Practice Report: Lincoln Cardinals
Practice has started around the state and PrepHoops Oregon continues to make the rounds to get a look at teams before the season starts. Wednesday afternoon’s visit was to see the Lincoln Cardinals. Head coach David Adelman’s squad is coming off a Final Four performance last season and while the graduation losses were steep, he has a hard-working, hard-playing band to work with in 2018-19.
Here are observations on some of the team’s top players at practice:
Daniel Kovalev (2019)
Kovalev is one of the few players back who played significant minutes last season so Adelman will be counting on him to step up his game even more. The 6-foot senior is well built, handles the ball well, and has a nice pull-up jumper although it appears he’s improved his shooting range over the summer months, where he played with Team Fly.
Ben Jeffers (2019)
Jeffers played last season at Lake Oswego where he was a contributor off the bench, but he’s a Lincoln kid as he was with the Cardinals before that. The 6-foot senior is familiar with the system as a result, and he’s got a solid body and good touch on his perimeter shot. In practice he seemed to show some defensive on-the-ball tenacity as well.
Conor Fahey (2019)
Lincoln doesn’t have much size, so at 6-foot-6 or so, Fahey will likely be the main guy in the paint for the Cardinals. He has a thin frame but has decent length and runs the floor well. In practice, he finished baskets around the basket and had pretty good form on a face-up jumper.
Kai Wilson (2019)
With a lean 6-foot-8 frame, Wilson immediately draws attention for his size alone. He’s long and lanky and runs the floor well but it is clear that he’s still a work in progress. According to Adelman, the senior – who has the bloodlines as his father Rick played in the NBA – has only picked up the basketball after several years off and will mostly contribute on defense.