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Issa Thiam Thread

RU-Choppin-Ohio

RU-Choppin-Ohio

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The most un-freshmen like freshmen I can recall in a long time at Rutgers.

Plays calm and under Control. Endless motor and is always moving on offense and defense.

I love his pass fakes on the perimeter. They will lead to some nice back door plays in the future.

I think he has answered a lot of questions about whether he can be a good perimeter defender as a 6'9 SG. Today he showed the lateral quickness to stay with a 5'10" PG.

The next thing he has to show is a willingness and ability to drive and finish in the paint. I want to see some pull up jumpers in the lane soon.
 
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RU-Choppin-Ohio said:
The most un-freshmen like freshmen I can recall in a long time at Rutgers.

Plays calm and under Control. Endless motor and is always moving on offense and defense.

I love his pass fakes on the perimeter. They will lead to some nice back door plays in the future.

I think he has answered a lot of questions about whether he can be a good perimeter defender as a 6'9 SG. Today he showed the lateral quickness to stay with a 5'10" PG.

The next thing he has to show is a willingness and ability to drive and finish in the paint. I want to see some pull up jumpers in the lane soon.
Click to expand...
You are spot on..Thiam has me so pumped. He makes few mistakes and seems confident. And the three ball.. nice to add this weapon this year.
 
RU-Choppin-Ohio said:
The most un-freshmen like freshmen I can recall in a long time at Rutgers.

Plays calm and under Control. Endless motor and is always moving on offense and defense.

I love his pass fakes on the perimeter. They will lead to some nice back door plays in the future.

I think he has answered a lot of questions about whether he can be a good perimeter defender as a 6'9 SG. Today he showed the lateral quickness to stay with a 5'10" PG.

The next thing he has to show is a willingness and ability to drive and finish in the paint. I want to see some pull up jumpers in the lane soon.
Click to expand...

Totally agree. Speaking of freshman, is Bullock hurt or red shirting?
 
Needs to work on his handle and his first step. He HAS to become a threat to go to the hole. With that comes the pull up jumper, which could be unstoppable at this level.
 
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Question on Thiam - he seems to have a low release on his jumper. Any way that can be adjusted to be higher w/o losing accuracy?

BBall team has me very excited. They have a ways to go, but have both talent and basketball IQ, and give great effort, what an amazing turnaround in 1 year, major kudos to Pikiell and company. Most excitingly, they will continue to improve as the season goes on.
 
After only 4 games it's pretty apparent that Thiam's basketball IQ is quite high. In fact all the new guys seem to have higher basketball IQs than the players we've had in the past.
 
Still need to see more.

POSITIVES
1. He is smart and/or well coached. He is in the right space off the ball on defense. As OP noticed he is good with ball fakes which is especially helpful vs. zones
2. He has held his own staying in front of guards 10 inches smaller than him.
3. He has confidence shooting the ball
4. Pikiell has named him a starter which means he earned it in practice
5. 8-19 from 3, small sample but that is 42%

NEGATIVES
1. Haven't seen him take his man off the dribble
2. Haven't seen him really do much of anything in the paint offensively
3. He has already had 2 3 pointers blocked...more than most get blocked in a year....
4. Release to low and he takes forever...HAS TO BE FIXED
5. Has only 7 rebounds and 2 foul shots and 1 block and 0 steals
6. In 2 games with big leads when we are shortening the game he has taken bad shots early in the shot clock
 
His shot looks so effortless, it just floats its way into the basket. I really like watching him play
 
That's one unique player. If he works on every aspect of his game he could be one of the better players in the Big 10. I would say you want him to gain some weight but his shot is so sweet that he's really not an inside player so I don't know?

Looking forward to watching him develop. He's a key player that's for sure.
 
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I thought his release looked low? Can any more knowledgeable basketball fans chime in on this? I'm more of a football guy and can't pick up the finer points.
 
80RU said:
Do you also think that his release needs to be quicker?
Click to expand...
It seems to me that a big man who moves his feet so well on defense should be able to use his quick feet to set and get the shot off a little bit quicker.
 
80RU said:
Do you also think that his release needs to be quicker?
Click to expand...

Not sure on that, will have to pay better attention. He has had a couple 3s blocked. I was thinking maybe because of his lower release.
 
Him and Bullock are the first players who will have 4 years of teaching from pikiell...one day, they will be the rugged seniors on a youngish team. And I'm excited for what thiam can become.. Brand new world
 
Greene Rice FIG said:
what if it limits his attempts?
he has already had 2 attempts blocked

he has to get it fixed.
Click to expand...

Those two blocks are part of his 40%+ shooting and one of them led to him driving to the basket and getting fouled while shooting. Again, not on my list of concerns. Wait till April to start screwing with his shot, if you really need to.
 
RickB113 said:
I wouldn't mess with his release point. Just get the shot off faster. He just has to adjust to the speed of the game which will come.
Click to expand...

I was thinking just the opposite. Try and raise his release point a little (after this season), but don't mess with the rhythm of his shot. Rushing will hurt his shooting %.
 
I guess I am the opposite. I was a shooter and if you messed with my form release point it would have royally messed me up. Speed things up a little was a much easier adjustment.
 
Plus even with a low release point at 6'9 he is probably still releasing the ball higher than 90% of your three point shooters. He is getting it blocked because he is taking too long to shoot IMO.
 
It may not come this year but if Thiam can put the ball on the floor and even be a threat from mid-range then I think it changes the entire team. I'm salivating over the idea of him as a Senior. Has first-team all conference written all over him.
 
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Arizona Knight said:
Those two blocks are part of his 40%+ shooting and one of them led to him driving to the basket and getting fouled while shooting. Again, not on my list of concerns. Wait till April to start screwing with his shot, if you really need to.
Click to expand...

It needs to get fixed in April. Not now.
 
Given that he is 6'9'' I don't think he needs a Myles Mack jump shot where he is 12 inches off the ground.
 
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