Starting Ooze

[TallTitan34]

I haven't seen this mentioned at all but lot of people were asking for Ooze to start and he did in the last game.

I didn't like it.  I'm a big fan of Burke starting with Barro coming in depending on how things go.  Ooze just seems to have regressed over the summer.  He's dropping most passes thrown to him and getting many of his shots blocked. 

If this was last years Ooze I'd be all for starting him but it isn't.  Start Burke.

[PuertoRicanNightmare]

I thought both Ooze and Burke played great against Duke, but since I haven't seen MU play in about a month it's hard to remember.

By the way, is it possible to "regress" in your ability to catch the ball?

If he's dropping more passes, it's probably because more are being thrown his way.

[TallTitan34]

By the way, is it possible to "regress" in your ability to catch the ball?

Watching Ooze it sure seems like it is.  His freshman year he was very sloppy when it came to catching the ball.  The last two years (his sophomore and junior year) he seemed to improve a great deal.  Now in his senior year he seems to have gone back to missing passes again.

The only time I think Ooze looks comfortable is when he catches it on the baseline beneath the basket and takes it up strong like Robert Jackson used to do.  The only issue there is if he can stay inbounds before he catches it as he has been called out a few times.

[MuMark]

I've seen every game and it sure seems like he is dropping more passes.

Obviously there is no way to know for sure since no stats are kept on this.

He has never had great hands but they do seem to have gotten worse at least to me.

[NotAnAlum]

I've got to agree and I have seen all the games as well.  My feeling is that this year's team is playing much better than last years with the exception of Barro who is noticably worse.  I never thought I'd be saying this but I actually feel better with Burke or Blackledge in the game right now.
All this said the primary role of the MU center is to contain the other team's center and get defensive rebounds.  In those key areas I think Barro will prove to be the best choice.  When you can pretty much expect to get double figures scoring from all 4 of the other positions, while a near double/double Barro would have been nice, we can win without it.   

[TVDirector]

regardless of starting him or not, we're gonna need Oooze and his inside presence against Hanke and the Prov. big dudes.
hopefully he's up for the task.

[Pardner]

Ooze is disruptive with his wingspan and ability to run the court.  He doesn't have post moves or good hands or a face up jumper.  But, he closes lanes, covers well in the post, forces/blocks shots, squares up on rebounds.  His presence is larger than his ability.  But, he is consistent on the boards, protects the pot of gold on D, and is a serviceable dish off option down low.  He allows us to double down on the post play by running Lazar or Wes at their center.  The BE is made for Ooze.  We cannot win it without him. 

[bilsu]

He has regressed. It actually started last year after Georgetown, which is part of the reason we finished so badly.

[21Jumpstreet]

I agree that Ooze has never had great hands, so why do we continue to drive wildly out of control and try to fire a pass to him around his knees?  We certainly need him but the team needs to realize where and when to give him the ball. 

[muwarrior87]

As the team has matured, the passes have gone up from the knees as well. He's been getting the majority of his dish offs in the numbers which is why it is so frustrating when he doesn't catch and finish.

[TallTitan34]

I'd like to offically say wow was I wrong.  Ooze proved me wrong tonight and I couldn't be more happy.

Great to see him doing that move off the baseline I mentioned.  He goes up so strong with it.

[bilsu]

Ooze was fantastic tonight. I like him coming off the bench, so I would keep Burke in the starting lineup.

[muwarrior87]

as long as one of our bigs has a night like this each game, we'll be golden. A near double double, a few really big blocks, just an all around solid game from the big fella!