'10 WI SG Vander Blue (Marquette Verbal)

[Bernini]

Originally Posted by BadgerFanMT

My first post as a member isnt a positive one. Vander Blue Almost Never Passes the Ball. Hes a pretty selfish player.

And yes i am BadgerFanMT from cbssportsline.com

Welcome to the board.

I'm curious if you've heard anything around Madison which alleged he's a selfish player, outside of watching him play. On the court, Blue's instincts aren't exactly to make plays for his teammates first in my observation. I can't say for sure that makes him selfish. The same allegations are made about Michael Redd, falsely, in my opinion. His issue is more so dribbling with his head down, therefore he simply doesn't have the vision to see his teammates. Regardless, passing ability is a negative attribute of Vander Blue as a college basketball prospect. When he drives, his capability is to score and not dish the rock, like Kam Taylor. When he typically passes off the dribble it's well after he's trapped.

My other concern was the range on his jumper. He has a sweet stroke, but his accuracy is not developed right now from long distance. He wanted to hang out in mid range during the state championship when Maymon needed him to snipe from the outside for spacing.

Currently, he's a slashing combo guard who can defend. I'd rate him as a mid major D1 recruit, with the potential to improve on his status. I didn't see Diante Garrett until his junior year at Vincent, but he was significantly better in my opinion, than Vander Blue was as a sophomore, yet Garrett's best offer was Iowa St.

(BTW, Garrett has a bright future with the Cyclones if he can comfortably add weight- very skilled, confident player, but he looked like a little kid)

[Heavystarch]

Word on the street says Blue does have a UW offer

[Bernini]

Originally Posted by Heavystarch

Word on the street says Blue does have a UW offer

It's not just the word on the street anymore, it's the word on Mark Miller's phone....

WSN Hoops

4/11

Add Madison Memorial sophomore Vander Blue to the Badgers’ wish list for the class of 2010 as Ryan extended a scholarship offer to the athletic and extremely promising 6-3 wing guard last month.

Blue averaged 13.3 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per contest as a sophomore as Memorial finished 23-3 and lost in overtime to Wauwatosa East in the WIAA Division 1 state title game.

Blue shot 48 percent from the floor, 38 percent from three-point range and 72 percent from the foul line for coach Steve Collins. He had eight points, two steals and two assists in the title game against Wauwatosa East.

Blue plays with excellent poise and intelligence to go along with his considerable athleticism, basketball instinct and skill. He can develop into a tremendous defensive player because of his quickness, athleticism and desire. He is extremely quick to the ball and does an excellent job of creating scoring opportunities for himself and others off the dribble.

[Heavystarch]

Also the word from Rivals haha

Rivals $

4/11/08

First offer comes from UW, which has supposedly been outstanding for over a month

[Bernini]

Originally Posted by Heavystarch

Also the word from Rivals haha

Rivals $

4/11/08

First offer comes from UW, which has supposedly been outstanding for over a month

I agree.....an offer from UW became pretty outstanding over a month ago. I mean we had accumulated over 30 wins, won the Big Ten Regular Season Title, and then the Big Ten Tournament Title. That's pretty outstanding.....

[BadgerFanMT]

My best friend plays on his AAU team and he says that Vander never passes the ball. Vander has a very good inside game which is probably why Bo is attracted to his style of play (guards posting up). He has a pretty good mid range game and he is a pretty tenacious defender when he wants to be. I just dont know where would play him...he doesnt dish it out enough to be a PG and he is only 6'2'' so he is pretty undersized if we were to slot him in as a SG.

If you guys ever need any info on Madison area players im your man as all the best players in the area play for the Madison Spartans as well as my guy...so just get at me and ill find out whatever you guys wanna know.

[komacki]

Originally Posted by BadgerFanMT

Vander has a very good inside game which is probably why Bo is attracted to his style of play (guards posting up). He has a pretty good mid range game and he is a pretty tenacious defender when he wants to be. I just dont know where would play him...he doesnt dish it out enough to be a PG and he is only 6'2'' so he is pretty undersized if we were to slot him in as a SG.

Granted my opinions on him come from a limited number of times seeing him (state tournament), but it didn't look to me like he was a player that would post up very much. He's great attacking the basket, but I don't remember seeing him get position on someone down low. Does he normally call for it down low or does he usually take it in on drives?

I think that Bo would use him as a guard, and Bo would also use Diamond Taylor as a guard with him. The can both handle the ball but aren't true point guards, so let whichever one that gets the outlet pass bring the ball up the floor. As far as once the Badgers are on the offensive end goes, DTaylor is supposedly much better when running off screens and Blue is better at driving, so let Blue handle the ball in under-10 situations. A year under Bo spent riding the bench would probably do wonders for his little problem with ballhog-itis. He's also got two years left before he would even get to Madison to mature and learn to find the open man more often. But the fact that he's not a true point guard IS the reason I'd love to see McCamey come to Madison, or maybe this Josh Gasser kid that Heavystarch just made a thread for (assuming he really is "the best point guard in Wisconsin in 2010").

[Bernini]

Originally Posted by BadgerFanMT

My best friend plays on his AAU team and he says that Vander never passes the ball. Vander has a very good inside game which is probably why Bo is attracted to his style of play (guards posting up). He has a pretty good mid range game and he is a pretty tenacious defender when he wants to be. I just dont know where would play him...he doesnt dish it out enough to be a PG and he is only 6'2'' so he is pretty undersized if we were to slot him in as a SG.

If you guys ever need any info on Madison area players im your man as all the best players in the area play for the Madison Spartans as well as my guy...so just get at me and ill find out whatever you guys wanna know.

Your post just made me realize how few positive attributes Kammron Taylor possessed too, yet he was a scholarship used wisely at Wisconsin. Kam never passed either. Every drive at Wisconsin, the intent was to score. If Vander develops his outside shot maybe he can be a Kammron Taylor with good defense. The form on his jumper is a positive. He has the tools.

[Heavystarch]

Rivals $

4/27/08

Calls UW one of his top schools and wants to make a decision soon.

It looks as though both Blue and Anderson will be Badgers by summertime

[badgerbasketball33]

Vander Blue has just comitted to the badgers

Breaking News

[Heavystarch]

Great news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Awesome start to the 2010 class

[komacki]

Originally Posted by badgerbasketball33

Vander Blue has just comitted to the badgers

Breaking News

That fills up the hole at guard. Now to get the Badgers a big man.

[Heavystarch]

Small excerpt from BB33's article for those too lazy to read:

Kingcade said Blue told him of his decision to commit to play for the Badgers while leading the Spartans to a 3-1 record at the King James Shooting Stars tournament in Akron, Ohio this past weekend. Blue averaged about 19 points per game as he carried the Spartans offensively and defensively, Kingcade said.

[Bernini]

Blue is a solid commitment for the Badgers, who fills a need. I earlier compared him to Michael Flowers, if he realizes his potential. I guess he could be as good as Kammron Taylor with defense. He has a smooth mid-range shooting stroke/touch which could transform into a deadly outside shot if he gets stronger. Kam had a pretty stroke too. I'm not sure what kind of 3-point shooter he was in high school. I remember having an affinity for him as a recruit, but he was a well established player then. I might have been too hard on Blue considering he was only 15 during this year's state tourney.

Hey Bernini, what was that you were saying about splitting the thread? : P

Komacki, I moved 8 of the posts into the General Recruiting Talk thread and 5 into the Jamil Wilson thread. We got pretty far off topic there and I'd like people who want to reference this thread to learn about Blue, not to have to sift through unrelated posts. It's no big deal. Let the conversation flow naturally and I'll just move the post after it's come to its conclusion.

[komacki]

Originally Posted by Bernini

Komacki, I moved 8 of the posts into the General Recruiting Talk thread and 5 into the Jamil Wilson thread. We got pretty far off topic there and I'd like people who want to reference this thread to learn about Blue, not to have to sift through unrelated posts. It's no big deal. Let the conversation flow naturally and I'll just move the post after it's come to its conclusion.

The first line was for you saying that you were going to split the thread because we we going off topic, right after which it switched right back to Blue. I doesn't make much sense now that you've actually moved the posts.