Kurt Huelsmans Play

[ChicagoFlyer]

I wanted to post on here and say that I was proud of Kurt last night. He played his butt off and never gets the credit that he deserves. If he turns the ball over, there is an uproar. If he backs his guy down, misses a tough layup, gets his own rebound and puts it back up, no one says a thing. (maybe it is just expected).

However, last night Kurt played his butt off, and for those who werent there, there are some things that you did not witness that you could only see if you were there:

1. Kurt calling for the ball. I absolutely love when players are calling for the ball. It just screams out confidence saying I am better than this guy and I am going to score right now. After a few tough games for Kurt, he continued to call for the ball downlow.

2. Brian Gregory always says KHs stats are always skewed because of the things he does that does not show up on the stat sheet. Dont get me wrong CW and CJ are great athletes, but there were plenty of times last night that KH had a body on their big man so that our other guys could get the rebound. He was working his butt off all night in the middle, and the ball just happen to bounce off the rim, not to him, but he kept the MU players out of the middle, and thus we controlled the boards.

3. One last thing, Im not sure what his numbers are but he has improved his FT shooting. I was confident with him at the line last night because he has gotten his routine down (something BG emphasizes, doing the same routine every time you step up to the line)


So what im trying to say is KH gets a lot of heat when he turns the ball over, but trust me, last night he was working his butt off and had a great game.

what do you guys think?

	Brian Gregory BRIAN GREGORY UD Men's Basketball Head Coach since 2004. Groomed by the likes of Judd Heathcoate and Tom Izzo at Michigan State, as well as Kevin O'Neill and others, Gregory's defensive-minded leadership has led Dayton to NCAA and multiple NIT appearances. A good recruiter, BG has elevated the athleticism of the squad in recent years and kept top area talent at home. Still looking for that breakthrough season with his own players that catapult him to the NCAA tourney. Graduated from Oakland University.

[Gazoo]

I was not there, I was watching in a bar with friends, and kept pointing out the little thingss KH was doing that were creating the final results we all cheered about. I also pointed out how important he is to have on the court even when his stats don't seem to call for it, though he did have 8 points last night.

The stat that does show is his +/-, thanks Figgie.

[Long Island FLYER]

Listen, the last thing I want to do is rain on the parade following a great victory, but I also cannot ignore these comments on KH. Am I the only one that saw him stare at a minimum of four rebounds that went to Marquette and were converted for points. Boxing out is great, but sooner or later you have to leave your feet and get the rebound.

Kurt is a useful large body who can make his presence felt offensively on occasion (Pitt last year), but he has is limitations.

[UDBrian]

Kurt does play hard and smart basketball. He has at least a couple of screens/picks down low to free up guys for layups. He has been bothering more shots this year, probably because of the weight loss.

[San Diego Flyer]

Those low post picks of his were really creating a crease. I can only assume they work on that in practice. That's all the majority of our slashers need to get to the rim.

[auglaizeflyers]

He needs to make a move with out dribbling the ball, other than that he is doing super.

[Fudd]

I heard the most obnoxious drunk UD fan in Chicago practically heckling him in the Auburn game. He proceeded to heckle BG's coaching in the last few minutes as well, just to give you some perspective on how drunk he must have been. Now, Kurt did have a bad game against Auburn, but it was a tough match for him, IMO. Auburn had big physical athletes, and they were packed in the lane on us. He was having trouble holding onto the ball and getting off shots where he was not knocked off balance.

He played pretty well against Marquette, because they had nobody who could challenge his size inside.

Overall, I love what Kurt brings to our team, and I think it would be devestating if we lost him to injury this year. He has physical size and strength that no other player on our roster has. If he is not in there, we get bullied at the center position by BCS type centers, and that affects the whole team, IMO.

Searcy has improved his size and strength this year, but he is not able to hold his ground like Kurt yet.

Kurt and Little deserve a ton of praise for their free throw shooting improvements this year. We are such a better team in tight games because of that.

[Tony T 71]

Originally Posted by Long Island FLYER Listen, the last thing I want to do is rain on the parade following a great victory, but I also cannot ignore these comments on KH. Am I the only one that saw him stare at a minimum of four rebounds that went to Marquette and were converted for points. Boxing out is great, but sooner or later you have to leave your feet and get the rebound. Kurt is a useful large body who can make his presence felt offensively on occasion (Pitt last year), but he has is limitations.

Yes, you are the only one

[Flyer1407]

I was never a huge Huelsman fan until I got the chance to sit on the floor this weekend and watch him up close.

The guy is glue for this team. He is telling everyone where to be always talking on D, constantly knocking down cutters, boxing out. The guy is a MAN inside, he is fun to watch bang underneath.

He may not give us the offense we want all the time, but the guy is critical to Dayton's success.

[masonflyer]

Originally Posted by Fudd I heard the most obnoxious drunk UD fan in Chicago practically heckling him in the Auburn game.

I heard someone yelling stupid things throughout the Auburn game on the audio stream. I just figured it was "You Know Who".

[auglaizeflyers]

KH having played wit OJ Mayo and Bill Walker and the Greyhounds AAU team is used to being around some great athletes with a up tempo pace. I would love top hear some stories about that experience.

[longtimefan]

Originally Posted by auglaizeflyers He needs to make a move with out dribbling the ball, other than that he is doing super.

BG said on the coach's show today that they wanted to get the ball into Kurt as much as possible, becuase they thought he would have an advantage down low. He said he told Kurt to "take two dribbles and shoot."

[Marysville Flyer]

Originally Posted by Fudd I heard the most obnoxious drunk UD fan in Chicago practically heckling him in the Auburn game. He proceeded to heckle BG's coaching in the last few minutes as well, just to give you some perspective on how drunk he must have been. Now, Kurt did have a bad game against Auburn, but it was a tough match for him, IMO. Auburn had big physical athletes, and they were packed in the lane on us. He was having trouble holding onto the ball and getting off shots where he was not knocked off balance. He played pretty well against Marquette, because they had nobody who could challenge his size inside. Overall, I love what Kurt brings to our team, and I think it would be devestating if we lost him to injury this year. He has physical size and strength that no other player on our roster has. If he is not in there, we get bullied at the center position by BCS type centers, and that affects the whole team, IMO. Searcy has improved his size and strength this year, but he is not able to hold his ground like Kurt yet. Kurt and Little deserve a ton of praise for their free throw shooting improvements this year. We are such a better team in tight games because of that.

Not sure but we probably sat near the same guy. Late in the game Friday, just before KH shot his FTs, he yelled out, "don't let him touch the ball". Then he was yelling about BG and FT shooting and why they didn't practice it. I had enough of him and told him to shut up and have another beer. Made me sick. Why go all that way to be that totally negative?

We sat next section over from you on Saturday and saw the same thing. The sad thing was that the security folks caused more problems by standing up while talking to people they were trying to move out. For about 8 game clock minutes they were ridiculous. Then they yelled at kid who stepped over the seat (and stepped on it) rather than make everyone get up. They seemed to enjoy their jobs just at bit too much.

I told my wife the least they could do was have security sit there so no-one could get settled in and distruption would be minimal. Glad they finally did. We went down there immediately after the game to watch the trophy presentation just to hopefully make someone mad. We asked security what was going on and she gave same story you told. Didn't realize the people were sitting there as the rows were empty. How sad.

[Glen Clark]

Originally Posted by ChicagoFlyer I wanted to post on here and say that I was proud of Kurt last night. He played his butt off and never gets the credit that he deserves. If he turns the ball over, there is an uproar. If he backs his guy down, misses a tough layup, gets his own rebound and puts it back up, no one says a thing. (maybe it is just expected). However, last night Kurt played his butt off, and for those who werent there, there are some things that you did not witness that you could only see if you were there: 1. Kurt calling for the ball. I absolutely love when players are calling for the ball. It just screams out confidence saying I am better than this guy and I am going to score right now. After a few tough games for Kurt, he continued to call for the ball downlow. 2. Brian Gregory always says KHs stats are always skewed because of the things he does that does not show up on the stat sheet. Dont get me wrong CW and CJ are great athletes, but there were plenty of times last night that KH had a body on their big man so that our other guys could get the rebound. He was working his butt off all night in the middle, and the ball just happen to bounce off the rim, not to him, but he kept the MU players out of the middle, and thus we controlled the boards. 3. One last thing, Im not sure what his numbers are but he has improved his FT shooting. I was confident with him at the line last night because he has gotten his routine down (something BG emphasizes, doing the same routine every time you step up to the line) So what im trying to say is KH gets a lot of heat when he turns the ball over, but trust me, last night he was working his butt off and had a great game. what do you guys think?

More than once KH and CW hooked up inside for some nice plays.

	Brian Gregory BRIAN GREGORY UD Men's Basketball Head Coach since 2004. Groomed by the likes of Judd Heathcoate and Tom Izzo at Michigan State, as well as Kevin O'Neill and others, Gregory's defensive-minded leadership has led Dayton to NCAA and multiple NIT appearances. A good recruiter, BG has elevated the athleticism of the squad in recent years and kept top area talent at home. Still looking for that breakthrough season with his own players that catapult him to the NCAA tourney. Graduated from Oakland University.

[OSU Flyer]

For those of you who see the team on a regular basis (I can't being stuck in Columbus) what's going on with Kurt's offensive game? I remember being at the Pitt game last year and thinking this guy is the second coming of the Finn with him being able to score in the low post against Pitt's quality big men. I have a small sample selection of games to go off but I figured he'd be good for 10 to 15 points a game against some of the teams on schedule with weaker post players.

[Class of 73 Alum]

I've never been a big Kurt fan either but he's starting to impress me more and more because of the little things he does. This may be a misinterpretation on my part but if you watch the replay of Chris's monster dunk, right at the very end of the replay you can see Kurt push Chris after they have gotten back on defense. It looks like he is pushing Kurt into defensive position rather than a congratulatory push. I may be wrong but thats what it looks like to me

[TheDuke2003]

The biggest trouble with KH's offensive game is that our PG's are terrible about getting the ball inside unless its an uncontested pass inside. Whenver KH gets tha ball 1 on 1 down low he backs his man in and usually puts up a qulaity shot. The problem is he doesn't get nearly the amount of entry passes as he should.

[THirt]

Originally Posted by Class of 73 Alum I've never been a big Kurt fan either but he's starting to impress me more and more because of the little things he does. This may be a misinterpretation on my part but if you watch the replay of Chris's monster dunk, right at the very end of the replay you can see Kurt push Chris after they have gotten back on defense. It looks like he is pushing Kurt into defensive position rather than a congratulatory push. I may be wrong but thats what it looks like to me

Kurt was on the bench for that play, so I'm pretty sure he couldn't have been pushing CW into place. Could have been Fabrizius (who started the play that led to the dunk with a nice deflection/steal).

I think Kurt does do a lot of little things that some "fans" either don't recognize or don't appreciate. We don't need him to score 15 ppg for us to be effective. Some of the boards he got against Auburn were huge, and he did well against Marquette as well. Going to him early in both halves really helped to open up the driving lanes for our guards. If we have a credible low post threat, then they can't sag off of him and clog the lane, thereby opening up the driving lanes.

That's the sort of thing that Kurt does. I still wish he'd dunk the ball on occasion, but he's an important player for us.

[steve]

Originally Posted by auglaizeflyers He needs to make a move with out dribbling the ball, other than that he is doing super.

KH has his limitations but he does alot of good.To be a good rebounder you need to be a good space rebounder which means you have to get it before it just comes to you.Very difficult to teach or there would be more Dennis Rodmans out there.
Was listening to the BG show yesterday and they told KH to take just 2 dribbles and then shoot.Forget about backing the guy down.

[UDDoug]

Originally Posted by OSU Flyer For those of you who see the team on a regular basis (I can't being stuck in Columbus) what's going on with Kurt's offensive game?

He is never going to put up big offensive numbers on a consistent basis. His role offensively is primarily setting screens to open creases and provide pressure release.

Even in an off night (Auburn) check the play by play in the last 3 mintues. While UD goes scoreless at the end of regulation KH blocks two shots and pulls down some key rebound(s).

[steve]

Originally Posted by OSU Flyer For those of you who see the team on a regular basis (I can't being stuck in Columbus) what's going on with Kurt's offensive game? I remember being at the Pitt game last year and thinking this guy is the second coming of the Finn with him being able to score in the low post against Pitt's quality big men. I have a small sample selection of games to go off but I figured he'd be good for 10 to 15 points a game against some of the teams on schedule with weaker post players.

KH is actually getting alot more touches this year as we were horrible at getting him the ball last year.What kurt has to learn is that he does not need to shoot every time he gets it.He is much better at securing the ball this year when he backs a guy down,as last year they doubled him the minute he put it on the floor, but he has committed some not-so-smart charges because of this.
I think KH offense helps us more when he can roate it or kick it back out when he touches it.He made a great pass in the 2nd half of the Mercer game when he roated the ball to the weak side to an open Perry for the 3.
I think KH has become a much better player with the added weight loss and he will only get better in the little things which make this team better.I'm sure we will see a couple 12-14 point games out KH before the season is over.

[San Diego Flyer]

Kurt is the kind of player coaches relish. He can't make a bad team good, but he CAN make a good team better.

[swish61]

I also heard BG say on his show that he told Kurt to take 2 dribbles and shoot. The problem is, when he takes those two dribbles is when he gets stripped by guards that are doubling down. IMO he should rarely dribble at all. Get the ball, make your move and put it in the hole. My opinion.

[Bill McPeek]

If he is good enough for BG, he's good enough for me. Sure, we'd all like to see him a little quicker offensively and be able to go the hoop stronger, but he is what he is. Viewing the Marquette game on TV he sealed off his man at the elbow area allowing RL and CL to get to the hoop. He has to be doing other things well also. Who replaces him....DS? I don't think DS, at this point, is ready to take Kurt's minutes.

[Glen Clark]

Originally Posted by TheDuke2003 The biggest trouble with KH's offensive game is that our PG's are terrible about getting the ball inside unless its an uncontested pass inside. Whenver KH gets tha ball 1 on 1 down low he backs his man in and usually puts up a qulaity shot. The problem is he doesn't get nearly the amount of entry passes as he should.

Someone pointed out that UD's guards often try to throw the ball into the post from above the free throw line, which forces KH to give up his position on the low blocks. If KH gets a good entry pass on the low blocks he can usually score against 1 defender (flopping Marquette players notwithstanding). But what I see more from Kurt this year is the second pass - a wraparound interior pass or kick out to an open three. He is a real asset to our team.

[m21eagle45]

I am not a fan of KH's game. I feel that he is too weak with the ball, misses many shots that a 6-10 center should make on a consistant basis, and needs to improve his rebounding numbers. But what I do like is his leadership and his defensive presence. Neither can be replaced with the current roles players play on the roster. He is a coach out on the floor and is often yelling out things from the bench. KH would have been a great point gaurd since that position normally is not dependent upon scoring and rebounding, but at 6-10 he needs to step up his game now that he is an upper classman. He shows confidence which is good, but he needs to start making shots. KH started the year 4-18 from the field. Not what you want from a D-I center who has yet to play a player that matches his size.

[DallasFlyer]

Originally Posted by swish61 I also heard BG say on his show that he told Kurt to take 2 dribbles and shoot. The problem is, when he takes those two dribbles is when he gets stripped by guards that are doubling down. IMO he should rarely dribble at all. Get the ball, make your move and put it in the hole. My opinion.

Yeah I would think you'd tell your big man to drop step, take 1 power dribble if needed but no more, and then go up strong - especially a good foul shooter like Kurt.

Kurt is a leader on this team no doubt. And as has been said, we need a physical space clearer who can keep pace with our athletes and clear some lanes. He does this very well.

[NorthwestFlyer]

The strength of this team this year is in the Defense, and Kurt is a huge part of that. He really ties up players that would bring matchup difficulties for us on the inside. He may not be explosive, but he is an anchor point for this team.

I hope Kavanaugh is able to bring the strength that KH has. Sounds like Kavanaugh has a big frame as well.