If (God forbid) Keita is out for the year...

[shandeezy7]

He can't be worse than Dash Riley in the NCAA Tournament lol

Haha said the same thing to my father last night. Hopefully this discussion is all moot though. Maybe Keita can't go on Wednesday, but hopefully it will just be something where he can get some rest and be ready come March.

 

[iommi]

All of this talk is moot, because if Keita is out for the year, our team's chances to make a deep run are shot to hell.

 

[Orangemen]

Bottom line, this is an all hands on deck situation. When you've got a legit chance to win it all you consider everything.

He may not be ready, and the coaches may dismiss the idea quickly, but with only one center on the depth chart (potentially- god forbid) you have to spend sometime thinking about the only other center on the team.

 

[JeremyCuse]

I didnt have a problem with the three point attempt. He was wide open and I actually was encouraged he took the shot.

Agreed, this team clearly is not a high scoring offensive team and has some O flaws. If Roberson can add some scoring punch that would be huge for this team. NO issue at all with him shooting that shot.

 

[CorduroyG]

Bottom line, this is an all hands on deck situation. When you've got a legit chance to win it all you consider everything.

He may not be ready, and the coaches may dismiss the idea quickly, but with only one center on the depth chart (potentially- god forbid) you have to spend sometime thinking about the only other center on the team.

the problem is if keita is out we dont have a legit chance to win it all.

 

[Orangemen]

the problem is if keita is out we dont have a legit chance to win it all.

JB cannot and would not ever give up that quickly.

He's already lost 2 shots due to losing a center, he would fight like hell to prevent losing a 3rd shot, regardless of how feebile that attempt may be.

 

[orange79]

I don't care how "ready" Chino is... You don't need to be "ready" to spell someone for a few minutes and hack away.

Those five fouls will be critical come March and, hopefully, April - Even if they all come in four minutes of playing time.

Also, a lot you guys all seem to know how "ready" the kid is as if you've watched him play defense for two hours a day at five practices a week for the last thirteen weeks - I call BS.

Do I think he has a polished offensive game? No.

But do I think he can play defense for three minutes a half and spell Rakeem? Hells to the yes.

I just don't see any way they would blow Chinoso's redshirt in mid-late February. No way.

 

[jimsonjunction]

Agree with that. Or at least put Roberson on the wing.

I know that Gbinije has forward experience, but I didn't like the lineup with him on the back line last night. And it's telling that Grant got 7 rebounds in something like 15 minutes and then ended up with 8 total after that extended run at center. Moving him to the 5 neutralizes every defensive asset that he possesses.

I though Gbinije handled the 3-spot pretty well. That doesn't really concern me. But I very much agree with your point about Grant being neutralized at the five. He's become very good at defending the wing and then swooping in for blocks and rebounds. That element of "help defense" will take a hit with him at the 5.

 

[RF2044]

Bottom line, this is an all hands on deck situation. When you've got a legit chance to win it all you consider everything.

He may not be ready, and the coaches may dismiss the idea quickly, but with only one center on the depth chart (potentially- god forbid) you have to spend sometime thinking about the only other center on the team.

That's entirely speculative on your part. We have no idea what BMK's injury is or the extent of it. He could play Wednesday for all we know.

Secondly, I was the one who did the practice report earlier in the season. I came away impressed with Chinoso Obokoh's long term potential, but don't think that trying to play him now would be of much benefit. Here is a summary of my impressions from back in October:

• I was surprised that Obokoh was really about 6-8, which was shorter than expected
• Kid has a good frame for an incoming frosh; he can stand to gain some weight [and he will over time], but right now he's probably about 220 pounds
• At least in October, he was clueless when it came to positioning on either side of the ball
• Previous bullet point acknowledged, he demonstrated impressive rebounding / shot blocking prowess for a guy who was out there just running around. VERY impressive on both counts
• That said, my expectation for him playing in a "live" game would be that he'd be extremely foul prone, due to his physical approach and being consistently out of position

A lot of people are going to look at that fourth bullet point and think, well that settles it--we need to use this guy if it comes down to it. But I'm not sure that I agree. The center position is the focal point of our defensive approach. It might not be obvious during games, but they have major, major responsibilities when it comes to covering the baseline, stretching out to cover the foul line area, playing help defense when the wings get beat, and still bodying up when somebody tries to establish deep post position. I'm not sure that Obokoh would be ready to handle the role [similarly, I don't think it would "work" to throw Roberson in there and just tell him to go rebound]. Hell, I don't think that Grant is ideally suited for the role either, but at least he's someone that JB trusts.

Considering all of the options, I think the most likely [my opinion only] is that they'd go with Grant in the pivot, and work like hell over the next two weeks to get Roberson more comfortable out there, so that he can play one of the wing positions adequately.

Burning Obokoh's redshirt would be a contingency of last resort--akin to pulling the emergency 'chute. Again, just my opinion from having seen him play earlier in the season. Down the road, I think that Obokoh's going to be a very solid player for us. And I think the redshirt year is a great way for him to gain experience playing while maximizing his long term value as a program asset.

 

[NineOneSeven]

I didnt have a problem with the three point attempt. He was wide open and I actually was encouraged he took the shot.

Agreed. People were giving him crap about that shot in the chat room. Blew my mind.

And no chance Chino comes in, imo. All I heard about him was how raw his was. Coming in mid-season won't help at all.

 

[Marsh01]

Agreed. People were giving him crap about that shot in the chat room. Blew my mind.

And no chance Chino comes in, imo. All I heard about him was how raw his was. Coming in mid-season won't help at all.

And yet had he made it the chat room would have been doing a virtual high five. Reason #1254 why I never go in there.

 

[br801]

All of this talk is moot, because if Keita is out for the year, our team's chances to make a deep run are shot to hell.

Not shot to hell, but the margin for error would be significantly reduced.

 

[iommi]

RE: The Roberson 3 attempt: It WAS a bad shot for HIM to take. Roberson is not a 3 point shooter. I watched him a ton in high school and followed just about every box score. He did take some threes but I'd say his 3-pt shooting acumen is on par with Jerami's. Jerami is given a ton of looks from 3 by opposing defenses but does not take them and for good reason. Roberson has decent form on his jumper but his range in high school was about 17 feet out. He was wide open for a reason. Clemson liked that he took that shot.

 

[OttoMets]

I though Gbinije handled the 3-spot pretty well. That doesn't really concern me. But I very much agree with your point about Grant being neutralized at the five. He's become very good at defending the wing and then swooping in for blocks and rebounds. That element of "help defense" will take a hit with him at the 5.

Yeah, Gbinije didn't do anything wrong. I don't like him there for a number of reasons, though. In no particular order:

1. We don't want our only reserve guard (assuming Boeheim doesn't consider Patterson an option) burning fouls or energy while playing forward;
2. We give up height at forward with Gbinije back there;
3. Every minute Gbinije plays as a forward takes away from his development as a guard;
4. Every minute Gbinije plays as a forward takes away from Roberson's development.

I don't like the safe option here. If we need a fill-in because we've got no centers left, give us the high-ceiling guy. That's Roberson. Better rebounder and more offensive ability than Gbinije, assuming that he's not playing in two-minute spurts while looking over his shoulder.

 

[AZOrange]

RE: The Roberson 3 attempt: It WAS a bad shot for HIM to take. Roberson is not a 3 point shooter. I watched him a ton in high school and followed just about every box score. He did take some threes but I'd say his 3-pt shooting acumen is on par with Jerami's. Jerami is given a ton of looks from 3 by opposing defenses but does not take them and for good reason. Roberson has decent form on his jumper but his range in high school was about 17 feet out. He was wide open for a reason. Clemson liked that he took that shot.

To be fair he has a much smoother stroke that jerami.

 

[pfister1]

JB cannot and would not ever give up that quickly.

He's already lost 2 shots due to losing a center, he would fight like hell to prevent losing a 3rd shot, regardless of how feebile that attempt may be.

JB fights like hell, every minute of every game every season. That isn't necessarily enough. Noone would want to give up if we end up in that situation, but you have to recognize that it really changes the complexion of the team and makes us 100x more susceptible to the small bit of misfortune that ends your season in a one and done tournament situation.

 

[Orangemen]

That's entirely speculative on your part. We have no idea what BMK's injury is or the extent of it. He could play Wednesday for all we know.

Secondly, I was the one who did the practice report earlier in the season. I came away impressed with Chinoso Obokoh's long term potential, but don't think that trying to play him now would be of much benefit. Here is a summary of my impressions from back in October:

• I was surprised that Obokoh was really about 6-8, which was shorter than expected
• Kid has a good frame for an incoming frosh; he can stand to gain some weight [and he will over time], but right now he's probably about 220 pounds
• At least in October, he was clueless when it came to positioning on either side of the ball
• Previous bullet point acknowledged, he demonstrated impressive rebounding / shot blocking prowess for a guy who was out there just running around. VERY impressive on both counts
• That said, my expectation for him playing in a "live" game would be that he'd be extremely foul prone, due to his physical approach and being consistently out of position

A lot of people are going to look at that fourth bullet point and think, well that settles it--we need to use this guy if it comes down to it. But I'm not sure that I agree. The center position is the focal point of our defensive approach. It might not be obvious during games, but they have major, major responsibilities when it comes to covering the baseline, stretching out to cover the foul line area, playing help defense when the wings get beat, and still bodying up when somebody tries to establish deep post position. I'm not sure that Obokoh would be ready to handle the role [similarly, I don't think it would "work" to throw Roberson in there and just tell him to go rebound]. Hell, I don't think that Grant is ideally suited for the role either, but at least he's someone that JB trusts.

Considering all of the options, I think the most likely [my opinion only] is that they'd go with Grant in the pivot, and work like hell over the next two weeks to get Roberson more comfortable out there, so that he can play one of the wing positions adequately.

Burning Obokoh's redshirt would be a contingency of last resort--akin to pulling the emergency 'chute. Again, just my opinion from having seen him play earlier in the season. Down the road, I think that Obokoh's going to be a very solid player for us. And I think the redshirt year is a great way for him to gain experience playing while maximizing his long term value as a program asset.

The title of this thread literally starts with the word if, I thought it went without saying that everything in this thread was speculation.

 

[AlaskaSU]

Since few here have seen him play at all not sure how most of us would have any opinion.. His strength is supposed to be rebounding which I hope translates at any level. Maybe he cant play D at all, but I doubt he is much behind Baye on the Offensive side of the ball. I dont think we can win the tourney with one center and hope we dont have a single game of foul issues.. Most teams dont have dominate centers so while maybe he cant survive against Parker he should be able to play 10 min against most teams and not kill us.. But maybe the walkon center can provide that same level of play too in the short term..

Chino could not play offense in HS. If you put Keita in Chino's HS, Keita could score at will. There is no comparison between Keita and Chino on offense or defense. Chino is raw and very inexperienced. He was recruited on potential, a perfect candidate for redshirting. JB's preference is to play his best players. That is why he primarily played Grant at center and Silent G, rather than Roberson when BMK went down.

 

[upperdeck]

I didnt have a problem with the three point attempt. He was wide open and I actually was encouraged he took the shot.

He took the shot in good rhythm and flow. only one person can say if thats not a shot they want him taking. Ennis took 3-4 worse shots last night and so did Grant. If he isnt supposed to be shooting it why was he standing there. he could have been 3-4 ft closer the way the D was playing..

 

[RF2044]

The title of this thread literally starts with the word if, I thought it went without saying that everything in this thread was speculation.

If you were literally applying the subject line--fine. I was reacting to your insinuation that this is "all hands on deck" when in fact we don't even know what BMK's injury is, let alone if he'll miss any time.

 

[Marsh01]

He took the shot in good rhythm and flow. only one person can say if thats not a shot they want him taking. Ennis took 3-4 worse shots last night and so did Grant. If he isnt supposed to be shooting it why was he standing there. he could have been 3-4 ft closer the way the D was playing..

Here's the funny thing about this. Literally 15 people sitting near me all at once when he got the ball yelled "SHOOT". I GUARANTEE you that half of the people in chat hell also screamed at the TV this exact word when he got the ball. Then they play the "What is he doing" card. Comical.

 

[CiceroCuse]

I would rather have a guy who is not ready hack the opposing big man a few times, than i would have Grant be on the bench in foul trouble leading to a frontcourt of CJ, Roberson and Silent G.

There is no way Chino would be able to help. Not only would he be a detriment on defense in understanding the nuances of the zone (if one person makes a mistake on assignments in the zone, the result is a lay up), but on offense, the center is instrumental in what we do in the sense of high ball screens, and other things designed to get our wins and TC open.

Not to mention game speed is much different than practice speed. I would rather see TR in there to keep Jerami out of foul trouble. Let's hope its all about nothing and Baye is back on Wednesday.

 

[iommi]

Here's the funny thing about this. Literally 15 people sitting near me all at once when he got the ball yelled "SHOOT". I GUARANTEE you that half of the people in chat hell also screamed at the TV this exact word when he got the ball. Then they play the "What is he doing" card. Comical.

I thought the shot was ill-advised and I'll make an educated guess JB would agree. Clemson wants him taking that shot. Roberson is much more effective inside; granted we don't have a large sample but I do since I watched him a lot last year at Roselle Catholic.

 

[OttosBestFriend]

I just don't see any way they would blow Chinoso's redshirt in mid-late February. No way.

Here's a thought... They could play him for the last 15-20 games (depending on how far we go in March) and then, redshirt him NEXT year if they really want a 5th year for him.

And as many have said earlier in this thread, it's not like we can't recruit another big man down the road if/when needed.

 

[TBCuse11]

I just really believe that if BMK was out for the year, we would see Chino. Gut says BMK will only miss one game though.