Cuse player with the highest Court IQ

[Ghost]

I'll second Edelin, among others. Rautins was careless, but he knew the game.

I'm also hard-pressed to identify someone savvier than Dolezaj, though he's good for one "are you kidding me?!" foul per game.

I'll always give Rautins credit for being the most accurate/skilled SU player at throwing baseball throw type bounce passes almost the length of the court for a fast break. Kid was a wizard with that, and he could put some nice heat on those passes.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Most tenacious defender is Jason Hart by far. It's the only reason he played in 23 NBA playoff games.

Respectfully disagree. I always thought Hart was a paper tiger. He had the posture and attitude of a great defender, but did it five feet away from the opponent, and wasn't physical enough when he actually was battling. But, i'm sure there are statistics to challenge my 'impressions.'

 

[RF2044]

Would it be Sherman? How about our most tenacious junkyard dog defender?

Sherman, Billy, DC, Melo.

Some guys just have "it."

 

[HOFCeluck]

Ennis, maybe Pace.

 

[Eric15]

Respectfully disagree. I always thought Hart was a paper tiger. He had the posture and attitude of a great defender, but did it five feet away from the opponent, and wasn't physical enough when he actually was battling. But, i'm sure there are statistics to challenge my 'impressions.'

There has to be a reason why NBA teams kept him around so long. He was a completely mediocre offensive player and shaky ball handler. It's because he was a tall, wirey strong, lightning quick defender who could provide 10-12 minutes of lockdown defense as a backup NBA PG. I always thought it was such a waste having him in a zone.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

My comment on Billy Owens high BB IQ: He had it except when he didn't.

Great court vision and mostly good decision making but there were a two things he used to do that made my head explode:

• Dribble high into double and triple-teams
• Throw up a wild shot when he got bumped because he assumed there'd be a whistle. I don't think it worked even once in his time here.

I always thought Billy Owens' worst enemy was his own 'niceness.' I kinda identified with him—when i played as a kid, i overthought, and definitely had too much of a conscience. Missed a shot, felt i was letting my team down, and it affected my confidence far more than it should have. Billy was better than he knew he was, and if he had really had that 'shooter's mentality,' he would have produced even more than he did, which was still a pretty special career.

I remember going to Bugsy's, and seeing some townie walk up to Billy, and then just chat his ear off for 20 minutes, and Billy was just extraordinarily polite and conversed with him. And i know DC would have scowled, glared a hole in the townie's head and walked away without speaking.

 

[Fat tire 13]

Ennis, maybe Pace.

Like the Josh Pace one. He always had a knack for getting to the right place at the right time.

 

[TheHaze315]

On the current roster? It’s Marek and it isn’t even close.

 

[raf4488]

Ennis, maybe Pace.

For the younger fans, Ennis needs to be mentioned here. Probably the most composed freshman we've had. People used to complain he played too slow but the fanbase was very spoiled at the time.

Josh Pace was the Marek of the NC team, and my favorite player from that era as a fellow lefty.

 

[OttoMets]

I'll always give Rautins credit for being the most accurate/skilled SU player at throwing baseball throw type bounce passes almost the length of the court for a fast break. Kid was a wizard with that, and he could put some nice heat on those passes.

You know, I don't think this got mentioned outside of maybe the game thread, which I didn't see: Frank Howard had the pass of the year in the first half against Duke, with a 50-foot outlet to Dolezaj for a layup.

Worth noting not just because he's the least popular player on the team right now, but because we see way too few of those high-risk, high-reward passes with these conservative SU teams of late.

 

[FRANKIEFAN]

On the current roster? It’s Marek and it isn’t even close.

The guy who is almost scared to shoot and passes up wide open shots? Granted he has been a lot better this year than last with regards to shooting but you can't have 5 guys on the court afraid to take a jumper? I think Oshae is just as good of a low post passer as Marek.

 

[bpo57]

Im tempted to come out of left field and say Scoop but he just had too many random clueless errors. His street ball iq was great and at times meshed effortlessly onto the court. A lot of beautiful offense when he was on, but a lot of scream at the tv moments as well.

Yeah Scoop was fine but u came out of the upper deck in LF with that one.

 

[TheHaze315]

The guy who is almost scared to shoot and passes up wide open shots? Granted he has been a lot better this year than last with regards to shooting but you can't have 5 guys on the court afraid to take a jumper? I think Oshae is just as good of a low post passer as Marek.

Tyler Lydon did the same thing, does that mean his IQ was trash? Marek has the best overall court awareness and IQ on this team and if you can’t see that, then I have to doubt you know what you’re looking for.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Tyler Lydon did the same thing, does that mean his IQ was trash? Marek has the best overall court awareness and IQ on this team and if you can’t see that, then I have to doubt you know what you’re looking for.

I'll offer this: Marek is the player on the court who has some handling/passing responsibilities (true centers excluded) who is also least inclined to look for his own shot. So, he has more opportunities to appear to have high BBIQ than the other players. I'm not saying he doesn't have the IQ, just that he has a role that makes it easiest to demonstrate.

 

[Ghost]

I always thought Billy Owens' worst enemy was his own 'niceness.' I kinda identified with him—when i played as a kid, i overthought, and definitely had too much of a conscience. Missed a shot, felt i was letting my team down, and it affected my confidence far more than it should have. Billy was better than he knew he was, and if he had really had that 'shooter's mentality,' he would have produced even more than he did, which was still a pretty special career.

I remember going to Bugsy's, and seeing some townie walk up to Billy, and then just chat his ear off for 20 minutes, and Billy was just extraordinarily polite and conversed with him. And i know DC would have scowled, glared a hole in the townie's head and walked away without speaking.

I feel like it was in one of the Michael Jordan books, maybe in an interview, and I've mentioned the story here a few times, but I can't find it by Googling...

He said whenever the next crop of "superstars" came into the league he used to make sure he went after them immediately the first time their teams matched up, and he said he could always tell who would be make it and who wouldn't by how they reacted.

Did they challenge him, look him in the eyes, talk **** back, something like that, or did they just pass the ball away or refuse to D him back up on the other end, when he really got after them.

He said Owens wouldn't go at him at all and he knew then he wouldn't be a superstar (he talked about a few players, but Owens was the only one I cared about enough to remember).

 

[Zelda Zonk]

I feel like it was in one of the Michael Jordan books, maybe in an interview, and I've mentioned the story here a few times, but I can't find it by Googling...

He said whenever the next crop of "superstars" came into the league he used to make sure he went after them immediately the first time their teams matched up, and he said he could always tell who would be make it and who wouldn't by how they reacted.

Did they challenge him, look him in the eyes, something like that, or did they just pass the ball away or refuse to D him back up on the other end, when he got in their faces.

He said Owens wouldn't go at him at all and he knew then he wouldn't be a superstar (he talked about a few players, but Owens was the only one I cared about enough to remember).

I buy that.

 

[kuethstheman]

Marek's IQ fails him about once per defensive possession when he sees the guy he's guarding holding the ball just beyond Marek's reach.

 

[CardiacCuse]

On the current roster? It’s Marek and it isn’t even close.

his continuous boneheaded fouling prevents me from jumping on this bandwagon.

granted, he seems to get some bad calls against him on the reg - which isn't his fault.

But i think people are conflating high bb iq with playing with passion and hustle. Playing all out is endearing and says something about a player "getting it"...and in a sense - being the glue guy the team needs because you know that's what the team needs is a sign of awareness that some players seem to be lacking - many players don't seem to have an idea of how their play fits into what the team needs - they are just playing with their own self-interest at heart.

marek plays for the team - which puts him above most players in terms of bb iq - but he still has a ways to go in terms of being high bb iq. he needs to know when to shoot and how to make offenses pay - he does seem to be turning the corner and getting better at this - but the fouling is still an obstacle to him taking the next step - and part of that is out of his control as refs are very inconsistent with calls - therefore hard to adjust to how they call games.

 

[xc84]

 

[OrangePA]

Would it be Sherman? How about our most tenacious junkyard dog defender?

Mike Lee

 

[xc84]

Louis Orr fits here too

 

[GooseMutt]

Louis Orr fits here too

Was here at Cuse with Orr Bowie Head Cohen and shackleford. At Manley when Georgetown beat us to declare closing it. Love Orr

 

[OmahaCuse]

Lazy best IQ old man hoops

 

[OmahaCuse]

Laz

 

[orangefog]

So many good ones. Sherm had the IQ and the leadership qualities. I think Andy Rautins pops in my head too, because he was so smart in the zone. He took some well calculated risks that usually paid off.