who do you think will be the most improved player next year?

as we all know, most players improve greatly from their first to second seasons.  and while i think all five players will be much improved, i personally think that Gift can make the biggest gain.  i thought the skill and the motor was there.  he just needs to learn how to carve out space under the basket, seal off the defender, and flush the putbacks with authority, instead of those weak tips that seemed to miss more often than not.  he's a powerful man.  i thought he could have played stronger than he did.  if he puts it all together in the offseason, i think he could be something special.  after him, i think that we could see an entirely different phil greene next year.  i thought he made some big strides during the season, and hopefully that will continue. 

as we all know, most players improve greatly from their first to second seasons.  and while i think all five players will be much improved, i personally think that Gift can make the biggest gain.  i thought the skill and the motor was there.  he just needs to learn how to carve out space under the basket, seal off the defender, and flush the putbacks with authority, instead of those weak tips that seemed to miss more often than not.  he's a powerful man.  i thought he could have played stronger than he did.  if he puts it all together in the offseason, i think he could be something special.  after him, i think that we could see an entirely different phil greene next year.  i thought he made some big strides during the season, and hopefully that will continue. 

Dom

I believe Amir since he only had a partial season to get acclimated.  Amir and Dom bring it hard.

Dom.  Then Amir.    Looking forward to seeing them more than anybody else. 

Amir would be toughest since he will be playing baseball all summer.  I think that will hurt him to an extent.

If you looked closely, Amir improved significant toward the end.
I expect that to continue. 

I think Garrett, but Pointer has the most room to improve. He needs serious work on his jump shot. I think he made 5 jumpers all season.

improvement wise, i think it'll be greene.  not saying that he'll be a major contributor, but i think he'll be most improved. he was handling PG duties this year (IMO the toughest position) and with that skill under his belt, with an improved jumper, i can see him improving a lot.  he already has a nice floater just needs better rotation on that jumper.

Phil. I think hell be much improved. Hes got the confidence now he just needs to produce like he did during most of the big east year. Branch will also help him.

I think Dom's big improvment will come after his sophomore year.

If Garrett was 100% committed to hoops, it would be a no brainer.

I think it will be Phil Green

Amir would be toughest since he will be playing baseball all summer.  I think that will hurt him to an extent.

Yea, I don't know about his individual skills improving per se,   I think he'll improve by being more experienced with Dunlap's system.
He was one of the few guys who really saw the floor well, and I think a full fall of practice and learning the offense, will make him look like a poor man's Scottie Pippen.   

Like Choz said, you could see towards the end of the season he looked much better, I think it's because he knew where to go with the ball, and where to move when he didn't have it.   

Baseball hurts a little.   But I still hope for big things from Amir and Dom.   They're my favorites on the team.   

Quote from: Moose on March 20, 2012, 11:21:56 AM

Amir would be toughest since he will be playing baseball all summer.  I think that will hurt him to an extent.

Yea, I don't know about his individual skills improving per se,   I think he'll improve by being more experienced with Dunlap's system.
He was one of the few guys who really saw the floor well, and I think a full fall of practice and learning the offense, will make him look like a poor man's Scottie Pippen.   

Like Choz said, you could see towards the end of the season he looked much better, I think it's because he knew where to go with the ball, and where to move when he didn't have it.   

Baseball hurts a little.   But I still hope for big things from Amir and Dom.   They're my favorites on the team.   

No doubt Amir came on like a house on fire at the end of the year.  It was awesome to see.

But I think baseball will play a pretty significant role.  These other guys are going to be practicing so much more and just playing ball able to hoist up however many jumpers a day.  Don't know how much Amir can. 

pointer and amir both.

If you looked closely, Amir improved significant toward the end.
I expect that to continue. 


ST John's fans are funny. Most of you seem to ignore the obvious if it is unpleasant. Despite all signs pointing towards him not returning we had endless threads predicting coach's return date last season. Up until the BET actually. Harkless turning pro was also shouted down by most of you right up until he announced he was turning pro. Actually the day he announced pro people were still questioning it.
Garrett will probably not pick up a basketball all summer. I am not sure how much improvement you will see. Unless some of you are talking about his curve?

I'm not disagreeing with any of you saying playing baseball won't slow Amir down, it might. 

But just out of curiosity, anybody familiar who how Danny Ainge did it back in the late 70s, early 80s?   

Ainge made it to the majors with the Blue Jays while he was still a sophomore at BYU, but was still playing basketball and even won the Wooden Award.   He entered the NBA after his senior year, but by then he had already played 3 years of baseball.

I'm going based on what I've read, but anybody remember his situation?

I'm not disagreeing with any of you saying playing baseball won't slow Amir down, it might. 

But just out of curiosity, anybody familiar who how Danny Ainge did it back in the late 70s, early 80s?   

Ainge made it to the majors with the Blue Jays while he was still a sophomore at BYU, but was still playing basketball and even won the Wooden Award.   He entered the NBA after his senior year, but by then he had already played 3 years of baseball.

I'm going based on what I've read, but anybody remember his situation?



Two sport can be done but the athlete has to be comparable in the two sports. If you are significantly better in one sport, the other sport will eventually suffer. Garrett is a better baseball prospect than basketball prospect. He is going to have to concentrate more on baseball.

Two sport can be done but the athlete has to be comparable in the two sports. If you are significantly better in one sport, the other sport will eventually suffer. Garrett is a better baseball prospect than basketball prospect. He is going to have to concentrate more on baseball.

Forgive me.  But where was it said he was a better baseball prospect?  If he was, why didn't he play more baseball?

Amir will be going to extended Spring Training when the semester ends. Or so he tweeted a while ago.

Forgive me.  But where was it said he was a better baseball prospect?  If he was, why didn't he play more baseball?

Um the million dollar bonus. No one is going to give him any money to play basketball at this point. Are you really serious with this question?

Look I think Garrett is a nice role player who if given his undivided attention could possibly develop into a Postall type(2nd round draft pick two seasons in NBA). The Reds are not throwing around a million dollars. If it was the Yankees you could probably chalk it up to an extravagant reach. Obviously they see something. If he has a nice summer there is a very real chance Garrett does not finish 4 years here.

I think you guys are overexaggerating the impact of a VERY young/VERY raw baseball pitcher's summer.

With no other knowledge of his exact situation, solely judging off a very raw teenaged pitcher, He'll MOST LIKELY be at a team's spring training complex for a few months, pitching a few innings every 5th day. Rest of the week he'll be running light drills, doing plenty of cardio and will be a permanent fixture in the weight room. He'll have plenty of off-time to hit up the basketball courts as well.

What we'll have to worry about IMO is the summer of 2013/2014 if he doesn't really break out as a college star/NBA prospect.