Most improved players through two games

[tower912]

Clearly, Otule and Juan.    Apparently, Chris spent a lot of time while rehabbing his knee just catching the ball, turning and hooking with either hand.    Very nice.     Juan is starting to understand where to be and is using his natural athleticism.    Aggressively pursuing rebounds, doing a decent job of staying in front of SELA's PG, showing confidence in his shot.    Let us hope that both can continue in this manner. 

[GGGG]

Agreed completely on Juan.  I think Derrick Wilson has also shown improvement.  Otule keeps putting the ball on the floor and gets in trouble when he is doubled. 

[tower912]

I've got Otule for 2 turnovers in 35 minutes in two games.    I agree that he needs to keep the ball higher when he gets it down low, but I don't expect him to ever be really good passing out of double teams.    Lack of peripheral vision and depth perception.    He's better off just establishing down low, turning and hooking. 

[Canned Goods n Ammo]

Agreed completely on Juan.  I think Derrick Wilson has also shown improvement.  Otule keeps putting the ball on the floor and gets in trouble when he is doubled. 

Chris looks ugly when he is doubled... but the fact that he commands a double team is a bit of a victory. MU hasn't had many Centers who commanded a double team in the past 10 years.

DeDe and Chris need to get better as recognizing the double team and knowing how to defeat it. It's not easy to do with guys swiping at the ball all of the time.

Hopefully they will continue to evolve. Between the 2 of them, MU is going to get 20+ and 10+ out of the center position. That's a lot of production compared to previous years.

[MerrittsMustache]

Juan without a doubt. He still looks like the same player but he has so much more confidence in himself and the game has slowed down for him. I remember Buzz saying about him last season that he's going to be a heck of a player once he figures out which end is offense and which is defense. When you watch Juan on the court, he looks comfortable out there and it's even more obvious when he's going the ball in his hands. Compare that with Taylor or Ferguson and there's a visible difference (not meant as a knock on the 2 frosh).

Same goes for Derrick Wilson. It's obvious that he's much more confident and comfortable this season.

BTW, anyone know why Vander and DWil changed uni numbers? Sorry if I missed that in a thread over the summer.

[T-Bone]

I was paying attention to Juan through a good chunk of the game.  He's got the footwork of Blue and the energy, size,  and reserve of Fulce.

D Wilson seems a touch more confident.  He didn't seem to lack it last year, but still a little better. 

Blue's defense was REALLY good last night.  But it was pretty good last year. 

[CTWarrior]

I agree with others.  The two that look obviously better at a glance are Anderson and D Wilson. 

Otule looks to have developed a nice little hook shot, but it's hard to say how much better he is until he faces bigger and stronger comp.  On a side note, has Otule put on weight or something?  He looks huge.

[Goose]

Otule looks huge to me as well. Hook shot has been nice but against tougher competition will be tougher. Both of our big guys are such poor jumpers that they need to be creative with their shots.

[MarsupialMadness]

Agreed on Juan, he's looking good early on in the season here.

I'm also liking Davante's game.  I appreciate how he's been getting himself fit and working hard to get up and down the floor.  Do you think there's any chance of seeing Davante in the 4 and running him and Chris at the same time?  Now that I think about it though, that might be counter productive given fatigue and fouls and what not.  I think it might still make for the best 5 on the court.

[AirPunches]

Otule and Juan. Otule's layup in transition was awesome last night. Also, his coordination has increased a lot.

[ATL MU Warrior]

I want to see Chris go up in traffic and throw one down with authority.  I also want to see a secondary move off of his jump hook if that is well defended.  If he can start doing those things, he'll be a real force.

[tower912]

Otule and Juan. Otule's layup in transition was awesome last night. Also, his coordination has increased a lot.

That layup actually scared hell out of me because I thought he landed awkwardly and went back up court limping.   Phew. 

[JoBo2756]

I noticed how much taller we are.

Having both Otule and Davante getting minutes helps, but even the freshmen are taller.

I'm too busy to check and don't have time for this, but I wonder how the average height of this year's team stacks up against year's past.