Where have these guys been lately? And are they going to get minutes now?
I would hope so. We will certainly need Cubillan to get some minutes now that James is out, and the load falls on Acker
i would think they get no more minutes than they did before. what makes you think that buzz has any confidence in them whatsoever? acker played 33 minutes against UConn. expect that to continue.
Hazel is a good defender from what I've seen this year and the topic of why cubillan hasn't gotten minutes still baffles me. I would like to see acker and cubes split time for the next couple of games (which won't happen) to gauge who will continue as MU's point guard for the tournaments. Cubillan is still one of my favorite players on MU's squad, he's tenacious, a good shooter, a good ball handler, and you can never say anything bad about his effort. As of now until Acker can be a threat to shoot which he showed in the later minutes of the UCONN game or Burke has any presence on the offensive side of the court I hope to see some more time for the two of them.
First and foremost if there is no competition between our starting pg or starting center positions then some players will get too comfortable aka Burke, we need to shake things up a little bit.
Quote from: HoopsMalone on February 27, 2009, 02:58:22 PM
Where have these guys been lately? And are they going to get minutes now?
If you think two guys who have contributed basically nothing are suddenly going to emerge then prepare to be very disappointed.
QuoteCubillan is still one of my favorite players on MU's squad, he's tenacious, a good shooter, a good ball handler, and you can never say anything bad about his effort.
A good shooter? Who have you been watching this year? Cubillan is a terrible shooter and a terrible ball handler.
Cubie's stats:
2008-09 STATS
PPG APG 3P% RPG BPG SPG
1.6 0.8 .300 0.7 0 0.2
He has seen his better days. I do not want to see him anymore than we do now.
Quote from: warrior55 on February 28, 2009, 12:30:57 PM
A good shooter? Who have you been watching this year? Cubillan is a terrible shooter and a terrible ball handler.
Cubie's stats:
2008-09 STATS
PPG APG 3P% RPG BPG SPG
1.6 0.8 .300 0.7 0 0.2
He has seen his better days. I do not want to see him anymore than we do now.
Unfortunately, his value right now is equal to that of a walk-on. The surgeries and lack of PT did not help.
Neither will contribute anything for the duration of their time at MU.
Quote from: 4everwarriors on February 28, 2009, 01:15:03 PM
Neither will contribute anything for the duration of their time at MU.
I think if Cubillian sticks around and has a good off season, he will contribute next year...especially if Buzz doesn't add another guard.
This year was pretty much lost for him, with the 2 shoulder surgeries. All he could do all offseason was ride a stationary bike. It kept him in OK shape, but didn't allow him to improve his game.
If Buzz doesn't add another guard, Cubillian will have to improve and contribute next year.
I would be shocked if either contributes anything the rest of the way other than in garbage time.
I agree that it is unlikely that either of them will see much time from here on out this season, though I suppose Cubillan might get 5 minutes a game or something depending on how Buzz uses the bench from here on out.
Now, I understand why Cubillan hasn''t played much this season. Our three senior guards are great players and are in tremendous shape and there is no reason to sit them for more than a couple minutes while the games are in doubt. With Butler able to fill those very few minutes for McNeal and Matthews and Acker to take the few minutes James sat, we really didn't have a role for him.
Hazel, on the other hand, I don't understand. From the very little we've seen of him, he's active, athletic, fairly strong and has decent hands. Not a star, but not noticeably different for Burke, for example, especially if he got a little more experience under his belt. Why we haven't found 5 minutes a game for him is beyond me.
But two coaches in a row have not seen fit to play him, so I guess he just isn't that good, or at least he isn't in practice.
Hazel is probably a nice kid and a great practice player/team-mate, but he does not have the basketball ability of a Jamil Wilson, Dashonte Riley or Darius Smith.
No offense whether or not Acker is a good shooter isn't known because he doesn't even look to shoot. I hope he looks to shoot more often so that his shot is respected since he is quick and can then create opportunities for others. Unfortunately we cannot expect our bench to score more than 10 to 15 points a game. McNeal, Matthews, and Hayward will have to score 60 points a game, especially since our defense suffers because of the output we need from them on offense.
Quote from: damuts222 on February 28, 2009, 05:34:11 PM
No offense whether or not Acker is a good shooter isn't known because he doesn't even look to shoot. I hope he looks to shoot more often so that his shot is respected since he is quick and can then create opportunities for others. Unfortunately we cannot expect our bench to score more than 10 to 15 points a game. McNeal, Matthews, and Hayward will have to score 60 points a game, especially since our defense suffers because of the output we need from them on offense.
Acker shot 43% from 3 last year. He is a good shooter. He went into a slump this year but with the limited playing time, he was unable to shoot his way out of it. The 2 big shots he made against UConn will only help his confidence and I anticipate that he will shoot it a lot more with confidence the rest of the year.
Quote from: mufanatic on February 28, 2009, 06:07:26 PM
Acker shot 43% from 3 last year. He is a good shooter. He went into a slump this year but with the limited playing time, he was unable to shoot his way out of it. The 2 big shots he made against UConn will only help his confidence and I anticipate that he will shoot it a lot more with confidence the rest of the year.
Acker shot 29% from 3 at Ball State and wasn't at all known as a shooter in HS or AAU. One could very easily say that last year was the outlier.
Quote from: bma725 on February 28, 2009, 06:53:19 PM
Acker shot 29% from 3 at Ball State and wasn't at all known as a shooter in HS or AAU. One could very easily say that last year was the outlier.
I would like to think that Acker has improved his shot since a frosh. Look at Matthews and McNeal... definitely have improved since their freshmen years. We are going to need Acker's range now BIG time. If he is afforded 4-5 threes a game he has to bury 2 otherwise we are in trouble. Acker is not going to be finishing at the rim like James so how do we replace James' offensive output?
We have become a worse defensive team with the James-Acker trade, so we need, at least, to be the same offensively or we are in trouble.
Quote from: damuts222 on February 28, 2009, 05:34:11 PM
McNeal, Matthews, and Hayward will have to score 60 points a game, especially since our defense suffers because of the output we need from them on offense.
That's what they've been doing anyway.
Quote from: MarquetteDano on February 28, 2009, 09:32:53 PM
We are going to need Acker's range now BIG time. If he is afforded 4-5 threes a game he has to bury 2 otherwise we are in trouble. Acker is not going to be finishing at the rim like James so how do we replace James' offensive output?
What offensive output? 10 points a game? James' best contributions didn't put points on the board directly - great passing, no turnovers, assists, drive and give, rebounding, etc. Acker buries 1-2 threes a game and he's made up enough of James' points - it's the ball handling and assisting that he needs to replace the most.
Edit:
Quote from: MarquetteDano on February 28, 2009, 09:32:53 PM
We have become a worse defensive team with the James-Acker trade, so we need, at least, to be the same offensively or we are in trouble.
Sorry, I didn't read far enough to notice you had already said something like what I said.