Safe to say he's a bust?
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No. This is his first true season (didn't see many quality minutes last year). I think it's safe to say he isn't developing as fast as we'd like him to, but he has shown flashes of dominance in some games, specifically that Michigan game in Michigan
Sorry Urban, Woody is still my favorite
No way is he a bust. He needs a year or two to develop. He has some upside. It will come, especially when he has his off-season surgery to replace the feet at the end of his arms with real hands. Imagine how good he'll be with opposable thumbs.
he is a case of being taller and bigger than everybody in high school and just having to grab the ball and then dunk it. he can't do that in college since there are a lot of people his size
No points, no rebounds, 4 fouls. And he's just about halfway through his college career.
It's not looking good.
The most "loud mouth, disrespect" poster on 11W.
Except playing time wise he's near the end of his Freshman year...........
Battles are sometimes won by generals; wars are nearly always won by sergeants and privates. Football is no different, the guys down in the trenches win the games, not the coach.
The fact that he's a D1 center at a major university with so much hype coming out of high school...yeah ...end of Freshman year or not ..this is taking waaaayyyy too longgg.
Definitely not, he's got a lot of upside and plenty of time to get there
I'd put him on a JUGS machine first. Needs to work on those hands.
The whole team needs that treatment. Never seen grown men litteraly drop the ball as often as this team does.
I haven't watched any video on him as a high schooler, but the kid was a McDonald's All American. You gotta think the potential is there for him to be truly special. I don't know if he just too timid or if he's playing scared or what. He just lacks aggression and a killer instinct. I really hope he can improve and be the kind of player we would all like to see him be. There is still time. Guys can develop and improve.
I'm with ya. I thought the fact that since he was a McDonalds All-American that he had some skill and I though he was going to be good. But watching him game in and game out I'm starting to wonder if in High School he only played against guys that were 5 feet tall an all he had to do was turn and dunk the ball. Him and Sully were both McDonalds All-Americans, but the difference in skill set in night and day. Amir has no skills!
I don't know about his competition level in HS. He went to the same suburban Detroit HS that Chris Webber attended.
For a McD All American, I'm sure he has talent. Not going to say anything negative about a Buckeye, but Matta needs to light a fire under his butt...and if Matta can't or won't, send him for a talk with Meyer!!
The officials don't like him. He goes hard to the rim, but he isn't called for fouls that they call on him at the other end. It's a bit unfair, really.
/Duff'd It
Please don't blame the refs.
Kid can't make a layup in an empty gym
Not mean enough out there...not aggressive enough...bad hands.
Soft. He doesn't want to be good seems like he'd rather smoke weed all week instead of go pro and make millions what a waste of 6'10
So because he hasn't developed into a one and done kinda guy by his sophomore season (really his first season playing) that means he doesn't want to be good and smokes weed all week?
Yes Amir plays soft at times. Fortuneatly, that's something that can be fixed with some work. If he's still playing like this at this point next year then we have a problem. But because Amir isn't an All-American doesn't give you the right to question his work ethic
Sorry Urban, Woody is still my favorite
Actually you usually are naturally an aggressive player or you aren't..in some cases guys can develop that mentality but usually it's instilled in you from the beginning.
Run_Fido's favorite word is strawman.
The way I look at it is I've seen it in Amir at times, mostly on defense. It's in there somewhere, he's just gotta be able to bring it out on a consistent basis
Sorry Urban, Woody is still my favorite
He shows flashes of it. Similar to Andrew Bynum early in his career.
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
He's way more Epke Udoh than Andrew Bynum. Give me more Trey. At least he goes hard as hell all the time.
haha lot of pot smokers on here. dude plays like he's high as a mofo is all im saying. you know he is smoking that shit everyday.
and Bill Walton was never high when he played.
i've had my best "in the zone moments" high
knucklehead
His first step is everyone else's second or third.
Exactly! Some would argue he does this to bait the offensive player so he can block / alter a shot, but it hardly ever works that way. Usually ends up in a foul, Amir getting out of position for the rebound or jacking up the defense's spacing forcing someone else to help.
he and Trey couldn't hit the broad sign of a barn from the free throw line.. It's mind boggling.
He is definitely a bust! This is second season on campus and he looks more lost and soft this year than he did last year! He's uninspired and mopes around on the floor like he's never played organized basketball.
Why are people so quick to call players a bust? I heard this same thing about Carlos Hyde.
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
Because its the easiest way to cope with games like today. Pick a single player or blame the coach. I don't agree with either.
Where? If anything, everyone was upset at how underutilized Hyde was in 2011. His lack of touches after Nebraska comes to mind.
When and who said that? Hyde wasn't some All American coming into OSU..also football players usually take 2-3 years to develop in most cases, especially in top tier football programs.
Basketball players especially Mcdonolds AllAmericans are expected to be big time players from the get go. Maybe Amir just isn't really that good after all?
Run_Fido's favorite word is strawman.
May be that he's related to Serena Williams
amir is over rated and i have never been impressed with ravenal. maybe its time for trey to start. and craft my favorite player, has no outside shot. dont know how many time this year he has missed the rim. think ross should start and bench smith. trey, ross, craft, thomas and scott. start them for awhile, can they do much worse?
Williams would be productive if he could hit 70% of his FTs.
But he can't .. so he isn't
Did he play today?
Don't recall seeing him......
"Success - it's what you do with what you got" - Woody Hayes
The kid sucks period. He's had one good game and showed a lot of emotion. Every other game he hasn't done crap and looks like he doesn't even want to be in the game
Bust at this point. Considering he was an HS Macdonald AA. He should be dominating games in the paint with his size and athletism. Thinking back dials, Mullins, koufos, and obviously oden all eat his lunch at similar or lesser points in their respective careers.
I know of only two things that are infinite, space and human stupidity.....and I'm not sure about space". Albert Einstein.
Not a lot of love for Ravenel on this site, and he forced some shots on the baseline today, but he is clearly the best big man we have right now. He is an average+ defensive rebounder, sets real screens (as opposed to Williams' half-hearted screens), takes high percentage inside shots using the glass when appropriate and makes his free throws.
Ravenel is giving us about what I figured when we brought him on board. He's a backup big man at this level, who is going to frustrate you if he's asked/needed to do more. It's not surprising that he's getting more heat this year, when the team around him isn't all that good, than he was last season when all he had to do was give an All-American a break for a few minutes each half.
The most "loud mouth, disrespect" poster on 11W.
Has anyone actually gone and watched his highschool tape? He really doesn't look that great even in highschool. He was rated so highly based almost soley on being an athletic 7 footer. The skill set/mentality just isn't there for him to be as good as the other first round big men we've had recently. That being said, hopefully he can step it up enough over his final two years to be a good defender/role player big man for us.
Lazy, timid, no killer instinct.
I have heard somewhere (probably on sports talk radio, maybe Beau Bishop?) that Amir just isn't as passionate about the game as say, a guy like Aaron Craft is... He has a more laid-back, passive personality type and the aggressive play a big man in the paint requires just isn't in his makeup. Doesn't mean he's a bad guy (or would rather smoke weed than play basketball, like some here suggest).
Maybe his McD's All American status came from his Ohio State committment considering the recent run of big men we've had go through the game lately.
You can't always get a Greg Oden or a Jared Sullinger every year. Hard to reload on guys that are one and done and go pro. Sullinger shocked me by playing another year.
With Matta, we seem to be about 50/50 on big men; Oden and Sully vs BJ, Kostas and Amir.
Pre-Matta (recruiting wise) we had Terrance Dials and Ken Johnson for a while.
"Don't put syrup on shit, and tell me it's pancakes"
No matter how sh*tty the tour is, it's always tough to leave.
Jury is still out on Amir. He's got 2 more seasons. We all know what we're seeing from him now, but who knows, he could improve.
I fully expected that if Koufus and Mullens stayed longer they would've been quite good. But those guys were 7 footers who had potential. NBA teams draft 7 footers with potential in the 1st round. Both of those guys played in Columbus with one foot out the door the whole time they were here. Hard to say they didn't work out or to blame Matta for them not developing or staying longer.
I think BJ would've stayed if he could have (family financial situation), Koufus, no idea what happened there.
"Don't put syrup on shit, and tell me it's pancakes"
No matter how sh*tty the tour is, it's always tough to leave.
I heard Koufus was upset about "not being used correctly" by the staff. I remember something about his HS coach saying Matta didn't know how to use a versatile 7 footer. I mean the guy wasn't a true post playing Center as a 7 footer and seemed to want to play more like a Dirk Nowitzi type player, shooting outside shots and taking jump shots and whatnot. From everything I've heard though, Koufus was all about Koufus and was not a good teammate. I haven't read his book, but I think Titus touches on him some in it.
^^^^^I think that's a cop out and Koufus trying to shift blame onto anyone but himself.
"Here officer, hold my beer while I find my license."
Whoa whoa whoa. Koufos averaged 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks per game as a true frosh in his one season. That's, like, light-years ahead of where Amir is, as a sophomore. He's not a Sully/Oden-style home run, but he was a very good college player. I would take '07-'08 Koufos over Amir every day of the week and twice on Sunday.
edited for me spell chek good
He is in foul trouble a lot which I'm sure changes his level of aggressiveness.
He's must become a man before he can become a good basketball player.
I understand that everyone upset about a bad performance. Discussing whether the guy is a bust is perfectly acceptable (I disagree because I've seen those brilliant flashes).
However, some of this stuff is beneath us. Sure criticize Amir's game because that you see. What do you know of him as a person? NOTHING. You don't know what sort of "man" he is, or what his motivations are. Therefore, speaking to either is not only douchey but unsupported by fact.
Play the freshman. He, Craft, and scott are the only ones I see flying around with effort. Plus, the kid can flat out shoot!
A kid with his size should be more of a presence inside than what he is. He can block shots, but he doesn't have good hands. That's his big issue - and it likely plays in to his horrible free throw shooting and lack of presence on offense in general.
Class of 2010.
Based on the hype around him coming in, his talent level, and his extreme lack of progression, he is near bust. He was supposed to be a "one and done" talent, and for now, he's a foul/turnover waiting to happen. He has no post presence at all and aims for blocks and whiffs more often than not.
So in the last 10 yrs we've had mulitple guys come in and leave early and ones finally taking 4 yrs to grow into his roll and he getting nailed. It's going to take until the end of next year to say if he's a bust. Remember this is only his second year. Its not like he played alot last year. Hopefully Thad signs up another big guy to go with Bell if nothing else to scrimmage against.
Nothing like dancing on the field in 02...
Well, look at the bright side: we won't have to worry about him leaving school a year early! ;)
"Here officer, hold my beer while I find my license."
Bust? Not yet. Soft? Absolutely.
The kid is raw, much more raw than I guess most of you thought. I knew he had a long way to go. i saw a kid that has progressed because I knew last year he was worst than this. He had no business being on the court last year and the only reason he is on the court this year is because the other bigs are worst. Ravenel has more polish but he can't handle the B1G centers AT ALL. Amir can handle them, when he has his moments, But he is far from what you all must have thought he was, because he isn't going to be ready this year, not going to happen. Expect struggles because it will be like this all year. If you really want to be frustrated, be frustrated with the veteran leadership, Craft and Thomas. They were supposed to be the great players this year. Thomas doesn't look like an NBA player and Craft is what he is, a really good college PG.
You guys talk about how I am a fan of Amir and yes I am because I see a kid that has the tools when given a chance but I don't think he is getting the opportunity to grow and is being thrown into a starters role after a Final Four season in the toughest conference in the NCAA's. The expectations are beyond what he is capable of right now. Enjoy what he does good and don't expect this team to go far, at least because of him.
He isn't ready yet. He might be ready next year but you really need to let the kid learn a little. He isn't the first McDonald's All American to take more time to learn. Actually, All American has more to do with how well he played in HS, not a star ranking. and star ranking doesn't predict that he will succeed in one of the toughest programs to play at. It's just what the pundits think he will be like.
Amir was never expected to carry this team, in fact he wasn't even expected to start this year. That was supposed to be Ravenel. He is getting better slowly but you shouldn't have expected a Sullinger type career early on. Sullinger came out of HS expected to be college ready. Amir isn't like him. Thomas took 3 years to get to where he is. How about you guys give Amir the same respect. Don't call him a bust! Busts are much worst.
Unbelievable talent! The want to is missing. He has no heart to WANT to be tough. He plays either like one of my daughters 8th grade post players on her middle school team. Or, once in a while he plays like a D1 talent with NBA promise. No in between. How can he not be able to hold on to a rebound though. Unbelievable disappointment.
I had a chance to speak with one of the OSU ast. coaches a couple of months ago. He told me that Amir was the key to this team, and that he was the best player on the team the first two weeks of practice back in late Oct. or early Nov. Before the first scrimmage, things with him changed dramatically. Effort declined, more quiet, and didn't seem to care if he was getting his butt kicked on the court at practice. This particular coach said he didn't want to speculate, but that he was concerned for Amir, because it was like night and day.
True story.
I guess this just reminds me that these are human beings too, and that college is a time of a lot of transitions. Amir is getting his first real playing time this year, and as frustrating as he's been to watch, he still is just a sophomore. Hope he pulls it together.
That's bizarre. He must have gone through something terrible to prompt a change that drastic.
Recent close up view of Amir being fouled: