Congrats to Obekpa

Quote from: DFF6 on January 10, 2013, 11:15:04 AM

Quote from: Marco Baldi on January 10, 2013, 11:07:03 AM

Quote from: newsman13 on January 10, 2013, 10:44:40 AM

his free throw shooting is a hack a shaq disgrace.

one dimension performances will get him a basketball career in tibet.

Mutombo had a nice career

To be fair, Mutombo was 7ft.  At 6'8-6'9, not sure Obekpa can be as reliant on shot blocking for a nice NBA career.

More like Okafor, no?

probably...in truth, okafor's free throw pct declined from about 60 percent as a frosh to about 50 pct his final year.  i'm not sure obekpa's can decline much further.

Funny thing is he has some form on his jump shot. And looks scared to death at the line. I think he's talking himself out of it before he shoots. Makes me think he's the kind of kid who can get better with practice. Lavin has to read him the riot act in terms of working after practice.

Quote from: Moose on January 10, 2013, 11:17:27 AM

Quote from: DFF6 on January 10, 2013, 11:15:04 AM

Quote from: Marco Baldi on January 10, 2013, 11:07:03 AM

Quote from: newsman13 on January 10, 2013, 10:44:40 AM

his free throw shooting is a hack a shaq disgrace.

one dimension performances will get him a basketball career in tibet.

Mutombo had a nice career

To be fair, Mutombo was 7ft.  At 6'8-6'9, not sure Obekpa can be as reliant on shot blocking for a nice NBA career.

More like Okafor, no?

probably...in truth, okafor's free throw pct declined from about 60 percent as a frosh to about 50 pct his final year.  i'm not sure obekpa's can decline much further.

True.  But I was comparing their overall games to the point they are both 6'9-6'10.

Funny thing is he has some form on his jump shot. And looks scared to death at the line. I think he's talking himself out of it before he shoots. Makes me think he's the kind of kid who can get better with practice. Lavin has to read him the riot act in terms of working after practice.

His form is fine.  There have been worse looking shooters.  He stands so damn far from the line.  That's the first sign.  Makes you think its all in his head that he's compensating and stuff.

Quote from: derk on January 10, 2013, 03:44:27 PM

Funny thing is he has some form on his jump shot. And looks scared to death at the line. I think he's talking himself out of it before he shoots. Makes me think he's the kind of kid who can get better with practice. Lavin has to read him the riot act in terms of working after practice.

His form is fine.  There have been worse looking shooters.  He stands so damn far from the line.  That's the first sign.  Makes you think its all in his head that he's compensating and stuff.

His midrange jump shot has disappeared lately too.   Saw a couple terrible ones in the Cincinnati game from the top of the key, and a few bad ones last night too.   Including an air ball on a wide open jumper from the baseline.   
I think we saw him hit some 12 footers in November and got spoiled.   Let's remember how raw Chris's game was offensively in HS.   

He plays intelligently

I wasn't thinking that on our first possesion of the second half yesterday.

Also,  Hollywood was none to happy when he squapped one into the third row like he was playin in the cage rather than keeping it in play to gain possesion ala Russell.

I would think that would be Sanchez's role 25 ft from the basket in our 'offense' if he would ever get cleared

I think the rankings for most times mentioned in posts about a player who never actually will play for us:
1. Sylven Landesberg
2. Lance Stephenson
3. Orlando Sanchez
4. Kyle Anderson

If Al Gore had already invented the interweb when we lost out on Alcindor - he would have been #1.

Everyone complained about his rebounding which was very limited early on but Chris has shown growth in that area.  in the last 2 games he had 9 and 11 boards against decent rebounding teams.  For season Cin is +9 (-6 vs SJU) and RU is +4 (-5 vs. SJU).  He is showing growth that I want to see in a freshman.  Early on he was maybe to in love with the shot blocking to the detrement of going to the boards.  He is down 1 block per game in BE competition but that is to be expected.  Comparing him to Bill Russell's control at this time is unfair.  What was BR like at a comparable stage of his career?

Quote from: we are sju on January 10, 2013, 12:28:21 PM

I would think that would be Sanchez's role 25 ft from the basket in our 'offense' if he would ever get cleared

I think the rankings for most times mentioned in posts about a player who never actually will play for us:
1. Sylven Landesberg
2. Lance Stephenson
3. Orlando Sanchez
4. Kyle Anderson

If Al Gore had already invented the interweb when we lost out on Alcindor - he would have been #1.

Admittedly before my time, but that decision alone could've changed the whole history of the program.  Maybe Louie wins a championship in '67 or '68, and from there who knows..   And having the best player in a generation playing for a NYC school when college sports were taking off on tv??  Damn.  Think of the impact that would've had on recruiting alone.  Maybe Bernard King stays home for school..  The list of "what ifs" that follow from Kareem choosing St Johns is endless.   

Plus, as an aside.. Kareem probably never becomes Kareem if he goes to St Johns.   
 
The possible butterfly effect from one kid choosing a different school is incredible when you think about it. 

Everyone complained about his rebounding which was very limited early on but Chris has shown growth in that area.  in the last 2 games he had 9 and 11 boards against decent rebounding teams.  For season Cin is +9 (-6 vs SJU) and RU is +4 (-5 vs. SJU).  He is showing growth that I want to see in a freshman.  Early on he was maybe to in love with the shot blocking to the detrement of going to the boards.  He is down 1 block per game in BE competition but that is to be expected.  Comparing him to Bill Russell's control at this time is unfair.  What was BR like at a comparable stage of his career?

Believe he was in junior college

Re. "butterfly effect," if Lapchick could just have been born a couple of years later so that our administration wouldn't have forced his retirement in '65.  He didn't want to retire, he was still guiding one of the top teams in the nation, Alcinder couldn't make up his mind to go away or stay ... but as the NYC newspapers said at the time, SJU had a stronger chance to land Alcinder with Lapchick as coach.  I don't want to take anything away from Louie, of course.

One day, when Kareem let's down his guard, he'll be completely honest about his recruitment and the final decision.  Obviously things turned out better than ever for him, so it was a great decision for him/UCLA, but we can't let his warm feelings for the way things turned out to recreate in hindsight the circumstances of his decision in May of '65.

Quote from: carmineabbatiello on January 10, 2013, 05:19:10 PM

Quote from: we are sju on January 10, 2013, 12:28:21 PM

I would think that would be Sanchez's role 25 ft from the basket in our 'offense' if he would ever get cleared

I think the rankings for most times mentioned in posts about a player who never actually will play for us:
1. Sylven Landesberg
2. Lance Stephenson
3. Orlando Sanchez
4. Kyle Anderson

If Al Gore had already invented the interweb when we lost out on Alcindor - he would have been #1.

Admittedly before my time, but that decision alone could've changed the whole history of the program.  Maybe Louie wins a championship in '67 or '68, and from there who knows..   And having the best player in a generation playing for a NYC school when college sports were taking off on tv??  Damn.  Think of the impact that would've had on recruiting alone.  Maybe Bernard King stays home for school..  The list of "what ifs" that follow from Kareem choosing St Johns is endless.   

Plus, as an aside.. Kareem probably never becomes Kareem if he goes to St Johns.   
 
The possible butterfly effect from one kid choosing a different school is incredible when you think about it.

Linda-you prognosticator.  The Big East agrees with you.  Chris was named Rookie of the Week (f/t's not counted)

Congrats to Chris

He already has made his mark as a great shot blocker when you consider his lack of height.

I'm looking forward to when he gets rid of his lousy habit of letting players take the ball away from him.

Everyone complained about his rebounding which was very limited early on but Chris has shown growth in that area.  in the last 2 games he had 9 and 11 boards against decent rebounding teams.  For season Cin is +9 (-6 vs SJU) and RU is +4 (-5 vs. SJU).  He is showing growth that I want to see in a freshman.  Early on he was maybe to in love with the shot blocking to the detrement of going to the boards.  He is down 1 block per game in BE competition but that is to be expected.  Comparing him to Bill Russell's control at this time is unfair.  What was BR like at a comparable stage of his career?

Bill was averaging  20 pts and 22 rebounds for the University of San Francisco freshman team.  The following year, his first year of eligibility for Varsity, he put up 19.9 pts and 19.2 rebs.   The next two seasons, he was back over 20/20 each year, and led the Dons to the NCAA title each year.

Quote from: carmineabbatiello on January 10, 2013, 05:19:10 PM

Quote from: we are sju on January 10, 2013, 12:28:21 PM

I would think that would be Sanchez's role 25 ft from the basket in our 'offense' if he would ever get cleared

I think the rankings for most times mentioned in posts about a player who never actually will play for us:
1. Sylven Landesberg
2. Lance Stephenson
3. Orlando Sanchez
4. Kyle Anderson

If Al Gore had already invented the interweb when we lost out on Alcindor - he would have been #1.

Admittedly before my time, but that decision alone could've changed the whole history of the program.  Maybe Louie wins a championship in '67 or '68, and from there who knows..   And having the best player in a generation playing for a NYC school when college sports were taking off on tv??  Damn.  Think of the impact that would've had on recruiting alone.  Maybe Bernard King stays home for school..  The list of "what ifs" that follow from Kareem choosing St Johns is endless.   

Plus, as an aside.. Kareem probably never becomes Kareem if he goes to St Johns.   
 
The possible butterfly effect from one kid choosing a different school is incredible when you think about it.

Ah ! Something us "oldtimers" have been pondering for 50 years.

Quote from: desco80 on January 10, 2013, 06:08:36 PM

Quote from: carmineabbatiello on January 10, 2013, 05:19:10 PM

Quote from: we are sju on January 10, 2013, 12:28:21 PM

I would think that would be Sanchez's role 25 ft from the basket in our 'offense' if he would ever get cleared

I think the rankings for most times mentioned in posts about a player who never actually will play for us:
1. Sylven Landesberg
2. Lance Stephenson
3. Orlando Sanchez
4. Kyle Anderson

If Al Gore had already invented the interweb when we lost out on Alcindor - he would have been #1.

Admittedly before my time, but that decision alone could've changed the whole history of the program.  Maybe Louie wins a championship in '67 or '68, and from there who knows..   And having the best player in a generation playing for a NYC school when college sports were taking off on tv??  Damn.  Think of the impact that would've had on recruiting alone.  Maybe Bernard King stays home for school..  The list of "what ifs" that follow from Kareem choosing St Johns is endless.   

Plus, as an aside.. Kareem probably never becomes Kareem if he goes to St Johns.   
 
The possible butterfly effect from one kid choosing a different school is incredible when you think about it.

Ah ! Something us "oldtimers" have been pondering for 50 years.

Also possible the St. John's scoring record is 50pts a game for a season and career.   Wooden coached Lew to win titles.   Another coach (likely MOST other coaches) could have taken the Press Maravich approach of "let my best player score every time he can".    And there were maybe 5 teams out of the 90 he faced in college that COULD have held Lew under 50, if THAT was what a team was geared to do.   But he likely wouldn't have had a record of 88-2 - tho a couple of titles was still a good possibility - gotta figure the coach and team would hunker down for those 4 tourney games....