The importance of confidence: Williams, Iverson, Ahamnisi

ShowinGoldyLove

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I think confidence is a huge thing in the game of basketball, perhaps one of the most important qualities that a player can possess.

Williams, Iverson, and Ahamnisi seem to be our 3 players that play on an entirely different level with confidence.

Rodney: if he scores early, or hits a jumper, his confidence skyrockets. He'll try to get put-back dunks, he'll be more aggressive on D, he's just an overall better player. Because of this, I would be building him up every single day if I was around him. I would encourage him to shoot open jumpers and not even think about it. Of course, he really has to understand/learn the basic fundamentals of the game to make him great. However, I've had issues with everyone throwing him under the bus the past few weeks. He has played terribly, no doubt, but I don't think he's a kid that doesn't try or is lacking in effort. I think it's more of a confidence issue than anything else. Hopefully he can continue what he showed tonight; we'll need it.

Colton: There are really 2 players inside of Colton; good & bad. Look at his play against Butler last year, or the entire Big 10 Tourney; he looked like an All-Conference player. Coordinated, confident, hitting soft hooks, nice touch, throwing guys off of him, killing the glass, etc. When he plays sparingly, I think he gets too focused on trying to do something quickly to merit his being out on the floor, he gets too nervous, and his play falls like dominoes. Confidence for Colton is key, maybe more than any other player on our team; if he feels confidence from Tubby and the guys, he plays better. There is a reason he had a number of quality offers coming out of high school. I think we've seen glimpses of Colton being a ridiculously good ball-player, and hopefully we'll see it again soon.

Maverick: I have trouble lumping him in with these 2 because we have such a small sample size of his playing time, but I think he can turn into a serviceable PG. Not All-Big 10, but suitable. I started a thread earlier today that asked whether or not he could see some decent min at PG. He got some tonight, and in my opinion, played pretty well. He had a couple of good moves, a nice layup, a nice 3, with 1 turnover. He is also another player that seems to play much better when he is confident, and feels the confidence from Tubby. It's hard to make your mark on a game when you come in cold and play 70 seconds at a time. As evidenced today and in the Michigan game, when he gets more minutes, he settles down, gains confidence, and looks like he belongs in there.

I don't know why I just wrote a novel on this, but I just want to go on record that I think all 3 can be very good players, and make MAJOR contributions to this team. I think posters should relax when they, or anyone else for that matter, has a brutal stretch of play.
 

I will agree with you that confidence is a big factor in how these players perform but some of there woes come down to bad fundamentals, bad luck or bad timing.

Williams is a case of bad fundamentals. He has no arc on his shot from the outside. I sometimes wonder if he has or needs contacts to correct a depth perception problem as his shots tend to be long and to hard.

Colt is a player with a streak of bad luck running his way. the case for tonight was the first foul that he stepped over the Iowa player as he was being spun around. He looks uncoordinated at times and never gets any slack when it happens.

Maverick is the bad timing. Give Al a good foot and Devoe a better attitude and he would be getting spot minutes and no pressure to perform, but instead he has to step in and try to play some meaningful minutes before his time to learn has been allowed to run its course.
 

I will agree with you that confidence is a big factor in how these players perform but some of there woes come down to bad fundamentals, bad luck or bad timing.

Williams is a case of bad fundamentals. He has no arc on his shot from the outside. I sometimes wonder if he has or needs contacts to correct a depth perception problem as his shots tend to be long and to hard.

Colt is a player with a streak of bad luck running his way. the case for tonight was the first foul that he stepped over the Iowa player as he was being spun around. He looks uncoordinated at times and never gets any slack when it happens.

Maverick is the bad timing. Give Al a good foot and Devoe a better attitude and he would be getting spot minutes and no pressure to perform, but instead he has to step in and try to play some meaningful minutes before his time to learn has been allowed to run its course.

To the last point http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/Statistics/Players/Warford_Reggie.html stranger things have happened out of necessity. Warford did NOTHING for 3 years, then played very well as senior (starter).
 

I disagree with the original post. I don't think Rodney suffers from a lack of confidence but a lack of experience playing on the permimeter. He also lacks skills on the perimeter, but that comes with being a post player in high school. There is no doubt in my mind that Colton has regressed from last year, it could be confidence or it could be a lack of work in the gym, I don't know. I do not think Maverick can ever be a suitable starter in the Big Ten and his ceiling is that of a PJ Hill style backup. He can play against the Iowa's and Indiana's of the world, but we're in a world of trouble with him handling the ball against better athletes. I hope the Gophers are one of the teams with the better athletes, we've been on the verge of being one of those teams the past two years. Maverick is going to have a tough time gaining confidence unless he can improve his skill set. Nobody can be confident when they are constantly going up against guys that are some combination of bigger, faster, and or more skilled.
 

It will be interesting to see how Mav handles playing against Taylor Battle. Ufdah.
 


It really helps to play a team like Iowa...It was a positive step, but let's not get carried away. Iowa was the perfect tonic for this team.
 



Colton: There are really 2 players inside of Colton; good & bad. Look at his play against Butler last year, or the entire Big 10 Tourney; he looked like an All-Conference player. Coordinated, confident, hitting soft hooks, nice touch, throwing guys off of him, killing the glass, etc. When he plays sparingly, I think he gets too focused on trying to do something quickly to merit his being out on the floor, he gets too nervous, and his play falls like dominoes. Confidence for Colton is key, maybe more than any other player on our team; if he feels confidence from Tubby and the guys, he plays better. There is a reason he had a number of quality offers coming out of high school. I think we've seen glimpses of Colton being a ridiculously good ball-player, and hopefully we'll see it again soon.

Maverick: I have trouble lumping him in with these 2 because we have such a small sample size of his playing time, but I think he can turn into a serviceable PG. Not All-Big 10, but suitable. I started a thread earlier today that asked whether or not he could see some decent min at PG. He got some tonight, and in my opinion, played pretty well. He had a couple of good moves, a nice layup, a nice 3, with 1 turnover. He is also another player that seems to play much better when he is confident, and feels the confidence from Tubby. It's hard to make your mark on a game when you come in cold and play 70 seconds at a time. As evidenced today and in the Michigan game, when he gets more minutes, he settles down, gains confidence, and looks like he belongs in there.

I agree, the mental aspect is huge. If Colton can get 25mpg +/- I hope he can get back into a good flow down the stretch.

Maverick played with very good confidence and control last night, something I never saw from Kevin Payton or Cobbs as freshman. Must have been the first game he got more minutes then Chip?
 



Colt

I think confidence plays a huge role with him. I think the other issue is he needs to get the ball on the block. And with playing 3 bigs that doesnt happen. Trevor and him score in similar ways. Trevor is now starting to hit that free throw line shot so maybe they can play together more.

Another issue I have is that Tubby plays Sampson in the middle of the 2-3 zone!! Sampson is slightly quicker and should play outside with Colt in the middle. Colt is just as good of a shot blocker per minute and twice as good of a rebounder. Am I the only one who sees this???
 


[Another issue I have is that Tubby plays Sampson in the middle of the 2-3 zone!! Sampson is slightly quicker and should play outside with Colt in the middle. Colt is just as good of a shot blocker per minute and twice as good of a rebounder. Am I the only one who sees this???[/QUOTE]

I absolutely agree with this.
 

To the last point http://www.bigbluehistory.net/bb/Statistics/Players/Warford_Reggie.html stranger things have happened out of necessity. Warford did NOTHING for 3 years, then played very well as senior (starter).

Warford didn't get a chance for three years. Ahanmisi has the same amount of minutes so far this year that Warford had in his first three seasons.

march madness said:
Colt is just as good of a shot blocker per minute and twice as good of a rebounder. Am I the only one who sees this???

Colt is the better rebounder between he and Ralph, but Ralph is a significantly better shot blocker. In terms of shot block per minute, which approximates shot block % per possession, this year Ralph is 70% higher than Colt. During their sophomore years, RSIII was 16% higher and they were essentially even as freshman. However, coming into this season, as I noted (see quote below) in early November, Colt's blocked shot statistics are a bit misleading in that he has gotten a ton of blocks against certain opponents.. he's not a consistent shot blocker.. he started off his career with nine against Bowling Green.. but he's often putting up a zero in the blocked shots column.

Random Fact or Thought: During his career, 41.1% of Colt’s blocked shots have come in only 9.0% of his games played.
 



Warford didn't get a chance for three years. Ahanmisi has the same amount of minutes so far this year that Warford had in his first three seasons.

Point was that a player can UNEXPECTEDLY perform quite well. Warford was 2nd team All-St in KY. Hardly UK caliber recruit.
 

I guess wether or not Colt is as good of a shotblocker as Sampson really doesn't matter a whole lot. I still would play Colt in the middle. On his ability to box out and rebound and his slow feet. Sampson can block shots on the wing in the 2-3.
 




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