McGill Preview: Three Things to Look for in Men's Basketball Exhibition Game

As the men’s basketball team closes out its preseason with a scrimmage against McGill on Saturday afternoon, Crimson beat writer David Freed details three things to keep an eye on.

1. Spacing The Floor — The discussion of how to replace star point guard senior Siyani Chambers centers around his leadership and his passing. Chambers knows the in and outs of the offense down to a T, having run it for three years. This simplistic analysis ignores Chambers’ shooting ability. The career 38 percent shooter has become less accurate with age, but provided crucial shooting to an offense that went scoreless for long periods. Junior Corbin Miller is the team’s best shooter, but is ineffective off the dribble. The returning starters—senior Agunwa Okolie and junior Zena Edosomwan—provided nothing by way of shooting last year. Head coach Tommy Amaker has pledged to create spacing by posting up Edosomwan inside, hoping that he draws double-teams to open up space for shooters. Saturday is the first test of a theory that will merit scrutiny this year.

2. Chatfield’s Emergence — The sophomore averaged just under 10 minutes a game as a freshmen, demonstrating the length and shooting that made him a prized recruit out of Georgia. The team hopes that he can make a leap to be more of a slasher on the wing, but it isn’t clear that he will even crack the starting lineup. His progress may prove to be a good barometer for that of the team.

3. Defending At The Point — A frustrating player offensively, Chambers is a tenacious defender who has improved considerably on the less sexy end of the floor over his three years. His replacements are, in a word, incomparable. Junior Corbin Miller has not yet shown the agility and foot speed to keep up with high-quality opposing guards, and junior Matt Fraschilla faces a significant size deficit. Freshman Tommy McCarthy hasn’t had a chance to flash on-ball defense to this point, but will face a significant adjustment in moving up to the college level. Amaker’s teams are built on their defense—which is often among the best in the nation—and for a team short on offensive firepower, containing at the point of attack is a crucial priority.