Michael Weathers Impresses in First Real Minutes for OSU

Sunday was the first game of the season in which Oklahoma State fans got a look at what redshirt sophomore guard Michael Weathers can do on a basketball court. Although his actual debut came last Wednesday against UTSA, those were late game, garbage time minutes and Weathers didn’t really get to fully showcase his abilities.

Marshall Scott did a great job of covering Weathers’ big day in his Five Thoughts post, but I wanted dive a little deeper into just what stood out in Weathers’ game against the Charleston Cougars.

Ability to Penetrate

Weathers displayed his skill as a ball handler quickly after he subbed in and pretty much got to wherever he wanted on the floor for most of the game. In the clip below you see him take it up the court for the Cowboys. Once he gets to the 3-point line, he dribbles off a nice screen from Yor Anei and is able to get into the middle of the lane. This penetration causes Lindy Waters’ defender to sag off and help out on the Weathers drive.

Weathers sees this and kicks out to Waters for an open look. This one didn’t fall for the junior sharp shooter, but the driving ability of Weathers is going to create so many open shots for Waters, Thomas Dziagwa and the other OSU marksmen throughout the season.

In this next video, you see Weathers finish himself this time. There seems to be some miscommunication between Weathers’ defender and Maurice Calloo’s defender after Calloo sets the screen for Weathers. This leaves an open path for Weathers to drive into the lane. Duncan Demuth’s defender stands no chance against the shifty Cowboy ball handler, and Weathers slithers by him for the easy layup.

Finally, it became obvious to me that anytime OSU strung together a few empty possessions on offense, they would put the ball in Weathers’ hands. This was a big question I had for this Cowboy basketball team heading into the season: Do they have someone who could get them a bucket when they have to have one?

I know it’s only one performance, but it looks like Weathers could be that guy. He has the ability to create his own shot with his ball handling skills, and isn’t afraid to take it inside and finish at the rim.

Defensive Intensity

Since he arrived on campus, all I had heard about Weathers was how well he scored the basketball. However, in yesterday’s game against Charleston, he showed he has the want to and ability to be a solid defensive player for the Pokes.

In the video below, you see him show off his athleticism with a big block in transition. Now, it was his fault the Cougars had the ball as he was the one who turned it over, but instead of hanging his head in frustration, he sprints back and makes the big play in transition. The fact that he’s able to go up like this on the fast break and block the shot without committing a foul is extremely impressive.

Weathers also looks to be a competent defender in the half court, as you see in the clip below from his one-on-one defense on the ball. It resulted in a missed shot and Weathers is also able to grab the rebound and then finish in transition on the other end.

In addition, Weathers has the quick feet and length to be able to play up in the passing lanes — which Mike Boynton loves — but still recover on the back-door cut as he shows here.

His overall aggressiveness on the defensive end of the floor is very promising. A lot of times, guys that can put up points in bunches aren’t as locked in on defense. However, seems not to be the case with Weathers. He was diving on the floor and had active hands which resulted in two steals on the day, including this one shown below.

Shooting

Weathers went 6-of-8 from the floor, but five of those six makes were layups. His one non-layup attempt was this 3-pointer shown in the following video.

Although Weathers didn’t shoot very well from distance during his freshman season at Miami (Ohio) — 22.1 percent on 2.7 attempts per game — he shows here that he will confidently step into his shot if given space.

In addition, his free throw percentage of 77.7 percent from that season is also promising. The fact that he shoots so well from the line shows he has a good shooting touch. He looks to have fairly consistent shooting mechanics on both his free throws and outside shots.

I wouldn’t put my money on Weathers to win any 3-point contests, but I think he is a capable shooter from the outside and if teams start to sag off of him to take away the driving lanes, he can make them pay with his shot from behind the arc.