Open scrimmage Observations

[Medill90]

Sure, I'll clarify, I don't like what he contributes as a player and am disappointed that he seems to be exactly what I thought he would. A high volume shooter who is <40%, a poor defender who will snag a couple rebounds on the basis of being nearly 80 inches tall. If he shoots closer to the 40% range I'll eat my words.

I'm sure he is an upstanding young man with a splendid personality working his butt off.

If you're hitting over .33 from three, you're part of the solution, not the problem. Especially if you're doing that in high volume and it doesn't tail off in conference.

This poor defender had the fifth most steals -- only guards and wings had more.

Falzon's rebounds went up slightly in conference play. So the luck continued against better competition.

You should coach. At Illinois.

 

[EvanstonCat]

Gaines has 100 times more offensive penetration skills than Sanjay. Sanjay was not an offensive player and against Big 10 teams, he disappeared. He was a strong defender but his role was to guard taller and bigger players and he would get manhandled. Let’s not make things up. Teams would lay off Lumpkin and clog up the middle when he was on the floor.

Man, did you see the jam that Sanjay threw down in a practice? Baddest ass slamdunk I've ever seen an NU player make. Sure, it was practice, and it doesn't have anything to do with this thread, but somehow just made me think of it.

 

[ThatkidfromHolland]

Gaines has 100 times more offensive penetration skills than Sanjay. Sanjay was not an offensive player and against Big 10 teams, he disappeared. He was a strong defender but his role was to guard taller and bigger players and he would get manhandled. Let’s not make things up. Teams would lay off Lumpkin and clog up the middle when he was on the floor.

Sanjay wouldn't get manhandled by taller players. He was easily our most versatile defender. 2nd best perimeter defender (behind law) and 2nd best post (behind Pardon). From reports I fully belive Gaines has more offensive ability but Sanjay wasn't as much of a liability as everyone thinks just because you're not putting the ball in the basket doesn't mean you're not helping the offense. Off ball moment he did really well along with o rebounds.

For Falzon it's pretty easy to see he has a natural stroke from 3 just watching his game as frosh. He showed some promise rebounding which should improve with added muscle. My worry is defense he just seemed half a step behind and a little lost but that was frosh Falzon it's been awhile and I trust this coaching staff. I don't think he's going to be our savior this season but he should be a good scoring option off the bench or starting. I honestly think who gets the most min at the 4 comes down to D and if skelly can keep his fouls down it'll be his job to lose. (I can't speak on Rap never seen him play)

 

[NJCat]

Sanjay wouldn't get manhandled by taller players. He was easily our most versatile defender. 2nd best perimeter defender (behind law) and 2nd best post (behind Pardon). From reports I fully belive Gaines has more offensive ability but Sanjay wasn't as much of a liability as everyone thinks just because you're not putting the ball in the basket doesn't mean you're not helping the offense. Off ball moment he did really well along with o rebounds.

For Falzon it's pretty easy to see he has a natural stroke from 3 just watching his game as frosh. He showed some promise rebounding which should improve with added muscle. My worry is defense he just seemed half a step behind and a little lost but that was frosh Falzon it's been awhile and I trust this coaching staff. I don't think he's going to be our savior this season but he should be a good scoring option off the bench or starting. I honestly think who gets the most min at the 4 comes down to D and if skelly can keep his fouls down it'll be his job to lose. (I can't speak on Rap never seen him play)

I agree with everything you said about Sanjay's defensive and rebounding prowess. But I disagree on offense: it was playing 4 on 5 when he was in the game. He was no threat in the flow of the offense, opponents knew he couldn't create a shot and his 3's were taken only when completely unguarded. I'll take a trade-off of being somewhat weaker defensively for having 5 players on the floor who can score.

 

[Mr Wickerpark]

Bunch of you guys are smoking some serious dope early in the work week. I dislike comparisons between NU players when it comes off as crapping on another Wildcat but the "I really don't like Falzon" line is bullshit.

Falzon was asked to take 178 threes his freshman year and made them at a .35 clip.

Through two years Tap took 137 threes, shooting .31 and .52 respectively.

Looking at their freshman years (Falzon piayed more than 2x Tap's minutes):

Falzon is a better rebounder...3.4 to 1. Better assists...28 to 8. Better shot blocker...10 to 1. And better protecting the ball....21 turnovers to 22 for Tap (in less than half the minutes).

Tap was a great, off-the-bench three point shooter. But he gave up a lot on defense, didn't rebound especially well and turned the ball over.

Strictly on basketball criteria, it's not a close call. There's a reason - a bunch of reasons - why a frosh Falzon started over a junior Tap.

Falzon is obviously an upgrade to Tap. Tap did get on a hot streak last year but so can Falzon. Falzon also plays better defense.

 

[ThatkidfromHolland]

I agree with everything you said about Sanjay's defensive and rebounding prowess. But I disagree on offense: it was playing 4 on 5 when he was in the game. He was no threat in the flow of the offense, opponents knew he couldn't create a shot and his 3's were taken only when completely unguarded. I'll take a trade-off of being somewhat weaker defensively for having 5 players on the floor who can score.

I agree that he couldn't create on his well that well (we really only had bMac and Lindsey for that). I disagree the 4 on 5 thing. While I don't think Lumpkin was a huge plus on the floor. His offball movement definitely got him some easy baskets and helped the offense a little with spacing. (Now I'm not saying that's better than being able to put the ball in the basket or that we won't have much more offensive talent or anything like that I'm just saying it wasn't 4 on 5. I could say the negatives to his game but those have all been well covered)