NapaDuke wrote:

phil95 wrote:

1. Hima is not in his 3rd or 4th year of organized basketball. That is a complete fabrication that KD knowingly spreads. This at least year 6 for him but most likely year 7 & possibly year 8. His last 2 seasons in high school he played for an outstanding program with a reputation for excellent coaching & a history of sending international big men to Div. I schools. Before that he was at another NJ high school with a pretty good reputation for basketball. He also played two summers for top level AAU teams. He has an older brother that also plays division I basketball. He had serious recruiting interest from the best A-10 schools & better.

I list these facts because I am tired of announcers & KD acting like Hima was recently plucked out of obscurity from the wilds of Niger, is brand new to the game, & coach intentionally brought him along slowly because he is such a project. 

That is not the case. KD simply failed to play him early in the the year. It cost the team this year while putting the player's development behind for subsequent years. Anybody that has watched Hima play over the last 3 weeks can see that he is improving at a fine pace & needs as many minutes as he can get on this train wreck of a team.

2. Hima as a freshman/sophomore as compared to Nicholson is apples to oranges. As a freshman Nicholson played every game, averaged 12.5 points, 6 rebounds, & 2.7 blocks while playing 25 minutes & shooting better than 60% from the field. Posters may recall he was awesome against the Dukes both times they played that year. (18-8-3 shooting .875 in game 1 & 29-12-6 shooting .722 in game 2) He was A-10 Rookie of the Week 6 times, was A-10 Rookie of the Year, & made some freshman All-American teams.

Sorry Napa, Nicholson looked nothing like Hima early on. Aside from the obvious differences in results, Nicholson was/is shorter, less athletic, not as long, & had a goodly amount more bulk as a 19-year-old freshman than Hima has as a nearly 21-year-old redshirt freshman.

I am a lifelong Bonnie fan & Olean native. Even so, I always root for the Dukes when they play the Bonnies. I recall being very disappointed when Nicholson committed to SBU over Duquesne. That disappointment turned to deep frustration while Nicholson destroyed the Dukes for 4 years. 

3. MOUNIR, PLEASE STAY!!!!!!

Thanks for that input. My recall of watching  Nicholson  all four years here at DU of course, is vague now, but I seem to remember him as slim built, not a Rotrouff size guy. And he might have seemed taller to me because he was mostly matched up to Damien. But good info, Thanks,

Nicholson was built more solidly and had much more girth than Hima.  They are not similar.  Osunniyi would be a closer body type to Hima.