The bold look of Kolek

[Goose]

All you have to do is look the minutes he plays to realize his importance to this team being successful. Team success is connected at the hip with Kolek. Granted a small size, but he looks to me to be a guy with short memory and wants the ball in his hands.

[reinko]

He really reminds me of Diener !!!! (Teal)

Digging slightly deeper in the comparison bag, he’s brought to mind Jason Williams after he ditched the And1 mixtape game. Always finding the right pass, looking to pass first, pushes the fast break with a killer pass, but a capable scorer.

Hope Kolek doesn’t like motorcycles

[panda]

Hope Kolek doesn’t like motorcycles

https://allucanheat.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/79056227.jpeg

[JTJ3]

Another year of experience and muscle, and he could be a monster.

Agreed.  I think he'll be ready to start next year.  Just find a bigger, veteran backup big in the portal and we should be good.

[Dr. Blackheart]

All you have to do is look the minutes he plays to realize his importance to this team being successful. Team success is connected at the hip with Kolek. Granted a small size, but he looks to me to be a guy with short memory and wants the ball in his hands.

I like the short memory comment. His shot was flat in the first half but he kept shooting after half.  But, he did have five turns and was a bit ragged at times. Yet, racked up 8 helpers and grabbed 6 defensive rebounds coming back for the ball, so the rest of his game did not suffer.

That said, while he has an incredible 36.5% assist rate, he has to clean up his turnovers (23% rate). Teams will start trapping him when they learn he is the heart.

[JakeBarnes]

Replay is on ESPNU right now

[tower912]

A couple of those turnovers were long, ill-advised passes. 

[MU82]

All you have to do is look the minutes he plays to realize his importance to this team being successful. Team success is connected at the hip with Kolek. Granted a small size, but he looks to me to be a guy with short memory and wants the ball in his hands.

Yep. With about 2 minutes to go, I asked Mrs. 82: "Has Kolek even come out of this game yet? Shaka has subbed everybody but him." (Turns out he had been subbed out for 1 minute in the first half.) He was too valuable and playing too well to take out, even for a coach who happily uses 10-11 players.

One small nit with something you said earlier, Goose: I don't think he's the "glue guy" in the sense most mean when they use that term. "Glue guy" suggests a player of limited talent whose main role is to do a few little things, rally the troops and/or do some of the dirty work. Matt Heldt, Trent Lockett and Ulice Payne were glue guys.

Kolek is one of this team's 3 most important players IMHO. To beat any good team, we'll need 2 of Kolek, Morsell and Lewis to have very good games. To beat any great team, we'll need all 3 of them to excel.

That said, while he has an incredible 36.5% assist rate, he has to clean up his turnovers (23% rate). Teams will start trapping him when they learn he is the heart.

Yep. Gotta clean that up. Kolek is way too smart and in control to have thrown 2 or 3 of those. And I'm sure every Big East coach who has watched 10 minutes of MU hoops this season already know he's the heart.

If you want to be entrusted with the ball for 35+ minutes, you simply can't throw those passes. I'm confident he'll learn and grow. He's still a young player.

[tower912]

Shaka rode a hot combination last night, though ot seemed weird.    So, he will ride the hot hands.

[NickelDimer]

He’s quite crafty.  Many fathers would love him to come over for dinner with their daughters.

Gym rat. Sneaky athleticism

[tower912]

He said something interesting post game with Homer and Tony.  That at halftime, Shaka came in and gave his thoughts for thirty seconds, told them to work it out, and left.

[willie warrior]

He’s quite crafty.  Many fathers would love him to come over for dinner with their daughters.

Don't know about that. Beware of the sneaky part calling over to his relationship with daughters. Never know, boys will be boys.

[TSmith34, Inc.]

Don't know about that. Beware of the sneaky part calling over to his relationship with daughters. Never know, boys will be boys.

Whoosh

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Hope so
Isn't that what many of us said about Gillespie and before him Diefendork
About time we get to do that to the other teams.

Gillespie and Devendorf are no way similar. Gillespie is a good basketball player while Devendorf was just dirty trash out there. I do like the comparison of Kolek to Gillespie who has progressed nicely since an underclassman.

[wadesworld]

Gillespie and Devendorf are no way similar. Gillespie is a good basketball player while Devendorf was just dirty trash out there. I do like the comparison of Kolek to Gillespie who has progressed nicely since an underclassman.

Devensdorf was 17 and 4 as a junior and 16 and 3 as a senior. His senior year they went to a Sweet Sixteen. I hated him, but he wasn’t “just dirty trash.”

[VanderBlueFanClub]

Ryan Arcidiacono

[MU82]

He said something interesting post game with Homer and Tony.  That at halftime, Shaka came in and gave his thoughts for thirty seconds, told them to work it out, and left.

That is interesting, given all the talk about Shaka's great halftime adjustments yesterday.

Ego management is a huge part of coaching, maybe the biggest, and Shaka seems very good at it. That WAS him making halftime adjustments -- give the kids ownership of the team. I love it.

[tower912]

That is interesting, given all the talk about Shaka's great halftime adjustments yesterday.

Ego management is a huge part of coaching, maybe the biggest, and Shaka seems very good at it. That WAS him making halftime adjustments -- give the kids ownership of the team. I love it.

If true, it reminds me of  Buzz's boot camps and how he would try to make them problem solve.

[wadesworld]

If true, it reminds me of  Buzz's boot camps and how he would try to make them problem solve.

“If all but 3 of you deserve to be suspended, who do we suspend for the first half and who do we suspend for the second half so that we don’t risk taking a loss at the expense of some accountability? You guys figure it out.”

[tower912]

Nice.

[Jockey]

I don’t remember if it was Yogi who said, “half of this game is 90% mental”, but it certainly applies to Kolek.

He is nowhere near the athlete as DJ Carton, but he is light years ahead with court awareness. He knows where the other 4 guys are at all times. I’ll take Kolek 8 days a week over Carton as my PG.

[4everwarriors]

Said it Monday and the comment stands

I’m aroused

Duz it last longer dan fore ours, hey?

[Lennys Tap]

I don’t remember if it was Yogi who said, “half of this game is 90% mental”, but it certainly applies to Kolek.

He is nowhere near the athlete as DJ Carton, but he is light years ahead with court awareness. He knows where the other 4 guys are at all times. I’ll take Kolek 8 days a week over Carton as my PG.

Actually I think Yogi said, “90% of this game is mental, the other half is physical” or something like that - that said, I 100% agree with your assessment, Jockey.