I was happy to see JAS have a good game and be a big factor. If he doesn't make shots in the first half, the Gophers trail at the break and who knows what happens from there.
The thing about JAS is while he is limited, he finds a way to score in different ways and does a little of everything. He has also gotten pretty much everything he can out of his ability.
Had a conversation about this with Bleed. My feeling is that Blake needs to learn from JAS. When he was a freshman, Jamal was nothing but a catch-and-shoot guy. He made shots from the outside and that was about it. Since then, he's learned to score in different ways. Today, for example, he only made 1 of 5 three-pointers, but made all three of his other FG attempts.
Blake was a one-trick guy as a freshman. He could shoot and that was about it. After the way teams defended him late in the Big Ten season last year, I would have thought that he would have made adjustments coming into this season. He would add a one or two dribble and rise move. He would prove he could bounce it at least a little. But none of that has happened. To me, Big Ten numbers are a true indicator of a player. Games are closer, scouting reports are better, etc. Now, eight games in, Blake has been been the biggest disappointment. He really added little to his game.
In eight games he has taken 5 shots that weren't three-pointers. I don't get that. That his shot hasn't been falling isn't the issue to me. The issue is that he isn't doing anything else. At all.
Here's a little tidbit for you. Blake has now played 175 minutes in Big Ten games and has scored 23 points. JAS has played 77 minutes and has scored 25 points.
