If you haven’t seen him play live… Don’t ask that question. I assume you’re going by film, and all his films are impressive. I will take a Player that uva recruited ( we have two -zeb Jackson). The kid is skilled and atheletic. You just don’t want to see it.
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I don’t see crazy guard skills and athletic
no one is sleeping on his potential, but his body and strength will limit his ability to contribute his freshmen year
most insiders are saying a redshirt is in play.
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I suppose how one evaluates a player is based on their experience with the game.
I’ve see Cole in person. He is very skilled. Relative to guys I’ve seen play over the years, I would not place him in the plus (crazy) athlete category. That is not to say he isn’t a good athlete.
Of UM vintage, I would throw him in the bowl with Levert, Stauskas and Poole in terms of skill/athleticism combo and shake it up. At least as they entered college.
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Agree with that last point. When I watch his footage, I definitely see an athlete somewhere a little lesser than a freshman year Levert or Stauskas. The potential is there to grow though.
Not to nitpick but putting Levert and Stauskas in the same bucket in terms of athleticism is breaking my brain
One guy is on the verge of washing out of the NBA because of his lack of it, and the other just dragged Jimmy Butler’s ass all over the floor in a playoff game.
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Not sure you read what I posted.
A comparison:
“Of UM type players…”
“In terms of combo of skill and athleticism…”
Never said he was as good as Levert or as athletic.
Never said he was as skilled as either.
Didn’t rank the 3 comparables in terms of athleticism or skill.
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Caris with 23 points!
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I’d actually say Nik is on the verge of washing out of the league because his shooting has been awful.
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Certainly, but I think it’s because he’s too slow to get his shots off.
I thought he was a bit overrated as an nba prospect coming out but still thought he’d be a solid guard off the bench. Kind of shocked.
Not shocked about caris though. Thought Mitch and him had the best nba games, Dj too actually. I think Mitch would have been a legit big had he not gotten injured and was a bit more mature.
Really wish we had seen it materialize.
Ultimately, it comes down to making shots and Nik just hasn’t done it consistently. If you don’t make shots then you better be elite at other things in order to stay in the league. Nik just isn’t elite at anything right now.
I don’t think it’s a complaint against Beilein so much as frustration. The frustration comes when guys bolt for the NBA before we’ve even gotten one consistently great college season out of them, while players on other teams have multiple great seasons and still hang around until they’re juniors or seniors. On top of which, when we do have players leave, they always seem to be right on the edge, and always seem to drag the process out until the last possible moment before they make a decision, which makes it that much harder to fill roster spots, and always seems to leave us starting from scratch at multiple positions every year. None of that is on Beilein, ultimately, but it’s not hard to understand why people get riled.
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Debatable, but even if you’re right, Nik was plenty athletic for the college game, which is what we’re talking about. If Bajema is Nik in college, we’re all very happy.
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Never mind. A discussion I’d just as soon avoid