Christmas is so great for this stat alone - 37.3 MPG in conferece

[cto]

Cincebox. He was of the same era as Jim Brown. Put up ridiculous numbers.

Watching him ... was like watching an offensive lineman trying to catch a free safety. He was big ... but somewhat lumbering.

 

[longtimefan]

Watching him ... was like watching an offensive lineman driving to catch a free safety. He was big ... but somewhat lumbering.

Says the woman who poses with Bing and Coleman. What do you know about basketball?

 

[Halfmooncuse]

CJ Fair was the go to guy last year and as good as CJ was he wasn't a go to guy. He was a one dribble dunk great put back player and could hit the open jumper. I don't think he could handle the ball and drive like Silent G this year. He TO the ball a lot because he was forced to be the go to drive to the basket scorer.So I don't know why last year they didnt go more to Rak with Fair and even Grant to clean up. If Rak had this kind of year with three guys on him just think what opportunities it would have given the other forwards. trob even has benefited this year from their double teaming Rak now only if he could hit an 8 fter consistently. If ennis could penetrate and dish Dayton wouldnt have been a bad memory. Dayton! UGH!

 

[Jake]

Aside from last night, I know. 14 and 12 in 28 minutes, in the rare game where he got in foul trouble at least he made his minutes count NO ONE could've predicted that he'd be that great at staying out of foul trouble Lots of us at least knew he was good on a per 40 minutes basis The guy is good for 19 and 10 with 3 blocks in the ACC

I don't know if I've seen a big man avoid his 5th foul as well as he's done Ina few games.

 

[two3zone]

imo. He wasn't at good at shooting the year before nowhere near, the touch and some of the confidence was lacking, he couldn't go left as well, or take the ball around his man from as far out as he has this year. Hes quicker this year off the dribble, and gets his own boards alittle better. Not to mention the stamina, he never dissapears from games this year, and plays more of a pf type of scoring role then the typical slow you down center role. Midseason we saw that left hand quick hook in the low post dissapear more, and he has started to develop his scoring even further out like a true pf. The guy just gets better and better as the year goes on its crazy.

He's actually shooting .045% worse than last year. He averaged 3.6 shot attempts a game last year and shot 61%. He just didn't get the ball, he's shooting more than three times the amount of shots per game than last year.

 

[two3zone]

Rak worked his butt off last summer, plain and simple. It paid off.

Or he just didn't get he ball enough to show what he is capable of.

I'm not saying it's 100% one or the other but to think Rak went from where he was at last year to putting up all American numbers in 7 months is odd.

 

[NineOneSeven]

the second isn't a fact.

What's most likely to happen?

 

[anomander]

i didn't like how boeheim treated him last year. this year boeheim has treated him like a grownup

That was my problem as well. It was mind numbing to see him make 1 minor miscue and get treated like a Freshman with the quick hook, but BMK would have free reign. When given the ball last year Rak showed potential. He just wasn't utilized, and he was still being yo-yo'd in and out of the lineup. I really think it hurt his confidence.

 

[anomander]

This. Did Rak improve a ton from Jr to Sr year? Absolutely. Could he have contributed more last year with more opportunity? Absolutely.

Both, to me, are facts.

Definitely. I have no doubt he could have contributed more last year. We saw flashes, he just wasn't utilized, and was treated terribly.

Another thing people may have been surprised, but if Hopkins took the Boston College job, I don't think Rak would have even been here this year.

 

[Ghost]

This year isn't last year. Rak took his game to a level he wasn't near at last year. This is a common error that fans make. A guy is doing something now, he would have neen doing at least close to this last year. I think back to Leo Rautins as a soph. most of the year, he couldn't play. A light bulb went off and he was terrific. If we knew why, we'd have tristan's money.

He didn't touch the ball last year. It's easier to assess people that do. I mean, you can't show much, if you're posting up and not touching the ball.

 

[Cuseregular]

Not to be harsh but... (as usual, whatever follows is way too harsh)... Keita was the board mascot. I thought his dreadful hands made him a total liability on offense and i think it's obvious from this year that Christmas should've gotten way more minutes

heres what no one seemed to know re Keita, at least I didn't, this from the surgeons mouth, he had pins in his wrist holding the bones togethers due to his past injuries. Hurt every time I've been told when he caught passes. No wonder he had issues. Toughed it out. Another great kid.

 

[anomander]

heres what no one seemed to know re Keita, at least I didn't, but he had pins in his wrist holding the bones togethers due to his past injuries. Hurt every time I've been told when he caught passes. No wonder he had issues. Toughed it out. Another great kid.

That's another reason that makes you wonder why Rak was utilized more.

 

[two3zone]

heres what no one seemed to know re Keita, at least I didn't, this from the surgeons mouth, he had pins in his wrist holding the bones togethers due to his past injuries. Hurt every time I've been told when he caught passes. No wonder he had issues. Toughed it out. Another great kid.

That's fine and all but he had no business regardless playing the minutes he did.

 

[Ghost]

The team seemed to play well with Keita in the game. Would love to see #'s on that.

After our first loss, cuz I'm too lazy to write down the rest, here is the PLUS/MINUS:
BC: -2

Duke: -1

Maryland: +8

UVA: -17

GTech: -10

Fla State: +2

NC State: -10

 

[Ghost]

That's fine and all but he had no business regardless playing the minutes he did.

There were games where he absolutely came in and sparked the team with his hustle. I think people really exaggerated that though after awhile. I really like Keita, but I think I would tend to agree with Millhouse, he was sort of the board hero for some reason.

It's funny how trying really hard with some personal interest stories makes you so much better, super-awesome and supported than just trying really hard...you know? I don't know, just thinking out loud now.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I loved Baye.

 

[two3zone]

There were games where he absolutely came in and sparked the team with his hustle. I think people really exaggerated that though after awhile. I really like Keita, but I think I would tend to agree with Millhouse, he was sort of the board hero for some reason. It's funny how trying really hard with some personal interest stories makes you so much better, super-awesome and supported than just trying really hard...you know? I don't know, just thinking out loud now.

I 100% agree with everything you said, I would have had no problem with him playing 5-6 minutes a half.

 

[NineOneSeven]

There were games where he absolutely came in and sparked the team with his hustle. I think people really exaggerated that though after awhile. I really like Keita, but I think I would tend to agree with Millhouse, he was sort of the board hero for some reason.

It's funny how trying really hard with some personal interest stories makes you so much better, super-awesome and supported than just trying really hard...you know? I don't know, just thinking out loud now.

Like I said, loved Baye. Played his heart out and a guy you want supporting the university.

I bumped into him a few times around campus. Roommate actually met him outside of a house party where the owners didn't want him in, obviously not bball fans. They busted in anyway (roommate is 6'5"). I've seen him walking around and yelled to him that I love watching his one handed dunks. Genuinely a good dude.

That said, in terms of on the court ability, having him play so much in place of rak just didn't make sense. And that is not a knock on Baye. At all.

 

[BlackKnight76]

This. Did Rak improve a ton from Jr to Sr year? Absolutely. Could he have contributed more last year with more opportunity? Absolutely.

Both, to me, are facts.

Someone (maybe Syracuse.com, don't remember) crunched numbers that I saw yesterday. His usage rate has just over doubled (12% -> 26%), while his scoring per 100 possessions has tripled, so he's definitely better this year, but is being used far more as well, so you are probably right.

 

[JOC44]

thomas got more minutes because celuck and ovcina were so bad

This makes me sad.