I think the announcer’s pointing out that Robinson actually plays decent help defense and anticipates plays is accurate. It’s his man-on D that is the problem. But the same could have been said for MAAR until his significant turn-around the last 5-6 games–before that he couldn’t stay in front of anyone. And neither Wilson nor Wagner can defend decent posts 1 on 1–as Davis yesterday and everyone on OSU showed. The double-down yesterday was what really helped agaist Bryant. [Wilson, of course, is a solid defender off-the-ball]
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Duncan has for sure gotten better, over the last few games, but the announcer’s zeal seemed to be the classic: “I dont know that much about the team/player, so I’m going to take what I just saw and extrapolate it into a generalization.” Duncan is much better at off-ball helping on drives; he’s still a ball watcher when his guy is on the perimeter. Still, in all facets, worlds better than even just a month ago.
Not really sure what to say about the rest of your analysis…I agree with it? Not sure it was meant to make a point that opposes what I said.
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[quote=“BleedBlue, post:126, topic:2301, full:true”]
…the announcer’s zeal seemed to be the classic: “I dont know that much about the team/player, so I’m going to take what I just saw and extrapolate it into a generalization.”[/quote]
I love this so much I wish I could Like it twice.
With MAAR, I think he now understands that stopping the drive is tough for him and that it’s easier for him to deny his man the ball. Well, easier is not the right word, as denying can be hard as hell. He’s found that the more effective defensive plan for him is to deny his man the ball as much as possible, and I’m loving the results.
I don’t think i’ve ever seen a guy, after having played 130 games, miss so much of the rim so often.
Agree you can’t bench him, and he does pass well/plays stout D. Just need to limit the damage/dependency on his shot mechanics which I think has gone well as the offense transitions to Walton.
If he does happen to wake up as a sound/smart sidekick, it raises our ceiling quite a bit.
I think Irvin has progressed to the point where he knows that he doesn’t have to be the one to carry the team all the time. He has done a good job of playing hard and trying to help the team in other areas and it is working. He deserves credit for that.
Opponents will begin game planning against our other options, especially in crucial moments, and Irvin will be needed to step in and fill the void. I think his scoring will win us some more games before the season ends.
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I keep coming back to the same thing; when was the last time we say Zak come around a screen on a curl cut and rise up for the mid range jumper that is in his sweet spot? Is he being defended differently not allowing that to happen?
Most of his mid-range jumpers this year have been off the high ball screen, not catching off of a curl. He made that shot early, not so much now.
Yeah that elbow jumper was pure for a while there…team’s probably started to guard it better, but he just hasn’t look as comfortable in those spots either.
Either way, I’ve never seen Zak be the type of guy that comes off curls (a la Rip Hamilton). He’s normally created his own mid-range game.
I wish Duncan would move like Rip, if he did it would be a huge bonus for him and the team.
Working on an article about all of this for tomorrow so check back…
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Beilein also said in a press conference that Max Beilfeldt was unstoppable.
Here’s video from the post from the IU game:
0:10 Good shot
0:18 Walton was WIDE OPEN in the corner if Irvin goes “one more”. Instead Irvin takes a contested 3 and leaves it shot… bad shot.
0:37 I won’t consider this a bad shot because he had good separation. He just missed it badly.
0:45 Contested 3 with 26 seconds left in the possession and no other player getting a touch… bad shot.
0:58 Would have liked to see a better shot there and if it’s going to be a shot like that it has to be closer to the buzzer.
1:12 I’m okay with this shot even if it was way early in the shot clock (27 seconds). I’d even consider it a “good shot” if Irvin was a good 3pt shooter. He isn’t, though.
1:28 The offense was ran. The shot was just missed.
1:37 Terrible shot at the juncture.
If you think that Irvin’s last shot was the only questionable one, then I’m going to question your objectivity here. All others shots aside, he should have swung it to Walton in the corner at :18. No question about it. Irvin is a bad 3pt shooter and Walton is an elite catch and shoot shooter.
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Nice write up Dylan. I actually found it pretty comforting. I mean, it’s a little tough when there’s no easy fix or you can’t point to him taking worse shots. But it’s good to see that he’s still taking the shots he should be. This is complete guesswork, but I think that players with unorthodox shots like Zak tend to be prone to more or longer swings – a little bit harder to fall back on mechanics. If he keeps doing all the other things, he seems pretty likely to revert back to at least semi-efficiency, which with the way the offense is clicking otherwise should be just fine. Maybe it’ll all work out because I do like the offense best in Walton’s hands and then spread around more evenly.
I think most all of these shots would be excusable if Irvin was a good shooter. Heck, I’m okay with Duncan Robinson taking a shot any time he feels open. Irvin, on the other hand, is a pretty bad shooter. He’s at 30.5% over the past two seasons. If any other play at 30.5% was taking contested 3s with full shot clocks left, we’d be chastising them. Irvin is getting a pass because of his name and the fact he was once a good shooter.
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His form was funky freshman year but it at least had good rotation and went in at a good rate. Since he changed to the still bizarre form that he has now he’s, like you said, a 30% shooter. I completely agree that bad shooters shouldn’t be taking shots unless they’re legitimately open. I’m more open to his mid range shots since he’s shown the ability to hit those this year, but when they’re of the hero ball variety it’s just laughable.
If Irvin is going to shoot a couple of pull-up mid-range shots in shot clock, a few transition/unsettled threes and one ball screen three per game I think I would live with that. Obviously his percentages are down right now (he’s made 4 of his last 31 shots for goodness’ sake), but if he’s not going to shoot those shots then why is he on the floor?
I dunno man. The one at 0:45 he comes off the screen and is wide open before the shorter IU player makes a late, short contest. The one at 0:18 it would have been better to pass it to Derrick but that’s a pretty open look off a catch. The one at the buzzer at halftime is maybe a second or two too early and in his sweet spot. And these are clips of the shots, not the ones he passed up. And from a game where he had 3 assists and 0 TOs. Maybe not perfect, but pretty decent decision-making on the whole. And he was making these shots as recently as the nonconference. Just has to knock down a couple more of them.
To hopefully kick it to the better and open shooter in the corner?
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