Nolen vs. Cobbs

Donate To GopherHole
J

Juicer

Active member
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Messages
529
Reaction score
50
Points
28
Nolen has an incredibly difficult time finishing around the basket. Not sure how many bunnies he missed, but the fact that he can get into the lane whenever he wants (which is generally true) means nothing when he can't finish.

Cobbs on the otherhand I thought played a great game. Even though he only got 15 minutes, he had 5 assists and no turnovers. Further, the shot he made was a drive into the lane, with contact, and he finished it. He just seems to have the finishing ability that Nolen doesn't.

I believe that Nolen is a good player, but at what point does not having a guy who can score 9-10 points a game from that spot become a liability? We need some points here, especially late in the game. He missed a bunny in overtime that would have put the margin at 5 or 6 I believe and kept the pressure on; that hurt our chances.
 

Cobbs will be a good player. Right now however, Nolen is a big key to our defensive pressure. On the defensive side I don't know that I'd trade him for any point in the country.
 

Juicer, there was a play at the end of regulation, where Nolen stole the ball and the Gophers would have went in for an easy 2. I guess if he could have stayed in bounds we'd be hailing him as a hero. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
 

fan of Ray Williams said:
Juicer, there was a play at the end of regulation, where Nolen stole the ball and the Gophers would have went in for an easy 2. I guess if he could have stayed in bounds we'd be hailing him as a hero. Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
Click to expand...

Fair point. Just frustrating when we struggle so much offensively and he can't finish at the rim from point blank range. I guess there is no perfect solution right now, as I agree that Nolen's D is excellent and is key.
 

Nolen has to learn to dump it back out if he doesn't have a shot while penetrating. He took some wild shots he had no chance of making early in the second half. It really put them in a hole.

The other thing I noticed is that Cobbs occasionally fed the ball into Sampson from the point and they got some baskets from it. Nolen never does that. There are two weaknesses in Nolen's game. He is not a good scorer and I am not sure he knows much about passing the ball. Feeding the post should be a simple and easy thing for the point guard.
 


Al missed all four of his shots, but I have no problem with the three attempts I remember ... An open 3-pt look, a wide open drive to the hoop and that strange looking attempted dunk on a feed that was blocked. Normally my problems with Al are out of control one-on-five drives to the hoop.

It's too bad that even when they're good shots ... they're bad when Al takes them.
 

I agree that Nolen is a excellent defensive player, and not a good offensive one. If he had 1 or 2 good wing scorers this would probably not be an issue, but he does not. IMO, Cobbs looks like a decent B10 player, but he probably will not be a game changing player in his career, and at this point Nolen does more for the team than Cobbs. They are what they are, both probably average to slightly above average B10 points, players you can win with if they have good surrounding talent but not good enough to take a team on their backs for any amount of time.
 

gopherbadgerman said:
I agree that Nolen is a excellent defensive player, and not a good offensive one. If he had 1 or 2 good wing scorers this would probably not be an issue, but he does not. IMO, Cobbs looks like a decent B10 player, but he probably will not be a game changing player in his career, and at this point Nolen does more for the team than Cobbs. They are what they are, both probably average to slightly above average B10 points, players you can win with if they have good surrounding talent but not good enough to take a team on their backs for any amount of time.
Click to expand...

That's pretty much the story of the whole team. Very good, solid players. To get to the next level you need at least one(more likely two or more) players that are 1st team all Big Ten or better. Just my thoughts.
 

station19 said:
That's pretty much the story of the whole team. Very good, solid players. To get to the next level you need at least one(more likely two or more) players that are 1st team all Big Ten or better. Just my thoughts.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I think that if you have 6-7 good players and a star, you can be pretty darn good. Many times having a star opens things up for other players and allows them to shine a little more as well. For example, I think Hoffarber would be a great 20 min a game player with a top notch point kicking the ball to him, but we dont have that, instead he has to do things that are not his strength. LW would be a good 6th man on a lot of teams as a sparkplug, but aside from 3-4 games over the last few years he has not proven himself of being able to carry a team to big wins. Many of our players show flashes and really jack up our expectations, but in reality they are not as good as their best games, and not as bad as their worst ones. Maybe White is that guy, maybe not, but he has never played and I think it is premature to think that he is the answer without a doubt, although I do think if he and TM had been playing all year, this team would, without a doubt, be stronger and a legit contender for a top 3 B10 finish.
 



To add to my earlier comment; I think w/o an elite type player on the floor some players try to do things they really aren't capable of and this just adds frustration to those of us watching.
 

Cobbs will be better than Nolen. I hope that it is sooner rather than later because it sounds like he will have to be the pg for the rest of the season.
 

minngg

minngg said:
Cobbs will be better than Nolen. I hope that it is sooner rather than later because it sounds like he will have to be the pg for the rest of the season.
Click to expand...

Has there been some announcement about eligibility? I have not seen anything yet.
 




with Al unable to score and Hoff unable to shoot, we played 3 on 5 all nite.

hoff played 36 minutes!... 36!

sub Williams for Hoff... at least it will make the other team shuffle their D and create some matchup issues.
 

2 things I'd like to see Nolen do offensively:
1. Only shoot the three when the shot clock is running down.
2. Penetrate about half the distance he's going now and shoot a bunny. Unless it's a fast break, he has no business going inside.

He's too good a defender to keep off the floor, but he needs to know his limitations on offense.
 

AN is what he is ... can't shoot very well, but plays good to great in all other areas. Cobbs has issues as well, but will develop in time, after all this is his first year, give him time, he'll be very good.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom