I don't think we really know what our best lineup is to be honest, we're only 4 games into the season, and we've only played against one high-major opponent. Once we play Nova tonight and Syrcause next week, I think we'll have a much better idea of the strengths and weaknesses of the team. It's pretty obvious we're going to be outmanned up front almost every night during conference play, it's just a matter of who can mask it the best. I think it's still an open battle at the 5 spot.
Idk Matt, Donnal looked seriously overmatched in the post and Oregon just isolated him every time they could in the second half. Doyle was a major improvement.
I do agree Doyle was a major improvement last night, but during the course of the season (only 4 games), Donall has been the better helpside defender in terms of blocking shots and rotating. Neither of those two has been particularly good at post defense. Both are clearly ahead of Wilson in that regard, as DJ looks totally lost out there. I still maintain that it is an open battle at this point, we’ll know much more within the next week once we fact Nova tonight and Syracuse on Tuesday.
I do agree Doyle was a major improvement last night, but during the course of the season (only 4 games), Donall has been the better helpside defender in terms of blocking shots and rotating. Neither of those two has been particularly good at post defense. Both are clearly ahead of Wilson in that regard, as DJ looks totally lost out there. I still maintain that it is an open battle at this point, we'll know much more within the next week once we fact Nova tonight and Syracuse on Tuesday.
I wonder how much the Cuse game will really tell us, the 5 will have a very different role against that zone than in most of the other games they will play.
I think most of us are more concerned with defense/rebounding, as opposed to how our 5s will handle a zone defense being placed in the high post. If I had to guess, we’ll use levert flashing to the FT line area as opposed to placing either Donnal/Doyle in positions where they have to make quick decisions…neither of those 2 are ready for that yet.
Interesting to see Chatman completely disappear from the rotation. He has shown flashes of good passing and rebounding but until he finds his outside stroke I don’t see him fitting in at the 4 in our offense.
With Wilson I think he still has a lot of potential and is just buried in the depth chart. His (garbage time so TIFWIW) 3pt shooting has looked nice. If Wagner keeps up the poor play I could see DJ sliding into the #3 center role.
I finally see where chatman can be useful besides his passing and length/ rebounding.feeding him on the low block has potential. Getting him ball on the post could be nice for him and offense. I hope he sticks around because I see him playing next year. First guy off bench at the three or four. Start Walton then either maar or Dawkins/ Irvin then then Irvin or Dawkins with Robinson and donnall. I also like the idea of feeding Dawkins or Irvin on post. Let them use their quickness and athleticism to rack
I’d like him to not play at this point. Zero minutes. Wagner needs pt. kid can play. Shows ability to create for himself and finish. Don all for 25 Wagner for 15
Have you watched Wagner lately? After the NC State game and up to the Penn State game he was awful on offense and defense. He had more turnovers than made field goals. I get that he should get minutes to get experience and I understand that he probably has the best potential upside of our bigs but we need to put in whoever gives us the best chance at winning. That will be different each game with different match-ups, you can’t just say Doyle is useless.
Give D.J. Wilson another look at the 5. Nobody other then Donnal has been playing worthy of minutes it can not hurt with the way Wagner and Doyle are playing.
my thing is Wagner has shown an ability to make plays. He has a very short leash it appears to other people. I really liked Doyle last year but he can’t catch the ball. How can you put someone out there who can’t catch and blows easy lay ins. At this point I’ve seen more thing I like out of Wagner. Why he’s on a short string I don’t know. Kid is gonna make mistakes but he also has finishing and ball skills. He had a few great d possessions to last game.
I’ll take Wilson if you don’t like Wagner. Play donnall thirty if u want if he keeps up this finishing and confidence and surprisingly decent shot blocking. I just literally have a heart attack every time Doyle bobbles the ball at this point. There is too many options at this point to watch that continue.
Happy New Year everyone. Took a bit of a break which was probably a good thing cause I was just about to wade into a debate on in-state recruiting from which no good could come.
Didn’t see a PSU post-mortem thread but just wanted to share a couple observations:
I was very impressed with the ball movement in LeVert’s absence, especially with Walton having an off day. Irvin and Robinson in particular looked like elite passers. MAAR also stepped up a showed an inkling of what he can do on offence when he’s aggressive and not deferring to LeVert. Hopefully LeVert gets back to form asap but also hope that we see Irvin, Robinson, MAAR, and Dawkins continue in their expanded roles rather than regressing into a situation where LeVert and Walton are the only consistent playmakers.
One area for improvement was breaking the press/zone press thingy that PSU deployed late. IIRC the game was basically in hand by that point and it seemed the team was content to get the ball over center and run clock. But when PSU sends 4 guys into the backcourt, I think you need to punish them by moving the ball and scoring easy uncontested buckets. On BTN I heard that part of the reason Purdue struggled vs Iowa was because of their inability to break Iowa’s press (did not see that game so correct me if I am wrong). The 12-13 team was really excellent at breaking the press and pushing the pace when the opportunity presented itself – isn’t that how they shredded the VCU havoc in the tourney?
Doyle has clearly regressed for some reason. He looks like Donnal looked last year. Its odd because he looked better last year when he was a true freshman, out of shape and often sick. Maybe he bulked up too much?
I agree, and it really doesn’t make sense. Last year it was clear he had issues catching the ball, but right now he misses it over 50% of the time, and when he does catch it he won’t keep the ball high and they just knock it away.