PF Nikola Kecman (official thread)

[LitlBuck]

Originally Posted by PtownBuckeye

Hopefully Nikola can come in and be somewhat productive and provide some morale after losing Lighty and possibly Crater and Grycko within the same week. He should be able to play vs. Sparty right?

It is my understanding that he was going to be available to play when the Big 10 season started but maybe some people forgot that the Iowa game was before Winter quarter but I don't see how the NCAA would care when our quarter started. I thought he was only suspended for x number of games.

Originally Posted by Oh8ch

The problem is not having a body to step in for Lighty - it is not having a leader to step in for Lighty.

I guess I just don't understand regarding a "leader". It's not like David started the offense or anything like that and you would think that everyone playing would want to win the game. Both Turner and Diebler both have one year of playing under their belts. It's not like the entire team are freshmen and David is a senior. I just don't understand it.

[vrbryant]

Originally Posted by LitlBuck

I guess I just don't understand regarding a "leader". It's not like David started the offense or anything like that and you would think that everyone playing would want to win the game. Both Turner and Diebler both have one year of playing under their belts. It's not like the entire team are freshmen and David is a senior. I just don't understand it.

Some quotes I took at media day, back before the season started:

Joining Lighty on the floor will be sophomore wing and key cog Evan Turner, whose loose handle from a year ago has tightened up, and who has embraced the thought of leaning on Lighty to keep things straight.

"Dave's the head honcho," said Turner. "You can trust Dave; Dave's always around, his door's always open. He's just here for us. He molds everything together, silently."

There may come a time, as we've all seen, that silence will have to give way to a Foster-like kick-in-the-pants--whether Lighty is prepared to do that remains to be seen. Nevertheless, he does seem have the respect of the team, and that mantle - to this point - isn't weighing too heavily.
"I'm the guy everyone's going to look to--when we're doing good and when we're doing bad," said Lighty, "but I try not to put too much pressure on myself. I try to go with the flow.

"I believe it's just up to the group. Last year, we showed you guys flashes. We've just been trying to focus, get mentally tough and prepare these guys for what college basketball's all about."

Perhaps he's able to be that 'glue' from the bench--I don't know. I will say that our vaunted defense seemed lost in the second half versus WVU. Matta said that they "never took a stand." Would they have taken a stand if Lighty had been out there? Again, don't know. But he is the captain...

[LitlBuck]

Originally Posted by vrbryant

Some quotes I took at media day, back before the season started:

Perhaps he's able to be that 'glue' from the bench--I don't know. I will say that our vaunted defense seemed lost in the second half versus WVU. Matta said that they "never took a stand." Would they have taken a stand if Lighty had been out there? Again, don't know. But he is the captain...

Thanks. Appreciate the feedback.

[PtownBuckeye]

Originally Posted by LitlBuck

It is my understanding that he was going to be available to play when the Big 10 season started but maybe some people forgot that the Iowa game was before Winter quarter but I don't see how the NCAA would care when our quarter started. I thought he was only suspended for x number of games.

I thought that he was suspended for 12 games, and unless I counted wrong (which is highly possible, ask my calculus professor) Michigan State is our thirteenth game of the season.

[LitlBuck]

Originally Posted by PtownBuckeye

I thouht that he was suspended for 12 games, and unless I counted wrong (which is highly possible, ask my calculus professor) Michigan State is our thirteenth game of the season.

I think you are probably correct. Try using an abacus

[crazybuckfan40]

Yep we have 12 non-conference games, but the last one against Houston Baptist is not till the 9th...Thus he sits out 1 big ten game...

[Jake]

So he joins us our next game. By any chance can he play PG?

[DZ83CK]

Originally Posted by Jake

So he joins us our next game. By any chance can he play PG?

Matta did single out passing as one of the two skills (shooting was the other) he can provide to the team in a recent interview, so here's hoping he can at least make some post entry feeds.

[GrizzlyBuck]

Originally Posted by DZ83CK

Matta did single out passing as one of the two skills (shooting was the other) he can provide to the team in a recent interview, so here's hoping he can at least make some post entry feeds.

Post entry feeds? I am not familiar with this concept, do you mean when one of the four players actually not playing down on the block look for and actually pass the ball to the one guy that is down on the block? All kidding aside, this is a two way street, the Bigs need to do a good job of getting and holding position and the outside guys obviously need to take the time to look in and pass to the post (both have been lacking at times, the latter moreso IMO)

As I said in another thread, I hope Kecman embraces defense enough to get some minutes, as his presence could open up the offense a bit with his shooting and his presence on the baseline would allow Turner to return to his more natural and disruptive spot at the top of the zone.

The Bucks need another threat from deep to spread out opposing defenses to open up driving lanes and create more space for the Bigs to set up shop. Hopefully Kecman can provide this as offense has been hard to come by at times for the Bucks this year.

[LitlBuck]

Originally Posted by GrizzlyBuck

Post entry feeds? I am not familiar with this concept, do you mean when one of the four players actually not playing down on the block look for and actually pass the ball to the one guy that is down on the block? All kidding aside, this is a two way street, the Bigs need to do a good job of getting and holding position and the outside guys obviously need to take the time to look in and pass to the post (both have been lacking at times, the latter moreso IMO)

As I said in another thread, I hope Kecman embraces defense enough to get some minutes, as his presence could open up the offense a bit with his shooting and his presence on the baseline would allow Turner to return to his more natural and disruptive spot at the top of the zone.

The Bucks need another threat from deep to spread out opposing defenses to open up driving lanes and create more space for the Bigs to set up shop. Hopefully Kecman can provide this as offense has been hard to come by at times for the Bucks this year.

As I posted in the Kecman minutes thread, I do not see him getting a lot of playing time this season because he will have to step right up into the Big 10 and he is not really that experienced when it comes to big-time college play. The NCAA really screwed him over.

I hope I am wrong and he comes out and stretches the defense with the shooting and plays tremendous defense but I just can't imagine seeing that this season. I would imagine that he is probably a good post entry passer since he is European. Most guys that have played over there are pretty good passers.

[Buckskin86]

Just reported on 1460....

Kecman could be out for the year with a knee injury. I assume it happened in practice.

[LitlBuck]

Originally Posted by Buckskin86

Just reported on 1460....

Kecman could be out for the year with a knee injury. I assume it happened in practice.

Well, that just sucks if that is true and the NCAA did not help them out any this season. Maybe if the injury isn't too bad they will give him a redshirt year and so you would have 3 years remaining. It still sucks!

[PtownBuckeye]

Originally Posted by Buckskin86

Just reported on 1460....

Kecman could be out for the year with a knee injury. I assume it happened in practice.

Give me a break.

[schwab]

Originally Posted by PtownBuckeye

Give me a break.

Give me a sprain. Or a strain. Or whatever else is left.

[seu bobo]

Didn't see him on the bench tonight. My first thought was " Damn he transferred too?". Hopefully, I will see him back in uniform in the future.