Despite their high ranking as a recruiting class, Crowder seems to be the only player worthy of the hype...
No u.
I feel like this is tangentially covered in about every thread started the last few weeks.
Although a lot of people are frustrated with Vander, I think most of us see a ton of potential there. He needs to work on his shot, obviously, but he is really quick, and with more work on the offensive side, I think he could be great. Imagine how easily he could drive on someone if he hit a jumper early in the game. Also, although the team defense has been horrible, Vander clearly has very good on the ball skills, which will also develop with experience. I'm more than willing to wait on an evaluation of him for a few years.
Jamail hasn't played, and to be fair, he's got Jimmy, Jae, and Fulce all playing his position right now. I wish I knew a little more about what he can do, but I don't think anyone should have been realistically expecting him to be an impact player this year.
Blue has lost his confidence. He's a mess offensively. His jumper was ugly but moderately effective. Now he shoots like someone who can't get out of his head. His mechanics are all out of whack. He needs an offseason to get his shot in order. That being said, he's still a solid contributor. Unfortunately, all many fans see are points.
Both Vander and Cadougan are scared of finding themselves of being in a position where they need to shoot the ball. They drive in hopes of finding an open man. Defenses realize this and play off the ball. This leads to open looks for these two, but they force the ball resulting in ugly turnovers. Its difficult to watch and won't change until they develop confidence in their shots. It won't happen this year.
MU is ranked #16 on offense and #92 on defense. Are we now arguing their is a problem with the offense?
I agree Blue head is messed up and needs an off-season to get his shot straightened out. But this team can carry a non-shooter. Scoring is not our problem (last night's problem was too many turnovers leading to way too few possessions shots).
Quote from: AnotherMU84 on February 16, 2011, 10:44:00 AM
MU is ranked #16 on offense and #92 on defense. Are we now arguing their is a problem with the offense?
I agree Blue head is messed up and needs an off-season to get his shot straightened out. But this team can carry a non-shooter. Scoring is not our problem (last night's problem was too many turnovers leading to way too few possessions).
Neither of us was talking about the team as a whole. We were talking about two specific players and I don't see how anyone could watch those two players offensively and not think that there's a problem. Their lack of confidence affects the entire team. It's not just a matter of them not scoring enough. Several of last night's TOs were a result of Vander and Junior forcing the issue and not having confidence in their offensive abilities. They combined for 22 minutes, 5 assists, 5 TOs and only 2 shots. If a guard is not even a mild threat to shoot the ball, that has a negative effect on the entire offense.
Also, if you turn the ball over, you still have a possession - turnovers result in fewer shots.
Last night's turnovers was the result of trying to force the ball into too many tight spots. Many of those were caused by our guards (Blue, Cadougon, Buycks, and DJO) hesitancy to shoot. Our half-court defense was poor again last night, but our inefficiency on offense resulting in too many terrible turnovers were certainly a big part of our poor performance last night.
It would be better if Cadougan and Blue just took the shot, I blame Buzz and his coaching staff for that. These
kids need confidence, so let them fire away. Even in saying that, Bucyks should fire away as well. They had a
dozen turnovers away yesterday, might as well try 12 more shots!
MM, you are correct about possessions, I meant shots (fixed above).
I agree that Junior and VB are afraid to shoot, at this point the only thing that will fix this is an off-season.
I think Junior is effectively a freshman. So the "best thing about Freshman is that they become Sophomores" I believe applies to him.
All this said, what do they do in the next 3 to 4 weeks? Chuck up bad shots? They are not going to magically figure it out in the next few days.
I think all they can do is drive to the hole on O and try and draw a foul.