Micah Handlogten (Update at Post #55 -- Playing!)

I thought he was greatly overstating the “amazing writer” part.

 

You know, it was probably a bit harsh and I apologize... but there are a lot of posts where people don't quote or italicize words from other sites. They think that it's ok not to if they post a link. This happens frequently on Too Hot and it gives me heartburn, lol.

 

All good. GH is good peeps.

 

The Big Guy had a solid game tonight. Got winded, but played through it.

 

He filled a void.

 

I was thrilled just to see him make that basket. That hook shot can be impossible to defend. He got 20 minutes of action which is quite high the first time out. I look forward to those rebound numbers going up when he gets back to better positioning for rebounds. He only got 3 tonight (no OR) which should go up on a normal night. He is usually better at posting up low for the rebound and boxing out to control the glass. But the 5 assists showed how good he controls the ball and sees the floor.

 

One thing I noticed, one of the SCe bigs got the ball in the paint and tried to just physically push Micah all the way to the hoop. Micah didn't budge. I think he got called for the foul, which is rubbish because the other guy was causing all the contact. But the point is, MH wouldn't have been able to hold his ground like that last season. Much stronger now.

 

I don't know if anyone else noticed, but when CMB was driving on Micah, he got nowhere and had to pass out of it almost every time, especially in the second half. Didn't even look like he was trying to score on him. This is the same guy that ate our lunch in Columbia.

 

I had a catastrophic broken leg injury, but I'm here to bring you down to a 66% hit rate.

 

His mom is giving Gator BB fans/RRs a lot of love on social media. I think parents that feel their kids are in a good place have a positive recruiting effect over time. Golden seems to be pulling all the right levers.

 

He will never be a good shot blocker, but that length will always make it hard to score in the paint. They key to doing so last year was to get him out of position trying to help away from the rim, in part because our 1-4 weee often beaten off the bounce or missed rotations. We are much better in that regard right now.

 

Unless the massive upper body "muscle" was, as Will Muschamp would say, around the midline.

 

I think Handlogten could challenge Hough and Condon for best passing big on the team. Like his added strength and bulk. Unlikely to get pushed around. Could possibly start to bully people offensively?

Not sure of his defense and think overall quickness remains a question but gotta love the length.

 

The better scorer he becomes will open up more passing opportunity if he takes it.

 

He had a really good outing passing the ball, but that wasn't his strength last year at all. Condon and Haugh have been terrific hitting cutters out of the horns sets and advancing the ball in transition. Handlogten's mostly came passing out of the post.

Main thing I think we need out of Handlogten is rebounding at both ends and better rim protection than he offered last year. Anything else--post scoring, rim runs, passing, even shooting (he did hit a handful of threes last year)--is a bonus at this stage. Need to keep things going until Condon gets back, then give us something closer to what Chinyelu offers when he is off the floor.

 

Anyone else cringe a bit when Micah went down a couple of times last night?
Seeing him get up. Working hard. Smiling. That was a joy. He really seems healthy mentally and physically!

 

It was good seeing Martin grab a hold as he fell and give him the look of I got you as he helped him up. That was a reaction of Martin and the rest of the team caring for each other more than themselves. Good stuff.

 

Micah was more active and aggressive last night than against SC. Which is to be expected, as he gets his sea legs.
It'll be interesting to see who enters the game first, Alexis or Handlogten.