Wisconsin 78, Illinois 69 POSTGAME
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My comment was that he was being tough, and some tend to not like that so they tune it out. That is an observation, might be wrong, but body language says alot. Don't know what others say, but you can see it in their eyes. When the wheels come off, nobody can put them back on.
Lucas is always looking to bench when whistle blows, Smith , Alstork do same. Probably most of them do. Him being tough is good, but not sure it's working.
IMO, think Alstork was highly overrated, and has been a factor in how this squad is going ATM. BU has no other direction to go, no other option, and that is why we have to make the best with what we have.
Myself expected alot from the squad, I guess Smith the most, but I was wrong. Thinking a bunch of freshman, with 5 other guys , that had no idea what the system was, would be successful. The lack of talent has slowly worn their own confidence, it has left us with the kids playing like they are.
Thing I can't understand is why they all are afraid to shoot? If you miss a good shot, you might sit? Hell, at this point, does it matter? Trent dribbles alot now, and basically drives and throws a circus shot up, alot drop, but I sure wouldn't call it a offense.
To sum it up, lack of talent and confidence, is where we are at now. Unless BU can instill some confidence, we will go only as far as this talent can go. Purdue and Sparty, lurking, could be a long February. Keep fighting Illini
Agree with much of what you say here. My previous post was a general response to several posts. Here’s my viewpoint on this year. Underwood is trying to change the culture. It may not work with some of the inherited guys, but the players are the ones that need to adjust. This year is a transformational year. Not sure about how Alstork shot the ball lat year but a little arc might give the ball a better chance to go in. It seems like the players are thinking and not playing. They aren’t ready to shoot even if the shot is there for them, and then missing the wide open ones because they aren’t thinking shoot first. They are also making passes that worked in the walk through or the drawing board, but aren’t adjusting for when the defense is there. Really need an athletic BIG guy and bucket makers. If Finke would make a few shots, it would help...you know, like the wide open 3 that most of us would hit 40% of the time. Maybe not miss 2 of 3 free throws to start a half. Ugh! Go Illini.
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Definitely. Could very well be the B1G FOY if he keeps playing this way.
Who is Frazier up against?
For all his hype, Alstork has been the most disappointing player for me. He was suppose the player that was going to score high double figures every game and his shooting was suppose to be his strength. Instead his shooting is below average, just shows you never know what you got.
In this article is a list of this year's players of the week. I don't see how Frazier doesn't get freshman accolades at the end of this season.
EDIT: link misbehaving and I'm on mobile, so tough to fix. Should work long form here: http://www.bigten.org/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/020518aag.html
Ok, thanks. May be a race between Trent and Jaren Jackson, Jr (MSU) for FOY, but season ain't over yet.
Jaren Jackson wiil be tough to beat as top Freshman.
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Took Spoon's link and added Davison and created this list.
Baker--Rutgers
Washington--Minny
Garza--Iowa
Wesson--OSU
Jackson,Jr--MSU
Fernando--Maryland
Morsell--Maryland
Davison--Wisc.
Clrearly, TF is in the top 5 of this list, but FOY to probably Jackson.
If I get ambitious I'll add their pre-season 247 composite rankings.
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Excellent post, wanted to do something similar, but couldn't on a phone. Now here on a computer I took your list and took each player's points, rebounds, and assists per game in league play only (which I know is only a partial snapshot of each player's skillset but this more work than this post merits anyway, so). If I had more time and inclination I'd also include turnovers, blocks, and steals.
[player] - [team]: [PPG/RPG/APG]
Geo Baker - Buttgers: 10.7/1.7/1.6
Isaiah Washington - Yard Pests: 7.7/2.1/2.3
Luke Garza - Not Even a Real Bird: 10.7/5.7/1
Kaleb Wesson - tOSU: 10.7/5.5/1.1
Jaren Jackson Jr. - Sparty: 11.9/5.1/1.1
Bruno Fernando - Turtles: 9.1/6.3/0.7
Darryl Morsell - Turtles: 9.3/5.8/1.9
Brad Davison - Other Type of Yard Pest: 10.4/1.9/3.8
Trent Frazier - Fighting Fraziers (and Black): 15.1/1.9/3.8
So, on this list, Trent's superlatives in the group are his PPG, by a comfortable amount, and tied for assists with Wisconsin's Brad Davison. Trent also has the 1st and 2nd highest single-game scoring outputs by any B1G freshman with 32 and 27 (Isaiah Washington scored 26 against Michigan).
I think Trent's competition for B1G freshman POY includes Jackson Jr. and Garza, because both of those two are just such complete players and contribute strongly on their respective teams. My money is on Jackson Jr., because being on a winning team is important in this sort of thing. But Trent's definitely in the running!
If Trent keeps up his current stats and we finally pullout a few of the next 6 games, he may get more notoriety and have a chance. Man, hard to believe this season will soon be over and it'll be just back to talk about next season all over again.
Funny thing is even with the aggravations and the season not living up to what most wanted out of it. The season has flown by, and most of us would have rather seen this brand of ball vs the other from the past years.
Guess it was entertaining enough to make us look forward to each game and the season got away from us before we all knew it.
Find it interesting that the guys that seem to catch the most flak on this board are Lucas and Alstork. These guys are our two best defensive players IMO. If you compare years we are scoring +6 more points than last year. (2.7 less than 2004-5). However we are giving up 8.5 more than last year and better than 50 points in the percentage. Also had all the same complaints last year about the lack of post defense. (MM has improved in a lot of memories however.) Ebo will help next year but doesn't look like immediate help is on the way. A good coach must adapt his system to his talent until he can recruit his guys. BU evidently did that last year but has failed this year.