Colorado
- Thread starter longtimecoug
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It hurts saying that. I like the kid a lot, but you can tell early on with guards if they have it or not. He’s a DII player.
Agree, he should show flashes of potential if he is a d1 player, Ive seen none of that
Granted I was switching channels back and forth between football and the Cougar game, but it seemed like I saw more turnovers (empty possessions) than field goals by WSU. From what I saw, Gueye was abysmal. If he has even just a bad game, Cougs win. But he was worse than bad. Painful game with a predictable finish.
Glad Cougar
Glad Cougar
There is a section of Cougars who will drag you across hot coals if you question Kyle Smith because his analytics have made WSU a top 100 KenPom team, but something has to change with him. Bad turnovers, horrible offense, no movement, taking bad shots to avoid shot clock violations, or just having shot clock violations, and some bone headed defensive decisions. Bamba against Utah at home and at Colorado committed just terrible fouls. The lazy and one he gave Utah that put it into OT and the foul he committed when we were up 1 with 38 seconds to go were just awful. He completely changed the end of the game.
Smith isn't getting fired this year, he won't get fired next year, he has made Wazzu competitive, but will he get us to the tournament? We should have went last year, but again, poor end of the game execution and blowing multiple games cost them that chance.
Smith isn't getting fired this year, he won't get fired next year, he has made Wazzu competitive, but will he get us to the tournament? We should have went last year, but again, poor end of the game execution and blowing multiple games cost them that chance.
You think he is a d2 defensive player? You don't think he can be effective the way Rochestie was? Are you thinking Taylor was way quicker than Darling?
Do you think he can be smart and break a press. Or does he not handle the ball well enough. ?
That was a rough call especially considering how much contact there was during the game. Even Adrian Branch called it a "homer" call.
If that is truly the comparison then he is D2. But Hartune was a shooter who had a slow release and couldnt hit the broad side of a barn when at WSU..
Harthun was a D-1 player just not a power 5 player he was a double figure scorer and shot 45% from beyond the arc at the Big Sky level.
Darling scored 43 to 52 to 60 points, and DESTROYED Washington State Highschool scoring records. He averaged about 29 to 33 points per game.
Harthun, Taylor Rochestie never came even remotely close to doing that in highschool.
He Darling is a FRESHMAN at WSU, that HAS NOT GOTTEN A LOT OF MINUTES, AND HASNT HARDLY GOTTEN ANY MINUTES TO DEVELOP, PROGRESS.
On Blake Pengally's team Darling would have started over Blake, and developed, done good, etc.
Does Darling have slower defensive lateral quickness? Yes. Is he a defensive liability because of that? Yes. Can he improve like Lodwick, Rochestie, etc, to where he can get semi quicker, and learn good defensive positioning, etc, and be smart, etc? Maybe, maybe not, we'll see. But it took Lodwick 3,4 years to overcome his slow as molasses defensive lateral slowness.
Can Darling break a press, deal with defensive pressure? Not NOW. BUT he is a freshman that is not used to the HELLISH defensive pressure of the Pac 12. Darling is a good passer, has good, great dribbling skills, etc, but even that can have a hard time against the Hellish defenses of the PAC 12 as a freshman, if they are not used to it. Will Darling improve, learn to deal with the hellish defensive heat? Maybe, Maybe not, we'll see.
Can Darling drive, score inside, etc? Yes and No so far. He has on extremely limited times, beat defenders off the dribble, and drive and score at WSU vs P5/Mid Major/PAC 12. BUT he has been inconsistent, and he hasn't ASSERTED himself. Will he improve and do better in this area? Maybe, Maybe not, don't know, we'll see.
Can Darling Shoot from outside, 3? Yes, that's part of why Darling scored 60 in GSL. He has a good shooting form, has good shooting skills, etc. So why hasn't he shot good at WSU? NOT because he isn't a good shooter, because he is a good shooter. Why then? Because it's probably in his head. Also even KLAY went thru a shooting SLUMP. It's just that Darling's shooting SLUMP happened at a EXTREMELY BAD TIME, as a freshman, that because of that limited his minutes, development, confidence, etc. Had that slump not hit him as a freshman, he probably would have gotten more minutes, developed more, etc. Will he overcome this? Don't know, we'll see.
Does he rebound? No.
Darling is not a Division 2 player. Those saying that they know, can tell that, are full of BS. There are many that thought that LODWICK was a DIV 2 player, up until he started scoring 9 to 18 points per game, and started taking charges, etc, his SENIOR season.
Is Darling a PAC 12 player? Somewhere between don't know to semi probably not.
Is Darling a Mid Major, Group of 5 conference type of player? Somewhere between maybe, maybe not to semi probably.
Is Darling a Div 2 player. Probably not. He is probably better then that.
Can Darling be a contributing player, semi co situational starter, 6th,7th man, back up, bench player, that gets 18 to 27 minutes per game, that scores about 5,6,7,8,9,10 points per game, gets 1,2 assist, 1 steal, 1 take a charge, 1,2 rebounds, only 1 turnover, etc? Somewhere between semi probably semi yes to semi maybe to don't know, we'll see
Darling is semi comparable to Nick Witherall, Harthun, Taylor Rochestie, Lodwick, etc. Lodwick and Rochestie worked out. Witherall, and Harthun didn't work out. Will he Darling be Witherall, Harthun, or will he be like Lodwick, Rochestie? We just don't know yet, and We'll see.
Harthun, Taylor Rochestie never came even remotely close to doing that in highschool.
He Darling is a FRESHMAN at WSU, that HAS NOT GOTTEN A LOT OF MINUTES, AND HASNT HARDLY GOTTEN ANY MINUTES TO DEVELOP, PROGRESS.
On Blake Pengally's team Darling would have started over Blake, and developed, done good, etc.
Does Darling have slower defensive lateral quickness? Yes. Is he a defensive liability because of that? Yes. Can he improve like Lodwick, Rochestie, etc, to where he can get semi quicker, and learn good defensive positioning, etc, and be smart, etc? Maybe, maybe not, we'll see. But it took Lodwick 3,4 years to overcome his slow as molasses defensive lateral slowness.
Can Darling break a press, deal with defensive pressure? Not NOW. BUT he is a freshman that is not used to the HELLISH defensive pressure of the Pac 12. Darling is a good passer, has good, great dribbling skills, etc, but even that can have a hard time against the Hellish defenses of the PAC 12 as a freshman, if they are not used to it. Will Darling improve, learn to deal with the hellish defensive heat? Maybe, Maybe not, we'll see.
Can Darling drive, score inside, etc? Yes and No so far. He has on extremely limited times, beat defenders off the dribble, and drive and score at WSU vs P5/Mid Major/PAC 12. BUT he has been inconsistent, and he hasn't ASSERTED himself. Will he improve and do better in this area? Maybe, Maybe not, don't know, we'll see.
Can Darling Shoot from outside, 3? Yes, that's part of why Darling scored 60 in GSL. He has a good shooting form, has good shooting skills, etc. So why hasn't he shot good at WSU? NOT because he isn't a good shooter, because he is a good shooter. Why then? Because it's probably in his head. Also even KLAY went thru a shooting SLUMP. It's just that Darling's shooting SLUMP happened at a EXTREMELY BAD TIME, as a freshman, that because of that limited his minutes, development, confidence, etc. Had that slump not hit him as a freshman, he probably would have gotten more minutes, developed more, etc. Will he overcome this? Don't know, we'll see.
Does he rebound? No.
Darling is not a Division 2 player. Those saying that they know, can tell that, are full of BS. There are many that thought that LODWICK was a DIV 2 player, up until he started scoring 9 to 18 points per game, and started taking charges, etc, his SENIOR season.
Is Darling a PAC 12 player? Somewhere between don't know to semi probably not.
Is Darling a Mid Major, Group of 5 conference type of player? Somewhere between maybe, maybe not to semi probably.
Is Darling a Div 2 player. Probably not. He is probably better then that.
Can Darling be a contributing player, semi co situational starter, 6th,7th man, back up, bench player, that gets 18 to 27 minutes per game, that scores about 5,6,7,8,9,10 points per game, gets 1,2 assist, 1 steal, 1 take a charge, 1,2 rebounds, only 1 turnover, etc? Somewhere between semi probably semi yes to semi maybe to don't know, we'll see
Darling is semi comparable to Nick Witherall, Harthun, Taylor Rochestie, Lodwick, etc. Lodwick and Rochestie worked out. Witherall, and Harthun didn't work out. Will he Darling be Witherall, Harthun, or will he be like Lodwick, Rochestie? We just don't know yet, and We'll see.
Also Darling is less of a defensive liability then Mullins, Powell, and is faster, quicker defensively and offensively then Mullins, and Powell, and has better defensive lateral quickness then Mullins, Powell.
But because Mullins and Powell are upperclassmen that are TALLER(6-5.5 vs Darling's 6-1.5,6-2,6-2.5), and SHOOT BETTER, etc, then Darling, then that's why they are better then Darling, get more minutes.
BUT one of the reasons that Darling does get minutes, and substitute comes in and replaces Mullins, and why Mullins doesn't get more minutes, is because Darling is better DEFENSIVELY, has faster defensive lateral quickness, and can defend 1,2 guards on the perimeter BETTER then MULLINS.
So because of that, if Darling is a Div 2 player, what does that say about Mullins then? That Mullins is a Div 2 level defender?
No. While both Mullins, Darling are not good, great perimeter defenders, they are still Div 1, low mid major, low group of 5 level at worst.
Correction ABOUT TOP 50 KEN POM TEAM OVER Smith's career so far at WSU.
And ABOUT top 35/bubble team by Ken Pom, last season.
And About Top 70 Ken Pom team, this season so far.
So at worst Smith has turned WSU into about a Top 64 Ken Pom team, and on average.
Rochestie was an elite shooter with a quick release, but more impressively was his ball handling and understanding of how to run the offense. He was a head up player and saw the entire floor. Darling is only adequate shooter, but more troubling is his release. It's slow, and for a player of his size, that's deadly at this level. His ball handling is decent, but he plays with his head down which will always limit his vision. He has limitations as a shooter, limitations running point, and is a liability on defense.
I don't know if Rochestie is still in Japan, but if you Google him, his numerous late game 3 pointers while in Europe are cool to watch. I was at the Arizona State game (last game for him and Baynes) when he sunk that 3 pointer to win it at the end. Hope this link works.
Edit - better link. Still fuzzy though...
I’m not willing to throw Darling under the bus just yet. He is a freshman who most of us thought would redshirt. He does have slow release and worse yet a low release. Both of those are problems, but only when it comes to creating your own shot. I don’t foresee that being Darling’s role anytime soon. So far he isn’t forcing up bad shots he is just missing open shots. All he really needs to do is make open when they present themselves.
He definitely needs to get out of scoring PG mode and into distributing PG mode at this time and at this level, which includes getting his head up and seeing the whole floor.
Imo his on ball defense is solid but he just needs to not reach with his hands. He seems very capable of staying in front of most PAC 12 guards, he won’t get away with the same things he got away with in high school against the athletes in the the PAC.
All of these things are typical freshmen problems that hopefully get better the more he plays. He is the classic example of a player who “the game needs to slow down for”. I think it will happen if we are patient.
He will never be Taylor Rochestie but he can be a solid player/contributor in the mode of a shorter Michael Ladd.
He definitely needs to get out of scoring PG mode and into distributing PG mode at this time and at this level, which includes getting his head up and seeing the whole floor.
Imo his on ball defense is solid but he just needs to not reach with his hands. He seems very capable of staying in front of most PAC 12 guards, he won’t get away with the same things he got away with in high school against the athletes in the the PAC.
All of these things are typical freshmen problems that hopefully get better the more he plays. He is the classic example of a player who “the game needs to slow down for”. I think it will happen if we are patient.
He will never be Taylor Rochestie but he can be a solid player/contributor in the mode of a shorter Michael Ladd.
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His shot is awkward. What's strange is his free throw shot looks much more fluid. On brandx, Mullins talks about how he wasn't a shooter in high school. Said he went to work at St. Mary's because that's how he could get on the court. If Darling isn't talking to Mullins about what he did, he should and Gueye should and I'm sure others.
