My humble opinons (please argue/debate)

I have a want to be heard as a student leader and as someone that cares deeply about our program. I think this team needs to be analyzed player by player. I am giving my personal opinions on every player on this team, and am open to arguments on every one of my opinions on any player that we have. I am fully aware that I am pretty much on my own in my opinion on at least one player, as will be seen later in this post.

Starting Five-

James Haarsma - To me the most important person on this team, the player that makes this team go whenever he is on the court. Haarsma, though undersized for the position that he is asked to play, can play so much bigger than his actual size, grab huge rebounds, and can play the interior game that the team desperately needs to open up the outside game that the guards thrive on and will win us big games later in the season. His problems are that he gets into major foul trouble early in games, which eliminates him on the inside as a presence for the team, and he has an attitude problem, which I won’t speak to as someone who isn't majorly knowledgeable about James, but is a major cause for concern. To me, James is easily the most important person on this team, and whenever he is not on the court, this team is worse than poor.

Jordan Aaron - In my opinion, the most talented player in my 5 years as a Panther to come through the program without a doubt. His ability to score and make plays is uncanny and I will enjoy watching just about everything he does as a Panther for the rest of his career. He, to me, has incredible ball skills, the range and ball skills of Ricky, and the interior finishing ability of Avo. His biggest problem that I have seen so far is his inability to beat the trap and pass his way out of a double team. If he falls into the same problems with turnovers that Kaylon found whenever teams keyed in on him as the PG and best player on the team, then the team will be in trouble.

Thierno (Bobo) Niang - Bobo will be an insane asset to have once we have Paris back as a starting guard. He has a great ability to score at the basket, a decent outside shot, and is incredibly aggressive defender. If the officials give him room to work, he can be just as good defensively as Ryan Allen, but his aggressiveness will most of the time get him in foul trouble quickly. Once Paris gets back, his foul trouble will (hopefully) be not as much of a problem as it has been in games so far when he is forced to play massive minutes. In the few games I have seen him, I can say I am a huge fan of the way he plays, as Ryan was my favorite Panther for the past two years and I see a lot of his skills in Bobo, but Bobos over-aggressiveness and lack of size at the 2 scares me.

Demetrius Harris - The most physically gifted player on the team, who probably would be better suited as a Tight End instead of a Power Forward. He can take over a game in a way that matches, and even could beat Jordan Aaron when both are at their best. If he can learn to stay in the post, stop bringing the ball down where opposing defenders can take the ball away from him, and can finish strong at the rim, he will be a beast unmatched by anybody in the league. Right now, he brings the ball down way too much, misses too many bunny’s, and is an awful free throw shooter, but his skills open him up to being the best interior man in the league if he can hone in his skills the upcoming weeks leading up to the games that really matter.

Christian Wolf - The one starter that probably has no business anywhere near the opening lineup, he is a great guy, a senior, and someone who is a great program guy. He is an above average interior defender that can grab rebounds as good as if not better than anyone else on the team. His major problem is that the only ability he has to score is that he can hit free throws, and any shot he takes is a negative possession for the team. Starting him over Kelm is a good thing in that Kelm should be coming off the bench with what he gives to the team, but to me, he should not be starting over Haggerty and be playing ~10 minutes per game, when we need interior defense. I personally feel that if he was playing 10-15 minutes as a bench player, we as fans would love what he brings to the team, but his position as a starter makes us question every move he makes and forces us to be extremely critical of him.

The Bench -

Kyle Kelm - The Sixth man that the team needs, a huge player that can change a game at the drop of a hat. He has proved his outside ability by hitting big threes in the past, and has (at times) shown the ability to make great post moves that can beat any big man that the Horizon can throw at him. To me, his biggest problem is in his own head. He is too afraid to take outside shots, and also too afraid to take on men in the post. When he is an aggressive player, inside and outside, he can be unstoppable, but his own head stops him from taking over games as a player of his stature and ability should.

Ryan Haggerty - My personal favorite player on the entire team, nobody to me shows more heart and passion as Ryan. He may be a very limited offensive player, but his defensive abilities, and the non-stat stuffing plays that he makes for the team, diving for loose balls and defensively challenging the best offensive player on every team we face makes him, to me, the player with the most intangibles, and a guy that needs to be on the court as much as possible. I feel that he should be starting over Wolf, moving Harris and Haarsma to the 4 and 5 and giving us a more balanced and stronger starting lineup.

Paris Gulley - Every Panther fan should be praying that PG comes back healthy and strong as quickly as possible. The lack of depth and D1 experience at guard has been shocking so far this year, and PG is the guy that can turn it all around for us. Having a three man rotation at the 1/2 position in PG, JO and Bobo will decrease the foul trouble that has plagued our guards and increase their abilities as they all play the game in very different ways. I can't judge PG as he hasn't played so far, but I'm hopeful that his introduction to the team will affect us in nothing but positive ways.

Austin Arians - Welcome to the section that everyone will disagree with me on. To me, Austin is an extremely incomplete player that has created way more problems with his defensive incompetence than he has given us with his extremely streaky 3 point shooting. I feel that he will, in 3-4 months, be a good to great player that has much of the same skill sets as Tone Boyle had for us, but for now, he is, to me, an extremely streaky offensive player, whose defense cost us the South Carolina game (watch the tape of him in the last 5-8 minutes) and has been brutal for us defensively in just about every game he has played significant minutes for us. I am hopeful considering the talent that he has shown in streaks that by the start of the conference season, I can have the confidence in him that just about every panther fan that I have read and talked to feels about him, but I'm not at that point yet personally.

Evan Richard - For his size, one of the most athletically gifted people imaginable on the basketball court, but for the amount of time he has had on this team, he has the brain of a high school freshman. If he can learn to both take the three's that he has been given on several occasions that he has passed on on way too many occasions so far this year, and learn from Jordan how to drive and finish strongly in awkward situations, he could be an incredible asset as a fourth guard for us when conference season begins. Until he learns, he is still just the major disappointment that everyone will wish could do so much more for us.

J.J. Panoske - Obviously, J.J has a major problem that has been prevalent in practice, otherwise Jeter would have given him much more playing time, considering the physical gifts that have been bestowed upon him. He could be an insanely good player if he can harness the talent he has, but he still has those few missing pieces, both in his game and in his head that are costing him the valuable non-conference playing time that he needs to hone his abilities and would make him a factor for us at some point this year. As of now, I see him as someone who will be only a practice partner for Meech and Haarsma that will have a lot asked of him despite the inexperience of not playing much this year after both of those two graduate.

Steve McWhorter - I only saw him play in the B&G scrimmage, but damn, the kid can play. From the few stories I have seen and heard about panther practices, and the live scrimmage game I saw him play in, he is an absolute freak, and will be an automatic starter and go-to guy next year alongside Jordan. It is a true shame with the lack of guard depth that we have that he can't play for us this year.

Roelke, Gustavson, and Tagarelli - Three players with completely different roles, but will be rolled into one paragraph for my own sake. Roelke is a guy that should never see the floor the second Paris becomes healthy again, and should return to his role as nothing more than a victory procession. I love the kid, but he should not be playing the significant minutes that he is getting in a D1 program that has aspirations such as the ones we do. Q is another guy that will struggle to see the floor. He has the size to create problems if we get in major foul trouble on the inside, but he simply doesn’t have the game offensively or defensively to get any sort of significant minutes for the team. Tagarelli looks like a redshirt this year, and from what I saw in the B&G game, if he can put the skills he showed into good use in the year he is getting away from the court, he could be a really good guard for us to be bringing off the bench as a 6th/7th man for the next few years.

Sorry for the long read, but I wanted to get at least a starting point on the players on the roster that could help us understand the team we are supporting and therefore make more accurate and well-judged critiques of the team. I am more than willing to take criticisms on the points I have made on any and all players above, and am intending this post to be a beginning of a much more in depth discussion and look at the players on the roster and what they mean to the 2012 Milwaukee Panthers.

War Milwaukee and KRO

As my first ever forum post (Jimmy finally talked me into joining last night), I will say I disagree with some of your assessment of Austin Arians. By the time his 4 years are up, his name will be all over the Panther record books. I'm not saying #1 in a bunch of categories, but he could very well be a Top 10 all-time guy when all is said and done offensively. That's the potential I see.

Totally agree on Haggs. We're going to miss him when he's gone.

Gotta love the in depth breakdown and JIMMYPANTHER getting people to join