Poll: Has Miller Kopp had a good freshman year?

[NUCat320]

There are some things to like: he’s stayed healthy, he’s shooting well from three, defensive metrics like him.

There are some things to not like: more turnovers than assists, weak 2pt FG, rarely gets to the line.

Based on the senior season chatter, I expected more minutes and more points, so I lean towards no.

But he has been the best of the three active freshmen. My vote is no, but I’ll accept well-argued dissent.

 

[haywood jahblowme]

There are some things to like: he’s stayed healthy, he’s shooting well from three, defensive metrics like him.

There are some things to not like: more turnovers than assists, weak 2pt FG, rarely gets to the line.

Based on the senior season chatter, I expected more minutes and more points, so I lean towards no.

But he has been the best of the three active freshmen. My vote is no, but I’ll accept well-argued dissent.

would be nice if he was getting 20 min a game to really see the flow of the game. anything under that is really hard to project out.

 

[freewillie07]

dumb thread

 

[torque-cat]

There are some things to like: he’s stayed healthy, he’s shooting well from three, defensive metrics like him.

There are some things to not like: more turnovers than assists, weak 2pt FG, rarely gets to the line.

Based on the senior season chatter, I expected more minutes and more points, so I lean towards no.

But he has been the best of the three active freshmen. My vote is no, but I’ll accept well-argued dissent.

I believe Miller might read or hear about this poll and hope to give him a vote of confidence. If he has a good game, I'll credit this thread.

 

[Sec_112]

You forgot a third option ... eh.

 

[NUCat320]

dumb thread

Thanks!

 

[Username Not Available]

I think the answer depends on your expectations of him coming in to the year. If you expected a freshman savior who’d play 25-30 minutes a game and deliver a stuffed sta line, then no he’s had a terrible year.

What I know is when coach puts him in the game my own reaction isn’t “oh god, no!” So I think he’s doing pretty good for a freshman.

 

[Medill90]

I've been thinking lately that his frosh year has been pretty equivalent to Vic's. Vic was a slighly better defender but that was primarily out of the zone. Miller is more physical, can't be pushed around as much as a frosh Vic and frosh Vic defends with quickness. I think offensively Miller knows where he's supposed to be, has shot ok, not great, and has been effective at getting the ball to Pardon (as someone pointed out in another thread).

 

[DaCat]

I would like to see Miller Kopp shoot more. He has a nice stroke and hit some open shots against Ped State. I think with more confidence (CC green light) he can be a better option than Taylor the rest of the season.

 

[CappyNU]

I think he's generally been fine this year, maybe a slight disappointment. He's certainly held his own though - over the past 7 games, he's only -13 combined, and our offense has generally performed better when he is on the floor. Meanwhile, Turner, in twice the minutes as Kopp, has been -73.

 

[hdhntr1]

There are some things to like: he’s stayed healthy, he’s shooting well from three, defensive metrics like him.

There are some things to not like: more turnovers than assists, weak 2pt FG, rarely gets to the line.

Based on the senior season chatter, I expected more minutes and more points, so I lean towards no.

But he has been the best of the three active freshmen. My vote is no, but I’ll accept well-argued dissent.

You have upperclassmen alternatives on the wings as we have a fair amount of depth at the position. So for this year, success is more a measure of getting ready for next year more than numbers generated and I feel he is accomplishing that. He is the first of the Frosh in and has shown some good things. For this position, that is about what could be expected so I would suggest that he has had a descent Frosh year. I expect him to start next year getting around 25 minutes

 

[hdhntr1]

I've been thinking lately that his frosh year has been pretty equivalent to Vic's. Vic was a slighly better defender but that was primarily out of the zone. Miller is more physical, can't be pushed around as much as a frosh Vic and frosh Vic defends with quickness. I think offensively Miller knows where he's supposed to be, has shot ok, not great, and has been effective at getting the ball to Pardon (as someone pointed out in another thread).

The major difference is that Vic got more minutes sort of out of necessity. Kopp's minutes would be more like Vic's frosh minutes if we had the same personnel that we had then, But we are deeper at the position so the minutes are not there. It is always a balancing act between what is better for the team presently and what is better for development and the future.

 

[rwhitney014]

To my eye, Kopp has shown that he physically belongs and that he is capable of putting the ball in the basket at this level. He's less deer-in-headlights than in November and he's unafraid to shoot when he gets a good look.

It's otherwise pretty hard to judge any player who doesn't create his own shot this season.

So...incomplete verging on yes? I think he'll be a nice piece moving forward.

 

[NUCat320]

I’m mostly trying to figure out what he might be. Next year’s team will lack any returning double-digit scorers, and Kopp seems like the returning guy most capable of becoming a big-time scorer. But Kopp has only two double-digit scoring games this season, none in B1G play (though one against Oklahoma).

If you look at recent prominent freshmen wing-types, the ranking is roughly (pardon the formatting and basic set of stats):

Coble: 28 GS, 31mpg, 13ppg, 5rpg, 2apg, 49% FG
Crawford: all GS, 27mpg, 10 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 1.7 app, 45% FG
Shurna: all GS, 18.5 mpg, 7/3/1, 47%
Law: started ~half of games, 24 mpg, 7/5/1, 39%
Cobb: started 25 of 27, 24 mpg, 7.4/3/1.5, 39%
Kopp, so far: started 16 of 22, 15 mpg, 4.7/2/1, 41%
Lindsey: started 10 of 31, 15 mpg, 4.4/2.3/0.5, 41%
Taphorn: 1 Gs, 10 mpg, 2.5/1.0/0.3, 31%

Lumpkin was totally his own thing, but
32 GS, 29 mpg, 4/5/1, 37%, with the most Charlie Horses administered

Johnson and Jitim were better, but a loooong time ago. Lepore was 7/4/2.5 on 37% shooting as a 26mpg part-time starter.

All the opportunity is there for Kopp, and he looks the part - I just hope he gets more minutes and asserts himself more down the stretch.

It’s notable that Shurna/Crawford/Cobb were on pretty good teams, Coble was on a bad team, and Law/Lindsey/Tap were on ehhhh teams, like Kopp.

 

[bringbacktherantboard]

Biggest improvement is usually seen sophomore year. I rarely proclaim a judgment on a player based on his freshman year.