Improving

[nagemj02]

On which parts of their games do each of the following returnees need to improve?


1's:

-P.J. Thompson


2's:

-Dakota Mathias

-Kendall Stephens


3's:

-Rapheal Davis

-Basil Smotherman


4's:

-Vince Edwards

-Jacquil Taylor (I know he was a RS, but he's still a returnee)


5's:

-A.J. Hammons (if he stays)

-Isaac Haas



Boiler Up

 

[klmLB]

Originally posted by nagemj02:

On which parts of their games do each of the following returnees need to improve?


1's:

-P.J. Thompson

Realistically:
-work on quickness and lateral movement. Just get into better shape in general. Get rid of the baby fat.
-tighten handle

My biggest concern with him is guarding jitterbug PG from other teams and handling a full court press. He can get us into motion offensive just fine. Decent shooter.

Unrealistic:
-grow 2-3 more inches and have longer limbs.



2's:

-Dakota Mathias

-work on quickness and explosion
-keep working on shot (at B1G game speed)
I tend to think the game might have been a little too quick this season (which is normal for a frosh). He also had a rough off-season. He now knows what to expect. I think he'll have a strong year next season.


-Kendall Stephens
-work on strength and quickness (and endurance ... moving without the ball)
-tighten handle/be stronger with the ball
-maybe add a mid range jumper (too one dimensional but not a guy who can take it all the way to the rack)

3's:

-Rapheal Davis
-this guy impressed me this year. Seemed like he really had a good offseason in terms of improving himself physically.
-tighten his handle (we might need him at some PG if we don't land a 5th year guy)
-work on his outside shot
-work on his left hand (good driver, but always seems to go right)

-Basil Smotherman
-maybe it's blind support, but i think he has a lot of potential
-work on improving his mid range shot (8-16 ft)
he doesn't seem to be a good 3pt shooter, but can knock em down from time to time
or he gets put backs at the rim
I think if he had a reliable go-to shot, it could really help us
-love his athleticism, but you can always improve that (however, I'd like to see him really hone a skill or reliable shot)

4's:

-Vince Edwards
-continue to get stronger/more explosive and tighten handle (if we don't get a 5th year, he's another guys we may rely on to bring the ball up the court)
-he's so skilled already, just keep improving those skills

-Jacquil Taylor (I know he was a RS, but he's still a returnee)
-I can't honestly judge him since I've seen so little of him
-so, just come back healthy

5's:

-A.J. Hammons (if he stays)
-keep improving strength and conditioning (made a big jump last year!)
-tighten handle and control of the ball (cut out the bad turnovers)
-keep improving the mid range shots 8-16 ft (don't shoot shots further than that)

-Isaac Haas
-conditioning (not strength, but endurance/agility/plyometrics/quickness)
-his balance (not easy to have good balance being that big). put him in a yoga routine would do him a lot of good
-everything else stems from above (he's pretty skilled, just couldn't stay on the court very long)


Boiler Up

here's my humble take. wow, can't believe i spent the time to write this up.

i think if our guys have a good off season, we could be damn good. however, B1G will be so competitive next year, who knows where we will end up.

 

[CRBoiler]

Top single thing for each IMO...
AJ: Strength
Isaac: Endurance
Jacquil: Health
Basil: Shooting
Vince: Explosiveness
Kendall: Jump shot at full speed under pressure
Ray: Whatever CMP says he needs from Ray the most. Could be shooting, or handle if CMP wants to play him at PG, etc.
Mathias: Athleticism (if we don't get a PG, it would be great if he could play it with Cline coming in)
PJ: Quickness

 

[Boiler Buck]

Well team D was decent last year so........Improve on items that lead to increased team scoring....which was average to poor.

 

[boilercss]

I would like to see vince edwards work on getting his shot off quicker. He seems to have a decent shot from outside, but it takes him quite awhile to get that shot off. Also, work on a baseline game, and like others have said, improve on explosiveness..ie..jumping ability and quickness.

 

[nagemj02]

Originally posted by CRBoiler:
Top single thing for each IMO...
AJ: Strength
Isaac: Endurance
Jacquil: Health
Basil: Shooting
Vince: Explosiveness
Kendall: Jump shot at full speed under pressure
Ray: Whatever CMP says he needs from Ray the most. Could be shooting, or handle if CMP wants to play him at PG, etc.
Mathias: Athleticism (if we don't get a PG, it would be great if he could play it with Cline coming in)
PJ: Quickness

Did Kendall short-arm his jumpers (or something along those lines) when defenders were nearby?

I've noticed that he doesn't always have his feet set and body squared correctly before he lets it fly.







This post was edited on 4/15 2:54 PM by nagemj02

 

[nagemj02]

Do you fellas (and maybe a few ladies) have any other ideas of what each individual returnee needs to improve upon?

 

[Boiler Buck]

Seven things:

#1 The guards we have need to work on attacking the lane....they need to be quicker off the dribble and more decisive in the lane. Lastly, they need increased strength to finish around the lane. Octeus Prime was able to do this. Next year, we need DM, PJT, KS & GW to be able to score more around the rim and create offense for others when that shuts down.

#2 With Cline, Mathias and to some degree Stevens we need all the guys to work on screening for the shooter and the shooters on working their man into the screen. We could create a lot of offense through improved screening and use of screens.

#3 Coach needs to work with Haas to keep his elbows from fouling others and getting position without using the arms...as it is his use of arms that get him in trouble arm fighting with others in the lane.

#4 PJT, Cline, Mathias, Davis, and Stephens need to work on extremely hard on increasing endurance as they will have to do a lot of moving and there were times they got gassed in the motion offense; Painter's strategy of making the other team work very hard & use tons of energy on D depends on guys who can cut continuously & relentlessly without getting gassed.

#5 Obviously, Hammons needs to work on strength in his hands, his handle and short range jumper to cut down on TOs and to increase offensive efficiency....there is no reason he should not be the league's most efficient offensive player as long as he cuts out shots over 15 feet.

#6 All these guys need to work on FTs.

#7 The guards need to work on beating the press through practice & by increasing their handle to increase ball security.

These are a few of the items that should lead to increased team scoring which was average to poor last year.

 

[Inspector100]

Did Kendall short-arm his jumpers (or something along those lines) when defenders were nearby?

I've noticed that he doesn't always have his feet set and body squared correctly before he lets it fly.







This post was edited on 4/15 2:54 PM by nagemj02

This. He also has his shooting hand under the ball instead of behind the ball. That leads to an inconsistent release. A miracle that any of them go in. Yea, that is a little extreme, but I don't have any faith he will shoot well enough to be a factor in more than 1 or 2 games a year.

 

[purdue4sure]

Originally posted by Inspector100:

Did Kendall short-arm his jumpers (or something along those lines) when defenders were nearby?

I've noticed that he doesn't always have his feet set and body squared correctly before he lets it fly.







This post was edited on 4/15 2:54 PM by nagemj02

This. He also has his shooting hand under the ball instead of behind the ball. That leads to an inconsistent release. A miracle that any of them go in. Yea, that is a little extreme, but I don't have any faith he will shoot well enough to be a factor in more than 1 or 2 games a year.

Interesting. I honestly wasn't paying attention to this. Was he always doing this, or did he start after injuring his finger?

 

[VulvHa]

You are delusional. His shooting stroke is pure, and it helped him have a great percentage prior to the ligament injury. KS just needs to stay healthy and he will be a huge part of the team next year.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[lbodel]

PJ: Agreed. Quickness and strength will solve a lot of the issues. Become a bit more consistent offensively.

Mathias: Agreed. He has a lot of potential. Continuing to work on quickness will be big.

Kendall: Staying healthy. I disagree he isn't a guy who can take it to the basket. He's 6'6" and showed flashes of it last year. He still needs to work on it, but I think he made an effort this past year to not just be a 3 point shooter.

Raphael: His turnovers were the one major flaw I'd point out from last year. He improved his 3 point shot, but still rarely shot it (which is ok). But I think if he's going to be a guy out there 35+ minutes, he needs to be more of a threat. He certainly has the potential.

Basil: This is a guy who probably shot too many 3 point shots and was not good at them. As mentioned, if he had a go to shot, I think this would benefit him in not taking bad shots.

Vince: Strength is big and more consistent 3 point shooting. It's certainly a "pressure" comparison, but right now I think he's better than Robbie was as a freshman in many facets, but the 3 point shooting he's behind Robbie. If that gets up above 36-37%, he can be a scary good player.

Jacquil: The only thing we need Jacquil to do is obviously be healthy, but be able to play decent defense. With AJ coming back, he probably will not play much, but this can be great for him.

Hammons: He improved on turnovers, but still needs to be more consistent. I don't know about the mid-range shots. He still has work to do within 5-6 feet of the basket. I don't know if he'll EVER be a guy who's consistent from 16 ft. His shooting percentage was good, but considering how under the basket of a player he is, it probably should actually be a bit higher.

Haas: Hands. Cutting the turnovers down will be big. And becoming more consistent on the foul shots (which as noted, it's not an effort thing on his part).

 

[Inspector100]

Originally posted by VulvHa:
You are delusional. His shooting stroke is pure, and it helped him have a great percentage prior to the ligament injury. KS just needs to stay healthy and he will be a huge part of the team next year.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

His shot is off target to either side and either long or short. Once again signs of his hands under the ball and not behind it. Watch his free throws and tell me the reason his is not consistent, but long or short.

 

[VulvHa]

He was shooting at a 43% clip before the injury against IL. Like I said, you are delusional.


This post was edited on 4/19 11:52 AM by VulvHa

 

[BoilerDaddy]

Stephens is 38% career shooter with 137 made threes as an underclassman and people are complaining that he can't shoot. Then again, I remember posts complaining about Ryne Smith's three point shooting when he was hitting well over 40% as an upperclassman.

I do think that Stephens still has a lot of room for improvement, however. This past season, his defense was greatly improved over his freshman year, but I think that with his length and a little more strength, he has a chance to make another solid year over year improvement.

On offense, a healed left hand would be a good start, but I really would like to see him develop a consistent mid-range game. With regard to his three point shooting, I want to see him improve his shot selection without second guessing himself. When he does shoot, he needs to be confident.

I didn't see the endurance issues that some have mentioned with regard to Stephens. When I watched him, he was in constant motion on offense and really made his defender work.

Thie topic of this thread is so broad that I am not going to try to answer it all at once, I'll address some of the other players in future posts.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[nagemj02]

Originally posted by BoilerDaddy:
Stephens is 38% career shooter with 137 made threes as an underclassman and people are complaining that he can't shoot.






Inspector wasn't stating that he "can't shoot" but that he noticed Stephens has a fundamental flaw in his shooting mechanics.

 

[PaBoiler78]

he has a tendency to kick out his shooting elbow instead of keeping it straight.

 

[VulvHa]

his form is pure. just needs to stay healthy.
Posted from Rivals Mobile

 

[BoilerDaddy]

I was reacting to the statement where Inspector said that he doesn't have confidence that Stephens will impact more than 1 or 2 games a year.

I do agree that Stephens has stretches when he doesn't keep his body/elbow square and I think that he can shoot well over 40% from 3 if he can stay consistent in his form, but the implication that his form is fundementally flawed does not jive with his proven results.
Posted from Rivals Mobile