Most impressed with Dolezaj.

[cuse10]

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

You're moving the goalposts. You don't need to be a workout warrior to have a fruitful and impactful basketball career. I've been around the game well over a decade in a coaching/development capacity.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

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.

Durant is 240 pounds. He was 225 pounds when he left college. Do you guys even google?

 

[cuse10]

Durant is 240 pounds. He was 225 pounds when he left college. Do you guys even google?

And he's 7 feet. He's gained 15 pounds on his frame since June 2007. So what?

 

[two3zone]

You're moving the goalposts. You don't need to be a workout warrior to have a fruitful and impactful basketball career. I've been around the game well over a decade in a coaching/development capacity.

I'm moving goalposts? The goalpost moving is mentioning freakishly athletic and highly skilled skinny guys as a reason why Marek will succeed. I'm not saying he won't be good here but it's ridiculous using Warrick and Durant as reasons why he'll succeed.

 

[Chicago44s]

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."

Is it just me or is he what Kristof Ongenaet would have been if he came here as a freshman?

 

[OrangeDW]

Obviously he’d be a better player if he was stronger. But I don’t think lack of strength is something that can’t be compensated for in a lot of instances. I’m sure there will be rebounds that he won’t get where strength is the reason. I’m also sure there are rebounds that many others wouldn’t get that he will due to his instincts, timing, length, and hustle. I think he’ll finish better when he’s stronger, he’ll be able to defend the paint better, etc. But it has no effect on some of his strengths like his passing, hustle, closeouts, defensive instincts and forcing turnovers, etc.

If we’re talking lacking key physical attributes, I’d rather have a younger player be skinny and weak compared to slow, uncoordinated, or short. Those 3 things are harder to compensate for and harder to improve IMO.

 

[Brooky03]

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.

Okay Townie

 

[SU Dreaming]

love the kid, he gives it his all, fearless, tremendous athlete, great hands, sees the floor, he has and is the intangibles type of player that every winning team needs, seems like the guys really like him as well, nice kid, i like Moyer, but as it is right now, no contest who is playing major minutes

 

[orangefog]

Justin Jackson was like 140 lbs.

 

[Brooky03]

The Queen of England was like 105 in her prime.

 

[AZOrange]

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.

That’s just dumb. In the world of bad basketball posts FrancoPizza wins.

It’s very easy to see and comprehend b-ball iq. You can improve iq and skill can overcome iq deficiency but usually players revert to their baseline. AW/Gillon were low even after monster games. Battle and Marek are very high (they just consistently make the right play and understand the larger strategy of what they do). I think OB is in this category. Frank I struggle with because at times he sees plays that low b-ball iq players don’t make. I tend to think his issue is sloppiness

 

[SC Orange]

Is it just me or is he what Kristof Ongenaet would have been if he came here as a freshman?

From a hustle and effort perspective agreed, but I think Marek will be a much more complete player than KO when he is done.

 

[Waltdods]

From a hustle and effort perspective agreed, but I think Marek will be a much more complete player than KO when he is done.

Yea this comparison sells marek short a lot. KO was a warrior and a pretty good athlete but not very skilled. (He was also built in a way I doubt marek ever gets to.) I think the better KO comparison on this years team is Moyer.

Someone made the cj fair comparison; I think that's a good one. Another one I would throw out is Preston shumpert. By the end of his career he was known for his shooting but as a freshman in particular he was a guy who was always in the right spot, scored a lot of garbage points, rebounded well, and actually wasn't a great shooter 29 percent on threes). Like fair and md, he just had a great feel for the game from the moment he stepped on campus. The scoring came soon enough for both fair and shumpert and I suspect it will for md (assuming he's back next year).

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

That’s just dumb. In the world of bad basketball posts FrancoPizza wins.

It’s very easy to see and comprehend b-ball iq. You can improve iq and skill can overcome iq deficiency but usually players revert to their baseline. AW/Gillon were low even after monster games. Battle and Marek are very high (they just consistently make the right play and understand the larger strategy of what they do). I think OB is in this category. Frank I struggle with because at times he sees plays that low b-ball iq players don’t make. I tend to think his issue is sloppiness

If FH had Andy Rautins bball IQ, he'd be all ACC.

 

[Oakland]

I have often thought the same thing, and always get a chuckle whenever a new player shows up at SU and there is a chorus of "...10-15 lbs...". If Durant or Curry came to SU, we would hear the same thing. And it is almost always, 10-15. Anyone who says 15-20 is wrong!

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.