Martinelli at the 5?
- Thread starter loyolacat
- Start date
With Martinelli, it would be the toothpick and roll.
Zing!
Good one. Before that post, I mistakingly thought that I was the board’s new King of Sting.
We might not have much choice but to run a ”five-out” with Martinelli at the 5 and Barnhizer at the 4 for some periods of time. Boo at the point, Langborg and a rotating cast of characters on the wing. Hunger and Preston have been defensive liabilities anyway, might as well try to get as fluid and dynamic as possible on the offensive end.
NMart is still kind of lanky but no longer a toothpick. On offense I can see us being successful with small ball but we would obviously have matchup problems on defense.
Nick struggles to stop 4’s and 3’s at this point of his career. Let Hunger and Preston use their 5 before this ever happens.
Meh. It’s not like Hunger or Preston are giving you much more defensively against a 5. They’ll all struggle in that regard. If it makes the offense more efficient than it may be worth doing. They’ll have to do it out of necessity at some point I would imagine. One of Hunger or Preston will get in foul trouble and the other will need a breather.
Don’t forget about Hurlburt and Barkley!
Hell, I have 5 hard fouls to give if CCC needs me to suit up. Put me in coach! I might grab a rebound or two too.
That’s the “for some periods of time” part. Martinelli’s lack of foot speed also wouldn’t be as big an issue in the post vs on the wing.
Hunger hitting a few threes would help immensely.
Some guy named Edey has reported PTSD following a Preston defensive experience 🤷♂️
But I’m told that he’s not really much of an offensive threat in the college landscape so perhaps his nightmares aren’t really relevant
One ray of hope is that Luke Hunger has had one game where he made significant contributions this year - and it was his first start against Michigan State.
We'd be so small with Martinelli at center - our opponents would just go inside and try to draw fouls.
I'd use Hunger and Preston at center for a half and only make a dramatic move if we were on the verge of getting blown out.
We'd be so small with Martinelli at center - our opponents would just go inside and try to draw fouls.
I'd use Hunger and Preston at center for a half and only make a dramatic move if we were on the verge of getting blown out.
Preston won that game against Purdue. Without him we lose. Without him, we are not in the NCAA tournament field.
I don't understand the nature of people who rip players.
I will admit that I criticize guys like Robbie Beran, but he started game after game after game and I was really criticizing Collins for playing the wrong guy(s).
The attacks on players, especially bench players, are just malicious and reflect very poorly on those who post them. As if we're "entitled" to better players or the team is out to get us. As weak as it gets.
I don't understand the nature of people who rip players.
I will admit that I criticize guys like Robbie Beran, but he started game after game after game and I was really criticizing Collins for playing the wrong guy(s).
The attacks on players, especially bench players, are just malicious and reflect very poorly on those who post them. As if we're "entitled" to better players or the team is out to get us. As weak as it gets.
Preston is not the most talented player to suit up in purple for us, but he's a veteran serviceable center and has contributed at important moments this year. He always has a positive vibe to him even when he didn't play in a bunch of games. We need him to step up now that Matt is done for the year. I'm 100% behind him.
If we’re going to sit around here and discuss basketball, it’s pointless to say we can’t say if players are good or bad.
Preston is pretty darn bad in the Big Ten. Yes, he fought gamely against Purdue in a game where his whole job was just to hack Zach Eddy as much as he could while on the court. And foul him he did. But there’s a good reason he plays very little. He’s better than Hunger defensively, which is saying very little, but is an empty spot on offense, a 5 on 4.
Today would be a great time for him to have a moment and produce. It would also be a hell of a time for Hunger to figure out how to not get totally lost on defense. Both are going to get the chance…
There is a world of difference between writing "Preston is awful" and "Hunger seems to get lost on the defensive end."
One is a basketball comment. The other is just being an a**hole.
Trust your football evals. Your basketball ones, however…
Does one need to be good at a B1G level to be valuable? I'd say at least 70% of players are below "good".
This coming from someone who believes Preston is shockingly naive after almost 5 years of college ball.
This coming from someone who believes Preston is shockingly naive after almost 5 years of college ball.
Going forward, Preston has to be serviceable and put in a good 10-15 minutes per game. We don't need him to be elite or anything. When he has played, he's averaged 9.5 minutes per game this year. Big Matt averaged 22.3 minutes, Hunger 10.6 -- now Luke has to play 20~25 minutes and Preston 10~15, and I'd imagine Collins playing small ball at times. It's a huge challenge for the coaches and the players, but the season ain't over yet.
You don’t even really have to trust my eval. Preston basically played himself out of the rotation, minutes/game trending down from 13.1 in November+December to 5.9 in January+February. Collins and the staff seem to have made their own in-season evaluation.
Preston also helped beat Dayton with his rebounding and defense on their all-american center.
Is he not our best big? Sure. But he has contributed to nice wins, so by definition I’d call him a Big Ten caliber player.
Preston possesses the lowest potential among the group. While he can hold his own defensively against smaller opponents, he struggles when matched up against larger bigs. On the court, he brings a great deal of energy. Despite lacking size both offensively and defensively, his touch around the rim is decent. His lack of size and athleticism really limits him around the rim. Hunger offers a lot offensively, while Preston brings more against smaller bigs defensively and are similar bad against larger bigs. As a result, Hunger received more playing time as the season went on.
While Preston may not be suited to be a starter in the B1G, his purpose is to provide depth off the bench and offer a veteran and high character presence in the locker room. Now that there is a defensive gap left by MN's injury, Hunger and Preston need to get better fast to be capable of filling that void. Preston may not be exceptional, but he plays his role adequately as a role player. I do not think he is an awful player.
While Preston may not be suited to be a starter in the B1G, his purpose is to provide depth off the bench and offer a veteran and high character presence in the locker room. Now that there is a defensive gap left by MN's injury, Hunger and Preston need to get better fast to be capable of filling that void. Preston may not be exceptional, but he plays his role adequately as a role player. I do not think he is an awful player.
Agree with this assessment. At this point, I’m glad we have Preston if we are to be without Big Matt the rest of this season. If he holds down the fort for 10+ minutes per game, that’s all we can expect.
Saw too much of Mart at the 5. Curious for PWBs +/- but I didn’t like it. That said, it’s possible Hunger was worse than Preston. How does he get a dunk blocked so badly…
We have problems. This team looked so dysfunctional tonight. The first 10 minutes, nobody wanted to score a basket for either team.
But that strong chemistry that produced a flowing offense and defense for the past year and half seemingly has evaporated.
Still, they played MSU to the wire in a hostile environment. They have to beat MN on Saturday. Win or go home.
We have problems. This team looked so dysfunctional tonight. The first 10 minutes, nobody wanted to score a basket for either team.
But that strong chemistry that produced a flowing offense and defense for the past year and half seemingly has evaporated.
Still, they played MSU to the wire in a hostile environment. They have to beat MN on Saturday. Win or go home.
Preston must have read the free board for motivation this week.
Quoting myself because I’m delighted to say Preston played GREAT tonight, and against a team with a couple pretty damn athletic bigs.
Yes he did. Game of the year for him. I think it was his first game not chewing gum. Coincidence?
Did the first 2 play for NU? Names are familiar. Getting old. Memory fading. Is Kreisberg the Hebrew Mamba?
He was the only guy that even partially stopped Garcia. Very happy for the kid!
I was hoping that we could get 10+ decent minutes from Preston and Hunger getting 25+ but Preston flipped the script and played 25 vs 14 for Hunger. His stat line was pretty impressive for an “awful” player: 9 points, 4 reb, 4 assists… glad we had him.
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