The senior hit a big 3 and the big FTs to put the game away. Just like his dad.
Justin Mckie ...
- Thread starter jeff2001
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I am a massive fan of he and BJ. I am so happy to see him beat UGA.....
You are insane...Without kotsar we are not a tournament team and certainly not 19-4 or 10-1...realize how difficult it is to appreciate the play of bigs if they are not scoring a lot...But Kotsar is one of the best freshmen bigs we have ever had...he is gonna be a special player for the next 3 years
that being said..when Mckie is making shots we are hard to beat...
You are really putting a lot of stock into Kotsar. He will continue to develop into a better player, but you make some big statements about his contributions this year that I think are exaggerated. Both he and McKie have had positive contributions this year, but both are wildly inconsistent. Neither have made a difference in our losses either. I don't expect Kotsar to be a difference maker at this point, but your comments make it sound like he already is.
At least Kotsar is a Freshman. I'm happy that McKie played well last night, but I don't understand some of the comments in this thread. Every time he touches the ball, I get nervous. Hopefully, he's found his groove for the remainder of the year...
The young man
All he has done is come off the bench with some valuable minutes for 4 years.
I agree with the posts about Kotsar's value! He is athletic for a guy his size (a few times he has driven the lane from the top of the key and looked good doing it- can run faster than most his size too), plays HARD, fights for every rebound, is a smart player who knows how to avoid fouls once he gets a few, and his scoring is a bit sporadic but he gets points in the paint when we need him to... overall he got outscored by their best player last night but I felt he actually held his own against the guy who might beat out Sin for SEC POY! He rebounded well, eventually contributed to the the guy fouling out of the game, played decent defense and scored a few buckets too- even shot his frees pretty well last night! Without Kotsar, this team is holding a couple more losses and on the bubble! He gets his hands dirty... The kid has grit.
I also agree with the statements about comparing him to past freshmen bigs we have had! Compare him to the Lithuanians as freshmen! They were WORTHLESS BY COMPARISON! Hell, compare him to Silva last year- Silva is our most improved player this season but don't forget the stone hands he was last year most games.. couldn't handle passes, couldn't see the court well enough to dish when he needed to,had zero FT ability... Kotsar as a polished player is way ahead of Silva when he was a frosh, and if he improves the way Silva did in year two... well he could be an all SEC candidate by his Jr and Sr years! He has freshmen moments, needs to work on scoring in general, needs to get more aggressive on offense around the rim, needs to add some muscle to battle harder inside, and really needs to work on his FT shooting... but those are things that should come with time. He has good fundamentals, plays hard and seems to be improving every week. Can't ask for much more from a freshman.
Wonderful to read posts from fans that know how to watch the sport and discuss it indepth...I just didn't have the patience to supply the details as eloquently as you did...Thank you
Justin has given us some great minutes off the bench, and also some not so great minutes at times over his career. Big shoes to fill and part of the problem from a fans' perspective is that he's probably been compared to daddy (both unfair and natural to do), but there's no question he stepped it up yesterday and was a huge part of the win. Like posted above, I hope he's found his groove to finish out the season and his Gamecock career on a high note.
Kotsar - I loved how he started the game aggressively. He needs to continue to take it to the basket. A trend I've noticed with our previous Euro guys is that they lose their aggressiveness when we play better teams and end up fading down the stretch - it's like they lose their confidence and get way too tentative offensively. Kotsar being able to go to his left to score makes him so much more dangerous and I hope he continues to play more aggressively offensively. I mean, how tough is it to defend against an amphibious Estonian anyway??
Kotsar - I loved how he started the game aggressively. He needs to continue to take it to the basket. A trend I've noticed with our previous Euro guys is that they lose their aggressiveness when we play better teams and end up fading down the stretch - it's like they lose their confidence and get way too tentative offensively. Kotsar being able to go to his left to score makes him so much more dangerous and I hope he continues to play more aggressively offensively. I mean, how tough is it to defend against an amphibious Estonian anyway??
Posted while I was writing my post. +1 good post - totally agree.
Bigs need time to develop and the only way they are going to get better is playing time. Game experience is huge and even the token minutes that Gueye is getting will only help. I hope that Keita will start getting some more minutes as well. Yesterday Kotsar gained experience playing against one of the best bigs in the country and scored over him a couple of times. He gained even more experience playing in deep foul trouble (of course he is getting way too much experience doing that) all the while busting his tail fighting for rebounds and diving on the floor. He also hit 2 big free throws fairly late in the second half which hopefully will help his confidence moving forward. Having a good program year in year out means you have to have players get better each year and I see nothing but improvement for all of our bigs. Of course hopefully they will stay out of tread be back next year
I said this earlier this season and mentioned he had a higher ceiling than PJ as a college player. Like clockwork, his points disappeared and PJ started going off! but i still think kotsar will average 15 points his junior and senior years based on work ethic.
I am very impressed with PJ and his improved strength. if he plays at a high level and notice can make 3s....we are a potential sweet 16 team. fouls are still an issue for several of our players and that can take us out of our game, which is defense. but dont sleep on our offensive potential...franks offense gets us open looks. he is a heck of a coach.
And sacrifice rebounding and rim protection? No way. Silva would pick up 2 fouls in the first 2 possessions of the game if he were the only big in the starting lineup.
Don't get me wrong, I think Kotsar has done good things and he will continue to get better. I just don't know if I agree that we'd have several more losses without him. Perhaps that was the case when we had players out. Certainly with a full squad, his performance becomes less critical to our success.
Regardless, I think having the depth we have is the biggest contributor of our success. It's nice to have that depth when we get into foul trouble - which apparently will be the norm under FM's defense. Guys like Kotsar, Felder, and Gravett have been pleasant surprises and are very important to the team.
Comparing Kotsar to Silva may not be the best comparison in my opinion, only because I don't think Kotsar's upside is the same as Silva. But I get your point about improvement in year 2.
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