Have no idea what the dynamics are right now regarding Kam. But he HAS to be incredibly confused regarding PT. When a walk on plays before you ( Lonegren ) in the second half, and you subsequently don't play a second in that half, you've got to be disillusioned. Can't say I disagree with the decision, but man that's gotta sting.
Quite frankly, if injuries weren’t what they are, Kam has no business being in the floor.
Wow. Great win by the team. Very proud of them!
Anyone still disagree with me about Kam? He was out played by our walk ons and could not even swing the ball around the perimeter without a horrible turnover. I’m frankly shocked at his total lack of ability and confidence.
Chatman hasn’t done anything to deserve playing time. He’s frankly playing at a level you would expect from a walk-on. Not writing him off a player. He’s still very young but he’s been pretty disastrous so far. Hopefully, he makes a serious jump but I’m not exactly sure what his skillset is that’s going to help him excel at this level.
Could be a complete guess, but could Kam’s knee injury be more significant than everyone thinks? Could that be way he isn’t see a ton of time? I don’t know but swelling in the knee isn’t always good, especially for a 18/19 year old.
On another note, I think Donnal is getting more aggressive on the boards. Still isn’t close to what people want from a 5 but it’s better than it has been. Definitely a step in the right direction for his development.
Dawkins continues to impress me the most so far out of everyone, but I think a large chunk of us here expected him to be solid early on. MAAR has surprised me lately though. Despite some ugly turnovers, he seems to be the only one willing to drive to the basket with some force.I don’t think it’s necessarily that Dawkins has been that Impressive, as opposed to being placed in a role where he can succeed, Dawkins simply has to catch and shoot, something that he’s comfortable doing, and something that doesn’t involve much opportunity for him to make errors. Aubrey is pretty much the same player as Irvin last year. If you expand his role, much like Zak, I think you would find Aubrey is very one dimensional.
MAAR, on the other hand, is tasked with much more decision making and creation, hence much higher risk for error.
One thing that I like about Dawkins that differs him from just an Irvin role, and I noticed this especially today, although it only actually paid off once, is that he really tries to use his excellent athleticism to go after offensive boards for easy putbacks. Had it not been for some bizarre bounces, he could have easily had 3-5 easy put back layups or dunks. I never saw GR3 put much effort into the offensive glass. Also with Dawkins, I didn’t say that he was that impressive, just that he’s impressed me the most. Doyle needs to get better with defensive rebounding IMO for him to be first. Obviously I agree with you that Kam shouldn’t be on the floor if there aren’t injuries. Against Rutgers he looked even more lost than usual, and he cost us a few possessions in the 1st half.
Also, while I think Donnal is a lost cause offensively for THIS season, I thought he showed improved physicality on the glass against Rutgers. Not good, but still better than the previous Big Ten games.
Dawkins continues to impress me the most so far out of everyone, but I think a large chunk of us here expected him to be solid early on. MAAR has surprised me lately though. Despite some ugly turnovers, he seems to be the only one willing to drive to the basket with some force.I don’t think it’s necessarily that Dawkins has been that Impressive, as opposed to being placed in a role where he can succeed, Dawkins simply has to catch and shoot, something that he’s comfortable doing, and something that doesn’t involve much opportunity for him to make errors. Aubrey is pretty much the same player as Irvin last year. If you expand his role, much like Zak, I think you would find Aubrey is very one dimensional.
MAAR, on the other hand, is tasked with much more decision making and creation, hence much higher risk for error.
One thing that I like about Dawkins that differs him from just an Irvin role, and I noticed this especially today, although it only actually paid off once, is that he really tries to use his excellent athleticism to go after offensive boards for easy putbacks. Had it not been for some bizarre bounces, he could have easily had 3-5 easy put back layups or dunks. I never saw GR3 put much effort into the offensive glass. Also with Dawkins, I didn’t say that he was that impressive, just that he’s impressed me the most. Doyle needs to get better with defensive rebounding IMO for him to be first. Obviously I agree with you that Kam shouldn’t be on the floor if there aren’t injuries. Against Rutgers he looked even more lost than usual, and he cost us a few times in the 1st half.
Totally agree with the activity on the glass for Aubrey. GR3 was a decent offensive rebounder his freshman year but lost interest as a sophomore. Doyle simply refuses to box out on D.
Man, now that I think about it, I mean seriously, how hard can it be to teach guys how to box out?
Totally agree Matt, I don’t know what is keeping them from doing something so basic more than halfway through the season.
Good thing Walton is one heck of a rebounder for a 6’0 PG. That might be his best asset.
Walton remarkably has the 2nd highest defensive rebounding rate on the team, at 16.8, behind none other than Kam Chatman…
Another interesting note is that Levert was actually in the top 200 of all NCAA players in steal rate. Even though his on and off ball defense might not be great, someone who can get steals is always of some value on defense… too bad we’re also losing that.
Another interesting note is that Levert was actually in the top 200 of all NCAA players in steal rate. Even though his on and off ball defense might not be great, someone who can get steals is always of some value on defense... too bad we're also losing that.
Levert is good at jumping passing lanes. Rather average in his on ball D, and below average off ball D (still gets lost on screens).
Yeah, I think it’s safe to say defense isn’t my forte when it comes to analyzing people, so I usually try and stay away from it. But the points you bring up are also reasons why I hate when announcers show steals per game and then base a player’s defense on it. Speaking of bad announcers, was it just me or was the color commentator for the Rutgers game absolutely terrible?
Good thing Walton is one heck of a rebounder for a 6'0 PG. That might be his best asset.
I love that Walton is probably the best rebounding PG in college. On the other hand, what does it say for your team when your turf toe riddled PG is your toughest player?
Could be a complete guess, but could Kam's knee injury be more significant than everyone thinks? Could that be way he isn't see a ton of time? I don't know but swelling in the knee isn't always good, especially for a 18/19 year old.On another note, I think Donnal is getting more aggressive on the boards. Still isn’t close to what people want from a 5 but it’s better than it has been. Definitely a step in the right direction for his development.
I think this is a reasonable assumption regarding Kam. JB acknowledged the injury concern after the game. Although he has done NOTHING to deserve PT up to now, it seems improbable that a 4-5 star recruit will not eventually show some sevicable ability.
Kam has a long way to go. He needs to spend this summer in Ann Arbor. He needs to lift hard and develop the mentality he’s stronger than the person guarding him, even if he isn’t.
He simply plays weaker than he really is and I think it’s all in his head.
Could be a complete guess, but could Kam's knee injury be more significant than everyone thinks? Could that be way he isn't see a ton of time? I don't know but swelling in the knee isn't always good, especially for a 18/19 year old.On another note, I think Donnal is getting more aggressive on the boards. Still isn’t close to what people want from a 5 but it’s better than it has been. Definitely a step in the right direction for his development.
I hope you are right, because if his poor play is not injury related then, yikes.
Add MAAR into the list of impressive Freshmen. He’s come quite a long way from the beginning of the season. On the other hand, Doyle has regressed a lot in my opinion, and I feel like if he could catch the damn ball he’d have twice as many offensive rebounds. He looks really awkward posting up too, and although it worked early in the conference schedule, it’s been pretty dismal since.
Add MAAR into the list of impressive Freshmen. He's come quite a long way from the beginning of the season. On the other hand, Doyle has regressed a lot in my opinion, and I feel like if he could catch the damn ball he'd have twice as many offensive rebounds. He looks really awkward posting up too, and although it worked early in the conference schedule, it's been pretty dismal since.
Quite frankly, his offensive issues are minute relative to his problems on D. At times, I actually have to wonder if he is capable of moving his feet in the paint. Ricky looks like a statue on D, he really struggles to move his feet. It’s really tough watching him get abused on D over and over. It’s not like he doesn’t have the size/strength to make it tougher.
Yeah, I agree. Way too many times against Kaminsky he would go flying up for a block on a simple up and under, leading to a WIDE open layup.