Fix Nick for March
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Given that:
- this roster is thin and absolutely needs bench production in March
- Nick Timberlake is an experienced upperclassman who is the logical candidate to have the composure and acumen necessary to be that spark
- we have seen flashes of it from him….
I am starting this thread, not to bury Nick but to praise him… and to try to crack the code.
So put your tin foil hats on, stick in your newest pair of double a batteries, close your eyes and send positive collective thoughts Nick’s way with me.
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Last night we saw a couple good possessions by Nick followed by about 4 bad ones.
Nick is worried too much about offense. Yes, hitting a catch and shoot open 3 was important, and jumping a passing lane then flushing the transition dunk was even better, but the best thing he did there was jumping the passing lane.
That was the moment in those possessions when he was able to see the future and insert himself. That is where his head needs to be.
The last two possessions when he completely lost his man are not acceptable. He didnt belong in the lane when his man was open for the baseline 3. And he didnt pick up wide open shooter in front of him last possession. He wasnt anticipating, he was seconds behind the play.
How can he get his head out of his past? He needs to forget about offense when we dont have the ball. A tale of 2 Nicks. Let the chips fall as the may on the offensive end but do not suck on D.
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He had a nice block…
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Dippity doo dunkaroo! ( Vitale phrase? )
That was sweet. Very surprising and very athletic.
I’m a bit surprised Brady or another staffer hasn’t worked on his 3 pt shooting form. It doesn’t look good nor consistent to me. So, a little hard work on the side could do the trick?
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I think a couple of things about Nick. His head is full of to many things, first I think he has a green light to shoot open threes, but not when the clock is our friend. We ALL get that! Clock management! Maybe, this is only with Nick, but is it a good thing he wasn’t to close to the 3 pt shooter? I know you get what I mean, disaster! 3+1
Next thing in his head, all the defensive pts he’s suppose to remember that wasn’t taught before this yr, especially when furph is out there too. No Kevin and Juan out for a bit. Marko in there too. Missing some leaders? I know hunt was out for D but can remember if he was in at the end. Just some thoughts.
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Nick is capable of coming in and being a lightning bolt on both ends. We have seen flashes of it several times. Stop worrying about scoring and do the little things, you do that good things will happen on offense naturally.
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I don’t think he’s a good enough player to be what everyone here wants him to be. He has not always been a great shooter and the step up in competition from the CAA to the Big 12 has exposed that in Timberlake.
He’s not very quick which is why he struggles on defense and he doesn’t have a quickfire release. It’s nowhere near Dejuan’s slow and low shot, but there’s a lot quicker out there too.
Overall, I think this years portal class was a big miss for Self. Braun has serviceable in his role, but Timberlake has been a disappointment and obviously Arterio’s stupidity really hurt KU’s on court play as he was the guy that could go get his shot whenever and break down a defender.
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No doubt the portal was a miss outside Hunter. Braun hasn’t caused a lot of damage yet…
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I think there was overall a bit more talent in 2011-2012, but I’m repeatedly reminded of the fact that their Nick Timberlake was Connor Teahen, who overall was probably a more talented kid, he certainly had a better shot, but our 6th man on a national runner up was Connor Teahen. Get everyone healthy and a lot is still possible including Nick being a contributor to a FF team.
