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Dembele needs to sit

Dembele’s biggest problem is that he’s the 2nd best center on the team.
I'm not following the meaning. You mean he won't play a lot because he's behind Freeman at Center?

Dimbele will see plenty of PT as backup center because Freeman is likely to be in foul trouble most games given his aggressiveness on defense. Dimbele > Braun. Braun is Dimbele without any skills---though he has good effort amd I respect his joining the team. Mulvey looked okay to me, but Fran has history of not playing him no matter how giant the opposing center is.

Dembele very strong, reasonably quick, has a 3pt shot, but not a leaper. As part time center he looks good, at PF he is a big step down from Traore.

So looks like a solid player, necessary player, not likely a star and he probably prefers playing PF over center because his professional prospects at center are not good for undersized guy.
 
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Freeman, Traore & Payton Sandfort should be our starting front line. Traore & Payton both rebound the ball well for their size & are both absolute offensive weapons. Dembele, Pryce & Brock should be our backups and could be a very good bench. Too bad this group doesn't play defense or this would be a very entertaining team to watch. They are going to score in bunches if they keep good ball movement & find open three's.

bomb's away boys!!

GIF by moodman
 
He kinda reminds me of Michael Payne. Has the skills but needs to be more aggressive. He will improve!
 
He kinda reminds me of Michael Payne. Has the skills but needs to be more aggressive. He will improve!
Michaël Payne was never that versatile as there is 4 inches difference between the 2. Payne was a forward/center, Traore is a player that can play 4 positions if needed. Quite a pickup by Fran if I don't say so, he will be a big addition for the Hawkeyes going forward.
 
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.
Don't spot up shooters shoot better than 31% (what he was shooting 3 days ago).
 
Don't spot up shooters shoot better than 31% (what he was shooting 3 days ago).
I didn’t say he was a good shooter, just that he plays like one and they represent the bulk of his shots. If he had any kind of inside game his percentages would undoubtedly be higher. Again, he's not a 5 that can play with his back to the basket. He doesn't have a post move in his arsenal and he lacks aggressiveness inside.

Maybe have Mulvey back up Freeman and Dembele can back up Traore.
 
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My question against bigger teams can Freeman play the four some with Mulvey. Of course that assumes what Mulvey showed the other night wasn’t n illusion.
 
My question against bigger teams can Freeman play the four some with Mulvey. Of course that assumes what Mulvey showed the other night wasn’t n illusion.
I’d be very surprised to ever see this but I hope in practice they experiment with this for a couple minutes to see if it could have some effect on the boards
 
I’d be very surprised to ever see this but I hope in practice they experiment with this for a couple minutes to see if it could have some effect on the boards
I look at a team such as ISU, Rutgers, Purdue, etc. Not sure Delembee is physical enough or Seydou big enough to consistently go up against those guys.
 
I look at a team such as ISU, Rutgers, Purdue, etc. Not sure Delembee is physical enough or Seydou big enough to consistently go up against those guys.
Well we will find out in Iowa City soon enough. Ace Bailey of Rutgers is going to be a big problem for everyone . He looks every bit a star in the making.
 
Hard for me to understand how anyone could think Riley Mulvey would be a better option than Dembele. Dembele was a big part of why the defense against WSU was better. Except for Harding at PG and Payton when isolated at times, the defense was a big improvement against a better team.
 
Hard for me to understand how anyone could think Riley Mulvey would be a better option than Dembele. Dembele was a big part of why the defense against WSU was better. Except for Harding at PG and Payton when isolated at times, the defense was a big improvement against a better team.
Or Traore or Koch or Brauns.

Hard for me to understand how anyone could think Mulvey is an option period.

If you don't think Ladji is physical enough, (his main problem last year was being too physical on defense) how would Mulvey be an improvement?
 
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Or Traore or Koch or Brauns.

Hard for me to understand how anyone could think Mulvey is an option period.

If you don't think Ladji is physical enough, (his main problem last year was being too physical on defense) how would Mulvey be an improvement?
Sometimes size matters. Womp. Womp.
 
Honestly what is his role?

he can’t shoot, not a good finisher and gets out of position too much on defense

I don’t get it
 
I don’t think anyone is saying heavy minutes for mulvey. I never thought I would be defending the guy but he is fairly effective down low and not a bad defender.

Dembele is very “Glen Worely” like inside the paint, like a drug addict trying to make a two foot putt.

Mulvey is savvy, and while he missed a bunny seems to be able to score against big/tall defenders and is an adequate rebounder. Guy leads the team in fg% and has zero turnovers. Not many minutes mind you.
 
I don’t think anyone is saying heavy minutes for mulvey. I never thought I would be defending the guy but he is fairly effective down low and not a bad defender.

Dembele is very “Glen Worely” like inside the paint, like a drug addict trying to make a two foot putt.

Mulvey is savvy, and while he missed a bunny seems to be able to score against big/tall defenders and is an adequate rebounder. Guy leads the team in fg% and has zero turnovers. Not many minutes mind you.
When the alternative is Dembele and Brauns it makes Mulvey look a little better but I'd really like to see Tadjo get more minutes too.

His potential is far beyond the other 3 and if he gets the ball close to hoop it's getting dunked.
 
I also never thought I would be suggesting that Mulvey play more, but he played very well against MI. Unlike previous years, he is very aware on the court, and he has pretty good quickness for a big. I think he should be the first big off the bench and has earned at least a few minutes each half. Dembele is scary bad on offense around the basket, but he was much more active defending and on the boards last night. I wouldn't give up on him, but until the coaches can teach him to attack the basket (dunk!) when he gets it in the paint, his minutes need to not be starter minutes. (Fran has played him less recently).
 
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When the alternative is Dembele and Brauns it makes Mulvey look a little better but I'd really like to see Tadjo get more minutes too.

His potential is far beyond the other 3 and if he gets the ball close to hoop it's getting dunked.

100%. I have been highlighting the potential of Tadjo in other threads. He is raw but his combo of size, bounce and motor are hard to ignore. He needs to play smarter and under control. That lane violation cost us a point and am sure Fran was not happy.
 
100%. I have been highlighting the potential of Tadjo in other threads. He is raw but his combo of size, bounce and motor are hard to ignore. He needs to play smarter and under control. That lane violation cost us a point and am sure Fran was not happy.
I didn’t see much of the game but did see Tadjo when he was in and while raw damn he’s athletic. And as @RocknRollface says he’s going up strong. I’d rather see guys like him and Traore get more and more time. The Brauns experiment as the backup Center is not working. He can’t do it.
 
I didn’t see much of the game but did see Tadjo when he was in and while raw damn he’s athletic. And as @RocknRollface says he’s going up strong. I’d rather see guys like him and Traore get more and more time. The Brauns experiment as the backup Center is not working. He can’t do it.

The guy is not afraid to take it to the rack, and plays with a reckless abandon that we need (minus some of the fouls)
 
The guy is not afraid to take it to the rack, and plays with a reckless abandon that we need (minus some of the fouls)
I’m willing to live with a few fouls. He just needs minutes. We’ve been asking for a guy like Tyler Cook for awhile (physically) and while he’s clearly got plenty of work to do we have nobody else like him.
 
100%. I have been highlighting the potential of Tadjo in other threads. He is raw but his combo of size, bounce and motor are hard to ignore. He needs to play smarter and under control. That lane violation cost us a point and am sure Fran was not happy.
He's also strong.

I watched UM bigs push Owen and others under the basket on freethrow block outs while Tadjo moved people backwards on his block out.

He just looks like a big ten player in size and build.

I like the idea of a guy who is too aggressive.
 
He's also strong.

I watched UM bigs push Owen and others under the basket on freethrow block outs while Tadjo moved people backwards on his block out.

He just looks like a big ten player in size and build.

I like the idea of a guy who is too aggressive.

Yes, I agree on the aggressive. When I say “under control” just to the point that he is not fouling out in 6 minutes.
 
It's still early in the season, but anyone that is still thinking that Dembele should be starting or that anyone besides Mulvey should be backing up Freeman needs to consider who has been performing at a higher level and who needs to sit. It's not just my lyin' eyes that tell me who should and should not be playing. In limited minutes from an efficiency rating perspective, Mulvey has performed much better than anyone in backing up Freeman, compiling the second best PER on the team with the exception of Jacob Koch who has only appeared for a few minutes in mop up action. He has been light years better than Brauns who has the worst PER on the entire team. Dembele, as expected has been far and away the least effective starter from a PER perspective.

Any finally, anyone suggesting that Harding needs to sit more has no idea what they are talking about. The best team on the floor includes all 3 guards (Harding, Dix, and Thelwell) at the same time along with Freeman and Sandfort. Somebody go tell Fran to stop this nonsense.

RkPlayerMPPER
1Jacob Koch929.2
2Owen Freeman20126.5
3Riley Mulvey3325.4
4Brock Harding22020.2
5Drew Thelwell20419.7
6Josh Dix23619.5
7Pryce Sandfort19716.9
8Payton Sandfort28216.8
9Seydou Traore8915.5
10Cooper Koch7711.8
11Carter Kingsbury329.1
12Ladji Dembele1728.4
13Chris Tadjo176.3
14Even Brauns315.5
 
I also like Carter for a few minutes he does not make mistakes and is a solid defender
 
He has zero confidence. Keeping him in the starting lineup is a disservice to him and the team. Maybe he’d be more comfortable coming off the bench
 
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I'm not following the meaning. You mean he won't play a lot because he's behind Freeman at Center?

Dimbele will see plenty of PT as backup center because Freeman is likely to be in foul trouble most games given his aggressiveness on defense. Dimbele > Braun. Braun is Dimbele without any skills---though he has good effort amd I respect his joining the team. Mulvey looked okay to me, but Fran has history of not playing him no matter how giant the opposing center is.

Dembele very strong, reasonably quick, has a 3pt shot, but not a leaper. As part time center he looks good, at PF he is a big step down from Traore.

So looks like a solid player, necessary player, not likely a star and he probably prefers playing PF over center because his professional prospects at center are not good for undersized guy.
My meaning is that he is a center, not a PF. He needs to be playing back up to Freeman instead of starting with him. Like tonight.
 
My meaning is that he is a center, not a PF. He needs to be playing back up to Freeman instead of starting with him. Like tonight.
I agree Dembele is not a PF. He gets lost on defense. He had some good minutes vs ISU backing up FReeman at center and he can be positive if he's making his 3's---but its too early to say he can shoot 3-ball at high enough percentage to be a positive.

Dembele hasn't shown much touch inside the paint--maybe it will come, but you can't post him up and expect him to get a basket, so that is limitation with him at center.

PF is a position of need.

Traore is athletic enought to play PF, but on small side and lacks offense. Payton is lacking muscle to defense/rebound the opposing PF and unfortunately, he's a bad shooter this season so far.

I see a team with some guys that at times look good on offense. They get abused really bad on the boards and defense is so-so. Fran has an unorthodox, interesting team---but I doubt that translates into any type of special season.They have to improve a lot from here to do any better than what Fran teams typically do...ie. 10-10 in B1G to 11-9, DOA in NCAA tourney
 
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