to effort on the offensive end.  You're probably going to hear about what a great defensive job he did on Schilling too, who was 6-21 shooting (lol), but keep in mind he was guarding a slow white kid whose only d-1 offer coming out of high school was from Green Bay.  I do think Williams has the potential to be a defensive stopper, but I think we should maybe not crown him just yet.  Twice tonight had the baseline for a drive and didn't even make the effort.  Pretty sure I'm done here.

AUSTIN HOLLINS:  More likely to end up this team's defensive ace simply because he's already the team's best perimeter defender, Hollins also knocked down a couple of threes that really got the team going in the second half.  Then he missed one and got sad and embarrassed and didn't shoot again the rest of the game.

ANDRE HOLLINS:  A bit of a rough game for Lionel's kid, which is to be expected for a freshman point guard even against a team like Augustana.  There was, however, once possession where he took the ball into the lane and just took it right at three defenders, completely fearlessly.  I wouldn't recommend that approach on every possession, but it was a good look at the kind of player he is, and really reminded me quite a bit of Russell Westbrook which is definitely a good thing.  It did not remind me of Lawrence Westbrook, but that's because I like Andre a lot and now that I think about it that's exactly what L-Dub would do.  Moving along quickly.

JOE COLEMAN:  I didn't notice Coleman being a terrible off-the-ball defender tonight and that's a considerable improvement from the last game.  I didn't notice him much at all actually, but I have a renewed faith in him that he'll be good some day.  Well, goodish.

CHIP ARMELIN:  This is the Chip Armelin (new nickname:  Heat Check) I'm in love with.  Came in the game, put up 4 shots in about 3 minutes, made 3 of them, and gave the offense the boost it needed.  The last couple of shots were probably ill advised, but that's what makes Heat Check, Heat Check.  Of course Tubby seemingly was less charmed by this than I was because after his last shot (and his only miss) Heat Check sat out the rest of the first half and then played about 40 seconds in the second half.  I'm pretty sure Tubby hates fun.

JULIAN WELCH:  Slow slow slow slow.  Snacks had the point tonight that maybe he's the kind of guy who just looks slow but it's because he's always in control (like Evan Turner) but then I saw him get blown by twice by Augustana's guards.  I know expectations/hope runs high for him, but let's not forget he came from UC-Davis, and I don't think this is a case of all the big schools just missing on him.  Temper expectations.

MAVERICK AHANMISI:  For the second consecutive game I can't tell you one thing he did or didn't do, good or bad, tonight.  And for the second consecutive game I consider this a bad thing.

ANDRE INGRAM:  I don't know why but I like this guy.  Sure, he had a play tonight where he nearly broke the backboard on a missed lay-up, but I like to think he's just showing initiative.  Since Shaq/Jerome Lane made them re-engineer the backboards you can break them by dunking anymore (unless you're Tiny Gallon) and so he's just trying to see if he can break one by throwing the ball hard at it.  He's like a freaking scientist.  Recognize.

OTO OSENIEKS:  Hit a 3-pointer, and hit it like a mofo, but also passed up a couple of opportunities to shoot that he, and any true "shooter" should have taken.   Then again, I'm probably expecting too much of him because I'm used to Blake and I always fall for shooters.  On the other hand, that hair.

ELLIOTT ELIASON:  I just...I don't care.  Wake me up in 2 years when he might be more than 5 fouls and an accidental rebound or two.  I will say his entertainment factor is through the roof considering I heard him yelling "dead dead dead dead" as loud as he could in the first game after his man picked up his dribble.  Epic.


Done.  These first two games were like watching a puppy who just learned about fish.  Friday we find out if that dog can track sasquatch in the rain.  Bucknell is no joke.  I'm planning on writing a preview of the game so there's at least a 60% chance that actually happens.  You should keep checking all week.  How exciting.