PlayerRep said:
Griz1 said:
I like Martin too but I think he will foul out of every game that he gets more than 20 minutes in. Watch his hands on defense and they are at the waist or hips of the post player. He is just not strong enough or weigh enough to hold someone out with his lower body. The more he learns to use his legs to make up for the deficiency in strength and weight the better he will be.
I think he has a real high upside but it is just too bad this kid has to play now. (I know there is no alternative) With more time in the weight room and 25+ more pounds he will be a player. He runs well and is long. He has soft hands and goods eyes on offense kind of like Wayne had. He certainly is a good get and probably all big sky his junior and senior years. I hope so.
Note true on the fouls. Martin had 20 minutes against San Diego, and had 1 foul. The BYU game was an aberration. The refs were calling some bad ones on us in the paint. Even Ward fouled out in 19 minutes. He doesn't foul out of too many games. In prior games, Ward had 1, 4, 0 and 5 fouls.
Martin being in foul trouble is a hard one to call. He is in consistent help position due to how fluid he is on his feet. He does lean a lot, which can put referees in difficult positions. He does not swing his arms or get caught by ball fakes as often as Qvale did. Andy is actually pretty disciplined defensively, for a freshman big man. He also will not get as many cheap calls on post defense as Qvale did. Qvale got robbed all 4 years because he was so physical. The BSC whistle happy officials called BS calls on him because he was so much stronger than most BSC conference bigs.
Offensively, he needs to relax, slow down, and let the game come to him. He needs a lot of repetitions, experience, and learn to move without the ball more efficiently for better position. It took Qvale until the 1/2 through his Sophomore year to learn getting position without the ball. I remember Wayne had him hide almost out of bounds against zones, then had him find the holes to make it easier for him. I would not be surprised if we do the same with Andy more often, until he gains more strength. I also think he could be very efficient from the high post. Against better big men, we need to be creative in getting him position. Fortunately, come conference play he will be able to use his height and footwork more to his advantage.
Overall, if Andy puts on the muscle, and becomes a gym rat, he can at the very least be an all conference center his JR and SR years. He will be a very good shot blocker his whole career. Maybe a notch below Qvale. He has a good touch from the line, which tells me, that can transition to paint and mid range shooting. I think he can become a more versatile and scorer than Qvale, but will be hard pressed to match Qvale's SR year, which he was amazing. The little I have seen of him rebounding, he tends to get solid position for rebounds, but just cannot sustain it long. I see more of a 7 to 8 rebound guy as his career progresses. If his body can support more than 245 lbs, it could be higher, but not sure how much that would take away from rest his game. I do think he may struggle with foul trouble this year. Not because he is foul prone for a big man, but because BSC officiating is so consistently bad with nit picky whistles. I am sure the coaches have already prepared him for getting the short end of officiating. It is a matter of how he reacts in those games.
I feel 5 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 to 2 blocks per game would be a realistic expectation for Andy this year. If he can average 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game in conference play, that will be a very good sign for the GRIZ and his future. I do feel we need to commit 20 plus minutes per game to him though. :thumb:
