Still waiting for these kids to hit the so-called Freshman Wall. Tre, Zion and RJ have not had any bad or ineffective games, much less a string of such games. Cam struggled with his shot early, but I didn't view that as him hitting a wall, just trying to adjust to his role. I can't recall a freshman in the past who hasn't had some bad games. Even Bagley had a rough stretch last year. Maybe Tyus? Jah, Winslow, Ingram, Jabari, Tatum, Trent, Duval all struggled for periods.
If anyone has hit a wall, it would be our captains, Jack and Javin. They both went from big-time contributors to struggling finding minutes in a blowout win. I wonder if that has to do with this being their first season playing an important and consistent role? Doesn't help that they don't factor into the offense so its hard for them to get rolling. Cam can at least shoot his way back into it. To hit our ceiling, we need early-season Jack. But, we can afford Javin not being at his best as long as Bolden keeps playing lights out.
This seems to be playing out very similarly to 2015 where Matt Jones and Amile Jefferson had their share of troubles. They had almost identical roles to Jack and Javin. Jack and Matt were both 3 and D guys and Amile and Javin were in for low-post defense and rebounding. I had always hoped Amile would develop a reliable elbow jumper to create space for Jah, just like I had hoped Javin would have any sort of jumper to allow him to pair with Bolden.
2015 worked out well primarily because our freshman studs lived up to their billing. So, at the end of the day, if Tre, Zion and RJ are good enough to avoid the freshman wall, they should be good enough to carry us to #6.
If anyone has hit a wall, it would be our captains, Jack and Javin. They both went from big-time contributors to struggling finding minutes in a blowout win. I wonder if that has to do with this being their first season playing an important and consistent role? Doesn't help that they don't factor into the offense so its hard for them to get rolling. Cam can at least shoot his way back into it. To hit our ceiling, we need early-season Jack. But, we can afford Javin not being at his best as long as Bolden keeps playing lights out.
This seems to be playing out very similarly to 2015 where Matt Jones and Amile Jefferson had their share of troubles. They had almost identical roles to Jack and Javin. Jack and Matt were both 3 and D guys and Amile and Javin were in for low-post defense and rebounding. I had always hoped Amile would develop a reliable elbow jumper to create space for Jah, just like I had hoped Javin would have any sort of jumper to allow him to pair with Bolden.
2015 worked out well primarily because our freshman studs lived up to their billing. So, at the end of the day, if Tre, Zion and RJ are good enough to avoid the freshman wall, they should be good enough to carry us to #6.