While Marek Dolezaj’s broken finger healed, he focused on getting bigger and stronger

[OrangeXtreme]

While Marek Dolezaj’s broken finger healed, he focused on getting bigger and stronger

The Syracuse basketball forward had surgery in June to repair a broken middle finger.

www.syracuse.com

 

[RF2044]

10 much-need pounds.

Good to see, after he lost weight heading into year 2.

Curious to hear what people expect from Marek this year -- now that he's in his third year, with tons of PT / game experience under his beltI wouldn't be surprised to see him average double figures.

 

[Todoubled23]

Re: playing time

“It’s Coach’s decision,” he said. “I will play whatever he wants me to play. If he wants me to play point guard, I will play point guard. I just want to play the game, help the team. It doesn’t matter whether I play center or point guard, I just want to be on the court and help the team.”

Get this kid a medal for real. Only player in CBB to take a charge from Zion.

 

[moqui]

interesting forward rotation this year: the shooting of eli, the power of quincy, the all around game of marek

with braswell & edwards waiting in the wings for their shot

 

[Newhouser]

we are better when he is on the floor because he has the best passing instincts on the team. Or at least has been in his time here. Facilitators find minutes, especially ones with a diverse skill set.

 

[Cusefan0307]

I'd put money on him still playing a lot of center.

 

[OrangeDW]

10 much-need pounds.

Good to see, after he lost weight heading into year 2.

Curious to hear what people expect from Marek this year -- now that he's in his third year, with tons of PT / game experience under his beltI wouldn't be surprised to see him average double figures.

I could see him averaging doubles, but I’m not sure he’ll shoot enough to do it, because Hughes, Quincy, Buddy, and Jalen all seem likely to take more shots than him and it’s tough to average doubles if you’re 5th on the team in shot attempts. Never know though. I could be jumping the gun in Quincy and Jalen, but just from what I’ve watched from them so far, they seem to be aggressive offensive minded players - where Marek tends to be more selective.

Love Marek’s game. Curious to see if he can continue to improve his shooting range and add to his off the dribble game. Last year he showed the occasional shot fake and blow by and attacked the rim hard...something he really never did as a freshman.

 

[orangefog]

I'd put money on him still playing a lot of center.

It is up to Sidibe to rebound, block shots and provide enough offense to stay on the floor. This sounds crazy, but the less Marek plays, the likely better we are.

Edit: to be clear, I love Marek’s game, but if his minutes are few, it’s because Eli, Quincy and Sid are playing well.

 

[moqui]

I'd put money on him still playing a lot of center.

barring injury, no more than 8-10; a healthy bourama is going to eat most of those minutes

 

[RF2044]

barring injury, no more than 8-10; a healthy bourama is going to eat most of those minutes

Agreed. I think our fanbase is reluctant to expect anything from Sidibe because they haven't seen him healthy, and don't realize what we have.

If he can play pain free, he's an impact player. And we have lots of options behind him with Marek / Edwards / Ajak. Good problem to have.

 

[rrlbees]

10 much-need pounds.

Good to see, after he lost weight heading into year 2.

Curious to hear what people expect from Marek this year -- now that he's in his third year, with tons of PT / game experience under his beltI wouldn't be surprised to see him average double figures.

I think 10ppg is doable for him. Not sure he’ll have the ball enough or get big 30+ mpg to get there but it’s certainly possible. With all the little things he does well, if he were to get to 10ppg he’d be a huge asset. But I’m expecting about 8 and 6 from him which is still really good.

 

[RF2044]

I think 10ppg is doable for him. Not sure he’ll have the ball enough or get big 30+ mpg to get there but it’s certainly possible. With all the little things he does well, if he were to get to 10ppg he’d be a huge asset. But I’m expecting about 8 and 6 from him which is still really good.

Sign me up for that -- 8 and 6 would be tremendous production off the bench.

 

[jncuse]

Not a big fan of throwing out gross points and rebounds as goals for role players. As goals they mean nothing because they are so minutes dependent.

If we are going to focus on box score stat development I would prefer using PER. Of course PER has several limitations that miss the intangibles (which Dolezaj has) and are impacted by role as well. But it is a much better development measure if we are looking at box score stats only.

His PER was basically the same the last 2 years (13.8 and 13.7). I think he has to get that up to at least 16 this year.

 

[RoysRunts]

Marek = Clutch, Whatever is needed he provides it......

 

[moqui]

Agreed. I think our fanbase is reluctant to expect anything from Sidibe because they haven't seen him healthy, and don't realize what we have.

If he can play pain free, he's an impact player. And we have lots of options behind him with Marek / Edwards / Ajak. Good problem to have.

i don't know what he'll give us on the offensive end, but a healthy, mobile sidibe should change the nature of the zone and allow it to be less passive and more of a weapon

 

[OttoinGrotto]

i don't know what he'll give us on the offensive end, but a healthy, mobile sidibe should change the nature of the zone and allow it to be less passive and more of a weapon

The Sidibe factor is no doubt one of the most intriguing things about this upcoming season.

I hate calling an injured player a bust, so I won't, but I think everybody would agree we haven't seen the player we hoped we would yet.

He has a huge opportunity.

 

[Brooky03]

10 much-need pounds.

Good to see, after he lost weight heading into year 2.

Curious to hear what people expect from Marek this year -- now that he's in his third year, with tons of PT / game experience under his beltI wouldn't be surprised to see him average double figures.

I don’t think points will be his thing. I think he’ll be efficient on low volume. What I’ll be looking for is assists and rebounds.

 

[kcsu]

10 pounds. What is that about
2 OZ per inch. Kids gonna be an animal

 

[FrancoPizza]

Last year he showed the occasional shot fake and blow by.

has Dixon been seen at practices?

 

[OrangeFoo]

10 much-need pounds.

Good to see, after he lost weight heading into year 2.

Curious to hear what people expect from Marek this year -- now that he's in his third year, with tons of PT / game experience under his belt I wouldn't be surprised to see him average double figures.

Given that it’s year 3 for him and we don’t have an experienced point guard... I would love it if they made him a point forward and ran the offense through him. Let him get the ball in the high post and initiate the offense from there. Not sure what his point totals are but I expect him to have a ton of secondary assists and a really high +/- rating.

 

[Trueblue25]

He needs to take shots. Far too often he becomes complacent in the backround. His grit and effort is nice but every other game his defender can afford to play off him and double shooters like Elijah or Carey.

 

[20plus]

interesting forward rotation this year: the shooting of eli, the power of quincy, the all around game of marek

with braswell & edwards waiting in the wings for their shot

You see Edwards as a forward???

 

[AustinCuse]

Given that it’s year 3 for him and we don’t have an experienced point guard... I would love it if they made him a point forward and ran the offense through him. Let him get the ball in the high post and initiate the offense from there. Not sure what his point totals are but I expect him to have a ton of secondary assists and a really high +/- rating.

With positionless basketball being adopted in the NBA, this is an interesting take. Back to the days of Derrick bring the ball up the court - Whichever 5 best players are available, get them on the court - that includes Marek for sure.

 

[shu 49]

I'd put money on him still playing a lot of center.

I don’t think he will too much maybe some but not like we thought originally.

 

[Todoubled23]

"Dolejaz is 3 inches taller than Williamson and 100lbs lighter"