duq81 wrote:

NapaDuke wrote:

You are right 81. not as bad as Nee.  Oddly, I'm mad because Ferry's teams all year could have played better if he had stuck to the bigger style of half-court play that he started every game and he had an edge over most teams playing half-court with the bigs in there that he seemed to walk away from in the second half every game?  I'm just mad that he didn't because the stats show he would have won probably 4 or more games.  It's just a bit mind numbing.  The RM game was a blueprint for the Dukes this year but it was RM trying to slow us down that caused the Dukes to play half-court more than Ferry's plan to do so. Now he doesn't have 2 or those players and it just makes me feel like next year is not getting any better. You know, just me  ranting here a bit, that's all. 

You know I can't argue with any of that. All things being equal, I love having some size. The one thing that I didn't like about Ron was that he too, didn't seem to think size was important. Damian Saunders could have done so much more if he hadn't basically been forced to play the 5. John Carroll went out and got a stiff to play in the middle, so that Alston could move to the 4. The result was that Alston had a dominant senior season. I want to see the four bigs get plenty of minutes next year. If they do, we'll be better than we expect. If it's guards chucking threes, we'll be discussing our new coach this time next year.
 

I agree, Damien could have really  done more here with some help inside. someone around 6'8" maybe 6"9" but could keep up with this offense. Ron never found another Sean James type of big guy.  

"It doesn't mean he is a good player."

These coaches will know what to do with him.

You kidding me?  Texas with Shaka, Maryland with Mark Turgeon, Cincy with Mick Cronin and more all after LG Gill because he's not really that good?  This sentiment encroaches insanity and smacks of DU an even bigger loser.  Can we just get over the pique and admit a good one got away?  By the way, are any of the above coaches/teams who are hot on Gill also pursuing the likes of players from inferior programs Coppin St and Niagara and Drake as DU so vigorously is?  You got to be kidding me.

Lg is not a bad player, but there is a common theme I'm noticing. All of the "bigger name" grad transfers are pretty much all looking at the same schools. Alabama Texas Maryland unlv Nevada Boise state. I think these teams have a lot of needs because of early departures and graduations. If lg was as good as a senior in high school as he is now, these schools would not still not recruit him. One year stop gap to fill a void. Like someone else said its a no lose situation for the school.

duq81, don't judge Gill by the way Ferry used him. His upside, as I've said for 3 years, is high, once you pull him closer to the paint. I think coaches watch his tape and see the games where he rebounded well and took good shots and KNOW they can do better with him.

Yeah, maybe LG wants to be Reggie Miller, but he doesn't have the release or accuracy. He can be a dang good PF, scoring about 10-12 and rebounding 8-9 on a more talented team with a more disciplined coach.

The Dome wrote:

Rodney Pryor a grad transfer from RMU signed with Georgetown yesterday. Other schools that showed interest where Kansas, Florida and Gonzaga. IMHO, LG has far more upside than Pryor.

I read the RMU board from time to time, and they seem to have this fantasy that Pryor will be an NBA player. I just don't see it

Please enough of the nonsense about LG being this great post player and rebounder that was misused by Duquesne!  The reason he wasn't used that way at Duquesne is that he can't score anywhere in traffic.  He has no post moves, can't face up and drive because he can't handle the ball.  So he played on the perimeter because that is the only way he can score.  I have seen him for three years, and he is not a force in the paint, and won't be that kind of player no matter where he plays.  You can't just assume that because he has the size to play in the paint that he can be effective there.  The games in which he made a difference were those that he got hot and hit the open 3's.  I'm not saying that he can't help a team when he is hitting 3's but to characterize him as a miscast force in the paint is ludicrous. 
I hope LG does well with his new team; but my guess is that he will be used to provide some quick offense off the bench as a 3-point shooter, not as a power forward.

Some website rated him as the third best transfer out there.

duq81 wrote:

The Dome wrote:

Levon my friend you do realize he lead the team in rebounding and it was by a wide margin.

Rebounding has little to do with offensive skills in the paint. There are guys who are deadly within 10 feet of the basket, who can't rebound a lick, and the reverse is true as well.
 

Unfortunately, those who are looking to Nakye to be a good post player have to realize that he has shown less rebounding prowess than Gill and has shown virtually no offensive skills. He needs to be coached on shooting skills, footwork, everything - now that he can't use his HS size and strength to score on put-backs. 

As for LG leaving: many on this board think it doesn't mean much, but we lose our leading rebounder, a big front-court player who could play most of the game because he didn't commit a foul every 2 minutes, and a scorer. Gill started driving to the hoop this year, but it was a late start in that direction, which is a player-development issue, indicative of poor coaching. Sanders needs that player-development coaching NOW. 

duq81 wrote:

The Dome wrote:

Levon my friend you do realize he lead the team in rebounding and it was by a wide margin.

Rebounding has little to do with offensive skills in the paint. There are guys who are deadly within 10 feet of the basket, who can't rebound a lick, and the reverse is true as well.
 

This is true maybe he was the leading rebounder but 6 rebounds a game when your the biggest (muscle wise) strongest most athletic guy on the team by far last year with three years of college bball under your belt? I would be impressed if that number was 10-12 a game.

The thing that gets me is posters want to talk about how huge of a loss this is. Oh really? During the season literally no one posts about oh my god so glad we have gill he does so much for this team. No it was flat shot, misused player, nothing about how good he was.

And after the season before he transferred, what were we all talking about, Tarin Smith and the recruits. This kid never became a big time player until he left. Revisionist history at its finest, perpetuated by the "fans" who just love to talk about how awful this team is.

Gill was never consistent, the only thing he was really ever solid at was rebounding and ball screens. I'm not sitting here saying his loss doesn't matter but quit acting like this kid was make or break for next year. There was a gaping hole at shooting guard and we addressed that need with a proven d1 scorer with size (not a juco Jordan Stevens or travaugn white) and got another 6'8" kid with a much higher pedigree than gill. I realize that abrahamson comes with some baggage but the kid was getting recruited by acc pac 12 and big ten schools out of high school and was looking at a lot of the same schools as gill transfer wise, he obviously has a lot of talent, but the issue has been harnessing it. Kids play with more urgency and motivation when they potentially have 1 year left of their career.

I don't see how additions of the freshman, the grad transfers, and the year of development for everybody else can't replace 10 pts and 6 Rebs a game. Please explain

Napa:
I often wonder if you realize that Lewis is/was nothing more than a project player that through hard work & size has become moderately successful. His fouling, lack of mobility, poor (but improved) stamina, & atrocious hands limit his effectiveness to the extent that his 20 minutes per game are just about right to maximize the good & avoid the bad. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to have him. I love his disruptive force on defense. Also, when he scores this team is so much tougher to handle. However, If there were such a thing as 8th team all-conference; he still wouldn't make it.

Likewise, the many, negative comments that you have posted about Micah are silly. While certainly not the perfect college basketball player, he was an easy 3rd team all conference selection. Characterizing any 2 guard  that averaged 4.5 assists with a 2.1/1 a/to ration as selfish & turnover prone is ridiculous. This is especially true for his having to setup to the likes of James, LG, Colter, & Lewis. When your career effective field goal percentage is 64%, most folks would argue that you should shoot more; not less.

Micah was good enough to start on 95% of Div-I teams & would be a welcome addition to the bench of all but Kentucky, Kansas, & Duke etc... because of his shooting & passing. If he was on the grad-transfer list last year, he would have been may schools' number 1 target.

Finally, losing Gill is kind of a big deal because players with 94 games of experience, familiarity with the roster/system/opponents, that have shown improvement every year, are good students, & can get you 10 & 6.5 are just hard to replace. This loss has less to do with LG's particular skills & contributions than it has to do with building a program through player growth & continuity. Waiting 2+ years for players of LG's quality to figure things out needs to result in a senior season of high value for this dysfunctional program to improve.

 

phil95 wrote:

Napa:
I often wonder if you realize that Lewis is/was nothing more than a project player that through hard work & size has become moderately successful. His fouling, lack of mobility, poor (but improved) stamina, & atrocious hands limit his effectiveness to the extent that his 20 minutes per game are just about right to maximize the good & avoid the bad. Don't get me wrong, I am happy to have him. I love his disruptive force on defense. Also, when he scores this team is so much tougher to handle. However, If there were such a thing as 8th team all-conference; he still wouldn't make it.

Likewise, the many, negative comments that you have posted about Micah are silly. While certainly not the perfect college basketball player, he was an easy 3rd team all conference selection. Characterizing any 2 guard  that averaged 4.5 assists with a 2.1/1 a/to ration as selfish & turnover prone is ridiculous. This is especially true for his having to setup to the likes of James, LG, Colter, & Lewis. When your career effective field goal percentage is 64%, most folks would argue that you should shoot more; not less.

Micah was good enough to start on 95% of Div-I teams & would be a welcome addition to the bench of all but Kentucky, Kansas, & Duke etc... because of his shooting & passing. If he was on the grad-transfer list last year, he would have been may schools' number 1 target.

Finally, losing Gill is kind of a big deal because players with 94 games of experience, familiarity with the roster/system/opponents, that have shown improvement every year, are good students, & can get you 10 & 6.5 are just hard to replace. This loss has less to do with LG's particular skills & contributions than it has to do with building a program through player growth & continuity. Waiting 2+ years for players of LG's quality to figure things out needs to result in a senior season of high value for this dysfunctional program to improve.

 

Good post, I agree, I keep pointing out that Micah's point totals mean little in so many losing games, but your right, he would be the shooting guard on many D-1 team, but he had to run the offense here and shoot at the same time and that's my frustration with his best efforts (though impressive) don't mean as much as if we were winning.  As for Lewis and Robinson, they presented the only defensive difficulty to opponents this season. Yes Lewis doesn't have all the skills of an All-American, but on this team, keeping him in as long as possible  (and Robinson) were  clearly the only advantage on defense.  As for projects, everyone coming to this level of D-1 is some sort of project. That's were good coaching should come into play.  It's impressive  we got two Grad players coming in here to replace the last two,  but,  unless Ferry changes something,(like pressure defense, or more half-court) then next year is going to resemble this year.  Last years team was picked preseason 10th, I believe, and they lived up to that.  Now, if  this next years team is to reach somewhere around the top 4  in this league by the end of next season, then some player or players are going to have to dominate  some aspect of the game, I don't see many at this point. The only other thing that can change things is Ferry's approach to coaching this team, and I really doubt that will occur. So, were do you think this team will finish next year?  I'm guessing 10th. I wish I were wrong about that, but at this point it doesn't look like the next level.

While I think Micah could have made the roster of many programs, I doubt he could have started for nearly every team in the country. That's quite a bit of hyperbole right there. Micah of course had a nice shooting touch, but what happened every time he was doubled? That's right, he turned the ball over. That's not a 95 percentile player. Very few guys, in fact, could live up to that.