Omer Mayer scout from someone who watched him in Europe
- Thread starter boilerzz
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I think this is the Serbia game he mentions. Getting more excited about this guy’s potential
To me, there is no doubt that this kid starts and plays big mins against real competition. CJ and GH are both quality guards, but this kid is at a different level.
His clips on the offensive end look great.
But do we know about his defense? CJ and GH were both strong defenders for freshmen, and will be even stronger as sophs.
From what I observed in the Summit exhibition (granted, small sample size), he looked solid in individual man to man defense. He has a B1G ready body good lateral movement. His biggest challenge will be learning our team defense scheme. I think he will eventually be, at worst, a replacent level defender. Regardless, his offense will keep him on the floor for significant minutes. We all know you have to play D for Painter but if that was the only criterion for PT, Loyer would be coming off the bench.
Loyer does play defense…there’s more to defense than on ball…
To be fair, everyone on the floor is playing defense. How effective they are is the difference. I think if we're all honest here, we can agree that Loyer's defense is not what is keeping him in the starting line-up and the major minutes he gets. To me, that is what the poster was trying to say about Loyer and potentially Mayer. Not everyone is going to be a lock-down defender. Loyer isn't and Mayer doesn't need to be either.
Loyer plays great team defense and is in spots that he needs to be in for help side. He positions himself well, which we see when he does have games of 2+ steals. However, he also fills gaps to help others recover. He understands the angles that are needed in help side. He’s not the quickest or strongest and sometimes it still results in a bucket, but for the most part he’s solid for the defensive scheme and that’s why he ALSO is on the floor.
A lot of ppl focus on the on ball defense, but don’t recognize that he is a smart player and is on the floor for more than just his 3pt shooting.
I definitely recognize his on ball defense isn’t the best/strong, but to say he isn’t good at defense as a whole is a bit silly IMO.
You and some others seem to get defensive (pun intended) whenever Loyer's defense is brought up. I think that's because he has been the object of some overly critical attacks of his defense. That isn't what I said.
If you think that Loyer's minutes are because "he is a good defender" we will just have to agree to disagree on what makes a good defender at this level.
People really do not like Loyer criticism. People respond less if you criticize Smith or TKR.
Loyer isn't a good defender. Now, that's not because of effort or intellect but simply a result of his lack of strength and side to side quickness.
He certainly does understand the defensive scheme and he certainly does have a good basketball IQ so he knows where he can help off ball and that allows him to get steals and deflections here and there.
It's his offensive play that keeps him on the floor. His defense play is good enough to keep him off the bench but he's by no means a good defensive player. I don't think there's a guard or wing on last year's team I'd play him ahead of if there's one defensive possession left to win a game.
Now, if it's one offensive possession then he's on the court 100 percent.
I dont see how the kid starts, Cox started almost by defeault, not to take away from him. But he is another ball handler which is why Cox started, Mayer will play that combo guard Lance Jones role that Painter loves.
If Mayer was an American, he would have been a McDonald's All American. That is the level of this kid. Its an amazing get for the program, and agreed, he will WIN the starting job, but Painter wont hand it to him.
So if he’s as good as we all hope, then it creates a situation that many might absolutely write off or not really consider. The dilemma becomes his D and the need for better team and individual defense. If he’s just an average defender or below average then the need for Cox and Harris to have increased playing time becomes more important. If he’s as good offensively as we believe he is then he needs to be on the floor. So Mayer average defender and very good offensively spells a decrease in minutes for someone… I surmise that it could and possibly should be Loyer whose playing time goes down. I think he and Loyer may split time 50-50. If he can effectively play 1-3 without adding a defensive liability then multiple players from all 3 positions will cede a little time to him.
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