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Watched last night's game... thoughts on each contributing player.
BroadcastingDawg
Member Posts: 1,245
Nate Pryor: I thought he looked fantastic. He's easily our fastest player on the court and does really nice work in transition. He missed a couple bunnies that he'll hopefully hit going forward, but the Dawgs seemingly have a nice backup PG to Green. He filled the stat sheet with 5 boards and 4 assists as well... Dawgs may have found an answer to a piece that was missing: a true floor general who can really handle the ball and plays a smart basketball game.
Quade Green: Quade was very efficient shooting. His role as a distributor and creator leaves a bit to be desired though. He had just one assist... but I guess if they have both him and Pryor on the court he can be relegated to a 2-guard where he can shoot 3's at a high clip... which is much needed because our supposed sharp shooters couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat.
Erik Stevenson: Thus far, he's not the same player I saw in his HS tape or at Wichita St. He looks slow... his handle isn't all that quick... he's chucking up wild shots when driving... he's turning the ball over like crazy. It just hasn't been good.
Jamal Bey: Bey had a very quiet 9 points 3 boards and 3 assists for the Dawgs. He's our best defender up top in the zone which is fine, but his offensive game just hasn't been what Husky nation had hoped for. He's still hesitant... just looks like he'd rather be passive than look for his shot. As a junior I'm expecting more than they're getting.
Hamier Wright: I really wish he'd just stop trying to drive or even dribble the ball. He has no handles... he immediately loses feel for where the ball is the second he lifts his head and drives to the hoop. He hit a couple nice shots in the game... sort of wish he'd be more of a Darnell Gant... catch and shoot or pass it. It looks like he doesn't really have a place on the court when the team is playing well... which sucks considering he's had 4 years to figure it out.
Cole Bajema: He plays like a freshman but you can see flashes of ability. I don't really know any better way to say this... but he sort of runs and skips around on defense like a chick. He ends up on the floor a lot due to lack of balance and functional strength... but he's also skilled with the ball in his hands... I don't get it. His strength in his career is going to be his outside shooting and he missed 2x wide open looks from 3 last night then passed it away when he had further opportunities. I think w. more playing time and confidence we'll see a different player soon.
Nate Roberts: He's an odd duck. Clearly a physical freak out there but he really doesn't know how to use any of his tools. He's 6'11 but plays like he's 6'5: instead of finishing high he almost always brings the ball to the floor and shoots from the shoulder. He's terrible on defense despite being a plus athlete and having a massive wing span. He just doesn't diagnose well... a little 6'7 PF put 12 on him in the first half because he couldn't figure out how to make the guy uncomfortable. He passed the ball out of the post almost exclusively in the 1st half which is why he ended up with 4 assists... Seattle caught on to that and he had a couple turnovers as a result. In the 2nd half he pretty much decided to stop playing like a pussy, muscled up a bit, and started putting the ball in the hoop with his limited (extremely limited) repertoire of post moves. He's gotta learn that he's a better athlete than the guy guarding him... fuck getting fancy... body your opponent and put the ball in the damn hoop.
Riley Sorn: I actually sorta liked what I saw from Riley. He's not a fantastic athlete. He's pretty slow... but his size just gets in the way and makes it uncomfortable for the other team. He knows how to use his size well and despite a lack of athleticism... he's got nice hands and feel for the tip game. He rebounds well and knows how to hit his outlet. He's a passable backup and I never thought he'd see the court in his career... good on you Riley.
RaeQuan Battle: Easily the most disappointing player in my eyes for the Dawgs. Kid was a stud last year as a frosh for the Dawgs... now he can't hit a shot and he looks freakin' lost out there. He's 3 for 20 thus far from 3 on the season and when he missed last night he missed big... brick city. I thought he was going to be a top scorer for this year's dawg squad... but he's looked anything but and he's riding the pine as a result. Battle is the best athlete on this team... and he's not even using those attributes. The guy dunked like a madman in HS and I'm not sure I've seen a dunk out of him in his career.
Quade Green: Quade was very efficient shooting. His role as a distributor and creator leaves a bit to be desired though. He had just one assist... but I guess if they have both him and Pryor on the court he can be relegated to a 2-guard where he can shoot 3's at a high clip... which is much needed because our supposed sharp shooters couldn't hit water if they fell out of a boat.
Erik Stevenson: Thus far, he's not the same player I saw in his HS tape or at Wichita St. He looks slow... his handle isn't all that quick... he's chucking up wild shots when driving... he's turning the ball over like crazy. It just hasn't been good.
Jamal Bey: Bey had a very quiet 9 points 3 boards and 3 assists for the Dawgs. He's our best defender up top in the zone which is fine, but his offensive game just hasn't been what Husky nation had hoped for. He's still hesitant... just looks like he'd rather be passive than look for his shot. As a junior I'm expecting more than they're getting.
Hamier Wright: I really wish he'd just stop trying to drive or even dribble the ball. He has no handles... he immediately loses feel for where the ball is the second he lifts his head and drives to the hoop. He hit a couple nice shots in the game... sort of wish he'd be more of a Darnell Gant... catch and shoot or pass it. It looks like he doesn't really have a place on the court when the team is playing well... which sucks considering he's had 4 years to figure it out.
Cole Bajema: He plays like a freshman but you can see flashes of ability. I don't really know any better way to say this... but he sort of runs and skips around on defense like a chick. He ends up on the floor a lot due to lack of balance and functional strength... but he's also skilled with the ball in his hands... I don't get it. His strength in his career is going to be his outside shooting and he missed 2x wide open looks from 3 last night then passed it away when he had further opportunities. I think w. more playing time and confidence we'll see a different player soon.
Nate Roberts: He's an odd duck. Clearly a physical freak out there but he really doesn't know how to use any of his tools. He's 6'11 but plays like he's 6'5: instead of finishing high he almost always brings the ball to the floor and shoots from the shoulder. He's terrible on defense despite being a plus athlete and having a massive wing span. He just doesn't diagnose well... a little 6'7 PF put 12 on him in the first half because he couldn't figure out how to make the guy uncomfortable. He passed the ball out of the post almost exclusively in the 1st half which is why he ended up with 4 assists... Seattle caught on to that and he had a couple turnovers as a result. In the 2nd half he pretty much decided to stop playing like a pussy, muscled up a bit, and started putting the ball in the hoop with his limited (extremely limited) repertoire of post moves. He's gotta learn that he's a better athlete than the guy guarding him... fuck getting fancy... body your opponent and put the ball in the damn hoop.
Riley Sorn: I actually sorta liked what I saw from Riley. He's not a fantastic athlete. He's pretty slow... but his size just gets in the way and makes it uncomfortable for the other team. He knows how to use his size well and despite a lack of athleticism... he's got nice hands and feel for the tip game. He rebounds well and knows how to hit his outlet. He's a passable backup and I never thought he'd see the court in his career... good on you Riley.
RaeQuan Battle: Easily the most disappointing player in my eyes for the Dawgs. Kid was a stud last year as a frosh for the Dawgs... now he can't hit a shot and he looks freakin' lost out there. He's 3 for 20 thus far from 3 on the season and when he missed last night he missed big... brick city. I thought he was going to be a top scorer for this year's dawg squad... but he's looked anything but and he's riding the pine as a result. Battle is the best athlete on this team... and he's not even using those attributes. The guy dunked like a madman in HS and I'm not sure I've seen a dunk out of him in his career.
Comments
He shoots with extreme confidence like he expects the ball to go in, so maybe he's buckets in practice, but he's not a shooter until he actually starts hitting shots. Just never see the hype translated to results with him.
Edit: I had to look up his stats from last year and my eyes were right:
On 83 3pt attempts he shot 26.5%. This is not good/borderline terrible.
Add this year's totals and he is 25/103 or 24.3% from 3 on his career. This isn't a small sample size, why is he considered a shooter?
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/raequan-battle-1.html
^
Idk that CJ Wilcox could do this. I know it's against inferior talent... but sheeeeesh.
Don't really care if they're bad. I like to watch and talk about it.
Love Sorn too he actually runs well, for 7 foot 4 and sees the floor will be interesting watching this kid progress, if Hop allows him to.
As for Stevenson and Battle, well the team in general, their 3 point shooting has been horrid. Against Seattle U they were 8 for 15, but prior I think they were shooting like 22% from behind the arc, and the two designated sharpshooters, Stevenson and Battle, were shooting horribly. I think I was on record about Sorn contributing a few years ago. He had a good high school career, and he and his Richland team gave Gonzaga Prep more problems than McDaniels and Federal Way. Helps being 7'4. He seems to have a good sense of his level of contribution, and it seems like he sees the floor well. Wright is a head scratcher for sure.
I knew Montana would do it for me...
Like I said initially when I cared enough to watch the Utah game...
Worst basketball team of my lyfe tim
I am not exaggerating when I say this, they would struggle against a good IMA team.