Its been crazy from freshman to sophomore year. I know the seasons still going on but just was curious how much everyone thought he would improve from his sophomore season to his junior?
I have always heard his work ethic is 2nd to none so I am not surprised. I hope he is ready to step up in Niangs absence.
Last year he didn't even look like he belonged on the court, now he looks like he will be a solid upper classman. For all the criticism Matt has gotten, hopefully he improves equally next year. He'll be a really great sophomore if he does.
Naz needs to improve offensively in terms of his ability to create. If he does that he will be an excellent basketball player. More shooting consistency wouldn't hurt either.
I agree he has improved, but how much has he improved, given he did not play last year? I think some were way too down on Naz after seeing him in very limited minutes out of position. In other words, I think had he played 20 minutes a game last year, he would have looked a lot closer to this year's Naz. That said, he can get even better. He is a good-sized guard that is athletic and can shoot- that is a great starting point. With defense's respecting his shot, he has a good enough handle to at least be a proficient straight-line slasher/creator, and not be a liability in handling pressure. Last night's drive to the hoop is something I think we will see more of. He is also becoming a plus defender, and he could be a plus rebounder too. It is clear why the staff has been high on him. He is a great leader and is a solid in the off-guard/third guard role. In hindsight, it would be great if he had redshirted with SDW last year.
Wasn't Naz a point guard in HS? Think his ceiling is pretty high & he is not close to touching it yet.
His improvement has been incredible and I've noticed he's actually been taking it to the hoop sometimes in the last handful of games. He did it last night and pretty sure he's done it at least once in every other game in the last half of the Big 12.
Which he's been doing sometimes in the last handful of games. As far as non-3 point FGs he scored, he had 1 last night and 3 against KState in the Big 12 Tournament, and 2 in the OK State game to end the regular season. He is a role player though in the end, so it's hard to say how well he can actually do it because he's probably told he doesn't need to very much.
Naz is really smart on the court. I think his problems last year had to do with thinking too much while he was playing. This year, he has kept both in balance. I love the way he is playing instinctively, but also talking in detail during breaks with the other players. The BB IQs of Long and Morris are off the chart.
If he keeps improving like he has so far, the group of Naz, Georges, Monte, and Matt Thomas is going to be a pretty strong and experienced core 2 years from now. But in the meantime, let's enjoy the ride we are currently on!
The way he has been slashing to the hoop since the middle of February has told me a lot. Teams have been slacking off or him and he has taken advantage. I think his ceiling is really high. I can't wait to see him out there tomorrow afternoon.
Agreed. I think a lot of it with Matt is just mental. He has a great looking shot. He has improved on defense and at rebounding as the season has gone on. Same with Naz. They have both improved every aspect of their game as the season has went on, and they should both be even better next year.
Don't they normally say the biggest improvement is often between a players freshman and sophomore year? Maybe not so much anymore with one and dones, but I know they USED to say that.
I think that Naz has gotten a lot better. Actually, Ejim has too. Niang is better than he was last year...I was hoping that he'd come in next year in better shape, hopefully the injury doesn't prevent that. Really, under GMac, we didn't see a lot of players get a whole lot better except for some of the bigs. Under FH, we've seen Ejim improve his handle, shot and hands. We've seen Naz improve his shooting and confidence. If Thomas, Naz and Morris continue the trend, they're going to be in good shape down the line. It's hard to imagine how good Monte Morris is going to be by the time he's a SR if he gets better every year.
His comfort and court awareness has generally improved throughout the year. He's knocked down shots like the ones against OSU because he knows he can, because he believes he can. And he believes he can, because his coach is a guy who guided Melvin Ejim to become B12 POY, amongst other things that only seem possible after he's done them (the transfer thing, Royce White, players like Kane, etc). And while I'm hoping for this team to pull together for a win, I just realized that, no matter how much I've b*tched about this team, how much I'm not sure if I'll be able to watch if it all comes to an end tomorrow. What a group!
Go down the list of players on this team and they all have improved for the most part. This staff has done an amazing job at making players better. Even a guy like Kane has improved so much from last season to this season. Ejim had a lot of holes in his game as a Freshman and look at him now. Long was a PG out of HS and he have become a good shooter. Every time I watch Iowa play I wonder how much Fred could improve Marbles game.
