MCW and Steals

[Knicks411]

I don't know why I didn't totally realize this until yesterday as I was watching the game, but I had this epiphany that MCW is going to get so many steals this year. So I went back and looked at the stats from 2012. Last year, Dion had a steal % of 4.6%, which was good for 15th in the country. MCW, in his limited minutes, was at 4.5%. Obviously, you can't project totally from the limited minutes, but he also had 5 steals yesterday. I'm not saying he will be in the top 15 in steal % but I'd be anything he's in the top 30 or so, and top 15 wouldn't surprise me at all.

 

[jdubs30]

Agreed. I don't think he's as quick with his hands as Dion was, but his length is a major factor and will bother a lot of the smaller guards we will play. Not many PG's have to worry about being guarded by someone who is 5 inches taller than them.

 

[fanfanclubclub]

MCW is going to get so many steals this year.

Yup, a ton. Like Dion, MCW is a monster when he decides to go get the ball, and his steals will always be points.

 

[MikeSU02]

His size is going to give people fits. Hopefully we get a lot of transition points off steals from the top of the zone. I can see a lot of MCW to Triche transition buckets.

 

[Gabjon]

I think top 10 is reasonable wasn't Andy number 1 his senior year? The zone produces a lot of steals and with his length and Bball IQ he should get a ton of steals....a ton!

 

[fanfanclubclub]

I think top 10 is reasonable wasn't Andy number 1 his senior year? The zone produces a lot of steals and with his length and Bball IQ he should get a ton of steals....a ton!

No, Andy was 35th in steals per game, and way further down the list in steals per 40. Dion had a higher steals per 40 ratio (3.14 > 2.51)

 

[Knicks411]

I was looking at the Pomeroy steal %; Andy was 117th in his senior year.

 

[Gabjon]

Ok I clearly misremembered on that one

 

[HouseOfCuse]

What shocks me is MCWs explosion when he goes after the ball and then takes it down the court. On the one play he was clearly behind that defender and just out hustled him to the ball and then took it by him for an easy lay up. Seems like he does this a lot. Once he gets the steal he gets past his defender easily.

 

[Melancer46]

What shocks me is MCWs explosion when he goes after the ball and then takes it down the court. On the one play he was clearly behind that defender and just out hustled him to the ball and then took it by him for an easy lay up. Seems like he does this a lot. Once he gets the steal he gets past his defender easily.

Yeah, that was one thing I took away from the game yesterday. He was a lot faster than I remembered.

But regarding the OP, definitely agree. MCW and Triche at the top of the zone is a huge strength. Not only will they rack up steals, but they actually do a very good job of rotating and forcing players into the help defense. Our defense should definitely be one of the best in the country this year.

 

[Bornorange]

Andy stole a lot of passes. Dion and MCW turnover the ballhandler.

 

[cuseinseattle]

I agree that MCW will get a lot of steals. I think with him and Triche at the top it is the best top of the zone defense we have ever had. Not sure if people have another 2 guys they would put up against them. I could be wrong but I feel like Rautins got a lot of his steals coming down on forwards and and guards in the key or people trying to through the ball back outside from the inside. To me MCW gets a lot of steals on deflecting entry passes and taking the ball away from guards who show it on the drive. Not sure if others agree. Not that it matters just an observation.

 

[moqui]

yeah, but he reaches in too much (at least yesterday he did), and that could be a real problem going forward. Depth in the backcourt is this team's biggest weakness - hell, maybe it's only weakness - and we cant afford to have MCW shackled with foul trouble.

 

[Brooky03]

Carter-Williams might go down as the best guard we've had at denying/intercepting entry passes to the foul line. All we here about beating the zone is the need to get the ball to the foul line. Taking that away will pay serious dividends.

 

[br801]

yeah, be he reaches in too much (at least yesterday he did), and that could be a real problem going forward. Depth in the backcourt is this team's biggest weakness - hell, maybe it's only weakness - and we cant afford to have MCW shackled with foul trouble.

He reaches and gambles a bit too much at this point, but it's nothing a few JB teaching moments won't cure. This year will be a lot of fun if both MCW and Triche can stay out of foul trouble.

 

[OttoMets]

Mike had a couple nice rebounds (going up and attacking the ball at its apex), which were nice to see. And he had a number of steals. But those postives (like with Dion) sometimes cover up the fact that he reaches a lot and still isn't very quick laterally.

And he did have two nice buckets in transition, but let's not be fooled into thinking he's quicking getting out on the break. Dave Siock would've looked fast if compared to Tapley and those other slow guards.

The rebounding and shotblocking potential are nice bonuses, though. Can't remember a Syracuse point guard who's had a chance to be so productive in those two areas.

 

[Melancer46]

Mike had a couple nice rebounds (going up and attacking the ball at its apex), which were nice to see. And he had a number of steals. But those postives (like with Dion) sometimes cover up the fact that he reaches a lot and still isn't very quick laterally.

And he did have two nice buckets in transition, but let's not be fooled into thinking he's quicking getting out on the break. Dave Siock would've looked fast if compared to Tapley and those other slow guards.

The rebounding and shotblocking potential are nice bonuses, though. Can't remember a Syracuse point guard who's had a chance to be so productive in those two areas.

He seems like a guy that's pretty good at knowing his limits though. I don't think I saw any instances where he tried to jump a passing lane and ended up getting beat because of it. Maybe once? He did a nice job of picking and choosing when to go for the steal, and when he didn't, he did a pretty nice job of forcing whoever he was defending back into the help defense. Dion was a guy that just went for every steal and block possible but didn't really seem like he knew how to play sound defense. MCW seems like he has both down pretty well.

 

[OttoMets]

He seems like a guy that's pretty good at knowing his limits though. I don't think I saw any instances where he tried to jump a passing lane and ended up getting beat because of it. Maybe once? He did a nice job of picking and choosing when to go for the steal, and when he didn't, he did a pretty nice job of forcing whoever he was defending back into the help defense. Dion was a guy that just went for every steal and block possible but didn't really seem like he knew how to play sound defense. MCW seems like he has both down pretty well.

Yeah, good point. I think he might've done it once, but he didn't end up out at midcourt like Dion often did. I liked his effort, but he was often feast or famine when going for steals.

 

[Gabjon]

yeah, but he reaches in too much (at least yesterday he did), and that could be a real problem going forward. Depth in the backcourt is this team's biggest weakness - hell, maybe it's only weakness - and we cant afford to have MCW shackled with foul trouble.

He did foul out yesterday!