TrueHoyaBlue
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Post by TrueHoyaBlue on Nov 29, 2017 9:38:07 GMT -5
It's pretty unbelievable to watch, but Kaleb has almost doubled his career made threes in just 5 games (8-14, compared to 7-13 as a freshman and 3-12 as a sophomore).
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Post by HoyaRejuveNation85 on Nov 29, 2017 10:29:09 GMT -5
It will be very interesting to see if pre-league success translates into improved league performance for Kaleb. I hope that it will. He lacked confidence in the past and that's a terrible thing. There may be a method to Patrick's scheduling "madness" if the confidence built from regular success improves Kaleb's league performance. I'm rooting for him. His energy is palpable and we need his athleticism on the floor.
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Post by FrazierFanatic on Nov 29, 2017 16:25:27 GMT -5
Don't want to jinx him - but I no longer cringe when KJ steps to the foul line!
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Post by centercourt400s on Nov 29, 2017 17:40:16 GMT -5
Don't want to jinx him - but I no longer cringe when KJ steps to the foul line! Didn't see the game (travelling) but it's been clear since Kenner that Kaleb has really worked on his free throws. More consistent arc and a lot of backspin. Kudos to him for hard work paying off.
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Post by trillesthoya on Nov 29, 2017 18:27:02 GMT -5
Johnson and Mulmore are obvious testaments to Ewing's ability to develop players. Competition aside these two look much better in every way than they did against even the cupcakes last year.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2017 9:36:05 GMT -5
Johnson and Mulmore are obvious testaments to Ewing's ability to develop players. Competition aside these two look much better in every way than they did against even the cupcakes last year. I feel like Mulmore was constrained in the JT3 offense. This is a guy who is best when he's running downhill, using his quickness, and seeking to create. I this he was a square peg in a round hole last year. Ewing's system is a better fit for his strengths. As for Kaleb, I'm just glad to see him get a chance. I thought his performance in the Duke game his freshman year was a breakout and that he would become a regular part of the rotation. Then he was basically nailed to the bench for the next few games and never really got a chance to build on it. Feels like a confidence thing as much as anything. Whether Coach is developing them or simply figuring out how to best leverage their skill sets, I like it.
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Cambridge
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Post by Cambridge on Nov 30, 2017 9:44:17 GMT -5
I'll go ahead and risk jinxing Kaleb. Right now, he is shooting 16-23 (.696) from 2, 8-14 (.571) from 3, and 13-16 (.812) from the line. That puts his eFG% at 75.7% (13th! in the nation) and his TS% at 77.3% (8th!). He is putting up an ORtg of 129.9 (120th) on 17.7% of possessions. Based on his past performance (and the fact that this has been against the most mediocre of competition), it's probably unsustainable. But it is possible that if he can maintain a least some of the improvement in his free throw shooting percentage, we may see only a corrective dip rather than a crash over the rest of the season.
The first reason is because he's actually been a fairly efficient shooter from the field historically, albeit one with very limited opportunities. For example, over his first two seasons he shot 44-77 from 2 (.571) and 10-23 from 3 (.400). I'll be honest that these numbers surprised me. I think my memory was skewed because last season (20-40 or .500 from 2 / 3-12 or .250 from 3) was considerably worse than than his freshman season (22-37 or .595 from 2 / 7-13 from 3 or .538). Both are small sample sizes, but it is possible that last year was the outlier when it came to shooting from the floor, and this year we are seeing a return to the "real" Kaleb as a shooter. In any event, while elevated, his numbers from the floor this year are high but are not completely out of whack (16-23 from 2 or .696 / 8-14 from 3 or .571).
The second reason is because he's actually shown a strong ability to get to the line. There is no doubt that Kaleb has been an awful free throw shooter. He shot a dismal 26-50 (.520) his freshman year and 20-40 (.500) his sophomore year. But while he shot poorly from the FT line, he actually posted the highest FTRate on the team in both seasons 100 and 86.5, respectively. That means he drew fouls while shooting or driving at the highest rate of any player on the roster. What made it frustrating was he then failed to capitalize while at the line. This year, while we only have a very small sample size, he's dramatically increased his free throw shooting percentage, shooting 7-9 (.778) from the line. And while his FTRate has dropped a fair amount from the rates he put up the first two seasons, it is still very respectable and one of the higher rates on the team. Basically, Kaleb could maintain much of his improved value if he can just find a happy medium between his current and past free throw shooting percentage, and say shoot 65% to 70% from the line, while still finding his way to the line and maintaining his historic shooting percentages from the floor.
Hopefully, rather than the product of a small sample size, the uptick we've seen from Kaleb at the line has been the product of a focus on that aspect of his game over the offseason and by the current coaching staff - i.e. many, many, many hours practicing free throws. If so, his future is bright.
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TrueHoyaBlue
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Post by TrueHoyaBlue on Nov 30, 2017 10:26:05 GMT -5
It's a small sample size from the free throw line, but half as many makes already as he had in either freshman or sophomore year. With 13-16 from the line in 5 games, he's pulled his career FT rate from 51.6% to 55.9%. A few more games of this and it won't be an outlier at alll.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Nov 30, 2017 10:50:04 GMT -5
Johnson and Mulmore are obvious testaments to Ewing's ability to develop players. Competition aside these two look much better in every way than they did against even the cupcakes last year. While I agree Johnson looks better, and Mulmore has had some good games, my only hesitance on this statement is that we've played only 5 games so far, 4 of which have been horrible opponents. So while I am hopeful they will keep it up, and you can give Ewing some credit if they do, let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet.
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Post by professorhoya on Nov 30, 2017 11:09:41 GMT -5
It's a small sample size from the free throw line, but half as many makes already as he had in either freshman or sophomore year. With 13-16 from the line in 5 games, he's pulled his career FT rate from 51.6% to 55.9%. A few more games of this and it won't be an outlier at alll. You don't need stats to see that he is shoring with more arc which allows for a greater margin of error. My main criticism with him since he first got here was that he had flat shot although he had good rotation and back spin. He's hitting wide open shots now, where in the past even with nobody in his face and plenty of time he would hesitate, or shoot inaccurately.
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guru
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Post by guru on Nov 30, 2017 11:19:11 GMT -5
Johnson and Mulmore are obvious testaments to Ewing's ability to develop players. Competition aside these two look much better in every way than they did against even the cupcakes last year. While I agree Johnson looks better, and Mulmore has had some good games, my only hesitance on this statement is that we've played only 5 games so far, 4 of which have been horrible opponents. So while I am hopeful they will keep it up, and you can give Ewing some credit if they do, let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Wow
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Post by FrazierFanatic on Nov 30, 2017 11:27:09 GMT -5
Johnson and Mulmore are obvious testaments to Ewing's ability to develop players. Competition aside these two look much better in every way than they did against even the cupcakes last year. While I agree Johnson looks better, and Mulmore has had some good games, my only hesitance on this statement is that we've played only 5 games so far, 4 of which have been horrible opponents. So while I am hopeful they will keep it up, and you can give Ewing some credit if they do, let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet. It is a fair point that playing against better, and likely taller, defenders may affect his ability to get off open jumpers. Hopefully he doesn't start forcing if that happens. But the free throw improvement reflects better mechanics and a smoother stroke, which also translates to his jumper, and I would expect to continue.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Nov 30, 2017 11:57:44 GMT -5
To be clear, I think it's great that Mulmore and Johnson are playing better, and I think Ewing's coaching is probably a factor in that progression. I just recall previous years where certain guys got off to good starts (like Paul White, for example), only for things to slow down. While I sincerely hope that does not happen, and Mulmore and Johnson continue to perform well, all I am saying is that it's tough to make solid conclusions after 5 games. I am not sure what merits "Wow" about that, aside from a desire to disagree with everything I say.
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Post by williambraskyiii on Nov 30, 2017 12:32:41 GMT -5
Johnson and Mulmore are obvious testaments to Ewing's ability to develop players. Competition aside these two look much better in every way than they did against even the cupcakes last year. While I agree Johnson looks better, and Mulmore has had some good games, my only hesitance on this statement is that we've played only 5 games so far, 4 of which have been horrible opponents. So while I am hopeful they will keep it up, and you can give Ewing some credit if they do, let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet. You’ve become so predictable I’m convinced a bot has taken over your hoyatalk account.
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bigskyhoya
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Post by bigskyhoya on Nov 30, 2017 14:12:28 GMT -5
To be clear, I think it's great that Mulmore and Johnson are playing better, and I think Ewing's coaching is probably a factor in that progression. I just recall previous years where certain guys got off to good starts (like Paul White, for example), only for things to slow down. While I sincerely hope that does not happen, and Mulmore and Johnson continue to perform well, all I am saying is that it's tough to make solid conclusions after 5 games. I am not sure what merits "Wow" about that, aside from a desire to disagree with everything I say. Has anyone really said Kaleb and Mulmore will be First Team Big East, or have a long career in the NBA? Of course not. People have commented that both players have shown marked improvement SO FAR. We are well aware that the sample size is small, and the competition weak. The "wow" reply may have been a reference to the straw man you set up, and then knocked down, in your post.
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Post by hoyasaxa2003 on Nov 30, 2017 14:52:38 GMT -5
To be clear, I think it's great that Mulmore and Johnson are playing better, and I think Ewing's coaching is probably a factor in that progression. I just recall previous years where certain guys got off to good starts (like Paul White, for example), only for things to slow down. While I sincerely hope that does not happen, and Mulmore and Johnson continue to perform well, all I am saying is that it's tough to make solid conclusions after 5 games. I am not sure what merits "Wow" about that, aside from a desire to disagree with everything I say. Has anyone really said Kaleb and Mulmore will be First Team Big East, or have a long career in the NBA? Of course not. People have commented that both players have shown marked improvement SO FAR. We are well aware that the sample size is small, and the competition weak. The "wow" reply may have been a reference to the straw man you set up, and then knocked down, in your post. All my post said was that I would be cautious in saying that a player's improvement being an "obvious testament" to Ewing's ability to develop players based on 5 games. I think it's premature to be making such conclusions, but I get that someone else might disagree. That's fair. As for the "strawman" stuff, I don't see how it applies to my post at all. I didn't set up a strawman, nor did I tear one down. You, however did, by saying "Has anyone really said Kaleb and Mulmore will be First Team Big East, or have a long career in the NBA?" [No, nobody has said that, I certainly have not] and then knocking it down, "Of course not." Quite ironic.
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bigskyhoya
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Post by bigskyhoya on Nov 30, 2017 15:25:55 GMT -5
Has anyone really said Kaleb and Mulmore will be First Team Big East, or have a long career in the NBA? Of course not. People have commented that both players have shown marked improvement SO FAR. We are well aware that the sample size is small, and the competition weak. The "wow" reply may have been a reference to the straw man you set up, and then knocked down, in your post. All my post said was that I would be cautious in saying that a player's improvement being an "obvious testament" to Ewing's ability to develop players based on 5 games. I think it's premature to be making such conclusions, but I get that someone else might disagree. That's fair. As for the "strawman" stuff, I don't see how it applies to my post at all. I didn't set up a strawman, nor did I tear one down. You, however did, by saying "Has anyone really said Kaleb and Mulmore will be First Team Big East, or have a long career in the NBA?" [No, nobody has said that, I certainly have not] and then knocking it down, "Of course not." Quite ironic. Fair enough. But I stand by my observation that your post was, well, unremarkable.
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Post by glidehoyas (Inactive) on Dec 1, 2017 11:24:50 GMT -5
I've always like the way Kaleb plays. He's an attacker, an aggressive baller. He will make his mistakes, but I think he will make up for those mistakes.
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Post by FrazierFanatic on Dec 1, 2017 12:34:07 GMT -5
I've always like the way Kaleb plays. He's an attacker, an aggressive baller. He will make his mistakes, but I think he will make for those mistakes. Agreed - and if he can continue to shoot well from outside it will benefit his drives to the hoop; last year he drove into traffic a lot because the defense knew it could back off of him.
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Post by glidehoyas (Inactive) on Dec 1, 2017 12:53:48 GMT -5
I've always like the way Kaleb plays. He's an attacker, an aggressive baller. He will make his mistakes, but I think he will make for those mistakes. Agreed - and if he can continue to shoot well from outside it will benefit his drives to the hoop; last year he drove into traffic a lot because the defense knew it could back off of him. yeah Frazier. I like to see him stop and pop as well as he's driving to the basket. Wish Peak would've done this more better, Jabril as well.
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