Most impressed with Dolezaj.

[SBU72]

Ok, after 4 games I now see Dolezaj is easily my favorite player. Other than missing some "easy" layups, the kid does everything! If the other scholly players had his motor, you could make reservations for the FF and I don't make those kind of statements easily.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Ok, after 4 games I now see Dolezaj is easily my favorite player. Other than missing some "easy" layups, the kid does everything! If the other scholly players had his motor, you could make reservations for the FF and I don't make those kind of statements easily.

Needs to cut back on fouls, and can't grab the ball off the rim like they do in FIBA, but his hustle is infectious.

 

[realorange]

Needs to cut back on fouls, and can't grab the ball off the rim like they do in FIBA, but his hustle is infectious.

Yes, he's having a tough time adjusting to USA refs. International play would ignore half of the times he has been called.

Regardless, his instinctive feel for the game, where he needs to be, where the ball is going to go on a rebound, where his teammates are-----------.

He has the raw talent to be Very Good in the future.

 

[Townie72]

Look, I know this is crazy.

When I watched MD in the first game, I thought "Leo Rautins?"

But in the last two games, especially TSU, a bizarre thought crept into my head as I tried to grasp a fleeting image of who it was MD reminded me of when he does certain things. That scramble on the floor after the ball that ended up as a SU fast break is a case in point.

MD shows flashes of Larry Bird.

Of course, he isn't as tall and he is no where near the shooter Bird was, But Bird was always seeing things and doing things that others could or did not.

Now I recognize that Bird was one of the all-time greats, so comparing MD to him is beyond a stretch (maybe even "ridiculous"). But a couple of those MD plays and passes and I was thinking, "Where have I seen that before."

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Look, I know this is crazy.

When I watched MD in the first game, I thought "Leo Rautins?"

But in the last two games, especially TSU, a bizarre thought crept into my head as I tried to grasp a fleeting image of who it was MD reminded me of when he does certain things. That scramble on the floor after the ball that ended up as a SU fast break is a case in point.

MD shows flashes of Larry Bird.

Of course, he isn't as tall and he is no where near the shooter Bird was, But Bird was always seeing things and doing things that others could or did not.

Now I recognize that Bird was one of the all-time greats, so comparing MD to him is beyond a stretch (maybe even "ridiculous"). But a couple of those MD plays and passes and I was thinking, "Where have I seen that before."

I'll take the passing ability. I'd guess he has to be top 3 on the team for assists on the squad right now. Saw he had 7 over the weekend. That's fantastic.

 

[CusefanATL]

Ok, after 4 games I now see Dolezaj is easily my favorite player. Other than missing some "easy" layups, the kid does everything! If the other scholly players had his motor, you could make reservations for the FF and I don't make those kind of statements easily.

It took you 4 games? Super glad to have Twitter at times like this. Before Game 1 even ended.

 

[slidingdown]

If he's not careful, he's gonna give me a Marek-tion.


I'll show myself out.

 

[CusefanATL]

If he's not careful, he's gonna give me a Marek-tion.


I'll show myself out.

I didnt spit out my coffee - but it did go up through my nose.

 

[Newhouser]

One of his fouls was total BS by a stripe who anticipated the foul on the block rather than letting it play out.

 

[44doubledees]

Seems Wildhack is counting on him being here next year, not sure how in depth he would talk to JB about these things (I know I would if I was AD lol) but I thought it was interesting that he said on the broadcast that MD would benefit from our S&C guys in year 2. MD in year 2, front court would be loaded next year, loaded. I like the SB/PC platoon, and then Baze, Oshae, MD, and moyer providing depth. Wow!

 

[Brooky03]

I'm going to reserve judgment until I see him against some legitimate size. Don't get me wrong, he's played better than I expected up to this point, but he has a serious strength issue and he might not have the athleticism to make up for it. I will say that he looks skilled for his size and he seems to know where to be and when on the court.

 

[edowd26]

If he's not careful, he's gonna give me a Marek-tion.


I'll show myself out.

Took me way longer to sound out than it should have. Made it more funny for me though.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Took me way longer to sound out than it should have. Made it more funny for me though.

Me too. I pronounced the end (TION) wrong. Once I got it, very funny...

 

[SC Orange]

I'm going to reserve judgment until I see him against some legitimate size. Don't get me wrong, he's played better than I expected up to this point, but he has a serious strength issue and he might not have the athleticism to make up for it. I will say that he looks skilled for his size and he seems to know where to be and when on the court.

This is spot on, I feel the same way. I am enamored with the effort. It is almost reminiscent of the effort Ongenat showed every night, maybe its a euro thing. Anyways he will continue to get better and impress.

When he is eventually done at Syracuse he will go down as a fan favorite for sure.

 

[HakAttack]

One of his fouls was total BS by a stripe who anticipated the foul on the block rather than letting it play out.

If you're thinking of the same "suspect" foul that I was, it came as a late whistle.

 

[orangezen]

I named him Dolemite ... cause hes a bad mfer

 

[CuseFaninVT]

If you're thinking of the same "suspect" foul that I was, it came as a late whistle.

He probably hit the guys hand on that block, but I thought the hand was part of the ball. He did NOT hit him with the body sufficient to warrant a foul. That's for sure.

 

[HakAttack]

He probably hit the guys hand on that block, but I thought the hand was part of the ball. He did NOT hit him with the body sufficient to warrant a foul. That's for sure.

That might have been the foul call on what seemed like a clean block. There was one nasty stuff where he got all ball as the guy went up, but got whistled for a foul.

 

[AZOrange]

Anyone that doesn’t believe in b-ball IQ after comparing last years team to this years team is cray cray

 

[Townie72]

I'm going to reserve judgment until I see him against some legitimate size. Don't get me wrong, he's played better than I expected up to this point, but he has a serious strength issue and he might not have the athleticism to make up for it. I will say that he looks skilled for his size and he seems to know where to be and when on the court.

Georgetown's Reggie Williams was 6'7" and never weighed more than 190lbs. And he played 10 years as a pro. Seems he was able to overcome the "serious strength issues" you are concerned about.

 

[cuse10]

Georgetown's Reggie Williams was 6'7" and never weighed more than 190lbs. And he played 10 years as a pro. Seems he was able to overcome the "serious strength issues" you are concerned about.

Strength and building it is very overrated in basketball. This isn't football. Kevin Durant has done just fine being a 7 foot twig.

My only negative with Marek is that he has no confidence in his jump shot. So far through the four regular season games, when he's had an open look at the three point line, he'll pass it up. At some point, he has to shoot. Even if he misses, it will keep defenses honest.

 

[bballbeadle]

This is spot on, I feel the same way. I am enamored with the effort. It is almost reminiscent of the effort Ongenat showed every night, maybe its a euro thing. Anyways he will continue to get better and impress.

When he is eventually done at Syracuse he will go down as a fan favorite for sure.

Already he is cheered by the fans whenever he comes out of the game. He never gives up on a play.

 

[two3zone]

Strength and building it is very overrated in basketball. This isn't football. Kevin Durant has done just fine being a 7 foot twig.

My only negative with Marek is that he has no confidence in his jump shot. So far through the four regular season games, when he's had an open look at the three point line, he'll pass it up. At some point, he has to shoot. Even if he misses, it will keep defenses honest.

Kevin Durant is also an athletic freak with insane raw basketball skill.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Anyone that doesn’t believe in b-ball IQ after comparing last years team to this years team is cray cray

Bball IQ is the most abused "go to" statement in fan posting vernacular. I wish we could dig up all the posts in the past 10 years to illustrate this point. Whenever we're playing well, certain posters will say the team has great BBall IQ. And when we start losing, the same posters will say the opposite.

 

[Jasoncuse]

His touch pass to Brissett for the dunk on a fast break was all you needed to see to know his bball IQ is very high.

His skills don't come close to his understanding of the game, but hopefully those will come. If he could finish inside at all, his hustle and scrappiness would make him a double-double threat. I don't know if his D is any good yet (can't judge playing against mid-majors, IMO), but I'm guessing he has a pretty good grasp from what I've seen.

If I were JB, MD would play about 30 minutes and Moyer probably would get scraps, if he's lucky, which seems to already have happened. Dolezaj can just do so much more and even though he's physically weak, I think his quickness plays better.