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PF Nikola Kecman (official thread)

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PtownBuckeye;1364996; said:
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?
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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.
Oh8ch;1365002; said:
The problem is not having a body to step in for Lighty - it is not having a leader to step in for Lighty.
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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.
 
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LitlBuck;1365428; said:
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.
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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."
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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...
 
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vrbryant;1365441; said:
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...
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Thanks. Appreciate the feedback.
 
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LitlBuck;1365428; said:
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.
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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.
 
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Playing minutes for Kecman

OK Big question . When Kecman becomes eligible he will have to steal minutes. Is he good enough to transplant any of the big men, B.J. , Madsen, or Dallas ?
I think he will have to get them from Madsen as the third big man in.
Discuss?
 
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I really dont know what to expect

he will probably get a decent amount of playing time in his second game back against Houston Baptist (who is currently 1-14) on Jan 9

but will Thad play him right off the bat against Michigan State in East Lansing?

I guess we will see
 
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Best Buckeye;1370360; said:
OK Big question . When Kecman becomes eligible he will have to steal minutes. Is he good enough to transplant any of the big men, B.J. , Madsen, or Dallas ?
I think he will have to get them from Madsen as the third big man in.
Discuss?
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I hope his shot is as good as advertised. If it is, it'd be great to see him stretch the court as a 4 IMO. Even when Lighty struggled, you still had to respect the fact that he would pull the trigger from the corner. It'll help Dallas and BJ on the post, and create a little extra space for Evan to drive.
 
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They were already going small with Simmons, Buford, Diebs & Turner starting ... I expect him to slide in at the 4 and allow Turner to move back to the wing. Could be a token starter, which would allow Buford to come off the bench. I expect him to have a significant role with Lighty out. I think he takes minutes from Buford mostly. Think of Kecman as an Ivan Harris type rather than a big man.
 
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Best Buckeye;1370360; said:
OK Big question . When Kecman becomes eligible he will have to steal minutes. Is he good enough to transplant any of the big men, B.J. , Madsen, or Dallas?
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What basis would any of us have for answering this? I've never seen the kid play.

I sure hope he brings something to the table, because right now the Buckeyes are horrid.
 
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I think it will depend on how seriously he takes playing defense as to how many minutes he will get (oh hello again Captain Obvious) If he is quick enough and has the energy to defend the outside shot from the baseline of the zone and still get back to the goal to rebound and give weakside help, then I think he will be of great help by giving the Bucks another in the rotation of 2-3-4 spots (think he will play the four nearly exclusively, but this would allow Turner to play more 3)

I hope he plays good enough defense and his shot is even close to being as good as advertised as this would help open up the offense (as others have stated) and allow Turner to get back to the top of the key spot in the zone where he is most disruptive. This would help the Bucks get back to more like they were with Lighty, but they will still miss David's toughness, someone needs to step up and be the nasty mean defensive stopper on each possession.
 
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DZ83CK;1370788; said:
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.
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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.
 
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