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Message: [QUOTE="bozophobe, post: 1455715, member: 2589"] Chino will be fine, for a sophomore center. I'd even say he's superior to Rakeem Christmas. In one way, at least. Rak did very little as a freshman, and it is already forgotten how furious the debates were over whether SU should even have brought him in. But then, early in his second season, he made 2 bunnies in a row in a game. And for the next year, his supporters pinned all their hopes on that one little stretch of one little game as proof that his game had evolved. But it would take a full year before that would become apparent (early in his junior year). Chino, as a freshman, has had that 2 bunnies in a row experience already. Doesn't seem like much - but it ties into a growing pet peeve of mine; the "we don't need player x (20% of your on-floor corps) to score" sentiment. There is some relevance to that. But SU (and all competitive teams, really) have so many close games year after year, that we shouldn't poo-poo a potential extra 4-6 points from anybody. That could mean a win-loss swing of several games. SU was in nearly every game they lost. Baye Keita remains popular, but he was awful as a scorer and rebounder. If he had been subpar instead of awful, that could have quietly resulted in a few extra points - without asking for much. And not use his eventual intangibles as an excuse. He barked out instructions, yeah, but upperclassmen should be doing that anyway. As well as putting the damn ball in the hole from 4 feet now and then when blessed with about 80 or 82 inches of height. And I won't get into countless others (cough-cough-Craig-cough-cough-Forth), heh. Let's give Chino a chance. Sure, a DC injury that puts Chino in the spotlight might be scary. But then KJ went through that last year (unexpected starter). Doesn't that usually pay dividends later? [/QUOTE]

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