Roc Christmas

[iommi]

There was a very interesting sequence of events during last night's game. In the first half, JB called a time-out because Roc was slow to get out on one of Long Beach State's shooters (I think it was (Nick) Pappageorgio of Vegas Vacation) and JB ripped Roc a new one.

Out of timeout, MCW went over to Roc and gave him a little pep talk and encouragement. The very next possession, MCW fed the ball to Roc for an easy dunk (I think it may have been an alley-oop) and Roc seemed to play with a tremendous amount of passion for the next few minutes. Two things...

1) Great leadership by MCW..;

2) Great job by JB, lighting a fire under Christmas. My question is: why can't Roc play with that motor revved up all the time? He's a frustrating player to watch because he sort of fades out of view for long stretches. He's got scary athleticism and length. He needs to play meaner and play hard all the time. I don't think he's lazy.

 

[CaliCuse]

There was a very interesting sequence of events during last night's game. In the first half, JB called a time-out because Roc was slow to get out on one of Long Beach State's shooters (I think it was (Nick) Pappageorgio of Vegas Vacation) and JB ripped Roc a new one.

Out of timeout, MCW went over to Roc and gave him a little pep talk and encouragement. The very next possession, MCW fed the ball to Roc for an easy dunk (I think it may have been an alley-oop) and Roc seemed to play with a tremendous amount of passion for the next few minutes. Two things...

1) Great leadership by MCW..;

2) Great job by JB, lighting a fire under Christmas. My question is: why can't Roc play with that motor revved up all the time? He's a frustrating player to watch because he sort of fades out of view for long stretches. He's got scary athleticism and length. He needs to play meaner and play hard all the time. I don't think he's lazy.

I agree with the observation but EC isn't alone . I recall many games that Brandon vanished for long stretches. He may have been on the floor but his head was clearly elsewhere.surprisingly I never saw Jimmy get in his face during a game because of this stuff.I wonder that the rest of the team does so well that others become spectators and enjoy the show instead of getting involved more themselves.

 

[stuckinbig11]

I sat with him at the Hardwood Club dinner last year--just a nice, quiet kid with no apparent beast in him. I like that, but he still needs to get fired up more on the court.

 

[br801]

2) Great job by JB, lighting a fire under Christmas. My question is: why can't Roc play with that motor revved up all the time? He's a frustrating player to watch because he sort of fades out of view for long stretches. He's got scary athleticism and length. He needs to play meaner and play hard all the time. I don't think he's lazy.

Unless he's out there with Keita, right now he's going to be the last option on offense. I do think we'll see the guards make more of an effort to get him involved offensively early in upcoming games, but this team is not going to live and die by his offense. Developing DC2's offense is much more of a priority, as he seems to have the higher ceiling there.

Rak's real value right now is as a defensive enforcer and shot blocker; he's already pretty good at that and getting better.

 

[pfister1]

There was a very interesting sequence of events during last night's game. In the first half, JB called a time-out because Roc was slow to get out on one of Long Beach State's shooters (I think it was (Nick) Pappageorgio of Vegas Vacation) and JB ripped Roc a new one.

Out of timeout, MCW went over to Roc and gave him a little pep talk and encouragement. The very next possession, MCW fed the ball to Roc for an easy dunk (I think it may have been an alley-oop) and Roc seemed to play with a tremendous amount of passion for the next few minutes. Two things...

1) Great leadership by MCW..;

2) Great job by JB, lighting a fire under Christmas. My question is: why can't Roc play with that motor revved up all the time? He's a frustrating player to watch because he sort of fades out of view for long stretches. He's got scary athleticism and length. He needs to play meaner and play hard all the time. I don't think he's lazy.

Guys with Rak's athleticism are eventually 1st round draft picks. Guys with Rak's athleticism and the motor you're looking for are one and done lottery picks.

 

[iommi]

Unless he's out there with Keita, right now he's going to be the last option on offense. I do think we'll see the guards make more of an effort to get him involved offensively early in upcoming games, but this team is not going to live and die by his offense. Developing DC2's offense is much more of a priority, as he seems to have the higher ceiling there.

Rak's real value right now is as a defensive enforcer and shot blocker; he's already pretty good at that and getting better.

Oh, I agree with this. It's still frustrating. I'd sign up for 8/8/2 from Christmas (especially considering the other production we get from our other bigs),

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

I think we just figure every McD we get is going to be a star. They just don't all turn out that way. Roc seems like a nice kid and is a nice role player for the team. Like most kids who play college hoops.

 

[br801]

Oh, I agree with this. It's still frustrating. I'd sign up for 8/8/2 from Christmas (especially considering the other production we get from our other bigs),

I think it's hard to expect a certain number of rebounds for him (like 8) and judge him against that because it looks like none of the bigs will be playing huge minutes this year. Plus, as someone pointed out in another thread, we seem to have several good rebounders in the rotation (MCW, BT, CJ, Southy) and these guys are all cannibalizing boards from each other and the bigs. In this scenario, if someone's raw rebounding numbers don't look impressive, it doesn't necessarily mean he isn't getting it done.

 

[priestp]

I remember watching and thinking similar thoughts about Watkins a few years ago. There was a game in particular when an opposing player hit him in the nutz while battling in the lane. Watkins was furious and exchanged words, for the rest of the half he was a beast. Every game after that I hoped someone would give him a good donkey punch so he would show up and play hard.
I'm not saying Rak doesn't play hard, it is just apparent that he isn't always going 100%, but when he does he is really good.

 

[iommi]

I think it's hard to expect a certain number of rebounds for him (like 8) and judge him against that because it looks like none of the bigs will be playing huge minutes this year. Plus, as someone pointed out in another thread, we seem to have several good rebounders in the rotation (MCW, BT, CJ, Southy) and these guys are all cannibalizing boards from each other and the bigs. In this scenario, if someone's raw rebounding numbers don't look impressive, it doesn't necessarily mean he isn't getting it done.

Yeah, our guards really rebound well, especially MCW and BT.

 

[pearl31]

I remember watching and thinking similar thoughts about Watkins a few years ago.

Yeah, Roc does kind of remind me of Mookie a bit - just in his demeanor (aloof?), size and the (so far) untapped potential.