@STJCoachLavin

Quote from: Poison on February 15, 2012, 05:40:44 PM

Two days ago it was 5. Now it's 4 or 5?

Oh come on... branch +4 or 5 is fantastic.

Branch + a legit 6'9 player is fantastic.  Branch +4 or 5 good players is just awesome.

This team doesn't need A legit 6'9 player. They need 3 of them. If Lavin brings in one big man, SU, Uconn, Louisville and every team that has five 6'9 guys will house us.

Quote from: MCNPA on February 15, 2012, 06:53:56 PM

Quote from: Poison on February 15, 2012, 05:40:44 PM

Two days ago it was 5. Now it's 4 or 5?

Oh come on... branch +4 or 5 is fantastic.

Branch + a legit 6'9 player is fantastic.  Branch +4 or 5 good players is just awesome.

Yeah, but people are more concerned on holding Lavin to the number 5 and just because he says "four or five", he must be a liar etc...  Branch and Jakarr or Shepard would be great. Add a few others and we'll be in excellent shape.

Quote from: MCNPA on February 15, 2012, 06:53:56 PM

Quote from: Poison on February 15, 2012, 05:40:44 PM

Two days ago it was 5. Now it's 4 or 5?

Oh come on... branch +4 or 5 is fantastic.

Branch + a legit 6'9 player is fantastic.  Branch +4 or 5 good players is just awesome.

This might sound OCD, but this has been bothering me for awhile...

If you look at ESPN, Scout, and Rivals... only one player were involved with is ever listed as above 6'8.  And that's Obekpa by Scout.   The other 2 services have him at 6'8.   Everyone else is 6'8 at best. 

These things fluctuate, and an inch doesn't matter if a guy has wingspan or jumping ability.   I understand all that.

But we're recruiting a bunch of forwards in Shepard, Sampson, Edosomwan who are closer to being combo forwards then they are true post presences. 
I want them.   I hope Lavin signs them tomorrow.   But even with two of them we're still undersized.    I feel like we're losing track of that fact by saying one of these forwards, plus Branch and a shooter and we're set.   That's not accurate. 

Quote from: Marillac on February 15, 2012, 08:49:04 PM

Quote from: MCNPA on February 15, 2012, 06:53:56 PM

Quote from: Poison on February 15, 2012, 05:40:44 PM

Two days ago it was 5. Now it's 4 or 5?

Oh come on... branch +4 or 5 is fantastic.

Branch + a legit 6'9 player is fantastic.  Branch +4 or 5 good players is just awesome.

Yeah, but people are more concerned on holding Lavin to the number 5 and just because he says "four or five", he must be a liar etc...  Branch and Jakarr or Shepard would be great. Add a few others and we'll be in excellent shape.

Could care less if he brings in 4 or 5.   3 would be fine with me.   We're never going to use a 9 man rotation.   
But rebounding, shot blocking, post defense, etc will still be a problem even if we get the guys we want.


But, I was also wrong in my earlier post - I do believe the JUCO from Cali, Young, is a legit 6'9.   Doesn't change my point however.

Last year Brownlee was 6 7 and played C and we did great. That said, we had plenty of depth.

It's not about size. Brownlee was a great rebounder. He responded well to the coaching. Gift needs more practice. He could improve too, but he needs a lot of practice this summer. The difference between the two is that Brownlee could actually play 5 positions. Not for an entire game, but he was able to bring it up, and play down low.

I'll be happy if this staff can just get Gift to play defense, and rebound.

Last year Brownlee was 6 7 and played C and we did great. That said, we had plenty of depth.

Bownlee didn't play C except maybe on a rare occasion.   And like you said we had plenty of depth.   

But, at the end of the day a big reason we got knocked out in the first round was because we went up against a 7 footer we had no answer for.

Again, we don't need a ton of size.  Against Marquette and others we can win with a flex lineup.   But to be consistently good, aka win more than 2 games in the NCAAs or make a long BE run, we'll need size.   I don't see any way of getting around that.   It's a game of matchups, and we at least need to have the option of going big occasionally.   

Lavin has been pretty clear on the type of recruit he wants.  He didn't even call a local kid from Monroe-Woodbury, 6'10 and a national top 75 player, because he was a bit of a plodder.  Lav wants a long, athletic, versatile team. 

Edosomwan is listed 6'8 /6'9
Sampson is 6'8
Obekpa is 6'8/6'9
Sheppard is listed 6'8/6'9
Sanchez 6'9

We already have a 6'8.5 lottery pick forward.  Assume we grab three of the above players, when was the last time we were that big?  We came a shot from the Final Four, after putting every team before that down 24 or more at some point, with a frontline of 6'5, 6'7, and an injured 6'7. 

Slide Moe to the three and we are huge...think about his rebounding from the three.

Lavin has been pretty clear on the type of recruit he wants.  He didn't even call a local kid from Monroe-Woodbury, 6'10 and a national top 75 player, because he was a bit of a plodder.  Lav wants a long, athletic, versatile team. 

Edosomwan is listed 6'8 /6'9
Sampson is 6'8
Obekpa is 6'8/6'9
Sheppard is listed 6'8/6'9
Sanchez 6'9

We already have a 6'8.5 lottery pick forward.  Assume we grab three of the above players, when was the last time we were that big?  We came a shot from the Final Four, after putting every team before that down 24 or more at some point, with a frontline of 6'5, 6'7, and an injured 6'7. 

Slide Moe to the three and we are huge...think about his rebounding from the three.

I don't think it hurts us at all to recruit a kid ... high school or juco.. with some size.   I'm not looking for a major piece.   Of course I want to sign two or three of the recruits you mentioned.  Sampson and Obekpa or whomever we land should be 20+ minute guys.  They're a part of the "core". 

But again I don't think it hurts us to recruit somebody who can play 10 mins a game and has some size.   Honestly, you'll laugh.  But I'd take Dele Coker for the end of the bench.   Coker never materialized, but he could have.   And he had 5 fouls to give, and he provided a bigger body for the guys to practice against.   We have 6 scholarships to give; with Gift graduating, Moe getting drafted at some point, transfers, and Amir's potential baseball career; there will be no shortage of schollies for us to give out in '13 and '14.   

Just like some guys are advocating a shooter, who may not fit Lav's system perfectly (and apparently he agrees); I think a big man would be just as useful if not more so. 

Plus, it's insurance.  If Gift turns an ankle or we don't sign Obekpa, we'll need the extra guy with size.   Not to mention the dreaded qualifying game or unhappy transfers.   Tobey, Mabargorba somebody like that would work perfectly   There's also two 7 footers who sit the bench for their high profile prep teams, one for Findlay and one at South Kent... Isaac Freeman and Matt Willms.    Where's the harm in taking a chance on one of them? 

Lavin has been pretty clear on the type of recruit he wants.  He didn't even call a local kid from Monroe-Woodbury, 6'10 and a national top 75 player, because he was a bit of a plodder.  Lav wants a long, athletic, versatile team. 

Edosomwan is listed 6'8 /6'9
Sampson is 6'8
Obekpa is 6'8/6'9
Sheppard is listed 6'8/6'9
Sanchez 6'9

We already have a 6'8.5 lottery pick forward.  Assume we grab three of the above players, when was the last time we were that big?  We came a shot from the Final Four, after putting every team before that down 24 or more at some point, with a frontline of 6'5, 6'7, and an injured 6'7. 

Slide Moe to the three and we are huge...think about his rebounding from the three.

Who was kid from your hometown?

Quote from: Marillac on February 15, 2012, 10:14:32 PM

Lavin has been pretty clear on the type of recruit he wants.  He didn't even call a local kid from Monroe-Woodbury, 6'10 and a national top 75 player, because he was a bit of a plodder.  Lav wants a long, athletic, versatile team. 

Edosomwan is listed 6'8 /6'9
Sampson is 6'8
Obekpa is 6'8/6'9
Sheppard is listed 6'8/6'9
Sanchez 6'9

We already have a 6'8.5 lottery pick forward.  Assume we grab three of the above players, when was the last time we were that big?  We came a shot from the Final Four, after putting every team before that down 24 or more at some point, with a frontline of 6'5, 6'7, and an injured 6'7. 

Slide Moe to the three and we are huge...think about his rebounding from the three.

I don't think it hurts us at all to recruit a kid ... high school or juco.. with some size.   I'm not looking for a major piece.   Of course I want to sign two or three of the recruits you mentioned.  Sampson and Obekpa or whomever we land should be 20+ minute guys.  They're a part of the "core". 

But again I don't think it hurts us to recruit somebody who can play 10 mins a game and has some size.   Honestly, you'll laugh.  But I'd take Dele Coker for the end of the bench.   Coker never materialized, but he could have.   And he had 5 fouls to give, and he provided a bigger body for the guys to practice against.   We have 6 scholarships to give; with Gift graduating, Moe getting drafted at some point, transfers, and Amir's potential baseball career; there will be no shortage of schollies for us to give out in '13 and '14.   

Just like some guys are advocating a shooter, who may not fit Lav's system perfectly (and apparently he agrees); I think a big man would be just as useful if not more so. 

Plus, it's insurance.  If Gift turns an ankle or we don't sign Obekpa, we'll need the extra guy with size.   Not to mention the dreaded qualifying game or unhappy transfers.   Tobey, Mabargorba somebody like that would work perfectly   There's also two 7 footers who sit the bench for their high profile prep teams, one for Findlay and one at South Kent... Isaac Freeman and Matt Willms.    Where's the harm in taking a chance on one of them? 

Now your just signing guys to sign guys. That got us Phil Wait.

The kid on Kent gets no burn.

Tobey was locked to UVA for awhile before even Lavin I think.

I don't want another Phil Wait, but this team could use him.

Quote from: Marillac on February 15, 2012, 10:14:32 PM

Lavin has been pretty clear on the type of recruit he wants.  He didn't even call a local kid from Monroe-Woodbury, 6'10 and a national top 75 player, because he was a bit of a plodder.  Lav wants a long, athletic, versatile team. 

Edosomwan is listed 6'8 /6'9
Sampson is 6'8
Obekpa is 6'8/6'9
Sheppard is listed 6'8/6'9
Sanchez 6'9

We already have a 6'8.5 lottery pick forward.  Assume we grab three of the above players, when was the last time we were that big?  We came a shot from the Final Four, after putting every team before that down 24 or more at some point, with a frontline of 6'5, 6'7, and an injured 6'7. 

Slide Moe to the three and we are huge...think about his rebounding from the three.

Who was kid from your hometown?

Mike Tobey 6'10/6'11 and growing.  He's much better than Monroe's last 6'10 player, John Oates of Boston College.  He played for Don Bosco like Oates, but now he's at Blair Academy and committed to Virginia.

Quote from: Moose on February 15, 2012, 11:58:10 PM

Quote from: Marillac on February 15, 2012, 10:14:32 PM

Lavin has been pretty clear on the type of recruit he wants.  He didn't even call a local kid from Monroe-Woodbury, 6'10 and a national top 75 player, because he was a bit of a plodder.  Lav wants a long, athletic, versatile team. 

Edosomwan is listed 6'8 /6'9
Sampson is 6'8
Obekpa is 6'8/6'9
Sheppard is listed 6'8/6'9
Sanchez 6'9

We already have a 6'8.5 lottery pick forward.  Assume we grab three of the above players, when was the last time we were that big?  We came a shot from the Final Four, after putting every team before that down 24 or more at some point, with a frontline of 6'5, 6'7, and an injured 6'7. 

Slide Moe to the three and we are huge...think about his rebounding from the three.

Who was kid from your hometown?

Mike Tobey 6'10/6'11 and growing.  He's much better than Monroe's last 6'10 player, John Oates of Boston College.  He played for Don Bosco like Oates, but now he's at Blair Academy and committed to Virginia.

Night and day compared to Oates IMO. But he was locked into UVA before even Lavin, no?

Not signing guys just for the sake of signing them.  It has some clear benefits.

1) Insurance policy in case we don't sign Obekpa, and Gift ever goes down, we at least have a C on the roster

2) Just like there's a huge benefit to Phil playing with Branch in practice, in a different way it helps prepare Moe, Gift etc when they have to shoot over a bigger body every day in practice.   Right now Moe doesn't see anybody who can block his shot until game day.

3) Can provide rest and fouls to our starters.

4) Who knows, maybe a borderline high-major kid develops.   Stranger things have happened

My point is just that we have plenty of scholarships to give.   A slower footed big man may not fit Lavin's system perfectly, but it helps round out the roster.   

This might sound OCD, but this has been bothering me for awhile...

If you look at ESPN, Scout, and Rivals... only one player were involved with is ever listed as above 6'8.  And that's Obekpa by Scout.   The other 2 services have him at 6'8.   Everyone else is 6'8 at best. 

These things fluctuate, and an inch doesn't matter if a guy has wingspan or jumping ability.   I understand all that.

But we're recruiting a bunch of forwards in Shepard, Sampson, Edosomwan who are closer to being combo forwards then they are true post presences. 
I want them.   I hope Lavin signs them tomorrow.   But even with two of them we're still undersized.    I feel like we're losing track of that fact by saying one of these forwards, plus Branch and a shooter and we're set.   That's not accurate.
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Desco - What we have to keep in mind is the style of play Steve wants to play.  He is building this team like Pitino's Louisville squad.  They only have 1 player taller than 6'8", granted that's 6'11" shot blocker Dieng.  But their team is designed to pressure, trap and turn u over and the safe guard is the shot blocker and they were a Siva good pass away from beating Syracuse.  So, I agree Obekpa is the key player and hopefully he grows another inch or two. But we should be fine with him and one of the other 6'8" guys mentioned.

Besides Obekpa the guy I would covet next is Zena, he seems that he would be great back to the basket player which would lend to a great 2-man game with Moe or D-lo.

Cross Shepard off the list...he committed to SDSU this morning

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/feb/16/sdsu-lands-four-star-basketball-recruit/

There is nothing wrong with bringing in a couple of big jucos. Justin Brownlee was a key factor in helping us get back to prominence. Even if it was just for one year.

Desco - What we have to keep in mind is the style of play Steve wants to play.  He is building this team like Pitino's Louisville squad.  They only have 1 player taller than 6'8", granted that's 6'11" shot blocker Dieng.  But their team is designed to pressure, trap and turn u over and the safe guard is the shot blocker and they were a Siva good pass away from beating Syracuse.  So, I agree Obekpa is the key player and hopefully he grows another inch or two. But we should be fine with him and one of the other 6'8" guys mentioned.

Besides Obekpa the guy I would covet next is Zena, he seems that he would be great back to the basket player which would lend to a great 2-man game with Moe or D-lo.

I hear you Sook.  And I like our style of play, I think when we can play aggressively for 40 mins without worrying about foul trouble or tiring guys out - then the system will really pay dividends. 

But I just think it doesn't hurt us to use one scholarship on a big guy who can fill a role.  Call him a project, whatever you want.  We don't need to change the system to do that.   Our glaring weakness is in the paint.   For whatever reason though the staff doesn't seem to agree.  THey seem more interested in taking a flyer on an unathletic shooter than an unathletic big man.  Which is another way to go.  And at the end of the day I have faith they know what they're doing.    Or maybe coach does have his eye on an under the radar big man.  We'll see.  This is just my opinion, I've been known to be wrong.