Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Andy Katz Gives the Dores Some Love

Must read stuff right here guys.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

This team is going to be good.

Stanimal said...

You said it man.

vandygold28 said...

good article. for those of you who slammed me on an earlier post about ezeli not being able to replace ogilvy, this article appears to agree with me. he's a beast and i thought i saw it last year. he is much more aggressive than ogilvy and plays that "big SEC man" part much better than ogilvy. i'm not hating ogilvy, but he gets hurt all the time and just isn't aggressive enough. i'm tired of people defending ogilvy. he doesn't look like he's getting murdered every time he goes to the goal because he is. he looks like it cause he can be weak.

Robert Funke said...

Yikes, guy. I think if you look at Ogilvy's stats and then consider the games, there's a very simple explanation for why some people think A.J. is a monster down low, and some people, like you and occasionally me, think A.J. just doesn't have the cajones to handle things in the paint:

-When opponents double-team Ogilvy, he is COMPLETELY shut down. Ineffective. "Getting murdered." etc. etc.

-When opponents are forced to spread their defense out, leaving him in a 1-on-1 situation, Ogilvy consistently gets 20+ per game, and is worth every ounce of "defending" that he gets from your "not hating on."

Hopefully, defenses will have to leave him 1-on-1 in the paint with our added depth and perimeter Jenkinsing.

Stanimal said...

"Slam" is a harsh term. I prefer "disagree completely."

My only statement was that until another player on this team starts dropping 17 points a game or demonstrates an ability to put up over 30, e.g. the Kentucky game last year, Ogilvy's health and improved play is this team's key to success. He's the second most experienced player on the floor and by far the most polished big man we have.

I'm not saying Big Fez won't ever be a hugely productive Center for us. I'm simply saying that it's ludicrous to think he's better than Ogilvy at this point. Big Fez isn't the first player to reach the 1000 point plateau as a sophomore, Ogilvy is. Sure, Fez played great at the end of the season dropping 10 and 12, but he's a developing talent, not a throw him in the fire talent, and that's why Ogilvy, as our most experienced big, is so crucial to our success. That and improved three-point and mid-range shooting.

Stanimal said...

And by the way, your comments are well respected and valid. I never said that Ogilvy was a "monster" down low. I would whole-heartedly agree with you that he got pushed around a lot last year and that he needed to bulk up to play down low. Last season I commented on that relentlessly. My only point is that Ezeli is not a better option than Ogilvy at this point and there's no one in college basketball who would agree with that statement. Andy Katz termed Ezeli as a "surprise", because he's exactly that, better than expected. If he thought he was the best Center we had, then he would have said, "Ezeli is a starter and is better than Ogilvy."

vandygold28 said...

i'm just glad he's looking better. i think it'll help relieve ogilvy who often gets winded and help the overall depth. either way, i hope we come out strong. our home opener should be good but after that its on the road to cali and than to maui for lots of good teams. stallings is right when he says they need to have a sense of urgency.

Stanimal said...

With that, I completely agree. Ogilvy, as you say, will need his minutes off the floor, and we need someone to take that pressure off. That's an area where Fez can deliver big time.

I'm with you on coming out strong. We're going to find out what this team is all about within the first few weeks of the season. Although I wouldn't be surprised if this team has a midseason light click on, kind of like the Byars squad of '06-'07.