He’s got an NBA body and NBA athleticism. Although his scoring is higher, he really hasn’t developed that much and he has absolutely terrible hands. His range is really slam dunk or nothing with an occasional half hook.
Cliff was awful
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Cliff is a dunk off of lobs specialist with a couple of blocks thrown in. Gotten better shooting FTs. However, when he faces a big man with ability, he is neutralized, and gets spanked if the opposing big man knows how to score. That’s it.
Almost the entire team was terrible. Mag to me played decent but 19 turnovers was horrible which most were unforced. No one took control. It was so disappointing to see our team being so listless and not showing any confidence or leadership. Hyatt hit three threes but otherwise was not terrific either. It was one of the ugliest basketball games I have ever seen. Seton Hall out toughed us tonight.
Cliff was supposed to be a dominant big this year. He has routinely been gameplanned into being a non factor in almost every significant game so far this season
hyatt missed an easy shot to tie the game...compared to others Hyatt probably 2nd best tonight but I think Mag was the most solid guy out there
Hyatt has choked on 2 layups late in games. Don’t understand it because he has played decent so far
This is the biggest problem. Against decent competition he has not been a advantage for us.
With the SHU defense denying and blocking every conventional looking shot we took, Hyatt hurried and threw up an attempt that couldn’t be blocked
Cliff’s is a good player for sure but I wish he had Myles Johnson’s hands. Too many loose balls slipping through his hands last night.
Cliff is the Number one problem this team has to get fixed
Cliff’s issue is his footwork and positioning, easier to see on defense, but hurts him offensively as well, with his athletic ability. He should avg 10-12 rbs.a game. He is often out of position which hurts him boxing out, he tends to be sideways to the rim rather than squared up. Cliff has improved greatly but right now he is not a one or high two draft pick, ultimately he could be but it’s cleaning up some hardcore fundamentals that needs to be addressed.
And you are always waiting for an offensive foul from him.
If he has the ball on a semi-break you expect him to bull his way into the defender.
I now see no drop off when we go from Cliff to Dean or Antoine. None are particularly good defensively against most bigs. Dean can stretch the floor and hit twelve to fifteen footers as well and Wolf has much better instincts, hands, and footwork around the basket than Cliff.
Yes
If the score was reversed we would still admit playing poorly but crediting our defense for a sloppy win
Seton Hall deserved the win, played a bit better than RU
The combination of too many turnovers and bad shooting killed us all day
SHU had very good defense all game
When we could not jump out on them early it gave them confidence, and the crowd not a factor then
This game doesn’t bother me as much as the Ohio State game because here we did not deserve to win against the Hall
What this game shows us is that we can be good enough at times, Indiana, OSU, and bad enough at times, and maybe you never know what to expect
Cliff is an athletic finisher who would be better as a rim runner in the pick and roll. His post game is not sophisticated. He's not going to dominate offensively from there.
Yes, never wins a loose ball. Hands don't work. Also killing himself & us with the early jerky fouls that are literally taking him out of the game.
I think many dudes are drafted on potential, with the idea of coaching him up. I could see that with Cliff O...
Cliff has the body of an NBA 4, long lean and athletic at this point he does not have the game of a NBA 4. he does no have the body of an NBA 5
Really Cliff has improved greatly, but I would be surprised if he ends up a high draft pick, think there will need to be another year of development beyond this one
Really Cliff has improved greatly, but I would be surprised if he ends up a high draft pick, think there will need to be another year of development beyond this one
This is a big moment for Cliff. He is this team's engine and the program's success depends on him avoiding the silly early fouls and turnovers. Its rinse and repeat with him scoring 2 points in the first half. He's a junior, its time to stop whining to refs, jawing other players, and taunting opposing fans with time on the clock.
Part of me feels like it’s a result of him just trying to do too much given his expected role on this year’s team and how much hype there was on him going into the year.
He played a ton of minutes last year and was very rarely in foul trouble early if I recall correctly.
I've never seen a player attempt more shots from behind the backboard. The worst part is, he puts himself in those positions.
Yes Cliff had his worst game against Seton Hall. Yes he has gotten in foul trouble the last few games but he is still our most impactful player. Although he didn’t play most of first half against Indiana he played a good second half and neutralized TJD with Mag’s help. He had another rough first half against Miami but was the key to having us take the lead in the Miami game with 16 points and the same in the Ohio State game with 16 second half points and more importantly they couldn’t handle him.
His big disappointment to me this year is on the defensive end with his passive defense allowing other bigs to catch and then score over him without complete denial and making them throw over the top of him. ; , his lack of block shots not just against other bigs but also guards and his getting lost or out of position for paint buckets against us and offensive rebounds for the other team. That has to be cleaned up immediately.
I don’t disagree with much of the comments here. I also have noticed that his positioning and hands could be better. But I do think that he still has high level potential versus the doubt from some of the others.
IMO, the problem with Cliff is that he gets moved too easily. Hence struggles with holding a position or grabbing a ball in traffic. We are also doing a poor job getting him the ball. The few times that we actually get it to him, it feels like he forces it because he knows it’s going to be only one of the few post opportunities.
I’d actually be interested to see him and Woolfolk play at the same time. Make the opposing team’s biggest player play Woolfolk and take some load off of Cliff. If Woolfolk gets 1v1 in the post against a smaller forward, give Woolfolk a chance to back down. Make sure any shooters are ready for the kickout three from either Cliff or Woolfolk.
IMO, the problem with Cliff is that he gets moved too easily. Hence struggles with holding a position or grabbing a ball in traffic. We are also doing a poor job getting him the ball. The few times that we actually get it to him, it feels like he forces it because he knows it’s going to be only one of the few post opportunities.
I’d actually be interested to see him and Woolfolk play at the same time. Make the opposing team’s biggest player play Woolfolk and take some load off of Cliff. If Woolfolk gets 1v1 in the post against a smaller forward, give Woolfolk a chance to back down. Make sure any shooters are ready for the kickout three from either Cliff or Woolfolk.
I've said this from day 1.... It's really tough to develop a big man when all the coaches are ex-guards.
I suppose since the big guy gets accolades then he is fair game when he plays like that.
I just wish that he would learn that his FEET are his best weapon.. after his stretch-armstrong hands and arms.
Cliff is QUICKER and FASTER than many of his opposites as well.. and that makes it worse. If he took his two steps and always tried to get distance.. and not go through guys.. he get a lot of openings and get fouls called more often.
His frustration fouls.. those he gets after being fouled and no call.. they are the WORST.
Get him a Jabbar sky-hook. He likes to throw the ball one-handed.. why not show him a useful way to do it?
Still... Cliff is damn good. Just needs to tune his attitude and game a bit. Use his assets.
I just wish that he would learn that his FEET are his best weapon.. after his stretch-armstrong hands and arms.
Cliff is QUICKER and FASTER than many of his opposites as well.. and that makes it worse. If he took his two steps and always tried to get distance.. and not go through guys.. he get a lot of openings and get fouls called more often.
His frustration fouls.. those he gets after being fouled and no call.. they are the WORST.
Get him a Jabbar sky-hook. He likes to throw the ball one-handed.. why not show him a useful way to do it?
Still... Cliff is damn good. Just needs to tune his attitude and game a bit. Use his assets.
Don't understand the lack of set plays; and why does (almost) everything need to be back to the basket; Passes to him are forced; I don't get the coaching or strategy for him; the man can shoot from 10-15 and nobody is going to block his shot; I was really hoping his game would be like the Minnesota Center, Daniel Oturu - he would take that mid-range shot and was really good. Cliff can be a force if utilized correctly.
I now replying to my own post is a bit pathetic.. but, damn.. I got everything I asked for in Cliff's game vs Wake. Hope he keeps it up.