By the way RF, I never responded to your very well thought out post re: Gillon. I'm very interested to see him play, but I still think of him as a mid-major level guy. Maybe one at the top of that level for sure. I'm wondering though if the addition of White changes your thoughts on how much time he gets versus Howard. The point made by someone else regarding Howard not being able to be on the floor offensively with the Roberson/Chukwu types who also aren't scorers was a really good one, but having Battle, White and Lydon out there all at once seems like more than enough scoring. Having a 6'1" guy on the top of the zone, when Frank at 6'5" I think is sitting, is a bit scary to me. Heck, in that lineup above, you've got 3 guys who've never played the zone before. I'm not seeing that at all.
No worries--glad you saw it.
I don't worry about Gillon having to make a mid-major jump--he's very skilled offensively. The two questions in my mind are: how long does it take him to blend in with teammates [i.e., can he run a team and be a nice complimentary scorer, or does he fit better as a bench gunner / scorer], and how does he adjust to having to play zone?
On paper, he doesn't have the measureables to thrive in our defense. But that doesn't mean that he CAN'T be an effective zone guard, albeit a short one. Time will tell.
Offensively, I really like what he brings to the table--especially the deep shooting range. With Lydon and White both hovering around the 40% mark for three point shooting last year, if Gillon [who was at 38% and 39% before having his percentage dip last season] and Battle can be in the 35% range, we're going to be a really nice shooting club.
Did you get a chance to check out that lengthy video of Gillon playing last season? Definitely check it out if you hadn't. Like I said in that other post, don't pay attention to the highlights, just look for the skills that are translatable. There are times when you see game clips of guys at the mid major level who are good players, but you just know that they wouldn't get away with some of the stuff at the P5 level that they can at the mid major level. Slow passes, smaller guys rebounding / scoring inside amongst the trees. Etc. Many of Gillon's attributes are things that he'll be able to do in the ACC, which is why I'm excited that we added him.
I'm also excited to hear that my boy Franklin Howard has improved a lot over the offseason. No doubt, playing in the final four was an invaluable experience for he and Lydon to build upon. Two options are better than one, so having Gillon / Howard push each other is good for them both and good for the team, IMO.
