How concerned Are you About Haanif?

[MU82]

I'm not sure "concerned" is the right word.

I am a little surprised he didn't improve his right hand and his pull-up game during the offseason. He seems very intelligent, coachable and hard-working, so I kind of expected him to be more well-rounded offensively after having 6-7 months to work on it.

Instead, he brought the same game back this season, and it is being taken away from him by many teams.

[RJax55]

I'm not sure "concerned" is the right word.

I am a little surprised he didn't improve his right hand and his pull-up game during the offseason. He seems very intelligent, coachable and hard-working, so I kind of expected him to be more well-rounded offensively after having 6-7 months to work on it.

Instead, he brought the same game back this season, and it is being taken away from him by many teams.

That's the concerning part.

Same can be said of JJJ. 4 years in the program, still can't finish with his left hand. Doesn't even bother going left anymore. Another super easy scout for the opposition.

[MU82]

That's the concerning part.

Same can be said of JJJ. 4 years in the program, still can't finish with his left hand. Doesn't even bother going left anymore. Another super easy scout for the opposition.

Yeah, but JJJ has a pull-up game and a mid-range game. Pretty dependable shot from the elbow. He's also a better passer.

Our staff did totally re-make his shot, and that was quite a project that was done pretty successfully. Credit due to the coaches and to JJJ.

But yeah, it would have been nice for him to have developed a left, as Vander did.

[GB Warrior]

Again, Top 100 Orating:

This season:  87.8
Last season:  86.5

He is not in a slump per se, he has been scouted.  In the Nova game, their defenders were anticipating his next move before he made it (same to a degree with Luke and Jj).  The kid has the talent to dimensionalize his game.  All he needs is the realization to what he needs to do to adjust (like nailing that three pointer they were sagging on him the other night, pull up, pass out of the dribble drive, right hand).

Every action needs to be countered with a reaction.

+1

I'm bummed that we did not see a diversification to his game over the summer, but he's still a valuable member of the team...just not as big a role as I think we imagined. I'll be worried if we're having this discussion next year

[Dr. Blackheart]

A fair point that's he's been scouted, but I think this season's rating for A+B is being weighted down by the three conference games where he's shooting 18% eFG%.

"So, other than that, how did you enjoy the play, Mrs. Lincoln?"

And his cupcake Orating inflates the current season metric of three BE games when weighed down by 20 BE games a YAG. Thus, a fairer comp is Top 100 year to year at this point.

Nova=94, SH=24, GU=62, UW=115 (where Hauser was shadowed), UGA=52, UM=88, Pitt=122, Vandy=133.  Five of eight games are mediocre to poor.  Same as last season.  Three games is a trend not a slump.

[WarriorFan]

HC is probably the team's best defender and no doubt he's using up huge energy on the defensive side of the ball.

Offensively I see a few things - which were also noticeable last year.
a)  his outside shot is low and slow.  It's more of a set shot than a jumper.  He's smart enough to not try to shoot into an aggressive close out, but he cannot rise up and get his shot over people. 
b) while his lateral quickness is and acceleration are excellent, his vertical quickness is average or below.
c)  He never gets above the rim.  no hops?

He needs to work on leg and hip strength to develop the vertical aspect of his game, then develop a pull-up J and possibly a fade-away.  He's not going to sneak through for below the rim layups any more.  That's too easy to stop. 

[Henry Sugar]

"So, other than that, how did you enjoy the play, Mrs. Lincoln?"

And his cupcake Orating inflates the current season metric of three BE games when weighed down by 20 BE games a YAG. Thus, a fairer comp is Top 100 year to year at this point.

Nova=94, SH=24, GU=62, UW=115 (where Hauser was shadowed), UGA=52, UM=88, Pitt=122, Vandy=133.  Five of eight games are mediocre to poor.  Same as last season.  Three games is a trend not a slump.

I respectfully disagree. Fifteen shots over three games is not a trend. A friendly wager, perhaps?

Last year's A+B ranking: 86.5
This year's A+B ranking: 87.8

I wager his end of season A+B ranking is >95.

[g0lden3agle]

I respectfully disagree. Fifteen shots over three games is not a trend. A friendly wager, perhaps?

Last year's A+B ranking: 86.5
This year's A+B ranking: 87.8

I wager his end of season A+B ranking is >95.

Damn!  That's a bold number Henry.  Might I ask how you arrived at that number?

[Henry Sugar]

Damn!  That's a bold number Henry.  Might I ask how you arrived at that number?

http://kenpom.com/player.php?p=30968

Haanif's YoY full efficiency rating is currently up 11 points over last year. His Tier A+B rating is only up 1 point at this time, which the good Doctor believes is due to scouting and his true abilities revealed against good teams. Last year, Cheatham's conference-only rating (95) was much closer to his full season rating (101). There was only a difference of 6 points. However, this year's conf-only rating has a difference of 45 points from his full season rating (112 vs 67).

Largely because of the YoY discrepancy between conf-only and full-season numbers, my theory is that the initial conference results are due to a small sample size. I expect those conf-only numbers to improve and therefore the A+B ratings to improve. I picked 95 because it would reflect an improvement of ~7 points from the current position. Note that I do also expect Cheatham's full season ratings to fall as he faces more top 100 teams.

That's my theory, and the wager is my proposal to test the results.

For the record, an ORtg of 95 against top 100 teams isn't good, and we'd obviously prefer that his A+B rating more closely mirror his full season ORtg. A gap of 24 points between the two ratings is atypical based on a quick review of other players. I'm betting the truth is somewhere in the middle.

[blikemike2]

To be honest the ball is not in HC's hands as much and Im not overly concerned becuase with the uptick in recruiting if HC doesn't pick it up Cain, Bailey or whoever will start eating into his minutes.

IMHO Reinhardt should be playing more than HC anyway, unless HC rights the ship offensively he has been stinky. he does play excellent defense though.

[Tugg Speedman]

To be honest the ball in not in HC's hands as much and Im not overly concerned becuase with the uptick in recruiting if HC doesn't pick it up Cain, Bailey or whoever will start eating into his minutes.

IMHO Reinhardt should be playing more than HC anyway, unless HC rights the ship offensively he has been stinky. he does play excellent defense though.

This sounds a lot like what we said about The Chief last year ... that Cohen was excellent at D and if he did not get better at O that Haanif would take his minutes.  Well Haanif did and eventually the Chief moved to the end of the bench and then left the program.

I'm hoping history doers not repeat.

[g0lden3agle]

http://kenpom.com/player.php?p=30968

Haanif's YoY full efficiency rating is currently up 11 points over last year. His Tier A+B rating is only up 1 point at this time, which the good Doctor believes is due to scouting and his true abilities revealed against good teams. Last year, Cheatham's conference-only rating (95) was much closer to his full season rating (101). There was only a difference of 6 points. However, this year's conf-only rating has a difference of 45 points from his full season rating (112 vs 67).

Largely because of the YoY discrepancy between conf-only and full-season numbers, my theory is that the initial conference results are due to a small sample size. I expect those conf-only numbers to improve and therefore the A+B ratings to improve. I picked 95 because it would reflect an improvement of ~7 points from the current position. Note that I do also expect Cheatham's full season ratings to fall as he faces more top 100 teams.

That's my theory, and the wager is my proposal to test the results.

For the record, an ORtg of 95 against top 100 teams isn't good, and we'd obviously prefer that his A+B rating more closely mirror his full season ORtg. A gap of 24 points between the two ratings is atypical based on a quick review of other players. I'm betting the truth is somewhere in the middle.

Thanks for the explanation.  So for the next 11 A+B games HC will have to average just over 100 ORtq to hit your over, correct?

[Henry Sugar]

I'm not going to do this every game, but just wanted to point out that Haanif had an ORtg of 118 last night.

His conf-only rating has moved from 67 to 87, and his A+B rating has moved to 92.

[g0lden3agle]

Please excuse my bump.

Haanif is currently sitting at 98.1 Conference Only and 96.1 A+B.  Still 7 A+B games to go.  Let's hope he keeps this upward trajectory!

[Herman Cain]

I think if Haanif looked to distribute the ball more his game would come around. Everyone knows he is taking it to the rack and defends accordingly.

[tower912]

He is staying focused on defense, not forcing the shots on offense, attempting to get tough defensive rebounds instead of hoping the ball comes to him,  playing to the scout, and doing the things needed to stay on the floor while working through this shooting slump.   

[cheese ball chaser]

Just some observations about Cheatham that are not backed by any stats. It seems like he is passing up a lot more open looks this year vs. last year, and he hasn't been able to finish his bunnies. I could very well be wrong but I don't recall him passing up that many open looks last year. On the flip side, he's also been doing a great job of drawing contact when he drives. As others have mentioned, he's solid on D, so just hoping he breaks out of this slump soon.

[WOJOSWARRIORS77]

Cheatham is one of our best players no matter what anybody says. He has started every single game since he has gotten here, just in a sophomore slump. Happens with many players.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Bumping this.

In conference, Haanif is...

• This season: 93.8 Orating, 43.8 eFG%, 24.9% turnover rate
• Last season:  95.4% Orating, 50.6% eFG%, 25.0% turnover rate

One can see why he has become a shrinking violet.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

He is staying focused on defense, not forcing the shots on offense, attempting to get tough defensive rebounds instead of hoping the ball comes to him,  playing to the scout, and doing the things needed to stay on the floor while working through this shooting slump.

I think it has ballooned beyond a shooting slump now.  He seems to lack confidence in every way.  It's hot potato now the second he gets the ball in his hands.

[GoldenDieners32]

if he had a right hand his confidence would be way higher considering he can only go left. Other teams know he can only go left

[HoopsterBC]

if he had a right hand his confidence would be way higher considering he can only go left. Other teams know he can only go left

Teams have learned what type of player he is.  Watch his first move with ball, always with his left.  They know he wants to drive,  does not have a jump shot at all.
Player Development?  Has not shown he has developed anything to his game.  Can not jump at all, seriously has really digressed.  I think having teams last year double
Henry at times gave him the opportunity to drive.  Hope he works on his game this summer, and comes back with a different type of game.   They will really need him
next year.  I can see MU trying to get a grad transfer at either the point, 2 guard or even the 3. 

[JamilJaeJamailJrJuan]

I love HC and think he'll be fine long term, but right now he deserves the 10-15 MPG he is getting.

[GoldenDieners32]

I love HC and think he'll be fine long term, but right now he deserves the 10-15 MPG he is getting.

He has been playing some pretty good defense though

[The Lens]

Y'all really overrate Haanif.  Dude is just a guy.