Hypothetical situation.... Hannes Polla

[sperry]

This seems a little like criticizing Trae for having zero dunks. Polla is a true freshman, playing in a new country, and averaging two minutes a game. Looking at his assist numbers in those circumstances and concluding that they mean he isn't skilled enough to contribute down the road is absurd. I have no idea how his career will pan out, but I think he handled himself well on the two occasions (Wichita State and KU) that he played meaningful minutes against a good opponent. As a third string big who only plays when Lattin and Muni are in foul trouble or playing terrible, his role this season is to rebound, defend, and be physical. We aren't asking him to be Marc Gasol or Blake Griffin and help facilitate the offense with his passing.

I have no problem with him being a 3rd string big man who plays minor minutes in favorable situations. That was not the question asked in the OP though.

 

[WichitaSooner]

I have no problem with him being a 3rd string big man who plays minor minutes in favorable situations. That was not the question asked in the OP though.

Your position throughout this thread has clearly been that he doesn't have the skills or ability to ever contribute, and you used his stats from this season to support that. My belief is that his stats in limited minutes are not very useful in determining what he might be going forward. I don't by any means think he should be playing 25 minutes a game this year. I think it would be nuts for our team to play two bigs together because whatever small benefit it might give us on the boards, it would absolutely kill our offense. So on that, we agree. I just am not as pessimistic about his future.

 

[chuckb]

This seems a little like criticizing Trae for having zero dunks. Polla is a true freshman, playing in a new country, and averaging two minutes a game. Looking at his assist numbers in those circumstances and concluding that they mean he isn't skilled enough to contribute down the road is absurd. I have no idea how his career will pan out, but I think he handled himself well on the two occasions (Wichita State and KU) that he played meaningful minutes against a good opponent. As a third string big who only plays when Lattin and Muni are in foul trouble or playing terrible, his role this season is to rebound, defend, and be physical. We aren't asking him to be Marc Gasol or Blake Griffin and help facilitate the offense with his passing.

That's a good analogy. He's a 3rd string center who's a freshman and he's being criticized for not doing things that it's unreasonable to ask him to do. He doesnt have assists. He doesnt shoot 3 pointers. And I looked at a stat line and can tell that he doesn't have good hands or play good defense.

He's not on the team for what he'll give the team this season. He's on the team for what he might give the team the next 3 years. Anything this year is a bonus. He's literally the team's 12th man. I don't know what kind of player he's going to turn into either but it's incredibly arrogant to be so certain at this point that he'll never amount to anything despite Kruger's and the coaching staff's opinion.

 

[sooners78]

I would switch starting lineup, Odom’s,Mcgusty,Trae,Mcnease and Doolittle

 

[22dupree]

I’m hoping that in time, Polla can develop into Martinas Geben, the center at Notre Dame.

 

[Leroy]

Another good half by Polla.Doolittle and McGusty are not very good on defense and Doolittle can't score.

 

[Leroy]

Get Polla off the court. He did hustle for a jump ball. Misses a one foot shot, doesn't help on screen gives up a three and then a dunk.