Please tell me he's better than this and will be a good contributor this year.... but he looks terrible on both ends of the floor now
Dembele needs to sit
- Thread starter IAHawkGrad2000
- Start date
BirdistheWord
HB Legend
11 pts
8 reb
0 to’s
I thought he was decent.
8 reb
0 to’s
I thought he was decent.
Dembele’s biggest problem is that he’s the 2nd best center on the team.
How many possessions did it take to jump to a conclusion? Not a great game, but 11 pts and 8 boards solid.
His best game this year so far. +22 best on the team.
I agree. Sometimes young players need to sit when they aren’t playing well.
Dembele is looking super inconsistent but we don’t really have many options at the 4 &5 (mulvey gave some good minutes though - would love if he could contribute more)
??? He played decent, and freeman was out.....
He played decent tonight. Definitely his best game so far. If anyone deserves to be starting it's Traore.
I would prefer Fran go more athletic and start Sandfort at the 4. Start Thelwell in the backcourt with Harding and Dix. Dembele will be needed this year for plenty of minutes. He has looked decent, which is pretty much what I expected.
He's a 5. Give him freeman's back up mins
Probably need more size in most B1G games. Traore and Payton can play 3/4 and match up to the other team. I think Dembele will play as many minutes at back up 5 as 4.
I actually thought Dembele played a real solid game. He is an undersized 5 trying to guard their seven-footer. He scored 11 points with 8 boards. Very nice contribution and he seems to have a nice shooting touch.
It's too bad Fran doesn't want his players to box out because Ladji would be a better rebounder if he boxed out.
2 or 3 times tonight he somehow got out jumped for a rebound when he had inside position.
It's a bizarre strategy to me.
2 or 3 times tonight he somehow got out jumped for a rebound when he had inside position.
It's a bizarre strategy to me.
I’d be all for Traore taking his minutes and having Dembele back up the four and five.
Dembele played pretty good def tonight for being completely undersized. He fought like hell and I only saw him out of position once when he went to help on a double down low. His offensive game struggled in the first half, but he had a pretty good second half. Dembele is wide open a lot, probably by design, and he needs to hit the wide open shots.
Because they are all 4s other than Freeman, Brauns, and Mulvey.
I thought he played fine last night essentially filling in for Owen. Fran does need to find more time for both Traore and Thelwell though IMO.
I know that's his stated position, but Dembele is not a 5 in any league. He's a 6'8" forward with very limited quickness or jumping ability. The first time he dunks a basketball might be his first. The reason he loses rebounds when he has inside position is because he's anchored to the floor while others are jumping over him.
He has trouble boxing out quicker footed players. He needs to body up hard and physical. Punish anyone trying to out position him on the defensive boards and bring fear to anyone in the lane, like Eddie Horton or Reggie. Those guys were defensive & rebounding forces.... Fran need to hit the archives and show him how those guys enforced the lane.
Traore & Thelwell need to start. Bring Ladji & Brock off the bench with Pryce. That's a decent rotation.
Strongly disagree, he’s built to play center and 90% of the time he’s big enough. His long arms make up for lack of height and jumps. He’s just to slow to defend the 4.
Dembele seems to be passive, like he is afraid to pick up fouls. I want to see him start using his strength, which is his advantage against most players. If he picks up some fouls, assuming Freeman hasn't, it won't be a big deal. We need him knocking some people around on the boards.
He's only a 5 imo. Not skilled enough to excel at any other position. There are endless examples of 6'8 or 6'9 limited athletically players who have excelled at playing the 5 in college.
It does seem like he looked better last year, except he was awful on pick and rolls.
Very, very rare in today's game that you see a 6-8 guy with limited quickness who can't jump excel at the 5 in today's game. Iowa probably won't play one this year. He'd be better at the 4. He's basically this year's version of Ben Krikke, who was the previous year's Filip Rebraca, only one inch shorter with absolutely no inside game to speak of. Both of those guys got abused inside by bigger players as well.
Fran instructs his players to jump for the ball instead of boxing out. I've heard him say it.
Reggie Evans couldn't jump over a phone book, he just moved people out of the way.
Ladji could do similar stuff if he understood how to play with his lower body on rebounds.
Well yeah, that's what I just said.
My point was he gets out jumped so why the hell isn't just putting his ass into the guy behind him and getting the easy rebounding instead of making it a jumping contest?
Theres no way a 6'8 255 lb guy should be letting a guy behind him even have a chance at the rebound.
We won't play a back up big who is 6'9" or under? You sure about that? Jackson Kohler comes to mind.
You need skill and quickness to play any position above the 5.
I definitely noticed he's adapted the don't pick up fouls defense that many players learn here.
It's not all bad but you can't just back peddle into a jump out of the way move either.
He's 6'8". Yes. Iowa probably will on occasion play a backup center who is 6'9". Jaxon Kohler is a 6'9" high motor forward who actually has a game that is well suited to playing the position. He is basically a Filip Rebraca clone with good footwork who plays best with his back to the basket. That ain't Dembele. MSU actually has 2 6'11" guys that play the 5.
What about Dembele's game is well suited for the 4? This isnt the era of Charles Oakley and Patrick Ewing setting screens in the lane for each other. He's an undersized, back up 5. No one is claiming he's Hakeem Olajuwon. How many 4s are we gonna face this year who weight 250 lbs and cant dribble or pass? You want to move a bad athlete up a position to guard more athletic guys?
Well from a 5 perspective he can't play with his back to the basket. He has no inside game whatsoever. He's not physical in his mindset. He can't alter any shots and they tend to rebound over him. South Dakota collected 14 offensive rebounds last night. Mulvey might actually be a better option backing up the 5 today.
The guy is a spot up shooter on offense. That's his game. Will he also have disadvantages vs the 4? Of course he will but that's just who he is. He's a tweener who is at a disadvantage on defense wherever he plays.
He wants to be a 4 and he's not. He's an undersized 5 and he played pretty well last nite, needs to be a bigger force on the glass.
Similar threads
