In Reply to: Re: Dent … posted by mikeo on November 19, 2025 at 07:51:50
He had a lot of freedom at UNM last year and played a ton of minutes each game. But at UNM, he wasn't required to be a defensive wizzard there. Early analysts putting him in the same category of Purdue's Braden Smith was a big stretch though as Braden is a one of a kind PG and Dent isn't quite in that category yet, IMO. With all of the pre-season hype, most Bruin fans probably expected to see more of that type of a PG in Dent.
In a very small sample (4 games), Smith leads Dent in most every category. Scoring; Smith 18, Dent 12, overall shooting; Smith 40%, Dent 36%, free throws; smith 19 of 25, Dent 12 of 19, three point shooting; Smith 8 of 20, Dent 1 of 7, average assists; Smith 8.5, Dent 7.
Living in New Mexico, I've probably seen a lot more of Dent than most Bruin fans. My opinion is that he is an excellent PG and much better than what the Bruins had last year. But coming in, I had some concerns as to how his style of play would fit in with Cronin's offensive system. He was UNMs primary scorer and go to player (not so as a Bruin thus far) but wasn't a great defender at UNM. My first thought when he signed with the Bruins was that he'd need to step up his defense in order to make Cronin happy.
So far, I don't believe we've seen the best of Dent and some of it may be a result of his injury and being a little rusty from missed practices. Sitting on the bench last night with Perry taking over at the PG position, at times, he didn't look that happy. We will need him to be very productive though when Big 10 play starts as that level of competition will be tougher than the conference he played in last year.
One last thing. I would really like to see him improve his free throw and three point shooting though. That will be needed in conference play. Hopefully, that will happen.