CBS Jon Rothstein mentions Nader's improvement

tejasclone

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Oct 20, 2006
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His transition dunks the last couple games have been really awesome. Fun to watch him fly and deliver it with authority.

You guys remember McDermott's first year? Dodie Dunson and Cory McIntosh? Look how far we've come.
 

Psiclone

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Apr 11, 2006
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Lost weight makes him more athletic around the bucket.

Definitely, and it shows in Niang's game as well. He's moving his feet much more quickly on D and blocking more shots, and I was totally surprised by his left handed layup on the break in the last game. He covered a lot of ground on that one and I don't think he even dribbled the ball.
 

Jacktronic

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The article also mentions Illinois' Thorne. Surgery on Monday for a torn meniscus. That's too bad, they have a chance to be a solid team.
 
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DurangoCy

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The Morris, Naz, Thomas, Nader, Niang lineup is amazing on offense right now, and if they can play even adequate defense (which they have been with Thomas rebounding so well) we have a chance to have a historic year.

PS - I still love Jameel.
 

Psiclone

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I think is is a big reason for his improvement . He just seems so much quicker this year.

Now, if he would just stop stepping on the baseline... :smile:

I can see him improving even more as the season goes on. He still takes some questionable shots which he can eliminate to improve his efficiency. I had posted in another thread that Burton might be the best match up defensively vs. KU's Selden. However, based on what he's done in recent games, I think Nader can defend Selden quite well.
 

jahfg

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Apr 19, 2006
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The Morris, Naz, Thomas, Nader, Niang lineup is amazing on offense right now, and if they can play even adequate defense (which they have been with Thomas rebounding so well) we have a chance to have a historic year.

PS - I still love Jameel.

Me too, but at some point, him trying to take his man 1-on-1 in the post is a wasted possession (or missed FTs) when you have so many good offensive players on the team.
 

Psiclone

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Me too, but at some point, him trying to take his man 1-on-1 in the post is a wasted possession (or missed FTs) when you have so many good offensive players on the team.

Not true vs. smaller competition against which he has shown some good low post moves. However, many of those moves don't work against bigger opponents, which is what he will see in the Big XII. His best chance of scoring against bigger/slower defenders is probably to give him the ball a bit farther from the hoop so he can use his quickness to drive by people as he has shown he can do.

I'm going to give him a few more games to figure out which moves do or don't work against which competition. He apparently scores well in practice, though that is against two freshmen and it is after all PRACTICE.
 

Cynonymous

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Not true vs. smaller competition against which he has shown some good low post moves. However, many of those moves don't work against bigger opponents, which is what he will see in the Big XII. His best chance of scoring against bigger/slower defenders is probably to give him the ball a bit farther from the hoop so he can use his quickness to drive by people as he has shown he can do.

I'm going to give him a few more games to figure out which moves do or don't work against which competition. He apparently scores well in practice, though that is against two freshmen and it is after all PRACTICE.
I agree with this. He needs to be a bit more patient, but him being an inside threat opens a lot of things and balances the team.