New Rosiak Article On Vander Blue

[BrewCity83]

Agreed.  And DWade didn't develop his J until he got to the NBA.

[jfmu]

Not quite ... See Todd's follow-up in our Twitter exchange re: Vander at the point

http://twitter.com/#!/Todd_Rosiak/status/32870191587131392

@CrackedSidewlks That's what I was saying. If there aren't any better options, he might see some time there after all.

isnt that purely rosiak's opinion? the previous comment seems to be coming from conversations with buzz

[Henry Sugar]

I agree that Blue's jump shot hasn't been falling lately and that he might need to put in some work during the offseason, but it's funny how badly some people overreact to him missing a shot or two.  According to Ken Pomeroy, Blue is 58-115 from inside the arc (50.4%).  Compare that to DJO's 71-144 (49.3%).  But you don't see entire threads dedicated to DJO not being what we expected.

I concede that Blue need to improve from behind the arc (4/20, 20%).  But for a guy playing in only 58% of our minutes, I don't get the anger.  He's a young player and he works hard.  It's like the Acker/Cubillan hatred early last season -- don't let one bad shot blur your perspective.  When his jump shot improves a little bit and his assist/TO rates get a little better, I think he's going to be a monster.

I looked at Blue's numbers for the quality opponents only (BE + 4 non-conf games).  He has the fifth highest usage on the team (9% of all possessions).  However, he has the third worst efficiency (84.4 - ahead of EWill and Jamail).  While his defensive stats are third best on the team (105.4), they don't outweigh his poor offense.  Because of his higher usage and low efficiency, Vander is the largest net negative contributor.

Vander needs to stop taking threes (1-11 in those games) and cut down on his turnovers (20% turnover rate).  I think if his game focused more on attacking the hoop and he cut down some TO's, then his contributions would be positive.

Until then, I'd rather see Fulce get his number called more.  

[martyconlonontherun]

I couldn't think of a less apt comparison.  Vander works hard and does his best to get better.  (look at buzz's comments).  Jay Cutler doesn't.   (see e.g., http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=6017986). 

I've also never see Vander stamp his foot and be a pouty little girl . . . I hardly ever watch Bears game and I've seen Cutler do that many times. 

I hate Cutler but I laugh at that article you posted. Rick Reilly comes across as a p-oed reporter who blasts a player for not respecting the media. No where in there does it say he doesn't try hard, only he won't talk to reporters, never had a childhood hero for a QB, and John Lynch once got mad for him texting. I think Cutler is a d-bag, selfish, and not a leader but that doesn't mean he doesn't work to do his best. 

[NickelDimer]

My memory is that he never had a nice form on his jump shot.  He was able to get away with bad form in HS, but cannot do it now.

In the videos I've seen, like this one, his jumper looks much more natural than now.

http://www.viddler.com/explore/YoungMUFan4/videos/22/

[avid1010]

It's not confidence, it's shooting form.  Look at clips from his Junior year where he had good form and compare it to now with his modified shot-put and it doesn't even look like the same guy. 

It's a crime that his shooting form is not being worked on in practice (and it's not).  Shooting more shots with that crappy form isn't helping Vander one bit.  The longer he's allowed to do it the wrong way, the longer it will take to fix the problem.

Homer and Mac said they worked on his free-throw form, and that they think it will evolve into his jumper as well...talked about the need for him to use more legs, but not jump as high on his 3, etc...  So to say he's not working on his shot (and you know they're not) is ridiculous, and to suggest they should change his entire shot mid-season is also ridiculous.  E-Will came in to MU and couldn't hit a jumper, and all of a sudden he could shoot.  Hell, everyone on MU seems to be able to shoot after a year or two in the program.

[warriors1965]

Homer and Mac said they worked on his free-throw form, and that they think it will evolve into his jumper as well...talked about the need for him to use more legs, but not jump as high on his 3, etc...  So to say he's not working on his shot (and you know they're not) is ridiculous, and to suggest they should change his entire shot mid-season is also ridiculous.  E-Will came in to MU and couldn't hit a jumper, and all of a sudden he could shoot.  Hell, everyone on MU seems to be able to shoot after a year or two in the program.

The problem with Blue's mechanics is with his ball placement and, at times, his hand placement on the ball. 

Does anyone bother to look at his shot in his Junior year vs now?

[GGGG]

In the videos I've seen, like this one, his jumper looks much more natural than now.

http://www.viddler.com/explore/YoungMUFan4/videos/22/

Well my guess is that it's a "going too fast" issue.  On both of those shots he had time to wind up, dip real low, and shoot.  He isn't getting that much time in BE action.

[NickelDimer]

Well my guess is that it's a "going too fast" issue.  On both of those shots he had time to wind up, dip real low, and shoot.  He isn't getting that much time in BE action.

It could be, but his release point is completely different and I'm not sure that's related to being hurried.  Even his ft's seem to come from a low release point.  

[Freeport Warrior]

Vander needs to stop taking threes (1-11 in those games)

No research here, but just using my eyeball test, it seems like most of his three attempts are wide open looks where they have swung the ball and no defender is even remotely close -- the kind of shots where he is almost obliged to shoot -- but really doesn't want to. Also, the kind of shots that most gym rats knock down at a 50% clip. His shot doesn't look right, but like someone else said, it's not something you switch mid-season because it is going to get worse before it gets better. All said, I still think he is going to be a tremendous player for us in a few years when he grows into his confidence.

[avid1010]

The problem with Blue's mechanics is with his ball placement and, at times, his hand placement on the ball.  

Does anyone bother to look at his shot in his Junior year vs now?

Sure.  I've been to conferences and watched shooting form taught by some of the best shooters to play the game.  DJO's shot doesn't fit the bill, but it works for him.  Novak's was flat, worked for him.  Listened to Dell Curry talk about how his form was funky, but easy for him to adjust...said he actually would adjust his shot mid game depending on how he was missing.  I don't think it's as simple as you think...and I don't know squat compared to the coaches on the MU bench.