Baye

[AluminNV]

Keita is awesome I love his effort and his D is great he can contest everything.

Gets really unlucky that so many close calls go against him.

 

[Gabjon]

Wha...? NFW IMO. I'd be shocked if the following couldn't dunk off two feet (set, no step): DC2, Baye, Rak, Grant, CJ, James, Gbinje. MCW may have the length as well. TC is athletic enough - he might be able to - but likely needs a step. We're talking about D1 size or athleticism (or both in some cases). Flat foot dunking is just not that hard for D1-level hoop athletes assuming they're at least 6'6", and Coleman is at least 6'9". I'm sure it's easy for him.

LOL! Having to bend down and touch your toes first doesn't count. I'm talking in game go up and dunk it! If they are not doing to it's because they can't!

 

[MyMeloMyMan]

I think the issue he can't dunk without taking a step. I believe he can drop step dunk (one step) but a standing dunk is difficult and I don't think he is in good enough shape to do it. I would bet only James, Grant and Rak can do that on the team. Maybe Baye too.

Ive seen CJ do it in games a few times as well..

 

[SU in Hershey]

Baye does what we need him to do. We historically have not asked for a lot (scoring) from our centers. We have usually needed a good complimentary player, and more importantly, we have needed them to NOT be a liability. Baye hustles and plays good D. Rebounds and put backs are more of a bonus. I just hope he continues to contribute like this as our opponents' bigs get bigger and stronger.

 

[bballbeadle]

Baye just flat out hustles on every play.
That attribute alone is worth PT.
He's inspirational.

Remember: during Midnight Madness he came out with his national flag a-flying and The Lion King as "his" song. Very few things more inspirational than Lion King!

 

[Gabjon]

LOL! Having to bend down and touch your toes first doesn't count. I'm talking in game go up and dunk it! If they are not doing to it's because they can't!

Yes I missed CJ he can do it

 

[pearl31]

I feel pretty confident with a center combo of BMK and Rak. I think that will serve us quite well. As long as Rak brings some energy/fire every game.
At this point, unfortunately, if DC develops into a contributor this year that will be nothing but gravy. I'm certainly not counting on it, and it is a complete 180 for me from my pre-season expectations based on the various DC reports coming in.

 

[MCC]

LOL! Having to bend down and touch your toes first doesn't count. I'm talking in game go up and dunk it! If they are not doing to it's because they can't!

I maintain that in game DC2 could easily go from flat footed to dunk. This assumes he doesn't have a guy hanging on his arm or similar. It is not that hard. I suspect he hasn't done it yet because he's hesitant and adjusting to the college game; that plus not a ton of minutes = few opportunities so far.

Someone pull some video down of DC2's high school games. I'd be shocked if we couldn't find footage of at least one cram from standing (no step).

 

[LennX6]

LOL. He cant dunk the ball when he is close to the basket because he doesnt have the athleticism yet? Where did his athleticism go? He enrolled at SU and suddenly he cant dunk?

Im pretty sure this was filmed when he weighed more than he does now...or, at least had more body fat.I like the off-the-backboard, one-handed put-back at the end.

He can dunk but he does look like he fights gravity more than say BMK.

 

[Gabjon]

I maintain that in game DC2 could easily go from flat footed to dunk. This assumes he doesn't have a guy hanging on his arm or similar. It is not that hard. I suspect he hasn't done it yet because he's hesitant and adjusting to the college game; that plus not a ton of minutes = few opportunities so far.

Someone pull some video down of DC2's high school games. I'd be shocked if we couldn't find footage of at least one cram from standing (no step).

Then you are not watching he is not exploding off of the floor. If he could do it why wouldn't he? JB does bench people for dunking but he does for shooting air ball layups....and the excuses have to stop

 

[moqui]

At this point, unfortunately, if DC develops into a contributor this year that will be nothing but gravy. I'm certainly not counting on it, and it is a complete 180 for me from my pre-season expectations based on the various DC reports coming in.

I'm not that far yet . . . yes I am disappointed with the pace of his development, but SU is about to face a run of big guys who play big; let's see how he does in those games. I continue to think hope he can become a low post threat in the second half/last third of the BE season.

 

[iommi]

I'm not that far yet . . . yes I am disappointed with the pace of his development, but SU is about to face a run of big guys who play big; let's see how he does in those games. I continue to think hope he can become a low post threat in the second half/last third of the BE season.

If he keeps bringing the ball down, it won't matter who the opposition is.

 

[anomander]

I have to eat some crow, I am a huge Baye fan, always was, but I thought we might redshirt him this year because I thought Rak would explode and DC2 would be very good, glad we didn't do that. It's clear he is JB's #1 big man right now.

while Baye is definitely good to have on our team as a nice experienced back up who isn't going to hurt us, it is abundantly clear that Rakeem Christmas is our #1 big man. In order for us to win the Big East and make a deep ncaa run Rak needs to be our top big guy. His ceiling is so much higher then Baye, and it's not even close. If JB let's Rak play through some mistakes i think he has shown what he can do, and the first 2 BE games are example. I am very confident with Rak/Baye as our front court though. Really happy to see Baye's development since his FR yr

 

[pearl31]

while Baye is definitely good to have on our team as a nice experienced back up who isn't going to hurt us, it is abundantly clear that Rakeem Christmas is our #1 big man. In order for us to win the Big East and make a deep ncaa run Rak needs to be our top big guy. His ceiling is so much higher then Baye, and it's not even close. If JB let's Rak play through some mistakes i think he has shown what he can do, and the first 2 BE games are example. I am very confident with Rak/Baye as our front court though. Really happy to see Baye's development since his FR yr

Right. point being we need both Rak and BMK.

 

[JDubbin]

First 15 seconds or so of this video DC II dunks without a step

 

[Gabjon]

First 15 seconds or so of this video DC II dunks without a step

No the way it is edited you can't tell if he stepped into it or not.

 

[KevMonstah]

Baye does what we need him to do. We historically have not asked for a lot (scoring) from our centers. We have usually needed a good complimentary player, and more importantly, we have needed them to NOT be a liability. Baye hustles and plays good D. Rebounds and put backs are more of a bonus. I just hope he continues to contribute like this as our opponents' bigs get bigger and stronger.

Bingo. Unfortunately, having watched the Temple game, where one guy basically took apart SU on the
interior, I'm more hopeful than confident of it. What he needs to find is the Keita from the Ohio St game,
and pull that out every time he's on the court.

When I look at SU's big guys, I see three talented but flawed players, and I'm not certain some of the
flaws can be hidden by the zone. Keita hustles and is a good player, but he just doesn't have an inside
presence about him. Coleman could do some good for SU rebounding and on offense, but he has to
play to get better. If, as JB says, the big guys are the key to the season, Dajuan is not getting to be
unlocking anything playing five mins a game. Rakeem is an enigma. He is physically more imposing
that Derrick Coleman was at the same point in their careers, but where DC was a phenomenal rebounder
and weakside defender, plus a good scorer and passer, it just isn't as natural for Christmas. Relative to
last year, I think the three of them could make more of an impact on the offensive end, but I've complained
about this for years, SU does not attempt to use the center as an offensive focal point. They should this
year. Also, I don't think the three can do what Fab did last year. They don't seem to get the defensive
rotations as well, and they don't have the ability he did to cover lots of ground and intimidate people.
You couldn't go over him (as Detroit proved you could do to this team), and he could alter a lot around
him. I go back to the Temple game. Their center Lee abused all three of them, and when it came time
to rotate, I'll include the whole team here from the second half, they just didn't do the job.

So I think SU might need to use them more on the offensive end to get the impact out of them. But
whatever they choose to do, they have to play. Unless they are having just an awful game, they need
to be out there learning by playing, instead of learning by watching.

Kev

 

[MCC]

No the way it is edited you can't tell if he stepped into it or not.

OK, we'll just have to wait a while longer and get a bigger sample size. But I can't recall a 6'9" D1 level player unable to dunk flat footed. IIRC even Melvin Tuten was able to and he was what... 6'7" and 300?

Until then let's do the math on DaJuan:

Rim = 120"
DaJuan height = 81" (6'9")
Reach above head (guessing a bit here, but his wingspan is 86") = 105 - 110"
Distance to rim = 10" - 15"
Need to get 6" over rim to dunk: I have scars on my wrist from when I could first dunk, so that's my proxy = 16" - 21" vertical required

I'm pretty sure the average D1 hoop player has a standing vertical of 24" or greater. Larry Bird tested out at 28" and he was not an explosive leaper at all.

Anyway, my math may not be accurate down to the inch but I find it hard to believe that DaJuan wouldn't be able to dunk flat footed. Plus having played for years and years at various levels... I mean, I can't recall ever seeing someone that height who couldn't easily dunk flat footed. Maybe someone who is around the team can chime in, but hopefully we'll get proof in an upcoming game.

For goodness sake, someone could tweet him and ask - make positive use of this social media stuff! Maybe it'll motivate him to cram it more often.

 

[Antiprodigy]

If he keeps bringing the ball down, it won't matter who the opposition is.

Ding, Ding, Ding! We have a winner.

When he comes down, he brings the ball down to his waist. I guess you can get away with that due to strength or presence in high school, but it's not going to work in D1. He has to learn to tip the ball more & when he grabs it, to keep the ball high, so it isn't stripped all the time.

 

[SBU72]

Good god that was terrible. Gotta send that in Jerome

Contrast that on with Arinze's shot while sitting on his butt his freshman year.

 

[Gabjon]

If he keeps bringing the ball down, it won't matter who the opposition is.

That's the point he is bringing it down to his knees and he is not exploding up and dunking.

 

[KevMonstah]

There are plenty of guys playing D1 ball (remember, 343 teams, and most if not all have at least someone 6'9") who are just not athletic. In four years of watching, I saw Derek Brower dunk the ball once, and that was because the opponent was so late getting out of the timeout, the ref gave the ball to SU, they inbounded to him, and he dunked with no one but SU players on the court. He was a 6'9" Big Mac wearing an SU uniform. Craig Forth was barely able to dunk, even with a step he could take - check the dunk he made near the end of the 03 title game - and he was listed at 7'. The lower tier D1 guys probably are not as capable as the high level guys.

Is it a big deal? If you can clear out the space, and get the ball into the hoop, it counts the same. Yes, I've wanted guys to go up strong and dunk it, because I've seen them go up not so strong and either miss or have it rejected from behind or the side when it shouldn't have been. But everyone saw Arinze and Rick make a living down low with body position and getting a shot up that wasn't always a dunk. They didn't do too badly: their career FG% were 64.8% and 58.5%. I'd take that from any SU starting center, although I'd rather see them get more than the shots those guys got. AO's career avg was 7.1 shots a game, with a best of 8.3; RJ's was 6.4, with a best of 9.3 When you have someone making 65% of their shots, they need to get more opportunities, and this is a problem in my view with SU's offensive gameplan.

Kev

 

[SBU72]

I thought BMK drew the charge on that one play. I think he was called for the block because of the unusual and almost unfair yard and a half he occupied with his legs spread out in a crouch. It was like he took 7 foot of length and converted it into 5 foot of horizontal blockage.

I think its like setting a pick. The player can't have his feet spread wider than his shoulders and considering Baye's thin frame, that ain't very wide. A couple games ago some oppenent got called for an illegal pick because even thought he was set and not moving, he had his legs spread to wide.

 

[stuckinbig11]

Is it a big deal? If you can clear out the space, and get the ball into the hoop, it counts the same.

It only counts if it goes through the hoop.

 

[MCC]

There are plenty of guys playing D1 ball (remember, 343 teams, and most if not all have at least someone 6'9") who are just not athletic. In four years of watching, I saw Derek Brower dunk the ball once, and that was because the opponent was so late getting out of the timeout, the ref gave the ball to SU, they inbounded to him, and he dunked with no one but SU players on the court. He was a 6'9" Big Mac wearing an SU uniform. Craig Forth was barely able to dunk, even with a step he could take - check the dunk he made near the end of the 03 title game - and he was listed at 7'. The lower tier D1 guys probably are not as capable as the high level guys.

Is it a big deal? If you can clear out the space, and get the ball into the hoop, it counts the same. Yes, I've wanted guys to go up strong and dunk it, because I've seen them go up not so strong and either miss or have it rejected from behind or the side when it shouldn't have been. But everyone saw Arinze and Rick make a living down low with body position and getting a shot up that wasn't always a dunk. They didn't do too badly: their career FG% were 64.8% and 58.5%. I'd take that from any SU starting center, although I'd rather see them get more than the shots those guys got. AO's career avg was 7.1 shots a game, with a best of 8.3; RJ's was 6.4, with a best of 9.3 When you have someone making 65% of their shots, they need to get more opportunities, and this is a problem in my view with SU's offensive gameplan.

Kev

Kev - I concur that dunk / no dunk is somewhat irrelevant - two points no matter what...

...but saying Craig was "barely able to dunk" is ridiculous. GTown, Pitt '03; Miami '04. I'm sure there are more, just Youtube "Craig Forth dunk". He wasn't a skywalker for sure, but easily able to cram it. When I think "barely able" I think of the 6'1" guard who needs a running start on a breakaway to throw down a one hander. Anyone who can throw down with two hands off one step (e.g., Craig) can dunk easily. FWIW, Craig was fouled on the dunk at the end of the title game... so there's that.

Brower... um, yeah. A big mac with legs. Accurate description.