For a a guy who is really a three who was playing the four I thought Glen Robinson did fairly well on the boards and d. Just my opinion I guess but his skills were very useful I thought. Either way it doesn't matter.
Donnall I just don’t see it. He just isn’t very good or tough. He seems to have a good face up jumper when there is no pressure on. He just looks in over his head whenever hes out there. I see chatman has some skills but is having a hard time utilizing them. He looks like for a tall guy he can dribble and pass a bit but thats all I have seen and he hasn’t done much with those skills.
GR3 had an 11.5% Defensive rebounding rate and a 6.0% Offensive rebounding rate his Sophomore year. For comparison, Zak Irvin has an 11.1% DRR and a 4.3% ORR this year. In other words, no, GR3 was not a good rebounder.
GR3 battled on the glass at the 4 though for a kid that’s not even 6ft 6. No stat shows that GR3 had to at least be accounted for on both ends of the floor when rebounding.
GR3 battled on the glass at the 4 though for a kid that's not even 6ft 6. No stat shows that GR3 had to at least be accounted for on both ends of the floor when rebounding.
Totally disagree with this. Novak is what you categorize as battling. Novak got every ounce he possibly could given his size, skill, and athletic limitations. GR3 on the other hand, barely scratched the surface and its sad in many ways.
You’re saying he was UNDER 6’6"??? He was measured at 6’7" at NBA workouts… Rebounding rate tells almost all of the story. If he truly hustled as much as you imply, he would’ve had a much higher one. I know some people are against efficiency stats for whatever reason but come on man…
You’re right, he is just under 6ft 7 not under 6ft 6. That’s my mistake. I remembered the combine wrong. I still think you and Matt are being a little too hard on GR3. The kid battled.
MattD, I’m not comparing Gr3 to Novak. That would be dumb. Novak is the extreme example of someone giving it everything he has when it comes to rebounding. With that being said, I’m taking GR3 over Novak 10 times out of 10 if I’m a coach and I need to put a line up out there where I need the rebound. You would too and quite frankly, that’s all that matters.
I don’t need to look at efficiency stats for that.
I would take Novak in a rebounding scenario over GR3 6 days a week and twice on Sunday and I think 99% of UM fans would agree. He did his work prior to leaving his feet - boxing out. A concept GR3 never could grasp despite his athletic abilities.
I’m not going to lie I had never seen those stats before, but I found them after looking into it as well. I still remember the kid going in there and battling on d, and for rebounds though among bigger guy . I don’t see that same intensity out of irving but apparently the stats are proving me wrong I guess.
I would take Novak in a rebounding scenario over GR3 6 days a week and twice on Sunday and I think 99% of UM fans would agree. He did his work prior to leaving his feet - boxing out. A concept GR3 never could grasp despite his athletic abilities.
Can't teach heart
Now this I will agree with matt d. All his boards were off shear leaping ability and jumping amongst the trees and coming down with it. He did play pretty good d in my opinion though. I do know he should not have left school and coming back was in his best interest and our team would be pretty good with his skills and abilities. It was his shot to show he could be the man and be assertive.
I gotta give irving some props after I bashed him. That was one of his better games in my opinion. Liked how he went to the rack and early on he came up with a few steals/hustle plays. we still got murdered on the glass though.
I gotta give irving some props after I bashed him. That was one of his better games in my opinion. Liked how he went to the rack and early on he came up with a few steals/hustle plays. we still got murdered on the glass though.
Irvin is never going to be a guy that blows past people in isolation situations because he simply lacks the ballhandling, lateral agility and footwork, but he did show some improved ability to get a clean look against a set defender (as opposed to a close out). He used the step back at least twice from what I can recall, a behind the back, change of direction dribble as well. All of this was good to see
Irvin is never going to be a guy that blows past people in isolation situations because he simply lacks the ballhandling, lateral agility and footwork, but he did show some improved ability to get a clean look against a set defender (as opposed to a close out). He used the step back at least twice from what I can recall, a behind the back, change of direction dribble as well. All of this was good to see
That step back can become lethal for a 6ft 7in shooter like Irvin. The good news is, developing it is pretty simple, you can rep that move to death daily. It’s the great equailzing move when you lack the attributes you described. I anticipate Irvin spending a lot of time in the off season working on his lower body, specifically lifts/plyometrics designed for the step back.
I don’t expect a Trey Burke jump in the explosion from one year to the next with the step back, but anything close to the progress Trey made with the move will do wonders for Irvin.
Irvin is never going to be a guy that blows past people in isolation situations because he simply lacks the ballhandling, lateral agility and footwork, but he did show some improved ability to get a clean look against a set defender (as opposed to a close out). He used the step back at least twice from what I can recall, a behind the back, change of direction dribble as well. All of this was good to see
That step back can become lethal for a 6ft 7in shooter like Irvin. The good news is, developing it is pretty simple, you can rep that move to death daily. It’s the great equailzing move when you lack the attributes you described. I anticipate Irvin spending a lot of time in the off season working on his lower body, specifically lifts/plyometrics designed for the step back.
I don’t expect a Trey Burke jump in the explosion from one year to the next with the step back, but anything close to the progress Trey made with the move will do wonders for Irvin.
Although Irvin is 6’7, it is mitigated by the fact that he has a low release, in addition to a slow release due to his swing shot (he swings the ball to the left prior to raising his arms vertically). Step back is something he needs to really get proficient at
irvin seems to need to always jump off two feet from a jump stop going to the rim too. anyone ever notice that? any time he jumps off one foot he seems to get no lift or miss badly.
irvin seems to need to always jump off two feet from a jump stop going to the rim too. anyone ever notice that? any time he jumps off one foot he seems to get no lift or miss badly.
Irvin is the furthest thing from explosive. He needs to gather himself in order to get off the ground which is fine on fast break dunks but not much else.
If he has aspirations of making it at the next level, he should set up a tent in the weight room this off season and call it home.
In a nutshell jumping off 2 legs mitigates the ability to effectively finish because the 1/2 second that it takes to gather oneself and and plant the right foot to elevate simultaneously with the left foot (assuming a right handed player attempting to finish with the right hand) allows the defender to gain ground and potentially deter the shot. Zak is simply not quick enough to concede that 1/2 second. He doesn’t get enough separation off the dribble to do that. There are also drawbacks to jumping off one leg as well though - less balance and body control in addition to increasing the potential for injury
Beilein has mentioned that they want Zak to go off two feet so he can go stronger to the rim. There was play against IU that, to me, showed one difference between Zak and Nik. Zak had an open lane to the hoop coming down the left baseline. Instead of finishing with his left hand, he moved the ball to his right hand, which enabled Williams to get a hand on the shot. Nik would have used his left hand, but most likely would have dunked it.
Coming from the exact same position (meaning elevating off left leg), I highly doubt Nik would’ve dunked with the left hand. Dunking with the left hand while jumping off the left leg is nearly impossible…for any athlete. Difference is that Nik was agressive going to the rack as a sophmore and was looking to dunk, whereas Zak looks to lay it up…which is weird because he was dunking everything early in the season. Hasn’t been the same since he was rejected at the rim at the buzzer vs Nova attempting that soft layup