Because he’s a helluva player and kid who is struggling with his confidence right now. He’ll be fine.
or maybe more appropriates as well as we need him to.
That’s a different statement I can get behind. But that’s also a different discussion than the one we’ve been having
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The thing is that people are getting mad at him for their own expectations being too high.
Like… sure, as we’ve said numerous times here it’s been disappointing that he hasn’t been a primary guy. But okay, we’re here now and he might be what he is. Calling him a “not good offensive player” because your expectations were too high when he’s a guy throwing out an ORtg of 120 isn’t fair to him. He’s been a good player. The team works a heck of a lot better if he’s a great one, but it hasn’t happened yet. Hopefully it will.
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Re: Franz
Efficiency has been there, as has growth in ball movement (assists up). No confidence in his shot. Not quite the growth in ball screens we had hoped for (really wanted him to step up late in the game, but he seemed to defer). Not quite all doom and gloom though.
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Yeah, this is one of my big takeaways too. PSU plays with some serious edge.
They also appear to be a terrible matchup for Franz (last year, he was 1-9 against them).
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eventually teams will start double teaming dickinson and our shooters will reap the benefits of more open looks. open shots were a rare commodity today
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Ok
My larger point is that this team was predicted to be a upper-middle pack team in the B10, with Franz as a top 5-10 player.
He has not been that. If he does not become that, it is concerning.
He still brings the rebounding and his d is vastly improved.
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Superfan, I may not always agree with you, but this I couldn’t agree more! Thank you!
This board is a dream compared to 247 and MGoBlog. It is nice to discuss hoops with guys and gals that remotely know what they are looking at when they watch a game.
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Anyway.
I wonder what the minute split between Williams and Johns is next game.
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Livers missing the open corner 3 and then that lay in was a doubly surprising sequence. He was money and then some from the line today, though.
Did people really think Franz was a top 5-10 player this year? I mean, I like the guy a lot, but I’m not sure what that would have been based on. Realistically, he’s really good, not great. I’m not sure that’s a capital offense.
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This website did. Lots of its readers did.
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Maybe in the Big Ten, but certainly not nationally.
Yes perhaps I was unclear. He was top ten in conference.
That’s fair. The converse to that is no one expected Hunter to be this good immediately, nor did we expect TWill to be this effective. You can also argue we’ve had returns on the higher end for Chaundee and Mike Smith as well.
You’re probably right that we won’t hit our ceiling without Franz playing better, but with all these guys I listed playing better than expected (or at least where we expected) we have other players who can carry some of that load in the hopes Franz settles into a more effective role on offense. And if he doesn’t, well then we’ll see how the season goes.
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Franz is a good offensive player. And a huge helpful piece to a college basketball team.
Franz is not a first team all conference player and a guaranteed pro after this season.
Knowledgeable basketball fans on both sides have used hyperbole to suggest he is either better or worse than he actually is IMO. Great player to have, ceiling much higher than it is today.
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I’ve been among those calling for Johns to get more minutes. Results certainly weren’t encouraging today. He’s gonna need to play but he just might never become that consistent producer I’ve been hoping for.
I also want to be clear that I think he is a valuable player - he is our best wing defender.
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