Let me get this straight

[NineOneSeven]

Chukwu, who played a year at Providence and sat out all of last year but still practiced and had chances to improve his game, couldn't get on the floor against North Florida and is still a year away? Do I have that right? Just making sure.

 

[RMH44]

Chukwu, who played a year at Providence and sat out all of last year but still practiced and had chances to improve his game, couldn't get on the floor against North Florida and is still a year away? Do I have that right? Just making sure.

Yep...and one of the reasons stated is "he needs to get stronger". What the he11 was he doing for the last year? Maybe someone needs to walk him to the weight room.

 

[Cusefan0307]

Somehow he was 33 of 50 from the field in limited minutes there. I don't understand it.

 

[kirbivore]

our big man coaching is trash

 

[pearl31]

Very disappointing.

 

[KaiserUEO]

From what I saw last week, he may be 3 years away.

JB wa smart to bury him.

 

[Eric15]

Do other schools have the same issue we do with recruiting raw big men and then they're simply never good enough to see the floor? Syracuse is the only team I follow so I don't know if this is common.

In recent years... Sean Williams, Deshonte Riley, Chino, and potentially Chukwu.

 

[SUforme]

Is he not on strict weight room regimen?

 

[Fireball Jr.]

our big man coaching is trash

Bring back Bernie.

 

[OrangeDW]

Do other schools have the same issue we do with recruiting raw big men and then they're simply never good enough to see the floor? Syracuse is the only team I follow so I don't know if this is common.

In recent years... Sean Williams, Deshonte Riley, Chino, and potentially Chukwu.

As far as I know, Williams and Riley weren't all that good for the schools they transferred to either.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

Kid has no lower body strength, and not really the frame to add to it quickly. Smaller guys just use their lower center of gravity to push him under the basket. Project. Never understood the hype.

 

[two3zone]

Do other schools have the same issue we do with recruiting raw big men and then they're simply never good enough to see the floor? Syracuse is the only team I follow so I don't know if this is common.

In recent years... Sean Williams, Deshonte Riley, Chino, and potentially Chukwu.

You can kinda add BMK to the list. He was actually solid coming in and while improving a bit on defense never improved on offense a lick.

 

[OrangeDW]

You can kinda add BMK to the list. He was actually solid coming in and while improving a bit on defense never improved on offense a lick.

Some guys are what they are. McNamara never improved on offense a lick either...luckily he was already very good. Keita was just limited. It's not like he had huge, soft hands, or a ton of strength or smooth athleticism. I don't think he had any tools that would suggest he should've developed into a good scorer.

 

[two3zone]

Some guys are what they are. McNamara never improved on offense a lick either...luckily he was already very good. Keita was just limited. It's not like he had huge, soft hands, or a ton of strength or smooth athleticism. I don't think he had any tools that would suggest he should've developed into a good scorer.

I don't disagree, that's probably what we're looking at with 72 as well.

 

[OrangeDW]

I don't disagree, that's probably what we're looking at with 72 as well.

Agreed offensively, but I do think he can improve defensively a lot. His awareness should improve, which would make a big difference because he does have some physical tools to be a good defender.. We're not going to be looking at the next Rony Seiklay on offense, but thats ok if he turns into a good defensive center. We've had very successful teams with those types before...Forth, Fab Melo, sophomore version of Christmas and also Keita to name a few.

 

[two3zone]

Agreed offensively, but I do think he can improve defensively a lot. His awareness should improve, which would make a big difference because he does have some physical tools to be a good defender.. We're not going to be looking at the next Rony Seiklay on offense, but thats ok if he turns into a good defensive center. We've had very successful teams with those types before...Forth, Fab Melo, sophomore version of Christmas and also Keita to name a few.

Again, totally agree, but for some reason I put Melo above and beyond a lot of our centers, recent and old. The improvement he made between his Fresh and Soph years was something you don't see often, even in our program. I think he could have had a Rak season even as a second year player, we just didn't need him to. He showed off a mid range game, athleticism, played well above the rim and his awareness was night and day.

I don't know what it was with Fab, whether he just needed to get in better shape, or who knows, maybe Bernie Fine did have the magic touch with him, "no pun intended for obvious reasons". If Fab stayed another year, I seriously think he could have gotten player of the year consideration.

 

[OrangeDW]

Again, totally agree, but for some reason I put Melo above and beyond a lot of our centers, recent and old. The improvement he made between his Fresh and Soph years was something you don't see often, even in our program. I think he could have had a Rak season even as a second year player, we just didn't need him to. He showed off a mid range game, athleticism, played well above the rim and his awareness was night and day.

I don't know what it was with Fab, whether he just needed to get in better shape, or who knows, maybe Bernie Fine did have the magic touch with him, "no pun intended for obvious reasons". If Fab stayed another year, I seriously think he could have gotten player of the year consideration.

Yeah, agreed. He did improve a ton, and would've really become an offensive force if he was here as a junior I think.

 

[FrancoPizza]

Bring back Bernie.

Bring back Laurie.

 

[Cowtown]

Chukwu, who played a year at Providence and sat out all of last year but still practiced and had chances to improve his game, couldn't get on the floor against North Florida and is still a year away? Do I have that right? Just making sure.

Yep, it's a head-scratcher, to be sure. The alternative is that his upside was vastly overstated for recruiting purposes. :noidea:

 

[Alsacs]

Our coaching staff does a horrible job with big men. It sucks but it is true.
As a team overall our player development has been weak. Michael Gbinije, Rak Christmas developed. However without naming names I can count 7 guys who didn't in recent program history.

 

[two3zone]

Our coaching staff does a horrible job with big men. It sucks but it is true.
As a team overall our player development has been weak. Michael Gbinije, Rak Christmas developed. However without naming names I can count 7 guys who didn't in recent program history.

And Rak was a McD AA, G was pretty much one. Just seems like 11-12 we've had a really hard time with the guys we've brought in. I made a quick list, it may seem weird that I put Mali and Ennis as "hard to tell", but these guys were pretty much what they were coming in, developing I really don't know how much we did. Giving the staff a break on DC as he's had injuries but I think he's between the bad and the middle list. I still think Howard is a TBD and who knows, with the regression of Lydon, how much as the staff developed him?

Guys we did well with:

Grant
Howard*
Lydon

Ehhh, to hard to tell:

DC2
McCullough
Mali
Ennis


Guys we didn't do well with:

BJ
Patterson
Roberson
Kaleb
Obokoh

 

[AlaskaSU]

Player development is dependent on the player far more than staff. I was friends with a starting D1 guard that won most improved player in his league. His coach took credit but the player told me that coaching had nothing to do with it. He did it all through his own effort. It was probably work put in over the summer.