Questions about Vander Blue

[bamamarquettefan]

As I detailed in a study of all 5-star recruits in the Big East since the expansion, they rarely have a big impact freshman year.  Typically numbers indicative of a decent 6th man or borderline starter, and then most explode and dominate their sophomore year.  We are getting what I hoped we would out of Vander - I believe he looks exactly like your typical 5-star freshman in the Big East.

In that same study I noted that all of us should expect Jae Crowder to contribute twice as much as Vander on the stat sheet coming in as the JUCO POY.  However, whether or not that means he should start or come in 3 or 4 minutes into the game once he has seen what the opponent is doing isn't that big a deal to me.

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Blue looks like he'll be a good get for the long run.  Certainly his outside shot needs work.  I have some recall of many here thinking he'd be a one-and-done type player!

[MarquetteDano]

As I detailed in a study of all 5-star recruits in the Big East since the expansion, they rarely have a big impact freshman year.  Typically numbers indicative of a decent 6th man or borderline starter, and then most explode and dominate their sophomore year.  We are getting what I hoped we would out of Vander - I believe he looks exactly like your typical 5-star freshman in the Big East.

In that same study I noted that all of us should expect Jae Crowder to contribute twice as much as Vander on the stat sheet coming in as the JUCO POY.  However, whether or not that means he should start or come in 3 or 4 minutes into the game once he has seen what the opponent is doing isn't that big a deal to me.

I think someone compared JFB and Blue in their respective first seasons.  I think that is apt.  Which means as the season progresses Blue is going to get really good.  I expect  a breakout game mid Big East season.

My guess is that he is not going 4-6 from three at any point this year, but nor was Jimmy and he had big impact in games.  The outside shooting improvement is a year away in my estimation.

[rugbydrummer]

The college game is set-up to shot threes, MU was so good last year was they had 4 guys who could
do that.  Right now Vander can not hit the side of the barn, which hurts this team big time.  Buzz states
early season they work hard on fundamentals on the D end.  They better put a little time in on shooting.
Hopefully, they can get that fixed before the BE season starts.  If I played MU, I would zone them all the
time.  Not sure how much time they spent on playing against a zone, but dribble driving a zone is not how
to beat it, quick passes beats a zone. 4 out and 1 in does not either.  Also, all the guards look tentative
on the offense end, they have to be quicker on what they want to do and stop thinking.  DJO has to be
more offensive, he passed up way to many shots the last 2 days.  Buycks is not a point guard.  Both nights
when they were making a run, he made mistakes.

No kidding (re: your thoughts on opponents using zone defense).  Offensively .... i don't disagree DJO should have been more aggressive offensively, but to me, Jimmy Butler didn't seem his usual self & seemed like he maybe backed off a bit-- I know he scored around 20 in the Duke game, but in the Gonzaga game he seemed a bit hot & cold.  Obviously these guys are still learning how to all play/hang together, so maybe it's a being selfless/team thing (?) but it didn't feel like JFB was a "presence" as he has been at other times.  Maybe his line in the box score suggests otherwise, but that was my impression.

I didn't mean to threadjack away from VB.  I think sometimes we think back on say Dominic James and how he made an IMMEDIATE impact, but on the other hand, the 3 amigos were our starting guys b/c we didn't have anyone else on the team that matched their talent for those roles (although correct me if I'm wrong about that).  I guess I concur in general w/ the hope that he continually improves.  I also agree that the JFB comparison is apt -- i mean, he was a bit overshadowed in his first 2 years by our 3 amigos & Hayward, so idk that there was *as* much pressure for him to be amazing out of the gate.  It's all about perspective.  I think in some respects we fans are simply chomping at the bit and hungry for a "dream" team; we are all exciting by our recruit talent & want to see that potential blossom into reality.  Patience is a virtue . . . hopefully the wait will not be too long.