Zak Irvin's struggles... Got to get better

It’s really difficult to be an effective center when you play with such little energy. At this point it’s clear that he’ll always be fighting an uphill battle due to that. I just wonder where the somewhat respectable post defense of last year went.

Is he passing up shots? Or are less possessions being run through him? There is a big difference in who gets credit for the “scaling”. I haven’t seen any convincing argument that Zak is shooting significantly less per touch than he normally does.

I guess I’m missing the why it matters when it comes to Irvin using fewer possessions. If the ball was still running through Irvin and he was passing up shots, wouldn’t that be the worst case scenario? Basically offense going nowhere?

  1. By passing up shots I mean taking less “bad shots”. Simply citing his usage as proof that Irvin is showing better shot selection is fallacious.

  2. Conference EFG%
    Donnal .647
    Wilson .641
    Robinson .636
    Walton .610
    Wagner .609
    MAAR .579
    Irvin .434
    X .375

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Were the numbers equally dismal before his recent slump?

Doubtful…?

Maybe all of zak’s “used” possessions might turn up on a 5KP, @umhoops?

Regardless, Zak plays significantly better defense than Duncan (I was lol-ing at the announcer’s infatuation with Duncan; he’s improved his D, but come on), and can guard more positions than X. And yeah X has shown promise, but he had exactly zero leash just 3 games ago. I’m all for Zak getting his minutes if the game scripts continue to be the same; that being said: of course Duncan should get more minutes if we need instant offense, and maybe X can match up with other teams that play small lineups at the 1-3, but I’m guessing Zak is important to chemistry and leadership.

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Yeah, I’m not advocating for Irvin to sit. I just think we can get better shots than some that he takes considering how inefficient of a shooter he is.

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Limiting his jump shooting to catch-and-shoot 3s and elbow curls is good by me. Opponents respecting Zak’s likelihood to shoot is still a tool, because I just dont see him getting the tum tum treatment. Luckily, we aren’t in a position where we need him to do more, as long as Walton doesn’t take off the cape and there’s a collective consistency in total production between the rest of the rotation.

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THIS^^^^^^^

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You have to appreciate how Irvin has kept his head up and continues to play hard even when he isn’t scoring.
I think he is going to have some more big games for us before this season is over.

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The bottom line is that Zak is not going to lose minutes to X or DR because he is to valuable to the flow of the game for the team and defense. No matter what everyone thinks Zak usually gets a tough assignment every game and is one of the tougher players on the squad. We will be riding it out with Zak.

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Beilein already benched Zak because of bad shot selection late in the second half last game, I’ll be very interested to look at mpg for the home stretch of the season to see if your comment winds up being true.

Glad the team doesn’t go as Zak goes anymore. Been very inspiring to watch their overall growth during his slide.

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He sat for one possession right?

I really don’t think it matters how long he sat. Clearly Beilein was like “ayo this was bad.” Again, all I’m saying is that I’m interested to see if that comment ends up being true, there’s really no need to make it anything more than that.

Discussing whether it was a good shot or bad shot. That shot up 13 a couple seconds into the shot clock at the very least was a selfish shot. He hasn’t hit the outside shot this year and takes that type of shot?

I sincerely hope John Beilein looks like a genius in March for sticking with Irvin.

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I agree. I believe that Coach thinks that a healthy Irvin, physically and mentally, is needed for this team to reach its greatest potential in March. Gotta let him work through this, as long as it’s not taking the rest of the team down.

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This is the interesting part, because we rode him through the @MSU game, even though he was pretty terrible and single-handily tanked a handful of offensive possessions. At the time, I got it, because X was a non-factor and Duncan was a defensive nightmare. For the last two games, at least, X has been taking charge and Duncan has been making far more 3s than he has been giving up. Still think Zak will be the best option, even in a closer game, but only with the stipulation that he isn’t turning it over repeatedly and chucking up bad shots.

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