Overall I have been impressed with the progress both Wilson and Wagner have made. always room for improvement. the concern I have is what is going on with Donnel? the regression with him is crazy…
I think he’s really good when already moving, in particular switching on PnR. However, he’s pretty sub-par when attempting to defend from a stagnant position in isolation.
Also think he’s not a very good post defender, but is pretty good as a weak side shotblocker.
Wagner just has bad reaction time and lack of length…adding mass and maturing mentality should help him be an acceptable defender by his senior year.
Yup, I’m glad he doesn’t waste his wingspan as he has a top 200 block rate in the country. It has helped him get out of bad situations unscathed many times this year. I’ll definitely watch closer in the future to try and see the distinction between when he’s moving and stagnant.
Wagner likes to ‘watch TV’ as they say. He’s a spectator on defense at this point.
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True…pretty common among young guys but especially under JB.
^^^ yuppp. He’s looked very slow when he get’s isolated on the wings. Granted, a lot of 6-10 guys would have a hard time staying in-front of wing-4s. Have to hope he can improve on this.
Leaf made him look childish, but I thought he did pretty well on Hayes and Happ. I guess this is a pretty small-sample question, since he plays so few post-up 4s. Interested to see how much he can slow down Swannigan.
Yeah I’ve said previously I can deal with getting blown past by guards because that’s just tough at 6’9-6’10…guys like Ibaka, Howard, Sefalosha and James Posey are rare guys in the 6’7-6’10 range that can move extremely well laterally.
I think his motor in terms of boxing out and being a physical position defender are where I’d like to see a lot more consistency.
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If Wilson could become a high motor, not just normal but well above average, player he has the physical tools to have a Kevin Jones from WVU type upside. I think the most recent Illinois game shows his offensive rebounding potential if he’s actually going full speed. It’s too bad we’re probably killing any motor he could get by playing him 40 minutes a game.
The goal is to have a Dennis Rodman/Kenneth Faried type motor. That’s never going to happen, but if he can bring half the motor those guys bring he’d be a hell of a player.
Faried? Dude gets benched for not hustling every other game.
Adrean Payne is a close comparison. But I think Wilson is farther along at this point than Payne. Better shooter and a better passer IMO.
This is a good point. Really need X and Duncan to pick it up, so we can redistribute the minutes better. We were talking about Walton’s minutes/motor in the other thread, and playing 30-32, instead of 36-38 should help. He looked so gassed at the end of the Illinois game.
KWe must be talking about a different Kenneth Faried. The Faried I’m speaking of is currently posting a career high 23.9 DReb rate and a 15.5 Oreb rate (2nd best of his career)…basically a career year on the glass for a guy known for motor
Also I’d take Payne over Wilson by a reasonable margin at the same stage. Better offensive player in the post, better defender and rebounder, better shotblocker. I think shooting will end up relatively even
I’m talking about the faried who over the past month has played less than ten minutes in probably ten games due to not hustling.
His coach has stated that publicly as well.
And yet he’s still a great rebounder by the numbers.
Yes he plays in blowouts and gets some boards, I’ll give you that. Just last night he started a game, played 14 minutes with zeros across the board except 2 rebounds. I’ll pass 100% of the time. I definitely wouldn’t take payne at this point but that’s for another day. I knew dj would be good like I said all along but I never thought he’d be this good this fast.
The most blocks Payne averaged for a season was 1.3. Wilson is at or above that in his first real year playing. The most rebounds he averaged a year were 7.6. I’d be shocked if dj wasn’t higher than that next year, IF we don’t run him into the ground.
Payne’s block percentage and rebound percentage as a junior were both higher than Wilson currently. Your eyes are telling you one thing, but the numbers say different. I’m also curious how you knew DJ would be good. I’d love to hear that story.
I’d take Payne all day, every day.
I don’t hate the Payne comparison in terms of potential total impact, but the big thing with Payne was that by his senior year he was a #1 option type offensively. Not sure DJ will ever get there, at least I don’t expect him to.
Also theoretically if we had a decent rebounder playing the 5 spot, DJ’s rebounds might actually go down in the future. Walton is the only + rebounder we have now and Wagner goes halves at a time without pulling one down. For example, if we had Bamba I don’t think DJ grabs 6 a game next year
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I knew 2 years ago he’d be good but Confidence and lack of muscle was something he was lacking. He found it this summer and with his strength, the kid is going to be a force for us for a few years. He’s 15-8 consistently next year and I think that’s where to start with him. He’s JUST figuring out how to use his strength and get to the right spots.
No one can KNOW what a player will be become but that’s why they call it projections.