We need Simpson back bad to have any shot at MSG. That Rutgers D is legitimate and relentless.
Can see them easily strangling our offense without Zavier running the show.
2 Likes
In watching Wagner shoot 3s, I think his form is a bit awkward. He seems to shoot too quickly, and if Iām not mistaken a little too close to his body. Also, his release point seems a little low (big contrast here to Isaiah, who is exceptional at that). So I think some offseason retooling could really benefit Wagner. But I love his growing confidence, and he is showing a lot of skill now in driving to the hoop
Anyway, yesterday I was kinda shocked we were favored by so much in this game, but they pulled it off nicely in the end. Feels good to get a W!
2 Likes
This is what Juwan said about Bajema in early January.
āIāve seen some improvement, heās getting better. Heās been working hard. Heās in the gym now getting up shots and practice hasnāt started yet. He continues to work hard in practice ā which I know he will ā 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 heās been extremely patient. Heās a super competitive guy. Yes, he wants to play like all our guys do. All 15 want to play. Heās gonna keep improving. I trust he will.
āYouāre speaking to a guy who was a freshman back in the day. I know typically ā freshmen donāt play ā 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.ā
My post was about Eli? Are you responding to something else?
The shot will come for Franz, I think. Itās a confidence thing right now and the confidence is leading to some indecision on good shots/bad shots. I did think that he took a few threes that were waaay too deep yesterday though.
Credit to Franz though for making the adjustment in this game and gettting the hoop more instead of settling for threes.
In fact he said after the game that he realized he was taking too many threes. Gee, I wonder who else said that 
1 Like
I think you tend to lean a little harsh in your recent write ups of Franz. I know you see all the āother thingsā that go on in a game besides the box score because your post game recaps are always phenomenal. It seems to me though that most focus on Franz inability to knock down the 3ās right now (no doubt this has swung some games), but he is just so cerebral out there. He is constantly in prime position for rebounding and his numbers lately attest to that, he had multiple steals last night due to great weak side defense and active hands, and he had a couple really nice passes out of the ball screen that were not finished (one to Brooks for a wide open 3) that would have given him a few more assists. Of his 6 turnovers, one was dribbled off the opponents foot and incorrectly called out on him and two were at the end when he got mugged. I got less mad at him trying to make things happen and losing the ball by driving than Johns traveling in double teams multiple times down low. I am a bit of a Franz stan as you can see, but I have been excited by what Iāve seen from the freshman.
6 Likes
Yeah, I didnāt mean to say that there wasnāt a lot to be excited about. Thatās what makes analyzing him so tough. He makes a lot of great plays, he makes a lot of bad plays where you can tell he was thinking the right thing (that weird half pass out of bounds to Eli in transition) and he makes a lot of mistakes that are clearly correctable.
Heās an exciting prospect because of some of those mistakes and because once his shot starts falling he can be really, really good.
10 Likes
Thanks for sharing the quote Dylan and I think it adds some valuable insight into how Juwan is seeing Bajema. I just know some guys are better in game than in practice and at this point he CANāT be worse than Nunez, who in my opinion might be the worst scholarship player we have had in a long time. I donāt like bashing these kids because I am sure this game means more to him than any of us, but he provides no value on the court. His 3s are ugly and his defense worse. I liked what I saw from Bajema in junk time and wish Howard would give him a little run in these situations.
1 Like
Yeah, I loved Bajemaās game in HS and like his potential. It is just impossible to say from this position that āhe must be outperforming Nunez in practiceā because we canāt see practice and Juwan says that he needs to play better in practice to play.
2 Likes
I wouldnāt be surprised if Nunez lights the nets on fire in practice. He has a nice looking stroke, but it just doesnāt translate to games. At some point, you need to show it in a game setting though or else coaches should give someone else a shot. Unfortunately, based on last night the next player to get a shot seems to be CJ Baird and not Bajema. Maybe Bajema is just a gamer. He has hit threes, pull up jumpers and all around shown some game in limited action. I know itās in meaningless scrub time, but you can see the skill set. I just canāt fathom how bad he must be in practice to not even be considered for playing time in a game like last night.
2 Likes
Maybe Juwan sees him as a five-year program guy?
So am I the only one who thinks that Franz will go pro after this year?
Uhh yeah. Heās the exact type of player that should return. He wouldnāt get drafted, still young, and has breakout potential
2 Likes
Juwanās going to see him scoring points for Purdue or Iowa. Plenty of teams will be happy to add a 6ā7" 4-star guard who can dribble and shoot at such a high level. Slotting him behind Nunez and Baird makes me wonder if Howard would play Bajema if he only had 4 others players available. Might just go 4 on 5 instead.
2 Likes
With absolutely no evidence, I expect him to go back to Europe next year.
Speaking of Baird getting notable minutesā¦ check out the tenth-most frequent lineup over last 5 games. Consider grabbing him in your college fantasy leagues!
1 Like
Jokes aside I was surprised to see Baird, but even more surprised to see that lineup not changed for so long in the 1st. Good for him though
I donāt think anyone would deny Bajema has more skill than Baird. but considering it was on the road in a must win situation, do we think Bajema goes in there and doesnāt make any mistakes in the way Baird did?
Most likely Bajema is making a lot of those mistakes in practice
I think deciding as a 19 year old sophomore that he doesnāt particularly want to play in the NBA (which would essentially be the result of such a decision) is unlikely.
2 Likes
If heās not at his childhood dream school, I canāt see him sticking around in the Midwest. He might end up looking good in that Washington zone someday, though.
2 Likes