Players who surprised me good and ugh

[wobycat]

Good

1. Reed. Thought he was going to be a player that would be a four year guy.
2. Onyenso. Starting to believe he may be a top defensive player in the nation
3. Thiero. Got stronger and tougher. He’s coming into his own

Ugh

1. Wagner. He will be the one where he becomes a player in the nba we never got to see
2. Z. Too much hype. Needs 20 pounds of muscle and become a little more serious

 

[JonathanW]

Good: Reed and Rob

Bad: Edwards

I correctly said Ugo would be our C.
I correctly called Theiro possibly our most important (not best) player,
Wagner is as expected, Andrew H redo.
Bradshaw is as i predicted, too weak to contribute this year.

 

[crawfords corner]

Wagner is learning to be a PG. In HS he was probably 85% scoring PG and 15% a creator. He's having to learn to balance that. He's being asked to defend for the first time in his career. He wasn't a great shooter coming in so that will have to develop.

All that to say I agree with the OPs account on that.

 

[Princecal]

Good: Reed and Rob

Bad: Edwards

I correctly said Ugo would be our C.
I correctly called Theiro possibly our most important (not best) player,
Wagner is as expected, Aaron H redo.
Bradshaw is as i predicted, too weak to contribute this year.

You mean Andrew H redux? The PG twin right?

 

[IL Wildcat]

Good

1. Reed. Thought he was going to be a player that would be a four year guy.
2. Onyenso. Starting to believe he may be a top defensive player in the nation
3. Thiero. Got stronger and tougher. He’s coming into his own

Ugh

1. Wagner. He will be the one where he becomes a player in the nba we never got to see
2. Z. Too much hype. Needs 20 pounds of muscle and become a little more serious

I agree with your good. Wagner has been inconsistent but he's been very good in some big games. He was good against Auburn. He plays well when the heat is on. He seems to me to be getting better and more consistent as the season progresses. Is he as good as I expected or as he was hyped to be? Maybe not as good offensively as I expected but he's certainly not a bust by any means.

I would put Edwards in the same category as Wagner. He's also getting better and has been contributing more in recent games, but compared to the hype he hasn't been what was expected. Now that he seems to have figured out what he does best- that is, drive, slash, finish, rebound, defend, and be a trash guy around the rim- he's gonna do some things for the team. But he came in thinking he should be a shooter and he's just not- not yet anyway.

Bradshaw is not strong enough, too much finesse and not enough toughness. He should definitely come back another season. He could become very good with a few more pounds of muscle.

I think Sheppard and Dillingham are both surprises with just how good they've been. They've made up for the weaker play of the guys who were perceived to be better coming in, which I've just mentioned.

As for Z, he just needs time. He needs game time and experience. He's got to improve his lateral quickness and his defense. He's already a great offensive player. He's just not ready on defense against top teams. He also struggles with a lot of physicality. The NCAA screwed him over by robbing him of those early season games. If he had that experience right now he could be playing a significant role on this team. As it is, he's gonna be limited in most games because we have no margin for error after those home losses.

So, the top 5 players right now on this team are: Reeves, Sheppard, Dillingham, Mitchell, and Thiero. I'd put Wagner and Onyenso right behind those 5 and then Bradshaw and Edwards on the next line.

 

[cats#1again]

Good

1. Reed. Thought he was going to be a player that would be a four year guy.
2. Onyenso. Starting to believe he may be a top defensive player in the nation
3. Thiero. Got stronger and tougher. He’s coming into his own

Ugh

1. Wagner. He will be the one where he becomes a player in the nba we never got to see
2. Z. Too much hype. Needs 20 pounds of muscle and become a little more serious

Wagner is fine this year. He's a great ball handler and gets to the basket when he wants. It's not a coincidence we lose when he's out of the lineup

 

[DreadLox]

Good

2. Onyenso. Starting to believe he may be a top defensive player in the nation

When he first came back after his injury, he went for every fake. Now he doesn't. After 10 Onyenso blocks the game before, you could tell Auburn players were spooked. He only got 2 official blocks according to the stats but he has eliminated turnstile scoring in the post, and he has a real presence as a rebounder. (He doesn't have the timing or a vise-like grip yet, but maybe this year?)

 

[sluggercatfan]

Good

1. Reed. Thought he was going to be a player that would be a four year guy.
2. Onyenso. Starting to believe he may be a top defensive player in the nation
3. Thiero. Got stronger and tougher. He’s coming into his own

Ugh

1. Wagner. He will be the one where he becomes a player in the nba we never got to seeears
2. Z. Too much hype. Needs 20 pounds of muscle and become a little more serious

Disagree on Wagner...can't shoot.
Z has a ton of talent and will be a monster in a couple of years.

 

[wobycat]

Wagner is fine this year. He's a great ball handler and gets to the basket when he wants. It's not a coincidence we lose when he's out of the lineup

I was expecting more consistency, don't think hes there yet

 

[IL Wildcat]

When he first came back after his injury, he went for every fake. Now he doesn't. After 10 Onyenso blocks the game before, you could tell Auburn players were spooked. He only got 2 official blocks according to the stats but he has eliminated turnstile scoring in the post, and he has a real presence as a rebounder. (He doesn't have the timing or a vise-like grip yet, but maybe this year?)

Yeah, 2 blocks according to the official stats, but 2 more blocks were incorrectly called fouls, and the number of times he altered a shot or affected the path of a player on a drive were probably another 10. He affected the game significantly.

 

[JonathanW]

You mean Andrew H redux? The PG twin right?

You are correct, and I have corrected.

 

[EliteBlue]

Wagner is fine this year. He's a great ball handler and gets to the basket when he wants. It's not a coincidence we lose when he's out of the lineup

Losing when he is out has more to do with playing less 3 guard lineups than it has to do with Wagner individually; we transition to 2 guard lineups so we can have one off the bench.

Thats not to say Wagner isn’t a great value as he’s our most physical guard and he’s absolutely valuable and needed to be our best. But where it really hurts us is we turn into 2 guards and 4 guys who can’t create or score consistently but we don’t get an added defensive and rebounding bump like you typically should w a bigger lineup