Last scholly - what say you?
- Thread starter JayDogSmooth
- Start date
Keep an eye on Viktor Mikic, who we just offered.
He’s 6’11” but not sure he’s athletic enough for Big Ten competition. Clearly the coaching staff thinks he’s better than nothing, though.
I'm very curious, how much? I can be honest, I've seen one highlight video. He makes an amazing pass in it. I've seen him reject Cooper Flagg. That's literally about it, but I'm also looking at who he played with and against.
Still can use another BIG man. Micik for the sole reason those European players just are overall more skilled on fundamentals. Maybe not as athletic but a great compliment to the players such as Dylan and Bailey.
Compliment ?
Name a Rutgers recruit who was not deemed a ‘great complement’ on this site in advance ?
I’ll wait.
At some point extra depth is impractical. Once we get a big man, we’ll be past that point.
It's going to be a big man, hopefully Mikic. Options for class of 24 big men can't be too great and he can play
Wouldn’t have been my choice at the start of all of this but he’s growing on me.
Think he can be solid pickup. Will be fundamentally sound, won’t hurt us on defense and could surprise on offense.
If he joins the team, then I'll be rooting for him no matter his athleticism or whatever else. But there's really no real way to know how well he'd do for RU against our tougher competition until we actually see him playing against that competition.
I'm not picking on the kid. The same applies to all new players, despite their history or ranking. I get that some fans like to be very optimistic, some very pessimistic. I like to wait and see before forming assumptions, positive or negative.
As always, I'm hopeful.
I'm not picking on the kid. The same applies to all new players, despite their history or ranking. I get that some fans like to be very optimistic, some very pessimistic. I like to wait and see before forming assumptions, positive or negative.
As always, I'm hopeful.
Enough that we are his only high major offer. It’s def a desperate move because we have whiffed on every portal center for the obvious reasons $$$$$.
I never said he cannot pass or cannot block shots or anything like that. I only said not super athletic, from an apparent speed and hops standpoint. Cliff was freakishly athletic, by contrast.
I trust the coaching staff and the staff made him an offer. That strongly suggests he can help the team in some way.
Hayes is a perimeter player. Not a BIG. One who has averaged over 42% from 3 on high volume over 4 years. He’s definitely not athletic but he’s a 4 year veteran who I predict will at least play smart D. He’ll get beat because of his limitations but will have the game sense to commit the foul before the shot to prevent the basket. Things like that. At least that’s my prediction.
nobody who played major minutes was less athletic than Myles Johnson, not even Joynes....and neither MJ nor Cliff could dribble even one bounce.
So, I'd take this guy all day long. He wouldn't be Cliff on D but miles ahead of MJ on O and probably Cliff too.
It’s inconceivable for the last scholarship to be used on anything other than a Center.
I’m setting the bar at he needs to be better on the court than Agee (best interviewer!) and Mamadou (who interestingly started 45 games in 2 years at LaSalle after leaving RU, only averaging 11.5 minutes, just under 3 rebounds and 3 points per game).
I’m concerned my bar won’t be reached.
MJ wasn’t athletic but he was very physical. I don’t sense that as much from this kid. He seems like more of a smart xo type player - good passer - shies away from hard contact.
He's a solid get for this late in the process for a 2024. He's not a solid get for what we need next year though.
I was trying to be honest, I saw enough to see he made some nice plays and some athletic plays. Which isn't going to make Cliff, but it doesn't mean he isn't an athlete either--in my limited view. It seems like you've seen him more than me, so I was curious if you'd watched more of his games. I don't think you're being pessimistic, but you made a very confident evaluation so I was wondering how much you'd seen him play. However, you've kind of evaded the question, oddly.
Just watched his highlight reel, but I thought his athleticism was a strength. Maybe not high level, but pretty good.
The highlight was a bunch of dunks, including after putting the ball on the floor or going coast to coast on the break. Didn't look especially athletic on the blocks, nor was there much in terms of rebounding or blocks, but still not seeing athleticism being an issue.
I actually wonder about that 6'11". Didn't look especially big.
If you are not super athletic you need other attributes to offset that. See Cam.
But being super athletic is a good thing in basketball, see Cliff. Without said athleticism.....
My take
This player comes in and Latham is made to believe he himself is the starter, no more unrest
The new guy is for a bit of depth and hopefully can contribute
Mikic looked very good to me. I definitely see the potential in terms of size, shooting touch, savvy, and a frame that can add muscle and weight. A great looking prospect for the future.
Seems like he's a late bloomer, and you can see the improvement just in his highlight reel. The kind of kid that traditionally works into the rotation gradually over a few seasons, and teams like Wisconsin kill you with them as upperclassmen.
But not what we needed for this year. Better than nothing though and not a disaster.
Seems like he's a late bloomer, and you can see the improvement just in his highlight reel. The kind of kid that traditionally works into the rotation gradually over a few seasons, and teams like Wisconsin kill you with them as upperclassmen.
But not what we needed for this year. Better than nothing though and not a disaster.
Nah, I wouldn’t say MJ was physical either. More physical than Reiber and Woolfolk but so is my shadow.
Anyhow, based on the video this kid would be a good get for offense. But it would mean Sommerville is the likely starter ?
I agree that the only real position of need at this point is a center who can at least fill in if our other two not terribly tall guys get hurt or in foul trouble.
A positive with Mikic is that he appears to have decent offensive court sense (he chooses good angles to await entry passes from driving guards) which sets him up for easy dunks. Cliff was okay at that, but sometimes got the timing or angles wrong when supporting a driving player, which made it harder for that player to dish the ball if Cliff's defender tried to double. If Mikic does have that skill, that could be very helpful given how much attention we expect some of our new players to draw on offense.
Cam in general. For the current roster? Maybe Cliff.
Is that supposed to show athleticism is not an important attribute in basketball?
Are you really serious about he is not what we really need? We already have the greatest depth we have ever had , at guard , at the wings, with 3 point snipers in Martini and Hayes that will hopefully get Dylan’s kick outs as he is being doubled team or collapsed on. At center we have Latham , who I predict by game 5-6 will become our starter and Egbole as a backup , another big body that can defend against the rest of the big centers in the country. We do not need another ACE or Dylan , the #2 and # 3 players in the country at center. He will not be relied upon , will be at best our fifth option on offense , but hopefully we get defense and rebounding and garbage points. If this new center Milic gives us anything at all, just minor help before we ease in Lathan , there is plenty there to make a Final Four run. Not sure there are enough centers in the country that can score 2 points at a time against our offense who will outscore them if that was their main offense. We will beat them all day and twice on Sunday.
Im guessing point was that our need is a veteran center who can step in right away to defend rebound and dunk.
Mikic you have to wonder if he is ready.
All division 1 athletes have some form of athleticism, being "super athletic" doesn't make you a star athlete unless you have the skills to back it up. At this level, I would rather have an athletic player with good skills, than a "super athletic" player with not so good skills.
We don’t know what either of them will look like at the D1 level. All a crap shoot until they step on the court. Especially on D. We’re bringing in a lot of guys making jump from mid-major level and frosh. D is likely to lag behind which is ok if we are scoring a ton, but not having a physical post presence or rim protector could be a big problem. MJ may not have been athletic but he was good at that stuff - he was a bruiser in there. Thats what I mean by physical.
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