JJ Mania

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waterhead

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It seems like a lot of fans are really high on JJ right now and for good reason. It's not that he just finally put together two back to back good games. He has been on a 5 game tear with good to great play. That is a serious trend developing. I understand he will have to face a few better big men in the future (and on the road) but right now I am optimistic he can play well. We desperately needed at least one additional dimension to SK.

He's been doing just about everything right. Scoring, rebounding, blocking, assisting, stealing, coaching, staying out of foul trouble, predicting, deflecting, leading, playing hard, intimidating, encouraging, playing with intelligence, etc etc etc.

Right now our two best leaders by example, emotionally, and verbally just happen to be our two best AND most experienced players. These are the type of models we want our younger guys to watch and emulate. It's also not bad that our third captain is right behind them in all around stat production, effort and is our best defender.

Plug a crafty, controlled, and clutch TC into this mix along with getting one more player to rise up...this team could be extremely dangerous come March. I know I am getting ahead of myself but these guys seem to be coming together. The D is stifling as usual but the offense has a different dynamic now than what we have been use to.
 
I think we all could have predicted what SK and TR would be contributing but I am not sure we could have predicted how JJ has transformed his game and how TC has already been playing like a veteran.

I think the one thing on a lot of wish lists right now is for Thomas to start playing at the level he was toward the end of last year and hopefully even better. I might add with consistency.

Before the season started I was thinking we would not make the dance. As of right now I have much more optimism. I gotta give a lot of credit to the players but also to Cronin for his recruiting these players and inspiring them to work as hard as they do in games and in off season.
 
...those are Kenyon Martin's senior year stats. No, of course Jackson is not on his level. However, his last five games are not far off and I'd like to give the young man credit for the progress he has made. Again, this team will go as he goes this year.
 
Scheids21 said:
...those are Kenyon Martin's senior year stats. No, of course Jackson is not on his level. However, his last five games are not far off and I'd like to give the young man credit for the progress he has made. Again, this team will go as he goes this year.
Click to expand...

Haha...I knew it wasn't JJ but

How does 15.8...10...and 4 (ish) sound in the last 5 games?
 
I'll be happy with 12, 8, and 3 if he can stay out of foul trouble and continue making good decisions on offense.
 
Since his 1 point performance against Xavier here are Jackson's averages:

15.8 points
10.0 rebounds
3.8 blocks
2.4 steals
2.2 assists
Shooting 62.3% from the field (33/53)

Jason Maxiell as a senior averaged 15.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.7 blocks on 54.3% shooting.

Eric Hicks as a senior averaged 15.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.3 blocks on 47.9% shooting.

Yancy Gates as a senior averaged 12.2 points, 8.9 rebounds, 0.9 blocks on 47.4% shooting.
 
How much fun was it to watch the "clear out" to give JJ space to operate and beat his man? How bad did we need that dimension inside? As of right now JJ has such lightning quick moves for a big man that he can also use that to his advantage for a step fake pull back 10 foot jumper. His shot isn't too bad...but his defenders are going to be worried about getting beat with a spin move or the one dribble baby hook. If it's not there he is also a great passer (sometimes a little too flashy) but he seems to be scaling back the less intelligent plays and fouls.

I think he is finally realizing when he plays 30+ minutes he is a stat stud and Cronin has likely been trying to beat that into his brain. You can see defensively he is making decisions so he can stay on the court.
 
Bearcat_NTS said:
Since his 1 point performance against Xavier here are Jackson's averages:

15.8 points
10.0 rebounds
3.8 blocks
2.4 steals
2.2 assists
Shooting 62.3% from the field (33/53)

Jason Maxiell as a senior averaged 15.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.7 blocks on 54.3% shooting.

Eric Hicks as a senior averaged 15.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.3 blocks on 47.9% shooting.

Yancy Gates as a senior averaged 12.2 points, 8.9 rebounds, 0.9 blocks on 47.4% shooting.
Click to expand...

Nice stats! Other than Gates' blocks per game I would take all of those numbers from JJ for the rest of the year. I feel like JJ has just realized he can be a monster though so it's hard to tell what is in store for us.
 
Anyone else notice that we only have two players averaging double figures ppg? I would like to see one more player average close to ten, as the third highest scorer is Rubles at 7.5 ppg. I like how spread out we are with scoring, but we need one more consistent scorer. I see four real options-1) Caupain, 2) Shaq, 2a) Sanders and 3) KJ. I think Rubles is a solid contributor, but I don't see him making a major leap at this point as far as scoring goes.
 
JumpinJack5 said:
Anyone else notice that we only have two players averaging double figures ppg? I would like to see one more player average close to ten, as the third highest scorer is Rubles at 7.5 ppg. I like how spread out we are with scoring, but we need one more consistent scorer. I see four real options-1) Caupain, 2) Shaq, 2a) Sanders and 3) KJ. I think Rubles is a solid contributor, but I don't see him making a major leap at this point as far as scoring goes.
Click to expand...

It isn't a big deal. The 3 spot is platooned between Sanders/Thomas, and the PG spot is being platooned between Guyn/Caupain. It is more important with what they provide combined...
 
I hope you all are right about JJ but hopefully you at least keep some of your enthusiasm in check so you aren't in for a huge letdown. I really hope I'm wrong but I'd like to see this type of play against better competition. I don't think NM and Nebraska offered that. The best big men to date have been against Xavier and JJ was atrocious that game. Memphis although isn't strong on the inside should be a better test with Shaq Goodwin
 
Bearcat_NTS said:
Since his 1 point performance against Xavier here are Jackson's averages:

15.8 points
10.0 rebounds
3.8 blocks
2.4 steals
2.2 assists
Shooting 62.3% from the field (33/53)

Jason Maxiell as a senior averaged 15.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.7 blocks on 54.3% shooting.

Eric Hicks as a senior averaged 15.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.3 blocks on 47.9% shooting.

Yancy Gates as a senior averaged 12.2 points, 8.9 rebounds, 0.9 blocks on 47.4% shooting.
Click to expand...

Let's just throw out Gate's blocks and average out the rest.

How would about 14 pts, 8.7 rebounds, and 3 blocks work for a JJ stat line the rest of the year? Add 2 steals and 2 assists per game...with 1.5 TO's. I would be ecstatic over those numbers.
 
Bearcat_NTS said:
It isn't a big deal. The 3 spot is platooned between Sanders/Thomas, and the PG spot is being platooned between Guyn/Caupain. It is more important with what they provide combined...
Click to expand...

But if one of those guys goes into a slump and the other one doesn't play any better, we are in trouble. We need Sanders, Caupain, and Shaq to play well for us to move up into the next tier in our conference. I think JJ will be pretty consistent this year, SK is SK, and you know what you will get from Rubles, but we need to continue to develop and gain more consistency out of those 3 players.
 
TheLongHaul said:
I hope you all are right about JJ but hopefully you at least keep some of your enthusiasm in check so you aren't in for a huge letdown. I really hope I'm wrong but I'd like to see this type of play against better competition. I don't think NM and Nebraska offered that. The best big men to date have been against Xavier and JJ was atrocious that game. Memphis although isn't strong on the inside should be a better test with Shaq Goodwin
Click to expand...

Played well against Pitt, Zanna is a pretty nice big guy.
 
TheLongHaul said:
I hope you all are right about JJ but hopefully you at least keep some of your enthusiasm in check so you aren't in for a huge letdown. I really hope I'm wrong but I'd like to see this type of play against better competition. I don't think NM and Nebraska offered that. The best big men to date have been against Xavier and JJ was atrocious that game. Memphis although isn't strong on the inside should be a better test with Shaq Goodwin
Click to expand...

Fair enough...I can't say I disagree. Confidence goes a long way though. Even if we can get 10 pts, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks in tougher games I would be happy with that. As of right now the opposing D has to account for him...and that is big for our offense.
 
TheLongHaul said:
I hope you all are right about JJ but hopefully you at least keep some of your enthusiasm in check so you aren't in for a huge letdown. I really hope I'm wrong but I'd like to see this type of play against better competition. I don't think NM and Nebraska offered that. The best big men to date have been against Xavier and JJ was atrocious that game. Memphis although isn't strong on the inside should be a better test with Shaq Goodwin
Click to expand...

Sometimes I feel like a lot of UC fans would rather their pessimistic opinion come true rather than the player/coach do well...
 

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