I’m a fan of Eli Brooks and I’m glad we have him and I value the argument that says even if he’s not hitting 3s, his defense is excellent. Having said that, I don’t know that it’s reasonable to say he’s in a slump. As a 3-point shooter he’s shot less than 30% from 3 for most of his career – his first two years of college and 6 of 16 games this year. It’s probably easier to argue that he’s regressing to a mean after a hot start. I hope that’s not true, certainly.
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Exactly. It is guy 7 or 8, not a starter.
It seems like the fairest statement here would be something like this:
There is no way, for this roster, that Eli can be counted on for any less than, say 25 minutes a game - we don’t have anyone good enough to make him numbers drop lower. He has strengths (defense) and weaknesses (putting the ball in the basket), and when we are missing Livers the team needs more from Eli than just good defense to succeed - because our options to put points on the board start to dwindle significantly. Moreover, if we’re going to be a nationally relevant team, he needs to play like Bahamas Eli.
That’s not to insult him, or diminish the positives he brings. Simply, this roster needs him to be, on average, a double-digit scorer in addition to everything else he does.
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This is a Brooks thread, but I would be interested in someone from the press asking Juwan how Cole is progressing/adjusting.
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I think most would be happy if he took Nunez’s minutes.
That being dependent on those minutes not going to DDJ, which they should be.
Eli’s confidence has to be a big concern now. Really need him to see the ball go through the hoop against Iowa. We all know his confidence issue in the past, so another poor shooting game would be concerning. I don’t want to see him go back to pump faking ghosts again.
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I’d be worried about Eli’s confidence if he was passing up wide open looks like he did last year. He’s not making shots right now, but he’s also not hesitating to rise up and shoot when he’s got a good look.
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Look, Brooks is probably going to struggle as long as Livers is out. yesterday he did get several good looks but the few games before teams have focused on him more because the options on the floor are limited as long as Livers is out. The best line up to combat this is the three guard line up with DDJ and so far that has been situational.
Yea hope that changes. Ddj needs burn.
That’s a good point. It was nice to see his lack of hesitation on good looks–still appears confident shooting the ball. It almost paid off yesterday.
Mgl I think hits the nail on the head here too. You might want him to be a rotational guy, but this team needs his minutes, even with Livers. Livers being out certainly has led to more defensive attention and Eli is struggling under that pressure. We definitely need more in this stretch from him on offense until Livers returns.
DDJ needs all of a Nunez’ minutes and a few of Eli’s. That seems equally obvious to me too.
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I should have phrased my statement a bit differently. My concern with his confidence is if he has another 1/7 shooting type night against Iowa. Don’t want him to get shook if the slump keeps going.
That would be nice to hear. One thing I miss about JB is the occasional statement about how Player X is giving everyone fits in practice (even if it maybe wasn’t always true).
Cole must be pretty clueless in a phase of the game, as he’s clearly more physically gifted than Nunez.
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I bet Bajema is progressing well. I don’t see how you can effectively play Bajema and Wagner together this season. Wagner gets pushed around and singled out on defense; I think it would be worse for Bajema. Offensively they both show great promise. Next year my man. Next year
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Howard has talked about Cole when asked and that’s been fairly often. His answer has basically been that freshman progress at different paces.
Here’s what he said last week:
“I’ve seen some improvement, he’s getting better. He’s been working hard. He’s in the gym now getting up shots and practice hasn’t started yet. He continues to work hard in practice – which I know he will – his teammates have been great as far as helping him learn the system. His teammates have also been great in helping him overall build his confidence, be very encouraging. His teammates have been great leaders to the freshmen. Cole has bought in and he’s been extremely patient. He’s a super competitive guy. Yes, he wants to play like all our guys do. All 15 want to play. He’s gonna keep improving. I trust he will.
“You’re speaking to a guy who was a freshman back in the day. I know typically – freshmen don’t play – I played right away. Jalen played right away, Chris played right away. That was because I guess Coach trusted and felt like we were ready to go. You definitely have to earn your playing time in practice.”
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This only makes sense if Nunez isn’t playing. You can play Nunez and Wagner together but not Bajema and Wagner? Nunez isn’t getting pushed around but he’s getting completely lost. I’d rather get pushed around than be lost or slow on defense. Especially if you can offer me more offensively. The real fix is just to play DDJ those extra minutes though.
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Agreed , I’m a staunch Eli supporter too although he’s making me a bit nervous. I like Juwan but I definitely think he needs to improve on same minutes distribution/ In game adjustments.
Rookie head coach so that should be expected but I hope it happens soon. Still think a high ceiling is possible. Was hoping this would be more ironed out by now. Seems like a lot of guys are still adjusting , trying to find their way/roles.
I think the best case scenario for this team is something like this:
Teske 30 Johns 10
Livers 32 Johns 8
Wagner 32 Bajema 8
DeJulius 22 Brooks 18
Simpson 34 DeJulius 6
and one of Castleton or Davis getting spot minutes as a backup 5 (which might just cover Bajema’s minutes) and if Brooks or Bajema is hot or a matchup dictates it they can take the other guy’s minutes. Shame Wilson didn’t commit, he probably wouldn’t have gotten injured here and if could give us 20 minutes on the wing we could just have Brooks getting 10-15 as 3rd guard which would be a good fit.
I don’t really see how you can put Bajema in a best case scenario when he hasn’t been able to get on the floor. Basically the epitome of backup QB syndrome – what I can’t see must be better.
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Perhaps the baseline of “best-case” is implied as “not Nunez.”
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I don’t agree with you assessment of Brooks.
My guess is that you are part of the group that has found fault in everything he has done. There have been real experts that have praised Brooks’ shot, but I’m sure you trump all of them.
It seems really easy for you to dismiss all the good things he does for missing shots.
I think you would be better suited encouraging the players that play for the team you rout for. Bad look when you think a forum board is the place where you can really change the hearts and minds of others by trashing young players that aren’t paid to play…
Like DeJulius that seems to be obvious, but you don’t make him look better by trying to bring down Brooks…
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