Leuer is very good. He was a late bloomer in high school, and the Gophers apparently never offered him until quite late--I think his senior year. (To be fair, he was only about 6-1 until I think his sophomore or junior year, when he shot up to eventually landing at 6-10, 6-11ish.) He is the kind of guy Wisconsin always seems to identify and develop. Having been a guard, he had nice face-up skills, which then served him well in college and as the pros shift toward that whole face-up 4 thing.
Noel ... eh. I wouldn't love that. He's athletic and active, but I'm not sure his production matches the optics. Plus he's been hurt his entire career: who's to say he'd stay healthy? Anyway, the kind of player he is--garbage man and defender, not much else--seems to be a worse version of what we already have in Gorgui Dieng, though he's more athletic than Gorgui.
It's tough to put my finger on what we're lacking, because you go up and down the roster and see athleticism, shooting, length, rebounding, character. It's obviously something else, something more intangible like chemistry. The word is veteran leadership, yet once you're out of our top few guys, you have 4th year players in Baz and Dieng, 3rd year guys in Wig and LaVine, 2nd in KAT, Belly, and Tyus Jones. Rubio is in his 5th or 6th year. Brandon Rush, Cole Aldrich, and John Lucas III are vets. We're not really THAT young. Something just isn't fitting.![]()
Noel ... eh. I wouldn't love that. He's athletic and active, but I'm not sure his production matches the optics. Plus he's been hurt his entire career: who's to say he'd stay healthy? Anyway, the kind of player he is--garbage man and defender, not much else--seems to be a worse version of what we already have in Gorgui Dieng, though he's more athletic than Gorgui.
It's tough to put my finger on what we're lacking, because you go up and down the roster and see athleticism, shooting, length, rebounding, character. It's obviously something else, something more intangible like chemistry. The word is veteran leadership, yet once you're out of our top few guys, you have 4th year players in Baz and Dieng, 3rd year guys in Wig and LaVine, 2nd in KAT, Belly, and Tyus Jones. Rubio is in his 5th or 6th year. Brandon Rush, Cole Aldrich, and John Lucas III are vets. We're not really THAT young. Something just isn't fitting.