You are 100% correct and that can’t be argued. The kid has transformed his game a ton. Plus, he had a big time injury and was stuck guarding power forwards last year. He’s done a bunch for this program.
4 Likes
A full analysis would include options at the wing in 2018. It’s not just Duncan vs Greg. That said, Duncan isn’t going anywhere and it’s not a mistake, it’s just a matter of ethics and values.
Huh? The program has taken a noticeable decline since he became a primary option. Obviously that doesn’t fall 100% on Zak, but his defensive shortcomings and inability to finish or be a consistent shooter are certainly a big reason for that decline
I value winning, but that’s just me.
I think injuries have a far more impact on this team than Irvin, who had a big time injury coming off the best basketball of his life. You know of all the injuries, I don’t need to tell you this
Or other factors as well, Chatman, Dawkins, Walton, Doyle, MAAR not improving even a tiny bit. He’s the ONE that has done the most and there’s no debating that IMO.
No reason to bring Zak or anyone else to prove previous well established (and respected) narratives.
The premise that started this all was: What if Bamba miraculously signs…then there is no 'ship for Elliott unless Duncan is shown the door or somebody else leaves the program. So the question, if Bamba signs, is whether Duncan makes a big enough difference to our 2017 ceiling that we stop pursing Greg, which obviously fills a need that would be felt in 2018 and beyond?
I don’t think the injuries played a large role on our win-loss record. We were getting ran out of the gym with Caris so for me that’s almost irrelevant. The bottom line is that we’ve been a terrible defensive team for the past 4 years, with each year worse than the previous, to the point where we’ve reached total incompetence this year. Caris Levert wasn’t fixing that, and Zak Irvin damn sure wasn’t fixing that.
Again, there are better options is '18 with guys that have higher ceilings IMO. We need a guy off the bench that we can rely on and can play 25 minutes if need be. Taking Greg over Duncan is just not smart.
You won’t be winning for long if you shaft your players. What comes around goes around. Beilein’s on the friggin NCAA ethics committee for chrissake.
1 Like
Our shitty defense isn’t all on Irvin. The point was, Irvin is MUCH more than a spot up shooter. That can not be debated.
1 Like
Wow thread really blew up. If we didn’t have Brooks and Poole I’d be all in on Elliot but I feel like Brooks is in his spot. Imo wing next year is low on needs. I see a lot of u disagree but to me
Maar Poole Brooks
Mathews Duncan some Wilson
Is the strength of our roster. I don’t see another wing Being necessary, I’m way more concerned with the pg situation, I think pg and x not being ready and the possibly of Brooks as his back up is far and away the biggest hole and question mark for me. If we don’t sign bamba you gotta go hard after a grad pg or a grad sg who has handle enough to be a combo and be the back up,
I’m not giving up on x as he’s clearly a fighter and works hard but from what I see he’s two years out from being a good starting level pg. I’d feel much more comfortable with a grad trAnsfer pg coming in and starting/ leading this offense and x being the second unit pg playing 15-20 minutes a game. Idk that seems way more crucial than a wing. It could really kill our team of x is playing 30 a game and he looks anything like this. Maybe he really settles into his own and is ready but if I had to bet id say he’s not big ten level good pg next year.
I have a ton of faith in Maar and Mathews next year with Poole and Duncan coming in off the bench. I forgot about Ibi too before. Then Wilson playing some spot three, honestly you might have to pair Poole and Mathews and then Maar with Duncan. That would make more logistical sense. I am predicting big years for Maar and Mathews. Once Maar is out of the shelter and know he’s a main cov I think you will see him rebound big like late last year. I’m also betting Mathews is instant impact.
See my post way above - i am in agreement with you.
1 Like
I fall in the middle of this discussion.
I think the team is not very good because Walton, Chatman and Irvin are the guys we were counting on to be able to create space, draw additional defenders, and find open shooters, and they can’t do it.
A guy like Duncan could easily average 12-14 a game and shoot 45% from three playing with a Trey or Nik.
But I do agree that right now, we need those multi-faceted wings far more than we need catch and shoot guys. In fact, I think we would be hard pressed to find two better catch and shoot guys next year than Duncan and JP. The question is whether we have anyone capable of setting them up for open looks.
I’m on record that I would absolutely add Elliott if we don’t get Bamba.
2 Likes
And, I’d add, one thing really hurting the team is that a good 2-3 times a game, we’ll rotate the ball nicely until it winds up in the hands of a wide open MAAR, who almost always misses the three. His lack of shooting is really hurting us.
That may be his only form of employment if his primary job performance doesn’t improve.
Also, are you kidding me? Coaches give players the boot all the time and continue winning.
He was Chairman of the ethics committee a few years ago but gave that up. They had little power.
Irvin is adept at running the pick and roll, and he’s good at hitting his jumper off the high screen and roll. He’s also been crafty lately taking the ball to the hole, which is remarkable because he gets no elevation at the rim.
His problem is twofold: (1) he tries to dribble into traffic too often, and often fails to see defenders coming at him to steal the ball; and (2) he can’t figure out the difference between a contested and an uncontested shot, and takes way too many of the former.
Essentially, he’s Willie Mitchell with a green light to shoot and better dribbling skills.
A transfer coming in to lead is almost impossible. Simpson will be fine next year. We need him to run the offense and play better defense than Walton, and he already does that. He doesn’t need to score 12-15 ppg because we will have a much deeper team next year than we do now. Wilson and Wagner will easily be our best players and Matthews and MAAR( much more Matthews) will be pretty solid contributors. Now if Eli, Poole, Watson, Livers can contribute some then we already have a better chance next year than we do now of being really good. IMO, Wilson and Wagner may be the best 4?% in the league next year and that’s without Bamba. We will be fine next year with more options than we do this year.
He takes bad shots yes, But when he’s the only player on the roster who will actually run a pick n roll and be able to do something with the ball, some bad shots are going to happen. 21 points 7 assists can also happen. He is our best player right now and it sucks for him because Walton can not run pick n roll for whatever reason and that cripples us. If we had even 1 more capable pick n roll guard who could pass and score, our offense would be amazing.