Want to know my concern? (and I pointed this out to Hungry Jack at the Depaul game). I'm worried it's less to do with injury, and more to do with him having below average foot quickness in general.
Mooney - week 2
- Thread starter haywood jahblowme
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Want to know my concern? (and I pointed this out to Hungry Jack at the Depaul game). I'm worried it's less to do with injury, and more to do with him having below average foot quickness in general.
Could be the case, though it seemed he was hobbling around more than what I remember from his freshman season before the surgeries. At any rate, his playing time could diminish in favor of Nance at the stretch 4 if his mobility doesn't improve. Maybe he'll be a better fit in the Taphorn role, coming off the bench to hit critical three's. And launching full-court passes to Pardon for the game-winner.
Count me among those who think there's 0% chance to redshirt Kopp or Nance for non-injury reasons. Will they be significant part of the rotation ever single game? I hope so, but maybe not. Will we have injuries that will give them more opportunities to play? We always do. Last year at this time I think we considered we'd be getting Falzon and Rap back, Brown would be older and better, and Gaines is ready to play. We were talking about great depth then too. Here's how the playing time shook out over the course of the season:
Lindsey (31.8)
Pardon (30.8)
B-Mac (28.2)
Law (26.4)
Skelly (21.6)
Gaines (18.5)
Falzon (13.9)
Ash (9.8)
Benson (9.5)
Brown (8.4)
Hall (0.4)
Tino (0.4)
Rap (0.3)
Those are based on the minutes played for the entire season and not the standard minutes/game, so the injuries to Law and B-Mac caused their numbers to dip below 30 minutes, for example. When we're clicking on all cylinders, maybe a Lathon or Mooney plays 35 minutes, maybe he doesn't, but over the course of the year, the numbers will indicate who is the rotation and who isn't.
I'm thinking Falzon is going need to play like a four-star guy to get a spot in the rotation, but I'm agreeing with DaCat that his best bet is a Taphorn type, and I'm hoping Kopp is going to be better in that role from day one. Gaines, despite his potential and playing time as a freshman, might need to show improvement as well. If NU gets Mooney, we'll have some good problems to deal with.
Lindsey (31.8)
Pardon (30.8)
B-Mac (28.2)
Law (26.4)
Skelly (21.6)
Gaines (18.5)
Falzon (13.9)
Ash (9.8)
Benson (9.5)
Brown (8.4)
Hall (0.4)
Tino (0.4)
Rap (0.3)
Those are based on the minutes played for the entire season and not the standard minutes/game, so the injuries to Law and B-Mac caused their numbers to dip below 30 minutes, for example. When we're clicking on all cylinders, maybe a Lathon or Mooney plays 35 minutes, maybe he doesn't, but over the course of the year, the numbers will indicate who is the rotation and who isn't.
I'm thinking Falzon is going need to play like a four-star guy to get a spot in the rotation, but I'm agreeing with DaCat that his best bet is a Taphorn type, and I'm hoping Kopp is going to be better in that role from day one. Gaines, despite his potential and playing time as a freshman, might need to show improvement as well. If NU gets Mooney, we'll have some good problems to deal with.
Correct me if I'm wrong but I've never seen any mention of Kopp being a stretch 4 by the coaches. It seems he's a classic 6-7 wing with length in the Lindsey mode. I see Nance as the stretch 4 who can stretch the floor and create match up problems with his 6-10 (and growing) size, next to Pardon to give us two guys with 7-foot wingspans.
I know this is stupidly obvious, but legs are a huge part of basketball and shooting. It was clear, and I think Haywood stated early on it would be the case, that Falzon was compensating all year. If he can get his legs and hips healthy and fit, his play will take a leap. He won't get better...he'll just be playing at a level that he's capable.
I know there's a lot who post that his defense is less than mediocre. I watch the guy in games when the ball is on the other side of the floor and I see a capable, fair-sized defender who can stick large, capable offensive players without help. He's not Dennis Rodman, but he's a decent defender and the rebounding will pick up again if the legs/hips are fit.
Lastly, he's the only elite three point shooter on the roster.
Let's just hope he's healthy and can compete for the spot/minutes.
Ryan Taylor is pretty good from 3-point range, and Kopp is supposed to be pretty good too. Falzon had some ridiculous shooting performances in prep school and hopefully he can show he is an elite 3-point scorer in college... which he hasn't yet.
Guessing you are right. Other than Bigs, little reason to RS with grad transfer rules if they can help the team at all and get even 10 minutes per game
Only real threat from three from lat years roster. This year will hopefully be better
You are correct. The last public mention was before the Taylor transfer and this discussion assumes Mooney follows. So for discussion purposes, where does that leave Kopp? Who with Lathon is the most game ready freshman.
He is plenty versatile enough to get minutes as a stretch 4 if Falzon has to sit. Otherwise it’s Benson or Nance. Collins would prefer another scorer on the floor (Kopp) vs a high low combo with Benson. And Nance remains a ? as to how much he can contribute this year. In short, with Taylor and Turner and Mooney available, and with Law and Gaines returning, minutes at the WG and WF positions are going to be tough to come by.
GOUNUII
Falzon is our best pure shooter and better than Taphorn. Got to get the boys healthy
Count me among those who have criticized how Falzon looks on defense and on the boards. He was quite disappointing last year, to be perfectly blunt.
Of course what that means is any surprise in the coming season is going to be a good surprise, not a bad one. He’s a four-star recruit in his fourth year in the program. If he turns into a sniper who can play good enough defense, that would be huge.
Otherwise I expect Collins will opt to frequently go somewhat “small” with Lathon-Mooney-Taylor-Law-Pardon or (without Mooney) Lathon-Taylor-Turner-Law-Pardon. With Kopp or Nance stepping in for Turner if they’re too good to sit.
Meanwhile Mooney is still telling people on Twitter that he’s all out of shoes.
The problem with this argument is that NU's defense was better with him on the court vs off the court. In all B1G games, NU gave up 1.00 PPP with him on the court (36% of possessions) vs 1.11 PPP with him off the court. If you take out the two early-Dec B1G games, he still comes out ahead 1.05 PPP/36% vs 1.15 PPP.
There appears to be a new update on Mooney from Texas Tech’s 247 site, but I can’t see it.
https://247sports.com/college/texas...tents/Matt-Mooney-Update-5-9-125-PM-118104848
https://247sports.com/college/texas...tents/Matt-Mooney-Update-5-9-125-PM-118104848
If falcon is playing more than 10 minutes a game next season, this team won’t be very good. He brings very little to the table
VIP article so I won't divulge details, but basically "the update is there is no update."
Falcon is limited by technology. Not a real superhero more like Hawkeye. The Avengers are in trouble when either gets significant playing time. I’m a Thor guy - especially the current version post Ragnarok. When he sees playing time the team wins!
Does this mean I can't pull out an incredibly dated Snowman reference?
Gaines is one of the few guys on this team who we know can defend man-to-man. It'd be a major surprise if he didn't get significant minutes.
about the no good team with more than 10 stuff..... Ky had a team a few years ago that started with 2 complete 5 man units plus some subs. One guy got hurt so they just became one absurdly deep team. Last year's big 10 regular season champs played at least 12 when healthy. The UCLA dynasty sent some players to the pros who (probably) never started a game in college. Sven Nader, Mark Eaton, at least... Depth is good, period, end of story la la la....
The most frustrating thing about this website is the challenge to post pictures. ANyway, MSU went 11 deep, but #11 offered nearly nothing in his 7 minutes. No KY team that I can find went more than 10 deep. Post a year.
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Hard to do that right now. We don’t know Law’s status. I think you have floated the idea that he won’t be ready at all this season. Mooney hasn’t committed and if he doesn’t or Law doesn’t play it is a moot point.
Gaines clearly improved over the course of the season. He was lost on D to start the season, but ended up one of our better defenders. He will be able to get to the basket some too. If Gaines isn’t in the rotation, we will be very good.
Unless the process has changed (and/or is different for basketball), he would have already been screened by admissions in order to take an official visit. That was a hard and fast rule when I was in the football recruiting office.
Also, since he's going to be a graduate student I don't think admissions are much of a hurdle, unless he wants to do an MBA or something.
he received a business-related degree so I think Kellogg would be attractive
my experience with Kellogg is that they do lower the bar - way lower - for "family"
There's very little chance he attends Kellogg. Plus, he would likely have to major in something not business-related to qualify under the grad transfer rules.
Most guys who return for fifth years either finish up their undergraduate degree or do the Master's in Sports Administration.
Is there going to be a Mooney Week 3?
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