Absolutely. Our bigs have played only a combined 47 games. 20 for Bradshaw, 18 UGO and 9 BIG Z. That's not counting the games missed by Tre and Thiero. Tres played 22 and Thiero 19. So out of what should be 140 Game Played if we were healthy and cleared our 4s and 5s guys have only played 88. That's 52 games missed. We have a healthy squad and Z cleared from day 1 and we are likely 26-2 or 25-3.
Wow!! Thanks @permdaddy for the info. I didn't want to appear too stupid about the info and what it means, but now I can go over this and maybe understand a little better. Thanks, again!!
He literally looked like he was walking on the moon. I had to chuckle at just how slow he was moving
His court awareness just blows everyone else away. Imagine him coming back (don't see it happening) and getting bulked up and having great conditioning. Holy Smokes.
I agree, he needed more time - I pointed that out multiple times when I referred to the fact he missed 4 months of practice and was behind schedule, so foolish to think he should just go out there and play 32 minutes a game. It's the same argument for Justin Edwards, if you want him to be his best, he needs more time on the floor. The same with DJ, the same with AB, the same with Ugo, the same with Burks, etc - if you want players to reach their ceiling, they absolutely need more playing time.
My argument was that Z was already ahead of Bradshaw as a player and needed to playing ahead of him for this team to reach their full potential. Z had his poorest offensive performance last night but still impacted the game despite not being able to breath for the last 3 plus minutes he was on the floor. He is now showing to be as good if not better defender than UGO is and that could not have been said a week ago. I only wonder how much further in his development Z could be as well as his game conditioning could be had he basically not played at all in half of the games he has been eligible to play in. 10-15 minutes in each of those makes one wonder!!!!I agree, he needed more time - I pointed that out multiple times when I referred to the fact he missed 4 months of practice and was behind schedule, so foolish to think he should just go out there and play 32 minutes a game. It's the same argument for Justin Edwards, if you want him to be his best, he needs more time on the floor. The same with DJ, the same with AB, the same with Ugo, the same with Burks, etc - if you want players to reach their ceiling, they absolutely need more playing time.
I also think the simpler fans in BBN were dazzled with his behind-the-back passes and take them as much more valuable than they are.
Ugo had 12 mins last night, AB had 7 mins, and Big Z had 21 - I don't mind that split at all. Will be interesting to see how it changes when Tre Mitchell returns.
But, since I remember you making these arguments earlier: AB had more points in only 7 minutes than Big Z had in 21 minutes
I don't really disagree at all. I still think Ugo is a better defender at this moment, but that doesn't mean it won't change and that doesn't mean certain matchups won't favor Z at times, or favor Ugo at times. It would be nice for one of them to *clearly* establish themselves as "the guy" moving forward so it can help give our offense a true identity, so Ugo and Z are completely different on the offensive side.
I knew he wasn't playing well, but that is BAD. Might be Ugo's worst game as a Wildcat. He definitely didn't handle the shoulder to his chest move that he kept getting abused with. How at least half the fouls he picked up weren't offensive I'll never know
Z cannot be bullied anymore in the paint than he was last night. They were getting away with just about anything they wanted too, to the point Bell (I think it was) from state just lowered his head and drove straight through Z like a running back going for the goal line. Z was literally thrown to the floor on 2-3 other occasions with no whistle. He had to be thinking damn why don’t I get to play that way. Z adjusted as well as he could to their physicality and even played without fouling which is something else sone were pointing too in how foul prone he was. His last 3 games (with meaningful action) he has now played 53 minutes while only picking up 3 fouls which is quite phenomenal for any interior player that doesn’t wear a Duke or KU jersey,
He needs to play if we are going to go anywhere- he offers so much more than our other 2 centers can give us
I noticed that also kybluedude. He looked ready to pass out at one point. Overall, though, I thought he played really well, better than Onyenso. I also thought Bradshaw outplayed Onyenso in this one.
