you can't fault a coach for taking a top 10 high school player. But we had a big miss on Coen Carr, watched about 10 minutes of Mich St and Iowa, that dude is an absolute athletic freak. we backed away because he didn't have much of an offensive game. Izzo is developing him, would Woodson have who knows. but I guarantee you if he was at IU this year, he would have gotten a lot of MMs minutes when he looked disinterested.
Any coach in the country would have taken MM
- Thread starter kurt cloverdales
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MM ... ugh, how to say this. He plays like he's new to the game.
His reaction time on almost everything is slow, not because his feet are slow, or like some believe he's lazy or uninterested(?) but because he seems to have to think about it first. Like everything is a puzzle to him.
As a poor but easy example: Running a simple 2 on 1, we've done it, seen it, executed it 1000 of times and it becomes a reactionary habit done without thought.. He seems to have to think through simple stuff like an inexperienced middle schooler. He's not basketball savvy.
His shot is nice though but like everything else, the set up - catch, square, to release - is slow.
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he's not a good athlete, never seen anyone his size struggle to score at the rim like he does. his play does look lazy, maybe he's giving his all and he just is what he is, which is slow and mechanical.
I think it's more his brain getting in the way than his feet or legs. Some players see the play before it develops, some as it does ... Mack, rarely sees the play at all.
No, he's not Troy Williams .. but the game doesn't come to him easily.
and I'm willing to bet a good many would have MM playing much better. I'd agree with TMP, he's not intuitive on D, but he doesn't have to be such a big liability either I don't believe.
say what you want about Troy, he was, at times, the most frustrating player I've ever watched. But you can't deny his motor. It may have actually been his biggest problem, Troy was stuck in 6th gear and couldn't shift down.
As far as pure athletic talent, Troy would run circles around MM. Literally, run circles. With Crean yelling "play faster!".. which was the last thing Troy needed to hear.
Speaking of "not a good athelte", after watching the Oregon game I was wondering if there was a team rule that only Ballo was allowed to dunk the basketball. Jesus Christ we give alot of points away from underneath the basket.
Frustrating to me, because the "fix" for making Troy a very lethal offensive player, was usually on the floor with him at the same time. Never understood what was so hard about telling him: "rebound, outlet to Yogi, and fly to the rim".
If you watch his interviews, he’s just not a smart person. His answers are slow and full of hesitation. He is unable to expound on techniques and/or in-game strategy. He may be a good shooter and playmaker in HS because the game is slower and he can jump and shoot over the competition, but the D1 game is too fast for him.
always felt like Troy approached every game as an NBA combine event. Auditioning for the big show.
Agree, MM just isn't that athletic. He looks like he's running around with lead in his shoes. More athletic players constantly blow by him.
Which is why player ratings coming out of HS/AAU are sometimes so hard to understand. You would think his limitations would have been obvious.
Kristen Lander and Xavier Booker were both rated as 5-stars coming out of HS. That should tell you all you need to know about the accuracy of the ratings.
I'm old school, but I'm not a fan of everyone bringing the ball up. I know everyone acts like that's a big deal with TJD, Reanu, etc... but I just think it's dumb. Secure the rebound, turn and outlet and then run like hell. IMO, no NBA team is drafting the likes of TJD or Reanu because they can bring the ball up the floor. Passing out of double teams, driving and facilitating the offense to me are all more important "shows". All it does is lead to unnecesary TOs in my opinion and it delays and confuses the offense once you get to your half court set.
I think Troy would've been a better player and more highly coveted if he showed that he could rebound, run the floor and finish and that would've been easier and better if someone else was getting the ball up the floor.
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And have you noticed how many times he touches a lose or contested ball and doesn't end up with the ball?
I think the observations are fair and it's also fair to say he ended up at the wrong place for the skills he needs to develop.
And every coach will get his flawed attitude and baggage. Dude has a lot of growing up to do. More so than the rest of the roster.
yeah there were possessions a few yrs back, where it was obvious the plan was to inbound to TJD and let him dribble the ball up. Just plain Fn stupid IMHO
Thinking about our roster...I'd bet good money every single one of the scholarship players, and maybe even all the walk ons...can dunk. And most of them very easily so.
But taking that, and being able to do it in game action...we definitely don't have a lot of springy "dunkers" on the roster in that regard.
did you watch Carr last night, or seen some of his highlights, probably the best athlete in the country
I've seen him play in person a few times. And watched a lot of his highlights. He's definitely one of those "built different" guys, for sure.
I agree with what you're saying, but his feet are slow. He plays upright and flat footed all the time and is very stiff in his movements.
Probably a fair bit of both... he stood up some Oregon guys the other night. They're very quick and athletic, across the board. So he has the ability to do it. But I don't think he's physically quick enough to overcome his poor technique, poor approach, poor awareness, etc...
Agree. I think he might excel on a team as the first (and perhaps only) offensive option.
Highly accurate at the highest rankings, drops considerably after the five stars. What you cited are outliers. The are always one or two that don't pan out but a vast majority do. So now you actually know more about the accuracy of rankings. Picking out the 2+ that failed while ignoring the 98+/- that didn't equals poor math skills. Your accuracy sucks .. lol.
I don’t claim to have done research on it, and I agree that there is rarely a miss among the top 10-12 in a given class, the legit OAD talents. Beyond that, however, in the 13-25 5-star range, I’d be surprised if there weren’t 2-3 misses in each class. When I say miss, I mean not performing anywhere near a 5-star level, not necessarily complete busts. There are also misses in the opposite direction, some 4-stars who should have been rated as 5s, some 3s who should have been rated as 4s, etc. It is not an exact science, of course. That’s why I think coaches are wise to do their own evaluation.
I've noticed during a possession he can play decent defense, but as the play moves away from his man he appears to relax. Doesn't stay in a defensive posture, drops his arms and stands flat footed then can't react when his guy, or the ball, moves. He ends up out of position and out of the play.
When I go to IU games at AH I am always positive, never boo etc. But one time I was there with my daughter. We were sitting next to the Football players who were introduced. IU was playing Washington State which is a game they lost. Troy was standing there just past half court and the WS player just ran right by him with the ball and got a layup. I jumped up and yelled, "Troy move your feet on defense". Everyone around me including some of the football players nodded in agreement with me. My daughter was extremely embarrassed.
Nah. He’s lazy. Just check out his defensive stance. He always stands straight up and down. Unless he is constantly thinking about how to get in a defensive stance. Then you’d be right.
