Laval Lucas Perry
November 27th, 2009 at 1:47 PM ^
Hes been a decent shooter, but he seems hesitant, and at some points seems to play with no confidence. He definitely needs some ball handling work. Still a work in progress though.
November 27th, 2009 at 1:57 PM ^
although a step up from last year's walkons, our back court will still be suboptimal this year, and cost us. frosh morris at point is like a freshman qb, and we know how that works. on the bright side, these kids will be up coached and developed all season, improving day by day. we are already a dangerous team, and next year we will be very competitive. go blue!
November 27th, 2009 at 2:08 PM ^
Overall the teams FT shooting has been horrendous. I have no confidence on 1 and 1s anymore
November 27th, 2009 at 3:56 PM ^
This is a surprise considering we were one of the top FT teams last year. Number one in the big 10 actually.
November 27th, 2009 at 2:08 PM ^
I agree there has been a huge jump from last year; he is looking for his shot more in the last 2 games and he does some key things defensively.
Last year his FT % was 78%; hopefully he can get back to those numbers as the season progresses.
November 27th, 2009 at 2:11 PM ^
LLP shot 78% from the line last year, the second best of anyone who attempted over 10 FTs. He isn't shooting as well this year but that seems to be true of the whole team. They're not in synch in a lot of ways.
November 27th, 2009 at 2:13 PM ^
from such a small sample size.
November 27th, 2009 at 2:16 PM ^
Yes, his ball handling is mediocre, and he is not hitting his shots, but the same can be said for the rest of the team right now. They have to realize that it's time to step up, Manny can't do it all by himself.
November 27th, 2009 at 2:25 PM ^
Relax people. It's only been 4 games. Plenty of time to work on things.
November 27th, 2009 at 2:33 PM ^
totally agree. just because he is shooting 60%ish this season AFTER 4 GAMES doesn't mean he is all of a sudden a bad free throw shooter. He is coming into his own, and I think the free throw numbers for the entire team will improve as the season progresses.
November 27th, 2009 at 4:03 PM ^
He needs to crank up the intensity! Seems a little lackadaisical on defense and in general. For instance today when he whirled around and passed blindly right to the Marquette player and then committed a foul...I guess this could be some lack of experience, but I don't know.
the whole team seemed to lack a sense of urgency today except for Novak and then in the last 2.5 minutes they seemed to get it.
Sigh...CJ and Merrit are missed. I think CJ would have stepped up and matched the Marqutte guards' intensity and gotten on everyone to stop letting them drive the lane. Hoping Novak can step up and Simms starts playing with more consistent intensity.
We need to be tougher, too. Way to many people just falling over on the defensive end hoping for a foul call and giving up open shots and layups.
November 27th, 2009 at 5:01 PM ^
The team will be fine. They get a vacation in Florida, and JB gets a lot of "teachable" footage. They need to be good by the Big Ten schedule; that should happen. I expect to see a lot of shuffling in the lineup before the basic rotation is set in January.
What I would have liked to see today is more patience. I think they played into Marquette's hands when they tried to get into a forty-minute footrace with them. I'm sure JB noticed this, and will get them back to running the system a little better.
Besides, the walk-ons didn't have a lot of talent, but they did have a lot of poise. The newer players will develop poise as the season goes along.
November 27th, 2009 at 6:33 PM ^
What's wrong with you blind followers? Beilein clearly needs to be fired. He hasn't won a ballgame in more than 1,500 minutes. The team is playing sloppy and isn't "buying into" his system. Family values.
November 28th, 2009 at 12:21 AM ^
that LLP's free throw percentage is so low. He's one of the few guys on our team that can get dribble penetration, and he's pretty good at drawing the foul in the drive.
I don't think he's lazy. I don't think so at all. with all the effort these kids put into the game, I don't see how that could be accurate.
My gut tells me that it's more about confidence. That's why he's missing free throws and showing some inconsistency. If he started believing that he had the skills to excel, which he does, then he could be a top notch performer.
November 28th, 2009 at 1:16 AM ^
I'm not too worried about LLP or anyone else. I think the team was tired today. Two games in two days against up-tempo, pressuring teams after having two in two weeks. But I'm guessing they will be shooting tons of FTs next week.
November 28th, 2009 at 10:18 AM ^
double, sorry.
November 28th, 2009 at 10:17 AM ^
People aren't saying they're "concerned" about Perry, are they? He's shot well from the floor for the last two games - he was the only guy that could make a 3-pointer yesterday.
If the team has a problem, it's an overall lack of athleticism. Novak couldn't come close to guarding Heyward/Butler (whichever one Sims wasn't guarding at the time), and their guard drove the lane at will. This is, it should be said, where we miss Lee. He was an excellent defender. He wasn't just "grit".
I know everyone got excited with the #15 and everything, but I still see this is as a 20 win, 10 loss team, and somewhat close to the NCAA bubble.
November 28th, 2009 at 10:44 AM ^
LLP is what he is. None of the returning guards have elite level athleticism and I am not sure if the Freshman do either, possibly Morris does. Man to man defense will be a struggle all year for these guys.
Cronin, if healthy could have helped yesterday, but it looks like he is at least 1 year maybe 2 from contributing. Too bad he can't get healthy. Not only were Marquette players getting past their defender, there was no help anywhere. Where were the weakside defenders? I only remember the 1 block by Sims and not much help. Not how you win basketball games against small, quick, athletic teams. Live and Learn.
November 28th, 2009 at 11:20 AM ^
Well, we're never going to be a shot-blocking team. At least not for a few years - we just don't have those sorts of players right now. We needed to keep Marquette out of the lane - and you're right, Novak, Douglass, Perry were all getting run around all day. I mean, I don't think any of us are shocked that Novak and Douglass are less athletic than a lot of our competition, right?
November 28th, 2009 at 1:31 PM ^
Gibson is actually a pretty good shot blocker. On a per-minute basis, he gets quite a few. I'd like to see us start playing him and Sims at the same time.
November 28th, 2009 at 11:30 AM ^
Eric Snow.
His season FT percentages at MSU:
91-92: 3/15 = 20%
92-93: 15/56 = 26.8%
93-94: 22/49 = 44.9%
94-95: 62/102 = 60.8%
November 28th, 2009 at 11:41 AM ^
The funny thing is that Snow actually was a solid free throw shooter in the NBA - 77% on his career, and five seasons over 80%.