Kassoum Yakwe

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Re: Kassoum Yakwe?
« Reply #40 on: May 27, 2016, 12:08:03 PM »
hopefully for him he lives up to it or he will undoubtedly feel the wraith of your scorn

Even if he never learns to shoot the worst he ends up being is a better version of Willie Glass.

If he falls anywhere in the David Russell, Glass or Postell range I would be ecstatic as those were three of my favorite players.

Well, how good were those players as freshman?

Tough to judge because though their stats were probably similar to Yakwe they were on better teams and in the case of Glass and Russell way better teams.

Foad

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Re: Kassoum Yakwe?
« Reply #41 on: May 27, 2016, 01:20:13 PM »
hopefully for him he lives up to it or he will undoubtedly feel the wraith of your scorn

Even if he never learns to shoot the worst he ends up being is a better version of Willie Glass.

If he falls anywhere in the David Russell, Glass or Postell range I would be ecstatic as those were three of my favorite players.

Well, how good were those players as freshman?

Tough to judge because though their stats were probably similar to Yakwe they were on better teams and in the case of Glass and Russell way better teams.

It was a lot of dead brain cells ago but I don't remember Russell getting better. He just got more Russell-y. The other two were pretty awful compared to what they became.

Re: Kassoum Yakwe?
« Reply #42 on: May 27, 2016, 01:25:08 PM »
hopefully for him he lives up to it or he will undoubtedly feel the wraith of your scorn

Even if he never learns to shoot the worst he ends up being is a better version of Willie Glass.

If he falls anywhere in the David Russell, Glass or Postell range I would be ecstatic as those were three of my favorite players.

Well, how good were those players as freshman?

Tough to judge because though their stats were probably similar to Yakwe they were on better teams and in the case of Glass and Russell way better teams.

It was a lot of dead brain cells ago but I don't remember Russell getting better. He just got more Russell-y. The other two were pretty awful compared to what they became.
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Russell got a lot better stats wise from Frosh to Soph year. From 10 and 5 to 15 and 8. I didn't really see him until his Junior and Senior year and I was too little to really know anything other than he could jump really high.

Foad

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Re: Kassoum Yakwe?
« Reply #43 on: May 27, 2016, 04:12:35 PM »
hopefully for him he lives up to it or he will undoubtedly feel the wraith of your scorn

Even if he never learns to shoot the worst he ends up being is a better version of Willie Glass.

If he falls anywhere in the David Russell, Glass or Postell range I would be ecstatic as those were three of my favorite players.

Well, how good were those players as freshman?

Tough to judge because though their stats were probably similar to Yakwe they were on better teams and in the case of Glass and Russell way better teams.

It was a lot of dead brain cells ago but I don't remember Russell getting better. He just got more Russell-y. The other two were pretty awful compared to what they became.
.

Russell got a lot better stats wise from Frosh to Soph year. From 10 and 5 to 15 and 8. I didn't really see him until his Junior and Senior year and I was too little to really know anything other than he could jump really high.

I'm not going to pretend to have anything but vague memories of David Russell. But the increase in stats is perhaps more a function of Lou's habit of having younger players defer to older ones. When Russell was a freshman Reggie Carter was the man. When Russel was a senior Russell was the man. My recollection is that he always got by on his athleticism. But who knows, I don't remember what I had for dinner yesterday, much less 1981. (That's a lie, I had a big salad and half a dozen Moscow Mules.)

Re: Kassoum Yakwe?
« Reply #44 on: May 27, 2016, 04:29:29 PM »
hopefully for him he lives up to it or he will undoubtedly feel the wraith of your scorn

Even if he never learns to shoot the worst he ends up being is a better version of Willie Glass.

If he falls anywhere in the David Russell, Glass or Postell range I would be ecstatic as those were three of my favorite players.

Well, how good were those players as freshman?

Tough to judge because though their stats were probably similar to Yakwe they were on better teams and in the case of Glass and Russell way better teams.

It was a lot of dead brain cells ago but I don't remember Russell getting better. He just got more Russell-y. The other two were pretty awful compared to what they became.
.

Russell got a lot better stats wise from Frosh to Soph year. From 10 and 5 to 15 and 8. I didn't really see him until his Junior and Senior year and I was too little to really know anything other than he could jump really high.

I'm not going to pretend to have anything but vague memories of David Russell. But the increase in stats is perhaps more a function of Lou's habit of having younger players defer to older ones. When Russell was a freshman Reggie Carter was the man. When Russel was a senior Russell was the man. My recollection is that he always got by on his athleticism. But who knows, I don't remember what I had for dinner yesterday, much less 1981. (That's a lie, I had a big salad and half a dozen Moscow Mules.)

I was a little kid but I really liked Russell. Then I was a little older little kid and I really liked Glass. I guess I didn't start noticing players deficiencies until I became an adult.

Re: Kassoum Yakwe?
« Reply #45 on: May 27, 2016, 05:42:06 PM »
Russell was your prototypical St Johns/Louie player. Great physical specimen. He did a rock-the-baby, windmill dunk that is still entrenched in my memory. Sporadic jump shot. Long Island guy. Wayne McCoy another. Guys who showed just as much their freshman year as they did their senior year.

Foad

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Re: Kassoum Yakwe?
« Reply #46 on: May 27, 2016, 06:45:06 PM »
Russell was your prototypical St Johns/Louie player. Great physical specimen. He did a rock-the-baby, windmill dunk that is still entrenched in my memory. Sporadic jump shot. Long Island guy. Wayne McCoy another. Guys who showed just as much their freshman year as they did their senior year.

I have nothing bad to say about David Russell except that my memory is that he was a fully formed player when he got to SJU and never lived up to what his ceiling projected to be. Same with McCoy. Probably part of that was Louie - someone said he made bad players good and great players good also - and part was probably organic. Still, one of the greats. 

paultzman

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Re: Kassoum Yakwe?
« Reply #47 on: May 27, 2016, 07:31:56 PM »
 I always liked Russell, but did feel he would develop into an excellent BE  player. He certainly was good, but fell short in that regard in my opinion.  I felt the same about Shelton Jones, but what do I know.
« Last Edit: May 27, 2016, 07:32:38 PM by paultzman »

Re: Kassoum Yakwe?
« Reply #48 on: May 28, 2016, 12:43:34 AM »
I too was just a kid ( 43 ) when Russell arrived at St. John's. What I really remember in some kind of all star game of Big East players He kept driving to the basket. Well at least 3 or 4 times he tried taking it to the hoop which was more times  then I could recall in his total attempt  in his 4 years at SJU. Guess he realizes he was not a NBA power forward.


For some reason this memory is coupled with one of Joe Lapchick playing Tony Jackson in back court in a game vs Gonzaga in 1960-61 at the Fordham field house Seems Joe knew the days of 6-4 NBA forwards  were gone.

Poison

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Re: Kassoum Yakwe?
« Reply #49 on: May 31, 2016, 08:29:37 AM »
What it always comes down to is work ethic. My favorite thing about Chris Mullin isn't his shooting ability, his star power or his overall professional success. It's the stories we hear about the time spent in the gym working on his game.

Willie Shaw was more talented than Lavor Postell. As a freshman, Shaw looked like a future NBA player. The star that Wesley Matthews eventually became, should have been Willie Shaw first, but he was lazy, and immature.

If Yakwe has Lavor Postell's work ethic, and from his play, I think we can determine that he's similar in hustle, there is no reason to think that improvement of a similar degree isn't likely. I think the real question marks, Sima, Mussini and Ellison have further to go because physically, they were overmatched against high major opponents. That doesn't mean they won't get there, but the fact that Mussini and Sima are staying on campus this summer to get stronger is a great sign that they have recognized a key area that needs improvement. Good for them.
« Last Edit: May 31, 2016, 08:32:56 AM by Poison »

Re: Kassoum Yakwe?
« Reply #50 on: May 31, 2016, 05:44:49 PM »
What it always comes down to is work ethic. My favorite thing about Chris Mullin isn't his shooting ability, his star power or his overall professional success. It's the stories we hear about the time spent in the gym working on his game.

Willie Shaw was more talented than Lavor Postell. As a freshman, Shaw looked like a future NBA player. The star that Wesley Matthews eventually became, should have been Willie Shaw first, but he was lazy, and immature.

If Yakwe has Lavor Postell's work ethic, and from his play, I think we can determine that he's similar in hustle, there is no reason to think that improvement of a similar degree isn't likely. I think the real question marks, Sima, Mussini and Ellison have further to go because physically, they were overmatched against high major opponents. That doesn't mean they won't get there, but the fact that Mussini and Sima are staying on campus this summer to get stronger is a great sign that they have recognized a key area that needs improvement. Good for them.
"Practice? You're talking about practice?" 

Re: Kassoum Yakwe?
« Reply #51 on: June 01, 2016, 07:37:34 PM »
I say by end of season he is number 10 overall. Liked the flashes I saw from him last season. But he has work to do. Better shot, get stronger etc. It can be done.

paultzman

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Re: Kassoum Yakwe
« Reply #53 on: July 07, 2016, 10:14:27 AM »
I dont know about anyone else but a ? Next to a players name makes me nervous so I took it out of the thread title
« Last Edit: July 07, 2016, 10:15:39 AM by jumpinjohnny »
When you're a kid from New York and you do it in New York, that lasts forever!