More Italy takeaways from Kim - In the Short Corner podcast

Posted on: August 26, 2016 at 10:44:07 CT

w/ Sam Snelling.

-- Competition level was "good, not great."

-- Says culture has changed from the past two years. Players more close-knit. Says the team plays pickup all the time outside of practice and works on concepts introduced by coaches independently. TP has taken the leadership role and the team is following.

-- Says that a key to success will be CVL, Hughes and Geist being able to stretch the floor with outside shooting.

-- Says Geist hasn't been 100%, but will be fine by the time the season starts. Said we shouldn't read much into his Italy stats.

-- Says Hughes is an excellent passer.

-- He expects to play at a much faster pace this year. Last year, the "ball would get into a player's hands and stop; they'd start to hunt or dribble around." Says this team has bought into the concept of sharing the basketball, moves it around unselfishly. Highlighted the fact that the team had seven players average 8+ ppg on the trip. Says they've worked on "getting the ball up the floor faster; finding a way to score before the defense gets set."

-- Says turnover numbers in Italy are misleading. "20 of those turnovers may have been traveling calls. They call it a little different over there."

-- Heaped more praise on Russell Woods. Says he worked "extremely hard" this summer, and has taken his offensive rebounding skills to another level. Says Woods understands exactly what kind of player he is and has worked hard to maximize his strengths. Woods worked on establishing rebounding position and being in position to get garbage points off putbacks. If "he plays like he did" in Italy, he will be on the floor a lot this season.

-- Between Woods, Jackson and KJ Walton, Kim believes offensive rebounding will be much improved.

-- Says the team will need to improve its ball-screen defense. Says the team wasn't great at it in Italy, will be spending a lot of time practicing it leading up to the season.

-- Says he was mystified by the team shooting 54% from the line on the trip. Says if they shot freethrows better against Kosovo (they were 6-15), they probably win that game.

-- Likes the utility of his team. Lots of "multi-position guys" like Jackson, Barnett, Geist, Puryear. Thinks versatility will be a strength this year.

-- Nikko is "just now getting to where he can play." Kim says he's "looked really good in practice." Nikko's size, bulk will be an asset, he says.

-- More praise for Jim Sterk. Says he talked to Steve Fisher about him and Fisher had nothing but good things to say. Believes Sterk is here for the long haul.

-- Says he ate "gnocchi in some fashion" five out of the nine nights in Italy. Apparently a big gnocchi fan.

-- Says the team was very excited about sightseeing and taking in the culture of Italy.