Class of 2015 C/PF Thomas Bryant (NY) Verballed to Indiana

[jordoo]

At the end of every season JB meets with each returning player and candidly discusses his expectations for the upcoming season and what the players opportunities and obligations will be. As we all know, JB cannot be anything but direct and candid. Sometimes he tells a player to return and hone their game and develop their physical abilities. Advice not always taken. Years ago, as I recall, JB was quoted in the PS regarding what he told a player who had transferred. He said he told the player he could stay but he wouldn't play very much. The kid just didn't have it (my words). The player transferred so he could play. Players who grow up being the best player on their team, the best player in their league, the best player in their region, recruited at high Div I level by SU and other major D I programs, want and expect to play. The endless hours of practice and conditioning is underwritten by an intense drive to play - PT. Some will transfer so they can get court time even if for just one season. After this season each returning player will have that same direct candid conversation and I expect that one or more players will choose an opportunity for PT, elsewhere.

I hear you and expect 2 will transfer. Does he still meet with the guys who have already decided they are leaving?

 

[wallacecuse]

I hear you and expect 2 will transfer. Does he still meet with the guys who have already decided they are leaving?

A reasonable person could infer your first sentence.

 

[Consigliere]

You want to talk big? I'm not so sure CMac doesn't have the skills to play some 3.

PG - Silent G - 6'7"
SG - MalRich - 6'6"
SF - CMAC - 6'10"
PF - DC - 6'9"
C - Bryant - 6'10"

Probably still get outrebounded

 

[SWFLCUSE]

I have a hard time envisioning Buss stealing mins from Mali...

Like someone above said, JB has a quick hook for bad D and with the recent questions of Mali's D I'm going to yak a wait and see approach with next year's rotation.

 

[wallacecuse]

Like someone above said, JB has a quick hook for bad D and with the recent questions of Mali's D I'm going to yak a wait and see approach with next year's rotation.

While true, Ron has certainly had his share of quick hooks as well for shoddy D, and I could write a novel of one-liners JB has used to describe his offense.

That being said, the above are the ancillary reasons I would not expect Ron to get mins at Mali's expense.

 

[reedny]

You want to talk big? I'm not so sure CMac doesn't have the skills to play some 3.

PG - Silent G - 6'7"
SG - MalRich - 6'6"
SF - CMAC - 6'10"
PF - DC - 6'9"
C - Bryant - 6'10"

Probably still get outrebounded

That's a big lineup, but wait .. ur missing Ham's favorite "Power Forward" on that list. I love the kid, and he's improving, but next time you play back the Louisville game, take a look at how Pitino took advantage of Tyler's size as the "second big":

- First half about 6:20 or so left in the half -- Pitino has Harrell catch the ball at the foul line. He'd already made a couple from there -- so when he turned to shoot Obokoh had to step up and guard him, leaving the low post open. Roberson tried to pinch in and defend but he had no chance and got sealed easily by Onuaku who shed him and dunked.

- Second half with about 5:50 left in the game, close at that point - Pitino has Harrell and Onuaku run the high low, and again Onuaku seals Tyler and scores easily;

- Second half with about 1:00 to go .. penetration by Rosiere and Rak steps up, Onuaku sheds TR and dunks.

That's six points right there. And those are just the plays I noticed casually -- I'm not counting the times that either KJ or TR was late on a help rotation and Rosiere hit a 3.

So next year, when CM returns and JB puts him right back in the spot he played this year ... I hope people understand why. He can rebound in space and slash -- and that's great playing teams that space the floor for shooters like V-Tech and Duke. But in the upper half of the conference, Tyler cannot hang as a second big. I like him to slash off the bench while his shot develops (he's getting great minutes/experience this year and it still hasn't happened). But playing him next to Rak against Meeks/Johnson, Tobey/Gill-Atkins, Uchebo/Young ... etc, etc.. has (or will) come at a cost on the glass and on interior D.

 

[SWFLCUSE]

While true, Ron has certainly had his share of quick hooks as well for shoddy D, and I could write a novel of one-liners JB has used to describe his offense. That being said, the above are the ancillary reasons I would not expect Ron to get mins at Mali's expense.

I don't know if he will get them at malichi's expense because I think Ron will still see time at pg and Richardson at the sf but we will see

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

While true, Ron has certainly had his share of quick hooks as well for shoddy D, and I could write a novel of one-liners JB has used to describe his offense.

That being said, the above are the ancillary reasons I would not expect Ron to get mins at Mali's expense.

Really, a guy who SOMETIMES plays defense and can't shoot a lick vs a guy who may or may not be able to play defense, but will likely be able to play AT LEAST AS WELL as Joseph and Roberson, but who can score and can shoot, and you think the first guy will play more than the 2nd guy? Unless Malichi just doesn't get back over the half court line on defense, he plays ahead of Patterson.
Now, JB may well use RP (if he is here) as a 2-3 minute stop gap at PG.

 

[Subob1]

I hear you and expect 2 will transfer. Does he still meet with the guys who have already decided they are leaving?

I would guess that is up to the player. Everything I've ever heard was JB was as helpful as possible with players who felt that another school was a better option regardless of the reason.

 

[wallacecuse]

Really, a guy who SOMETIMES plays defense and can't shoot a lick vs a guy who may or may not be able to play defense, but will likely be able to play AT LEAST AS WELL as Joseph and Roberson, but who can score and can shoot, and you think the first guy will play more than the 2nd guy? Unless Malichi just doesn't get back over the half court line on defense, he plays ahead of Patterson.
Now, JB may well use RP (if he is here) as a 2-3 minute stop gap at PG.

I think you need to re-read what I wrote

 

[jordoo]

I think you need to re-read what I wrote

No doubt.

 

[Francis03]

I think you need to re-read what I wrote

Somebody must have hit reply on the wrong post.:noidea:

 

[bpo57]

That's a big lineup, but wait .. ur missing Ham's favorite "Power Forward" on that list. I love the kid, and he's improving, but next time you play back the Louisville game, take a look at how Pitino took advantage of Tyler's size as the "second big":

- First half about 6:20 or so left in the half -- Pitino has Harrell catch the ball at the foul line. He'd already made a couple from there -- so when he turned to shoot Obokoh had to step up and guard him, leaving the low post open. Roberson then got sealed easily by Onuaku who shed him like a piece of paper and dunked.

- Second half with about 5:50 left in the game, close at that point - again Pitino has Harrell and Onuaku run the high low, and again Onuaku seals Tyler and scores easily;
- Second half with about 1:00 to go .. penetration by Rosiere and Rak steps up, Onuaku sheds TR and dunks.

That's six points right there. And those are just the plays I noticed casually -- I'm not counting the times that either KJ or TR was late on a help rotation and Rosiere hit a 3.

So next year, when CM returns and JB puts him right back in the spot he played this year ... I hope people understand why. He can rebound in space and slash -- and that's great playing teams that space the floor for shooters like V-Tech and Duke. But in the upper half of the conference, Tyler cannot hang as a second big. I like him to slash off the bench while his shot develops (he's getting great minutes/experience this year and it still hasn't happened). But playing him next to Rak against Meeks/Johnson, Tobey/Gill-Atkins, Uchebo/Young ... etc, etc.. has (or will) come at a cost on the glass and on interior D.

You're out of your mind. Roberson will be a starter next year and one of the best players on the team.

 

[reedny]

You're out of your mind. Roberson will be a starter next year and one of the best players on the team.

And you missed my point entirely, which is that against bigger teams we're better off with him at the 3 (especially if his jump shot arrives). That's why CM started this year at the 4, the position he'll return to next season. If you don't believe, me ... replay the LV game, stop at the points I mention, and watch for yourself. Then maybe you'll see what I'm trying to get at here.

 

[ebucklewis]

And you missed my point entirely, which is that against bigger teams we're better off with him at the 3. That's why CM started this year at the 4, the position he'll return to next season. If you don't believe, me ... reply the LV game and watch for yourself. Then maybe you'll see what Pitino was up to.

uh, Reed - In your analysis you forgot to mention who won the game..

 

[longtimefan]

And you missed my point entirely, which is that against bigger teams we're better off with him at the 3. That's why CM started this year at the 4, the position he'll return to next season. If you don't believe, me ... reply the LV game and watch for yourself. Then maybe you'll see what Pitino was up to.

Except his head coach said that he doesn't have the skill set for a 3.

Now, maybe he works on it during the off season, and comes back able to play SF. I'd rather he just gets stronger and improves the mid-range jumper.

 

[jordoo]

You're out of your mind. Roberson will be a starter next year and one of the best players on the team.

Its not out of the question that Tyler would come off the bench next year. Chris will be back and if Mike is also back I would imagine they are the starters at the forward spots.

 

[reedny]

uh, Reed - In your analysis you forgot to mention who won the game..

Wasn't the point. The point was that TR, who's a nice young man that has put in a ton of work for us recently (e.g., nice game against Duke and a great effort against Pitt), can be exploited on the glass and on interior D against bigger teams. That's it ... I wasn't claiming he lost the game for us.

 

[reedny]

Except his head coach said that he doesn't have the skill set for a 3.

Now, maybe he works on it during the off season, and comes back able to play SF. I'd rather he just gets stronger and improves the mid-range jumper.

The fact that he doesn't have a working jumpshot doesn't make him a PF (especially at 6-7/6-8 210 lbs). He still has a SF's build, but is limited to rebounding (mostly in space) and slashing. He's long and is a decent weakside rebounder-- standard for a SF in JB's system. But he doesn't have enough size or strength to be a second big, has no low-block game, isn't a shot-blocker and struggles to finish over size at the rim -- all important attributes of a PF (as you can see looking around the league). So JB was referring to the fact that he can't shoot .. which obviously limits what he can do at the 3 and moves his skillset towards a smallish PF. But when CM comes back, I think he'll start at the 4 again as he did earlier in the year.

This is not a slight on TR. The kid has really improved. He had a nice game against Duke (which spreads the floor for its guards and gives him room to operate away from the rim). And his effort against Pitt was epic. The purpose of my post was to show what happens when you move a kid with a SF's size inside against bigger teams. He gets exploited.

 

[upperdeck]

And you missed my point entirely, which is that against bigger teams we're better off with him at the 3 (especially if his jump shot arrives). That's why CM started this year at the 4, the position he'll return to next season. If you don't believe, me ... replay the LV game, stop at the points I mention, and watch for yourself. Then maybe you'll see what I'm trying to get at here.

is he having an issue because of size or because he is 2-3 secs late at recognition of where he should be the court over and over

 

[reedny]

is he having an issue because of size or because he is 2-3 secs late at recognition of where he should be the court over and over

both (IMO). The plays I highlighted in my post illustrate size problems. But there were rotation problems also -- I have to say the chief culprit here is KJ. But TR is also frequently pulled b/c he fails some defensive responsibility .. failing to keep his hands up, failing to rotate on the help side fast enough, failing to pinch in when someone penetrates and the center has to move up, failing to close out on a shooter (he usually gets caught too high and misses a corner jumper ... e.g., Aaron Brown/BC game).

 

[Ghost]

Could anyone stop us from giving Bryant a football scholarship as the third-string punter and have him play basketball as a walk-on? He could just come to football practice once in awhile kick a ball pretty high in the air and leave.

Is that just a don't do that nonsense unwritten rule, or is there some way the NCAA actually prohibits game-playing like that? Hey, this kid is on a tennis scholarship! Walk-on for football!

Just curious...

 

[Frozen]

Could anyone stop us from giving Bryant a football scholarship as the third-string punter and have him play basketball as a walk-on? He could just come to football practice once in awhile kick a ball pretty high in the air and leave.

Is that just a don't do that nonsense unwritten rule, or is there some way the NCAA actually prohibits game-playing like that? Hey, this kid is on a tennis scholarship! Walk-on for football!

Just curious...

My understanding of the rule is that if a kid is on scholarship for football and another sport, the scholarship counts against football's 85 scholarships. But that's not going to happen.

 

[NineOneSeven]

Wasn't the point. The point was that TR, who's a nice young man that has put in a ton of work for us recently (e.g., nice game against Duke and a great effort against Pitt), can be exploited on the glass and on interior D against bigger teams. That's it ... I wasn't claiming he lost the game for us.

Except we play a zone, so the difference between the 3 and the 4 isnt nearly as noticeable as man to man. Therefore, whether Roberson is a "3" or a "4" doesn't matter- he'll "be exploited on the glass and on interior D against bigger teams" regardless of what side of the floor he is standing on.

As for offense, Roberson's strength is rebounding, putbacks, and attacking the rim, often from the elbow to the baseline. He's much more a 4 on offense than a 3. We'll agree to disagree.

As for Chris, he has a nice shot right now. Both of them are much more power forward type than small forward, mind you, but for the sake of this discussion, I'll take my chances with Roberson banging inside and Chris shooting mid-range jumpers.

 

[IthacaMatt]

Agree, except for one thing - I have faith that DaJuan Coleman will return in a big way next season & will remind people why he was selected as a McDonald's AA. So, I don't think Bryant will be an instant starter at the 5 next season...but he will get minutes if he's good enough.

Personally, I don't see it. If he makes it back, they are going to need to be careful with his knee. It's 3 seasons in a row that he's missed time because of the knee. I see him as the back-up.