Mathais scoring

[Boiler Buck]

DM is a guy I will be watching to see his scoring in these big games coming up.

No doubt a defensive monster and a great passer, and pretty darn good rebounder.....but in big games last year he was a no show several times in putting up points. I think his range in points against stronger teams like KS, MSU, MN, WI, MICH, MD, ND, Iowa ST, Louisville and Villanova ranged from 3 to 12 points with 7 games of those ~12 games where he put up under 5 points against those stronger teams (reaching double figures only twice).

I have been very encouraged this year by his new mid range game and using the shot fake to get open so I am excited to see how he does offensively against Villanova and AZ this year where I know he will play very well, but would like to see be more of an offensive threat against big time competition where he scores well too for Purdue.

 

[BoilerBabyGirl]

Dakota is the best player on the team. The reason he doesn't always put up big stats is because he doesn't try to. I think in the Kansas game he only took 4 shots but we still had almost 50 points at halftime. That's what he cares about.

 

[JohnnyDoeBoiler]

DM is a guy I will be watching to see his scoring in these big games coming up.

No doubt a defensive monster and a great passer, and pretty darn good rebounder.....but in big games last year he was a no show several times in putting up points. I think his range in points against stronger teams like KS, MSU, MN, WI, MICH, MD, ND, Iowa ST, Louisville and Villanova ranged from 3 to 12 points with 7 games of those ~12 games where he put up under 5 points against those stronger teams (reaching double figures only twice).

I have been very encouraged this year by his new mid range game and using the shot fake to get open so I am excited to see how he does offensively against Villanova and AZ this year where I know he will play very well, but would like to see be more of an offensive threat against big time competition where he scores well too for Purdue.

He may also defer to teammates more when his responsibilities on defense require more of an energy output there as well. He is an unselfish player who doesn't need to score for the team to be very good.

 

[meenie]

We needed him to score against Louisville and Kansas, and he couldn't get his shot off.

 

[Mackeyman]

Mathias has been undervalued and has been an awesome player since the start of last season. He also still has something to prove in big games. Both can be true. Our 4 most important losses last year ended up being against Villanova, Louisville, Michigan (BTT), and Kansas.

Mathias never made more than 1 field goal in any of those games. Of course, that's part of the reason we lost so it's somewhat of a circular argument.

Bottom line is Mathias is awesome. But there is a difference between being awesome as in exceeding expectations and being awesome as in being a star.

If we're saying Mathias is a star, and the best player on the team, then it's fair to hold him to a higher standard and say he cannot make 1 field goal in our biggest games.

 

[Boiler Buck]

We needed him to score against Louisville and Kansas, and he couldn't get his shot off.

Yes, although he is my favorite Boiler......in losses against Villanova, Louisville, MN, (2)MICH, KS he scored 3, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3

 

[TC4THREE]

Mathias has been undervalued and has been an awesome player since the start of last season. He also still has something to prove in big games. Both can be true. Our 4 most important losses last year ended up being against Villanova, Louisville, Michigan (BTT), and Kansas.

Mathias never made more than 1 field goal in any of those games. Of course, that's part of the reason we lost so it's somewhat of a circular argument.

Bottom line is Mathias is awesome. But there is a difference between being awesome as in exceeding expectations and being awesome as in being a star.

If we're saying Mathias is a star, and the best player on the team, then it's fair to hold him to a higher standard and say he cannot make 1 field goal in our biggest games.

I've actually never read anyone debate that terminology here regarding Dakota until this thread.

Also, why is it that our losses are only the "important" games? Just because we ended up winning against Iowa State (8 pts 7 assists) doesn't mean it wasn't important. Winning at Northwestern (13 points) clinched us the outright title if I'm not mistaken. I'd say that was a big game. Furthermore, there's more to these games than points. He had 10 assists in the Minnesota game and 7 against Kansas.

So basically we're nitpicking here that shooting has gone down as the athletes and competition has improved which is something that is true for most players. It seems really odd that we're targeting the player that is squeezing every last ounce of production from him physical capabilities and asking why he couldn't do more.

 

[BoilerBabyGirl]

Yes, although he is my favorite Boiler......in losses against Villanova, Louisville, MN, (2)MICH, KS he scored 3, 5, 4, 4, 3, 3

Those are 4 teams except for Minnesota that almost made the final 4 last year. Using your brain tells you that we might not have won even if Dakota scored 30,30,30,30,30. Sheesh

 

[tjreese]

He may also defer to teammates more when his responsibilities on defense require more of an energy output there as well. He is an unselfish player who doesn't need to score for the team to be very good.

He is limited physically, but his understanding of what is going on is mensa potential filled. Most scorers do not have the ball and he is best off the ball. D away from the ball has a mental side lean to it where on ball D is a physical lean. D running through screens is tiring, but Dakota is going to score..going to get some assists and going to get some rebounds. What those numbers will be are a guess, but he gets more from his physical abilities than sooooo very many. Purdue needs Vince playing and playing well...because at this stage I have no idea how he is replaced. Grady did well at Marquette adn will definitely play smart and within himself, but we could find against certain teams that another option is needed...

 

[klmLB]

Dakota is a good player, but he is not someone who creates his own shot. He takes what the defense gives him. Against better teams, they try to take away his space and Dakota smartly doesn't force it.

Expecting big scoring from Dakota in a particular game or moment isn't likely to happen unless it's in the flow of the offense.

 

[BoilerBabyGirl]

I don't like talking bad about Dakota because he does more good things than anyone else on the team. But there were 2 times his passive ness really hurt us. The 1sf time was when he was passing back and forth with Haas and didn't shoot when he had space twice. Same story a little later when he passed up a shot to pass to Haas who was running and traveled. We didn't score on either trip and they were very important trips.

 

[DannyGranger]

Reversion to the mean. The numbers early on were not going to continue.

But he's getting it back to him normal averages with the quickness!