between last night at the "practice" and tonight in the game Riek has shown me he is not good at all. Fun to look at, always good to have a 7 footer in the pivot but his hands are awful and he has no lower body strength. The 6-5 Centenary kids were pushing him around and he only catches about 25% of passes thrown to him. Now he can shot a bit from 10 feet in and free throws aren't bad but if he can't get the ball from the teammate he will never contribute serious minutes without massive improvement.
Riek is not good
- Thread starter bsquared24
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between last night at the "practice" and tonight in the game Riek has shown me he is not good at all. Fun to look at, always good to have a 7 footer in the pivot but his hands are awful and he has no lower body strength. The 6-5 Centenary kids were pushing him around and he only catches about 25% of passes thrown to him. Now he can shot a bit from 10 feet in and free throws aren't bad but if he can't get the ball from the teammate he will never contribute serious minutes without massive improvement.
between last night at the "practice" and tonight in the game Riek has shown me he is not good at all. Fun to look at, always good to have a 7 footer in the pivot but his hands are awful and he has no lower body strength. The 6-5 Centenary kids were pushing him around and he only catches about 25% of passes thrown to him. Now he can shot a bit from 10 feet in and free throws aren't bad but if he can't get the ball from the teammate he will never contribute serious minutes without massive improvement.
much more agile than I thought agree that he isn't very strong in the lower body, but he did have 7 rebounds in 7 minutes and mixed it up a lot more than I thought he would he is not an all SEC guy, but he will contribute against some teams and some match ups - you make it sound like he should be cut - there are a whole lot of basketball analysts that disagree with you.
His lack of lower body strength probably has something to do with his surgically repaired knee that he is rehabbing. This guy is a project no doubt about it. Even before his knee surgery he had very little Basketball experience. Patience is going to be needed but in the end maybe after 2 years he could be a beast.
Unfortunately we need him now, but that is just not going to happen.
Unfortunately we need him now, but that is just not going to happen.
He is a 4 year project. Everyone saw 7'2 and a youtube video of him dunking and imagined a taller and bigger JV swatting balls and throwing down dunks on John Wall. I think he starts off with 2 minutes a game this year, and by year 4 is up to a least 10 minutes a game of contribution or allowing starters a breather.
I was impressed with the free throws. The footwork needs a lot of help, and he needs to work on holding the ball up higher so it doesn't get stripped.
It was worth the $5 dollar admission to see him hold that rebound up, and the Centenary kids jumping up and down trying to get it.
I was impressed with the free throws. The footwork needs a lot of help, and he needs to work on holding the ball up higher so it doesn't get stripped.
It was worth the $5 dollar admission to see him hold that rebound up, and the Centenary kids jumping up and down trying to get it.
Granted, the competition was bad. Reik was active around the post and was trying to get position which he was able to. He rebounded the ball well tonight. He'll be a guy that will give us 5-8 minutes per game and only will score when it's close to the goal on a put back. He scored one time and ran backwards all the way back down the court. That shows how is agility is miles higher than what the majority of this board thinks. He loafed up the court against Wright State when our scrubs were in and everyone thought he was going full speed. He is a project, no doubt, but he'll only get better every minute he plays and that will help Varnado.
Also, Kudos to Augustus for posting up most of the night tonight and not trying to be Tracy McGrady on the wing. This is what he needs to be doing more of.
Also, Kudos to Augustus for posting up most of the night tonight and not trying to be Tracy McGrady on the wing. This is what he needs to be doing more of.
Actually he did a pretty good job of catching the ball in traffic as the guys from the other team were hanging on him like he was the neighborhood oaktree. He even caught missed three pointers. All we need is for him to provide about 2 minutes a game. He lacks strength and has obviously gotten used to just being the tallest player on the floor as he needs to learn to jump for rebounds. SEC teams will kill him if he doesn't. The most impressive thing I saw tonight was that he busted his tail the entire time he was playing.
And I don't know anyone that even thought that Riek would be a factor for us this year. My hopes all along for Riek have been that his junior and senior year that he would be improved and compliment the 2011 class that will be freshmen. Deville Smith, Rodney Hood, (these are probably ours to lose) and either Johnny O'Bryant or Tyler Adams (think we get one of these 2 big men) along with Riek playing the role of defending and rebounding with his size in the post.
Edit: to add the names of O'Bryant and Adams bc I couldn't remember them</p>
Edit: to add the names of O'Bryant and Adams bc I couldn't remember them</p>
literally took out a post player with his elbow. Riek evidentally did not grow up in a place where "touch fouls" were called. I like his toughness.
lets try to find some more positive things about Riek. I mean he is just now trying to figure out how to communicate with his coach and teammates. Yes, he does have a long way to go but, give the guy a break, he's not as terrible as some of you think. Let him get accustomed to things and he'll be alright. Hold off on some of the criticism.
dawgstyle said:
I love Manute Bol. And if you weren't replying to me, get the free tutorial from Dawgstudent.
M
msucivilen
Guest
is great. I would be surprised if he doesnt get significantly better and a serious contributor at the end of the day.</p>
How would he have known?.... would you have cyber punched him in the face?
Inquiring minds would like to know.
Seriously what were your expectations from Riek this year? I think most state fans knew that he was a project that would contribute by year 3 by being a physical presence in the post with his defense and rebounding.
I'm worried anytime a player running backward down the court is considered a highlight of his play.
Coming off knee rehab and and the guy only puts up 6 points and grabbed 7 boards in the first 8 minutes of his college career. The nerve!
Seriously, what exactly were your expectations? The guy is 7'2'' and very inexperienced. If he's good for 5 - 10 minutes, a handful of points, and 5 rebounds a game against SEC competition in his first year, we should all be thrilled with him. You can't expect him to look like anything other than a newborn giraffe. He's a project with tremendous upside. You have to treat him like that at this point.
Seriously, what exactly were your expectations? The guy is 7'2'' and very inexperienced. If he's good for 5 - 10 minutes, a handful of points, and 5 rebounds a game against SEC competition in his first year, we should all be thrilled with him. You can't expect him to look like anything other than a newborn giraffe. He's a project with tremendous upside. You have to treat him like that at this point.
The fact that he DOMINATED the LeBron skills camp back in '07 against impressive competition that is currently int he NBA sure didnt help lower his expectations.clintstone said:
a 7ft 2 guy who walks out there and totally dominates? He is absolutely a work in progress. Our staff believes, because of his work ethic, that he can turn into a player who will make a solid contribution at some point. I have no reason to question that.
If Riek could go out there and dominate, hit hook shots, and run like a gazelle right now then he would not be at MSU or even in college for that matter. You take chances when you have a physical specimen like Riek. Emeka Okafor for UConn was not exactly polished as a freshman either. According to Stans, Riek is a hard worker and willing to learn and that goes a long way.
What did you expect the second coming of Shaq at MSU? I thought he played much better than expected. He just needs some time to heal and to learn to play Bury Ball. He is a Huge inside presence and will contribute some key minutes against teams with a Big man this year. If his knee gets better and he progresses in his offensive game then he could be gone to the NBA. You have to take the chance on him and Stans did just that.
besides, didn't he have 7 rebs and 6 points in 8 minutes? I'd say that's pretty good no matter what kind of competition you're up against.
