Malachi

[Evan P]

What good came out of him driving last night? He had one and 1 and made another jumper inside the paint. He also had at least 2/3 turnovers and 2 offensive fouls. It was especially forced the last 8 minutes of the game. I'm surprised JB or his teammates didn't try to advise him to stop driving!

He's not strong enough or athletic enough to finish consistency. It looks like a disaster waiting to happen every time. He just puts his head down and goes for it. Sure he can't just be a jump shooter because that would be way too easy to defend but he needs to pick his spots better.

I would much rather have someone like Lydon have more takes to the basket

 

[RoatanCuse]

What good came out of him driving last night? He had one and 1 and made another jumper inside the paint. He also had at least 2/3 turnovers and 2 offensive fouls. It was especially forced the last 8 minutes of the game. I'm surprised JB or his teammates didn't try to advise him to stop driving!

He's not strong enough or athletic enough to finish consistency. It looks like a disaster waiting to happen every time. He just puts his head down and goes for it. Sure he can't just be a jump shooter because that would be way too easy to defend but he needs to pick his spots better.

I would much rather have someone like Lydon have more takes to the basket

You are right. Though I think he is a freshman trying to develop a skill. Trying to accomplish what the coaches want him to do as a 2. He, Battle and Howard all should be able to either drive and kick out or drive and finish (or draw fouls) for us to be successful next year.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Posted this in another thread but pertinent here as well.

Just watched a bit of the game again. Mal had a terrible two minutes to start the second half. Drove into a big, got his shot blocked, and then didn't get back in time resulting in a dunk off of a second pass. 4 point swing right there.

Their bigs did a great job of just standing there with arms up and not jumping and drawing the foul on his drives.

 

[RF2044]

He's a frosh. He got big-boy'd last night, against one of the best / biggest teams in the country. Some of that stuff, he's gotten away with on drives to the basket against lesser, smaller teams. Doesn't fly against a team like UNC with so many athletic bigs inside.

It will be a good learning experience, and he'll be better for it down the road.

 

[Scotch]

What good came out of him driving last night? He had one and 1 and made another jumper inside the paint. He also had at least 2/3 turnovers and 2 offensive fouls. It was especially forced the last 8 minutes of the game. I'm surprised JB or his teammates didn't try to advise him to stop driving!

He's not strong enough or athletic enough to finish consistency. It looks like a disaster waiting to happen every time. He just puts his head down and goes for it. Sure he can't just be a jump shooter because that would be way too easy to defend but he needs to pick his spots better.

I would much rather have someone like Lydon have more takes to the basket

He had a rough one last night, but he's had a ton of success this year taking the ball to the rim. Much more than I expected when he was advertised as "just a shooter" during the recruiting process.

As others have mentioned, NC has some big dudes down low. It was a bad matchup and he made some questionable (freshman) decisions, but I love that he continued to be aggressive.

 

[Cusefan0307]

What good came out of him driving last night? He had one and 1 and made another jumper inside the paint. He also had at least 2/3 turnovers and 2 offensive fouls. It was especially forced the last 8 minutes of the game. I'm surprised JB or his teammates didn't try to advise him to stop driving!

He's not strong enough or athletic enough to finish consistency. It looks like a disaster waiting to happen every time. He just puts his head down and goes for it. Sure he can't just be a jump shooter because that would be way too easy to defend but he needs to pick his spots better.

I would much rather have someone like Lydon have more takes to the basket

Once Lydon gets a better handle, he's going to be a beast going to the basket. He's got such a quick first step and with some more strength he will be able to finish with authority.

 

[CorduroyG]

lets face it, the biggest factor for us making a deep run in march is knocking down 3s. malachi and trevor gotta find their strokes. and fast!

 

[br801]

lets face it, the biggest factor for us making a deep run in march is knocking down 3s. malachi and trevor gotta find their strokes. and fast!

The nature of three point shooting is such that your stroke comes and goes. Granted, for elite shooters the peaks may be higher and the valleys lower, but no one is immune to slumps. Let's not forget that Gbinije and Lydon both experienced significant slumps this season, and both Cooney and Richardson had long stretches where they shot it very well. Stay tuned.