Austin Reaves 6-5 g Is officially a Shocker!

[Ol skool]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSu5N5ngEsY

Looks like a pretty good athlete at the :28 point of this vid.

Noticed shoulder protector on left shoulder. Obviously after first surgery . Now wearing on right shoulder. Can't help but wonder when/if he ever gets to the point that he won't need it at all. His shooting maybe improved even more. That maybe be a sight to see

[ShockingButTrue]

Noticed shoulder protector on left shoulder. Obviously after first surgery . Now wearing on right shoulder. Can't help but wonder when/if he ever gets to the point that he won't need it at all. His shooting maybe improved even more. That maybe be a sight to see

unnn huh... 8 D

[1979Shocker]

Noticed shoulder protector on left shoulder. Obviously after first surgery . Now wearing on right shoulder. Can't help but wonder when/if he ever gets to the point that he won't need it at all. His shooting maybe improved even more. That maybe be a sight to see

I think when he gets his shoulder muscles built up, it will be less of a problem.

[Ol skool]

I think when he gets his shoulder muscles built up, it will be less of a problem.

Yep and an even greater problem for the opposition.

[forevershockerfan]

That over, under layup during the Tulsa surpass was a play of beauty. Austin makes some fancy smancy yet precise passes. If AR has the rock, and you are open, no slumbering allowed because his court vision and passing is incredible.

[im4wsu]

Several times in the Tulsa game he picked up his dribble and immediately ball-faked a pass left before passing right. This will pay huge dividends for back-door cuts in the future.

[shockmonster]

Austin is fun to watch. He has some flash and appears to be headed toward being a Shocker legend and fan favorite. HoWever I looked up Pistol Pete's and LSU's record during his Sophomore-Senior career and even with tremendous individual records, his team was only 49-35 during that time. About a 16-8 average. Good but not great. Let's not make Austin a star before it is best for our team. We may be a better team without a so called star.

[pie n eye]

From what I have found I see very little video showcasing his passing. I understand that is the way of most highlight reels. I would love a link.

I see no PG potential at all. His ball handling is awful. Look for when Austin drives and constantly watches the ball.His head is down for nearly the entirety of the game. Look for his dribble-to-shot action, he often has to take an extra second to gather the ball. The passing is a question just because I haven't seen much. Same with FVV's video -- it's commonplace to leaves those out, or to not pass when your a talented HS player.

Austin's hope is that he gets coached by our ball confidence guro, and cracks the 2 and 3 spots. He is aballer for sure. However, Landry is inmeasureably better with the ball and the pass. There's no future for Austin as the head of WSU's ship.

All the talk about Austin sparked something in my pea brain. I vaguely remembered someone claiming Austin's handles weren't that great. Was this guy just a troll or what? I don't remember seeing him post that often. Sure isn't much of a talent evaluator.

[Cdizzle]

All the talk about Austin sparked something in my pea brain. I vaguely remembered someone claiming Austin's handles weren't that great. Was this guy just a troll or what? I don't remember seeing him post that often. Sure isn't much of a talent evaluator.

I'm all aboard the Reaves train. But I think it's fair to say we might ought to wait until we've played a team with a pulse before going overboard with excitement.

[pie n eye]

I'm all aboard the Reaves train. But I think it's fair to say we might ought to wait until we've played a team with a pulse before going overboard with excitement.

I'm going to need someone to throw me a life preserver then.

[Cdizzle]

I'm going to need someone to throw me a life preserver then.

I think there are a lot of you out there in the water. Perhaps you can all join arms and stay afloat. I'm standing on the deck, but my next move is more likely to jump in as well than to throw out floaties.

[WstateU]

I'm going to need someone to throw me a life preserver then.

I think there are a lot of you out there in the water. Perhaps you can all join arms and stay afloat. I'm standing on the deck, but my next move is more likely to jump in as well than to throw out floaties.

I need four!

[1972Shocker]

I'm all aboard the Reaves train. But I think it's fair to say we might ought to wait until we've played a team with a pulse before going overboard with excitement.

I can only speak for myself but the thing about Austin is that so far he has far exceeded what I expected to see from him, especially considering that he was coming off of shoulder surgery and missed quite a bit of practice time this summer and fall. In fact, I was kind of thinking that Austin might well take a redshirt this season. I hate to offer proof of how little I now but I guess I just did.

Typically guys who rely on a high level of smarts and finesse as opposed to overpowering athleticism have games that holds up well at different levels. Fred is an example and I think Austin is an example as well. Not that they don't have skills. They do. But they deliver those skills differently than an overpowering athlete. Since they don't really depend on out-athleting you it doesn't make that much difference how much better of an athlete the next guy is. A guy who depends primarily on his athleticism is up against it when he runs up against as good or better athlete. I guess we will find out if that's the case with Austin in due time.

Austin actuallly has shot the ball better than I expected he would. Maybe stiffer competition will effect that. His passing skills and instincts are just off the charts. Daishon has attempted a couple of long alley oops from the wing to Shaq and neither one was spot on although Shaq salvaged them well. Austin made his 1st attempt at that play against MES with his picture perfect lob to Zach Brown.

Also against MES Rauno was having trouble getting involved on the offensive end. Then late in the game Austin fed him with two gorgeous assists. The 2nd one an a run-out where he delivered a perfect touch pass to Rauno that led to a fragrant 1 foul. He also delivered a perfect pass to Landry in the 2nd half for a layup and one. All of these passes just had perfect pace and accuracy making them easy for the target to catch and follow through on the play.

IIRC, correctly we were commenting either after Shocker Madness or maybe it was the Augusta game that Austin was a little too loose and soft with his passes. Seems like the young man learns and he learns fast.

So worst case, Austin is far ahead of my expectations already. Yeah, he might regress a bit against stronger competition and he will still have the occassional freshman brain cramp but he would have to regress a ton to dampen my enthusiasm for his game and I don't anticipate that happening to any great degree.

One other thing. Austin is much tougher than I was anticipating as well. He gets after it.

[Aargh]

It was at Shocker Madness that his passes were soft and he was getting picked from behind. First game he played, I noticed his passes no longer had much arc. They were crisp and delivered in a pretty flat arc. He also got a lot harder to pick between Shocker Madness and the games.

I was a little concerned after Shocker Madness. Then I saw the adjustments he made in the first game, and I had a whole different outlook.

[Bluzrover]

Seems like the young man learns and he learns fast.

I think 3G has made this same statement about AR on more than one occasion, the most recent in the post game interview after the MES game. Says he's always thinking about the next play or defense and asking him what he wants the team to do before 3G has even had a chance to think about it. Seriously guys, if 3G is making this kind of comment about a player...four games into his freshman season...we've got another stud. Mr. Reaves' minutes per game may just keep increasing as the season goes on.