I said it last year at the end of the season that Pike needed to hit the Portal hard because our bench players Hyatt, Mag, Reiber and Miller were not Big 10 calibur players. Turns out I'm right, they are not. Also, I'm glad Cliff worked on his 3pt shot all off season because his defense and rebounding still stink. A kid 4 inches shorter than him out scored him and equaled him in rebounds tonight and the Temple big man had a career night against him.
Player development
- Thread starter billgumpper
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Cliff has always been a weak defender. Hard for me to understand why he’s not a better shot blocker with that length. He gets abused down low
I really question CO defense and rebounding. He barely ever boxes out and tries to out jump people. I also think he is concerned about fouling someone and why he doesn’t block more shots. Watch how often he keeps his arms up to pose to the ref he isn’t fouling. It’s In His head
I always say that how can he not block more shots
A perfect example tonight their guard took it straight at him and made the layup right over Cliff there’s no way that should happen
The kid from ND in the tourney game is 2 inches shorter than him and the kid tonight is 4 inches shorter than him. These players should not be able to equal his production. He is just a soft player, it really shows in his rebounding.
The Temple Big dominated Cliff. Tonight too. He doesn’t body up and bump anyone. He relies too much on his jumping ability. He doesn’t even use his length well in defending the rim or the post
Dominated? They had nearly identical stat lines tonight. And Cliff had 21 and 11 at Temple. Interesting definition of domination.
right, that stat line for Temple Big shows how he can’t defend a center. Cliff can get his points and rebounds.
So Cliff dominated him on the other end with your logic. And the guy from Temple went for 21-8 his next game vs St Johns. Not like he picked on Cliff. Honestly, if your takeaway from this game or season thus far is that Cliff is getting dominated and is the issue, I don’t know what to tell you. I showed you he had better head to head stats in both games you say he was dominated in. Your narrative and your eye test don’t follow the facts.
Cliff is supposed to be an advantage for us. The fact that the player he is guarding is matching his production is not good.
He is an advantage offensively but not when we do not get him the ball . Your points are mostly silly with use of the word domination but getting back to reality , Cliff has been utterly disappointing defensively in being content to allow guys to back him in without attempting to deny them the ball or making it impossible for their center to get the ball in the first place . Secondly , he has been really subpar blocking shots from that center or guards or anyone driving down the lane. He did it in 1 game so far, the Rider game , but that is valid constructive criticism that Pike has to show him the tape and make the adjustment. He should not have given up 17 points to the Temple and Miami centers , period. Unacceptable and hopefully will be corrected as the BIG has some really good centers. He has to step up his defensive game and his block game.
Your right after two losses. You would have been right about team sucking last year early too. Let’s see if your still right as we move through the season.
I never used the word domination anywhere, you need to go back and reread the posts.
I used the word domination. I will revise my statement to Cliff being very disappointing on the defensive side this year. That is a fact. He does not body up and guard the post well. He gets pushed around underneath. And he doesn’t protect the rim or block shots like you would expect. And yes, his porous defense and rim protection is a BIG issue in both of our losses.