MD needs to play | Syracusefan.com

MD needs to play

I was a little bullish on MD so far but I think he needs to play as much as possible. I don’t know where but I don’t like Paschal in there on offense at all. Marek at the 5 against real competition will not be sustainable defensively. Maybe Sidibe can start if he keeps improving and is as active as he was tonight. Outside of the weird pirouette play where he sort of did a left handed hook shot after the weird pirouette (he did get fouled but missed both I think); he played well. Was quick off his feet too a couple of plays for boards. But, yeah, Marek helps move the ball in an already stagnant offense.
 
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SoBeCuse said:
I was a little bullish on MD so far but I think he needs to play as much as possible. I don’t know where but I don’t like Paschal in there on offense at all. Marek at the 5 against real competition will not be sustainable defensively. Maybe Sidibe can start if he keeps improving and is as active as he was tonight. Outside of the weird pirouette play where he sort of did a left handed hook shot after the weird pirouette he did get fouled but missed both I think); he played well. Was quick off his feet too a couple of plays for boards. But, yeah, Marek helps move the ball in an already stagnant offense.
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he needs to shoot more. he became a force last year, and he has been obviously told not to shoot. i was at the garden and he did not even look at the basket when he had open shots. we are missing the boat with him. if he becomes a scoring threat outside it creates multiple opportunities for everyone. the kid is a baller. he seems to have lost all the confidence he had at the end of last year. shame on jb
 
tipphill said:
he needs to shoot more. he became a force last year, and he has been obviously told not to shoot. i was at the garden and he did not even look at the basket when he had open shots. we are missing the boat with him. if he becomes a scoring threat outside it creates multiple opportunities for everyone. the kid is a baller. he seems to have lost all the confidence he had at the end of last year. shame on jb
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Doubt it. That’s just how he plays.

Even when he became a “force” last year he was still very selective with his shots.
 
Dolezaj did play. 24 mins which is about what he’ll get considering our depth. He also shot 5 times. If he was told not to shoot, why would he attempt a 3 pointer at all? It’s up to him to be more aggressive offensively.
 
Just curious why folks think he can’t play a lot of minutes at the 5...he’s 6’10...is he to skinny? PC and BS are skinny too. Marek does bring MUCH more on offense...in fact you could run that high pick n roll with him. He could pop and hit the 3 or roll it hard to the iron.
 
It all depends on matchups. JB likes him enough that he can get 20-30 minutes/game when he is the appropriate fit. If you need a "true center" then he gets 10-15 minutes/game to give OB/EH breaks. If we are going to improve this year, we need to use the depth to our advantage. Once Frank is healthy, and other guys get more comfortable, that should be achievable
 
81South said:
Just curious why folks think he can’t play a lot of minutes at the 5...he’s 6’10...is he to skinny? PC and BS are skinny too. Marek does bring MUCH more on offense game fact you could run that high pick n roll with him. He could pop and hit the 3 or roll it hard to the iron.
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Fixed
 
80 forward minutes available. As far as I’ve seen, as an overall player? There’s no one that’s significantly better than the other 2. There’s no 35 mpg guy.

At this point, I’d be ok with the minutes being split evenly like they were between our backcourt in 2012(Scoop, Triche, Waiters).

Of course, if Marek needs to play at Center some, then that adds minutes to the other two forwards.

Forwards that play 30+ minutes and get the ball a lot and average like 1 assist per game...eh.
 
tipphill said:
he needs to shoot more. he became a force last year, and he has been obviously told not to shoot. i was at the garden and he did not even look at the basket when he had open shots. we are missing the boat with him. if he becomes a scoring threat outside it creates multiple opportunities for everyone. the kid is a baller. he seems to have lost all the confidence he had at the end of last year. shame on jb
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There are a lot of explanations for why Marek hasn't been pulling the trigger or even "looking at the basket" and not all of them involve JB "telling" him not to shoot.
 
Lucid said:
There are a lot of explanations for why Marek hasn't been pulling the trigger or even "looking at the basket" and not all of them involve JB "telling" him not to shoot.
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Yeah. And when others are making shots, I’ll take what he did yesterday...4 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, filling a variety of roles. And he does stuff that doesn’t show up in the stats. Good passes that don’t register as assists, hustle plays, being in the right places...he seems to make the game easier for his teammates.

As long as other guys on the court are making shots, which yesterday Battle and Hughes did, and OB started to late, then you can have him out there a lot IMO.
 
OrangeDW said:
Yeah. And when others are making shots, I’ll take what he did yesterday...4 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, filling a variety of roles. And he does stuff that doesn’t show up in the stats. Good passes that don’t register as assists, hustle plays, being in the right places...he seems to make the game easier for his teammates.

As long as other guys on the court are making shots, which yesterday Battle and Hughes did, and OB started to late, then you can have him out there a lot IMO.
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he can functionally fill in at 3 positions, he does all the little things that you need to be successful, but he can also score so he can't be left undefended. he's like a trusty jack knife
 
OrangeDW said:
Yeah. And when others are making shots, I’ll take what he did yesterday...4 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, filling a variety of roles. And he does stuff that doesn’t show up in the stats. Good passes that don’t register as assists, hustle plays, being in the right places...he seems to make the game easier for his teammates.

As long as other guys on the court are making shots, which yesterday Battle and Hughes did, and OB started to late, then you can have him out there a lot IMO.
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Agreed. He’s a good do-a-little-of-everything guy. But, he’s still a role player type. Fine. Like you said, the others should be doing the bulk of the scoring. He helps in other ways. It’s tricky. He needs to play but you can’t have too much of him and Paschal out there. Against certain teams it would be 3 on 5 on offense if they are in there together and a man down otherwise.
 
Ok on the back line - who else is out besides Paschal- is it Marek, Oshae, or Bourama if Hughes, Tyus and Frank are starters? Defensively we aren't as good with Hughes in the back line but he's one of our best and most consistent offensive players. I love Marek because he's a facilitator, he makes those around him better but currently he leaves much to be desired on his own offensively. Defensively Dolezaj's effectiveness is dependent on matchups - he wasn't very effective against UConn nor Oregon. Paschal was averaging 2 blocks a game plus has the ability to affect shots without even blocking them, how important is that coupled with his limited offense since he needs to be setup to score - maybe just certain opponents? If Sidibe keeps improving especially defensively, stays healthy then maybe he can be a more consistent answer. Wish Oshae could follow John Wallace's career progression - improve his strength and inside game-offensively then work to the outside. I haven't even mentioned Carey. I would imagine JB will have to depend on what matchups opponents present to know which specific combo is best against whom. Nice puzzle pieces but not easy options to put together yet. Happy Thanksgiving!!!!
 
SoBeCuse said:
Agreed. He’s a good do-a-little-of-everything guy. But, he’s still a role player type. Fine. Like you said, the others should be doing the bulk of the scoring. He helps in other ways. It’s tricky. He needs to play but you can’t have too much of him and Paschal out there. Against certain teams it would be 3 on 5 on offense if they are in there together and a man down otherwise.
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Agreed. That’s what I mean when I talked about when others are making shots. If, say, Battle and Hughes are hot and Frank is playing well, then you can have role players out there a lot.

If it’s like NY where nobody can make a shot and the other team is effectively blanketing our best scorers, then I can see where he plays less and you put more aggressive scorers out there out of necessity.

I’m hoping Frank’s return both effectively frees up Battle to get buckets and he plays like yesterday going forward, and also gives us a guy who provides both passing/intangibles AND some scoring. Having that PG out there to both run the offense and often score double figures adds a lot.
 
moqui said:
he can functionally fill in at 3 positions, he does all the little things that you need to be successful, but he can also score so he can't be left undefended. he's like a trusty jack knife
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i was just thinking . . . the pocketknife i carry is the leatherman skeletool. given marek's versatility and frame, "skeletool" would be an awesome nickname for him
 
If Sidibe stays healthy I think we give him more minutes at the C he played really well yesterday. Just needs to get rid of rust.
 
81South said:
Just curious why folks think he can’t play a lot of minutes at the 5...he’s 6’10...is he to skinny? PC and BS are skinny too. Marek does bring MUCH more on offense...in fact you could run that high pick n roll with him. He could pop and hit the 3 or roll it hard to the iron.
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They're all thin but MD is listed as 50lbs lighter than PC and 25lbs lighter than Sidibe. That's significant. Howard, Hughes, Buddy, Braswell and Battle all weigh more than MD. Hell, Autry Jr weighs more than him.

I love MD and I think he has good insticts on defense and is no doubt our best option at the 5 as far as that goes. But at 180lbs he can't play significant minutes there vs. ACC teams. He can do it for a few minute spurts but for 20+ minutes vs. an ACC team we'd get pounded on the boards and in the paint
 
He makes everything work. Need guys like him on the floor. Glue guy.
 
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