Just a little taste of Moby Madness.
Wednesday night won’t count toward much, other than vibes, but Colorado State men’s basketball served up a glimpse of what could be a fun season ahead. Although the defense left something to be desired in CSU’s 90-74 win over Adams State University, the offense was quite the opposite.
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Isaiah Stevens had long been the playmaker for the Rams, his production is not something the Rams will be able to replace on an individual level. So, that means playing more as a good-passing unit instead of looking for an individual to make plays happen.
Swinging the rock has always been a big part of playing in the Niko Medved system. True to form, CSU finished with 23 assists on 35 made shots.
“I would say that’s a normal Niko Medved team,” guard Kyan Evans said. “Run a lot of good offense and share it; we like that for sure.”
Medved said he loved the buy-in from his guys, especially with how many new faces made a debut in green and gold.
Of the nine players who saw the floor on Wednesday, five of them were brand new to the program. While the offense shined, the defense left much to be desired, allowing 74 points and 14 offensive rebounds to a Division II opponent. Whether that’s a side effect that comes with all the new faces learning how to communicate with one another, or not, it’s good to get it out of the way early.
“Obviously, there were some good things; there were a lot of things that were choppy,” Medved said. “I think the thing I probably liked the most from this group was their willingness to share the ball. … Obviously, we’ve got some things to clean up on the glass and on the defensive end, but we’ll learn from it and help us get ready for Monday.”
Coming into the season, there were a lot of questions regarding what the team would look like and who would step up alongside Nique Clifford. On the offensive end, that may have been answered.
6-foot-8 University of Arkansas, Little Rock transfer, and Ohio Valley Conference Freshman of the Year Jaylen Crocker-Johnson looked impressive in his CSU debut. Finishing with 20 points, second only to Cliffords 23, Crocker-Johnson may have established himself as that No. 2 option.
The night provided him and so many new faces a warm welcome into the Ramily.
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“It was good playing with a whole bunch of new guys,” Crocker-Johnson said. “We’ve got 10 new guys still trying to find who we are as a team and everything, but it felt good playing in front of some fans again.”
Crocker-Johnson certainly impressed the most out of the new guys, but Ethan Morton and Bowen Born showed flashes as well.
Morton finished with four points, four rebounds, five assists, two blocks and three steals, and could be the Rams’ do-it-all guy. Born on the other hand looked like he could be that spark plug off the bench, finishing with nine points on 3-of-5 shooting, and hitting two 3s.
“I do think we’ve got some guys who can put the ball in the basket,” Medved said. “You come off the bench with a guy like Bowen, who scored 1700 points in his league, that’s a guy who put the ball in the basket.”
Everything officially commences on Nov. 4 for CSU, as it takes on North Dakota.
“With as many faces, I love that buy-in and I didn’t see guys forcing bad shots or anything,” Medved said. “I saw guys really making the extra pass and playing unselfish. I thought that was really good.”
Reach Damon Cook at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @dwcook2001.
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