MAAR was never the emphasis of opposing defenses or the primary option. Think about who PU put Raphael Davis on, wasn’t MAAR. Consider who got the ball late and who didn’t. Generally, teams were guarding Zak, Duncan, and Walton out to 25 feet, basically content to give MAAR space. But MAAR was the one guy who would just go and go quick, whether in transition of half court – loved that about him.
Similar on defense – Dakich kept noting in the IU game that IU would try to get a switch where anybody but Walton, usually MAAR, would guard Yogi. MAAR did make some really good hustle plays, and was probably our most consistently tenacious defender. Wasn’t the best though.
When people argue that MAAR “was” the guy, what they’re really saying is that they think he “should’ve been” they guy. That’s more debatable. My problem with that is that MAAR didn’t create much for others, and he wasn’t THAT good at creating for himself. At times, he was the best option when the offense bogged down. But he wasn’t as good an option as having the offense working well, and running it through him made that less likely.
Well, that’s basically the point. For large stretches during conference play the offense didn’t run well, and MAAR is the ONLY player on the roster that can scrap the playbook and just go get a bucket. For me, that’s the type of guy I want as my primary option. Your primary option should not be a ‘system’ guy IMO. I want an ‘open gym’ guy with the ball in his hands because he can make things happen with, or without a playcall.
Didn’t Purdue adjust and stick Davis on MAAR in the last two meetings?
And we are not debating who the guy was this past season. We are debating who our best player was/is. No one is arguing that JB didn’t go to Zak or Walton in an attempt to let them be them be the go-to’s. For the most part, that failed.
The best basketball player on our roster at the end of the year was MAAR. Heading into next year our best player will be MAAR unless Zak and Walton heal and get their bounce back.
MAAR under no circumstance expended as much energy during games than both Zak and Walton when you look at what they were asked to do game in and game out. If you guys don’t think it affected their games especially late in game and late in the season then we will have to disagree. I agree completely with what UMhoopsFan’s take on this subject.
The shorter shot clock makes it even more important to have the ball in the hands of the player that is best at making something out of nothing. My feeling is that MAAR hasn’t been groomed to run the offense, yet. IF the coaching staff goes all-in with MAAR-- look out.
I think there is a big difference between being a “5-8 mpg” player and an “instant impact” player. 2014/2015 Dakich was a 5-6 mpg player in conference play. Freshman Albrecht was a 7-8 mpg player in conference play.
I’d say 8mpg in conference play will be a floor for Simpson with a ceiling of more if Beilein wants to run a 2 PG set while MAAR is out.
X getting 5-8 per game vs 10-15 depends on if we bring a grad transfer and where we bring a grad transfer in. If we bring in a Mullins who can play the 1 and 2, he’ll cut into X’s minutes. If we bring in a taller wing, I don’t see X’s minutes getting affected too much.
As the roster stands right now, I definitely see him getting 10mpg. He’ll back up Walton and MAAR right now.
I don’t know if I agree with that. Burke often got the ball for a potential game-winner, but he actually missed a lot of those shots. Examples would be his freshman year against Arkansas, and his sophomore year against Ohio State and Indiana. Kansas was the exception, albeit that one exception really makes up for all the other games combined and then some. I’d actually argue our offense bogged down quite a bit in situations where Trey essentially went one-on-one looking for a shot deep in the shot clock (again, with the Kansas game being a huge exception, as he was just on fire that game).
I’d also argue our 2014 team was more difficult to defend, as any of Nik, Caris, and Glenn were capable of making big shots at key moments, and they usually got those shots with the team running the offense, as opposed to just putting the ball in someone’s hands and stepping aside.
But plainly, in order for our offense to work, we still need guys capable of beating their man off the dribble, and MAAR is the best on the team at doing that.
We both know Dakich played those mins out of necessity rather than design, but I do concede that it could very well happen with X because we only have 2 players capable of handling the ball.
I think you are probably right. I am not arguing what will happen just arguing what should happen. I would throw resources at developing MAAR in the same way they have Walton and Irvin.
Well yeah of course, but I think X will be played out of necessity to. I think our best lineup when MAAR needs rest will end up being X and Walton on the court together.
I dont get why people are saying 5-8 min for X cuz he doesnt look like he can stay in long he has played before he wont die out there. He will be a good backup for Walton and MAAR IMO.
The way I remember it, Davis covered Robinson in the first meeting and started on him in the second. MAAR started the PU game pretty well, they shifted Davis over to MAAR and pretty much shut MAAR down. Which is kind of what I’m talking about. Generally teams did not consider MAAR the biggest threat and focused more on other guys, at least until forced to do otherwise. I don’t remember who Davis covered in the B1G tourney game. If they started Davis on MAAR, that might show a change in how Painter viewed the relevant players.
Again, you may think he’s our “best” player, but I don’t think the offense will run through him – though I do think he’ll be a big part of the offense. My guess is we won’t have a situation like 2013, where everything went through Trey. It will be more like 2014, where a lot went through Nik but Caris and GRIII got at least close to a comparable amount of shots. And, like that year, some late shots might go to other players, like GRIII hitting the shot against PU. But Zak will be the “primary” option, especially late, specifically because he gives more options - he can raise up to shoot jumpers – his 2pt jumper % was significantly higher than MAARs – he’s a better passer, though he’s not Nik, and he can take it to the rim, though he was getting packed a lot late in the year. MAAR’s more one-dimensional.
I do agree that one thing that might hold the offense back is that no player will really approach Trey or Nik in offensive prowess. In my view, the player most likely to approximate it is Zak. But I think MAAR will be a good option and will get plenty of shots next year.
Xavier Simpson will get more than 8 minutes a game imo. When Coach Beilein goes on about a guys passing ability, that guy is going to play. Add in X is the only other pg on the roster, and has “dog” in him, and you’ve got your backup pg.
Yeah, 8 minutes per game seems way too low for X. Walton and Muhammad both played way too many minutes this year out of necessity. I’d expect Simpson to eat up a chunk of both of theirs pending any additional changes to the roster.
I don’t put much stock into what JB says publicly because it’s coach speak. According to JB in the preseason, Dawkins was the most improved player on the roster. We all know how that turned out. X could very well play more than 8 minutes a game based on necessity but I don’t think he will have a huge impact this year in terms of production.
Regarding the footage of X vs Jackson et al, his offensive game vs high competition is v encouraging. Small sample size, but on the defensive end it’s hard to see him consistently stopping bigger, more athletic guards.