RooYahoo Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 I was surprised to hear Keith Dambrot, at the end of the Marshall game say, if anybody told him that Pat would be playing better than Big Dog he would have laughed in their face. Just curious your thoughts on this comment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 I heard that too & thought it pretty odd. Is there anything Big Dog does better than Pat? Interior passing, I suppose. Idk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 It actually makes perfect sense to me. Pat was still looking lost last year, and Big Dog was getting several starts and looked like a real strong prospect. I'm sure just about everyone is surprised at the way that situation has turned around this year. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K92 Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 Is there anything Big Dog does better than Pat?Competitive eating? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave in Green Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 Skip nailed it. Coach Dambrot has said that Pat's biggest problem was lacking confidence in himself, and there was no sign that he would suddenly find it this season. Big Dog developed well over last season for a true freshman big and did a lot of work in the off-season that had many close to the program believing he would beat out Pat for the starting center position this season.We now know that Pat stepped up big time with Tree's departure and surprised a lot of people with his increase in self-confidence when the team most needed him. All we know for sure about Big Dog is that he had a serious broken wrist that caused him to miss much of training season and some early games, and that he's having a hard time catching up with his promising development curve from last season. We don't really know how much of Big Dog's problems are physical and how much are psychological. But for some combination of reasons he seems to have lost some of the self-confidence he showed last season and appears to be frustrated that he can't perform at the level he expected of himself and others expected of him.The good news is that players who look lost early in their careers can make big breakthroughs at any time. I'd hate to think how much this team would have lost this season if Deji had transferred to a D-II program as some on here were suggesting when he was struggling to get it. We just need to be patient and hope that Big Dog has his Deji moment sooner rather than later. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zipgrad01 Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 Skip nailed it. Coach Dambrot has said that Pat's biggest problem was lacking confidence in himself, and there was no sign that he would suddenly find it this season. Big Dog developed well over last season for a true freshman big and did a lot of work in the off-season that had many close to the program believing he would beat out Pat for the starting center position this season.We now know that Pat stepped up big time with Tree's departure and surprised a lot of people with his increase in self-confidence when the team most needed him. All we know for sure about Big Dog is that he had a serious broken wrist that caused him to miss much of training season and some early games, and that he's having a hard time catching up with his promising development curve from last season. We don't really know how much of Big Dog's problems are physical and how much are psychological. But for some combination of reasons he seems to have lost some of the self-confidence he showed last season and appears to be frustrated that he can't perform at the level he expected of himself and others expected of him.The good news is that players who look lost early in their careers can make big breakthroughs at any time. I'd hate to think how much this team would have lost this season if Deji had transferred to a D-II program as some on here were suggesting when he was struggling to get it. We just need to be patient and hope that Big Dog has his Deji moment sooner rather than later.Big difference...Deji is a legitimate D1 athlete. He struggled with his skills. Not all athletes have D1 skills. His time and effort in the gym are finally paying results where the two are finally meshing.Big Dog is not a legitimate D1 athlete. He is overweight, slow and can not jump. He also has at best borderline skills. Combine that with his lacking athleticism and I don't ever see him being a star at this level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quickzips Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 There is a temporal component to KDs comments that is kind of missing. At the end of last year I think his evaluation would have been perfectly correct. Johnson was playing reasonably well and seeing increased minutes while Pat had all but played himself out of the rotation at times. When they first arrived on campus, frankly, I think Pat would have been considered the better prospect overall.Either way, I'm just glad we have a reliable big man in the middle who is picking up the slack after Tree's departure. There have been a lot of guys who have stepped up this season that weren't necessarily expected to (Deji, Kwan and Nyles come to mind as well), but I don't think anyone has had a greater turn around than Pat. It really has been a pleasure watching him this year.As to Johnson, my thoughts on him are pretty well documented around here. Not much need to re-hash that again. For the sake of the team I hope Dave is right and he is just dealing with some lingering issues from his injury that have spilled over into a confidence drain, but I'm not buying it at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave in Green Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 Not many MAC-level teams have two 6-10+ true centers who can effectively play the low post and legitimately challenge each other for the starting position. The Zips were poised to have that this season before Big Dog's wrist fracture. The best scenario would be if Pat and Big Dog pushed each other to higher levels than they would otherwise reach if not challenged. Big Dog was moving ahead at the end of last season and Pat has clearly moved back ahead so far this season. It's now up to Big Dog to answer the challenge and prove over the course of this season that he's still a worthy challenger to Pat. With Tree gone, it's more critical to have an effective center in the low post at all times to rebound and guard the paint. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RACER Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 quick zips, rooyahoo, zipgrad01 thank you for your support. sincerely, pat's BFF along with the mac (D-1 yes 1 not 2) men's- wmu b-ball team. we ain't buying 0-2 either!!! p.s. man do I miss the townhouse on a Saturday night. nothing better than when you drink beer at 18. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hip Zip Posted January 30, 2015 Report Share Posted January 30, 2015 quick zips, rooyahoo, zipgrad01 thank you for your support. sincerely, pat's BFF along with the mac (D-1 yes 1 not 2) men's- wmu b-ball team. we ain't buying 0-2 either!!! p.s. man do I miss the townhouse on a Saturday night. nothing better than when you drink beer at 18.At age 18 I was leaning in another direction but yes, the beer was good and 2nd on my list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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