Malachi Richardson

[Dave85]

On Saturday, Malachi Richardson lead all scorers with 22 points for Team Final (PA)'s win over Team CP3. He shot 6-14 (43%) from he field while also sinking 57% (8 for 14) from the free throw line.

 

[jdubs30]

Love Malachi's potential and think he'll be a stud here, but sheesh that's a bad FT stat line for a guard.

 

[Dave85]

Love Malachi's potential and think he'll be a stud here, but sheesh that's a bad FT stat line for a guard.

Check out this page (good set of highlight vids, the June 19th 2014 highlights are AWESOME!!!!):

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/malachi-Richardson

According to this the kid was born 1/5/96. That means he's 18 years old now (is my math wrong?). So he will be 19 years old when he starts playing November 2015.

 

[Briancuse]

Very much looking forward to him coming here, I only wish he was coming this year, could use another guard.

 

[Dave85]

Very much looking forward to him coming here, I only wish he was coming this year, could use another guard.

Cooney and G bringing the ball up as a pair worked pretty well last season. I think we will be fine having only one guard.

 

[tee1222]

Love Malachi's potential and think he'll be a stud here, but sheesh that's a bad FT stat line for a guard.

Nah, it's cool. I've seen 7 out of 8, 11 out of 12. He's good to go. Bad nights going to happen. He will shoot the lights out for us. Seen him play live a few times. Pure shooter. Now able to create his shots, driving the lane much better and handles the bounce well even with both hands.. He will be one of our best scorers at the 2. Even Moten would agree.

 

[STEVEHOLT]

Interesting technique on most of his 3's...staggered stance. I would think that is not an optimal technique for the D1 level. You are going to need both feet under you under duress to hit long distance shots with any consistency. Perhaps its just lazy foot work

 

[Conrad13]

Cooney and G bringing the ball up as a pair worked pretty well last season. I think we will be fine having only one guard.

Cooney's not a play maker but I remember when Duke denied Ennis the ball at the Carrier Dome game and Cooney did a great job getting the ball up the court and starting the offense. That said, I'm not crazy about being this thin at PG. I look forward to seeing what Howard can do at the point.

 

[Trueblue25]

Cooney's not a play maker but I remember when Duke denied Ennis the ball at the Carrier Dome game and Cooney did a great job getting the ball up the court and starting the offense. That said, I'm not crazy about being this thin at PG. I look forward to seeing what Howard can do at the point.

I think G's a playmaker when comfortable.

God only knows when he's comfortable though.

 

[RF2044]

Gbinije played backup point last year, when he virtually had no game experience coming into the season [he played only sparingly at Duke] and zero experience running the point. He'll be a more than adequate backup again this year--he certainly won't get worse as a function of all of the experience he gained.

 

[Briancuse]

Gbinije played backup point last year, when he virtually had no game experience coming into the season [he played only sparingly at Duke] and zero experience running the point. He'll be a more than adequate backup again this year--he certainly won't get worse as a function of all of the experience he gained.

Being an adequate backup might not be enough, we are going to need him to pickup some of the scoring load.

 

[RF2044]

Being an adequate backup might not be enough, we are going to need him to pickup some of the scoring load.

I was referring to the topic of not having sufficient depth in the backcourt, specifically at the point behind Kaleb Joseph.

It would be great for Gbinije to prove that he is capable of shouldering consistently more of the scoring load, but I think people need to temper their expectations, or are extrapolating too much from how he played in our final game last season. Hope he proves me wrong, but I fear his scoring upside is in the 7ppg range. And there's nothing wrong with that--he could be a fine contributor over these next two years even if that's "all" he provides.

 

[MSOrange]

I was referring to the topic of not having sufficient depth in the backcourt, specifically at the point behind Kaleb Joseph.

It would be great for Gbinije to prove that he is capable of shouldering consistently more of the scoring load, but I think people need to temper their expectations, or are extrapolating too much from how he played in our final game last season. Hope he proves me wrong, but I fear his scoring upside is in the 7ppg range. And there's nothing wrong with that--he could be a fine contributor over these next two years even if that's "all" he provides.

I had to go back to the box score to see what you referring to as far as the Dayton game. I forgot he had 8 in that game. I didn't remember anyone playing well offensively for us but I've tried to remove as much of that game from my memory as possible.

I guess I have higher hopes for him. (And maybe hope is the wrong word, because I know you hope he does better than what you predict.) But I was hoping that he was deferring a little bit last year and would be more assertive going forward. I don't ever see him leading the team in scoring but I was hoping he might be able to average lower double digits, if not this year, then his senior year.

Editing my original post - On second thought, maybe he wasn't deferring at all last year. If that ending stretch where we struggled to break 60 points isn't the time to bring out all you've got, then I don't know what is. So you may be right about his ceiling.

 

[MSOrange]

I was referring to the topic of not having sufficient depth in the backcourt, specifically at the point behind Kaleb Joseph.

It would be great for Gbinije to prove that he is capable of shouldering consistently more of the scoring load, but I think people need to temper their expectations, or are extrapolating too much from how he played in our final game last season. Hope he proves me wrong, but I fear his scoring upside is in the 7ppg range. And there's nothing wrong with that--he could be a fine contributor over these next two years even if that's "all" he provides.

To add onto my post - what do you think about potentially Josh Pace-like production from Gbinije? I guess I was hoping he could advance to the same level his junior and senior year (9-11 ppg). Now I'm not comparing their games - Gbinije has a much better 3 pt shot than Pace ever had, while few can match the patented Pace floater. To me I guess a lot depends on how much PG he has to play. If he doesn't have to play a ton of PG and can concentrate on his own production. I think that will help Gbinije points production.

http://www.orangehoops.org/jpace.htm

 

[Dave85]

To add onto my post - what do you think about potentially Josh Pace-like production from Gbinije? I guess I was hoping he could advance to the same level his junior and senior year (9-11 ppg). Now I'm not comparing their games - Gbinije has a much better 3 pt shot than Pace ever had, while few can match the patented Pace floater. To me I guess a lot depends on how much PG he has to play. If he doesn't have to play a ton of PG and can concentrate on his own production. I think that will help Gbinije points production.

http://www.orangehoops.org/jpace.htm

I think G is going to be an important part of this year's team and next.

 

[RF2044]

I think G is going to be an important part of this year's team and next.

So do I. But he could be a very important part of the team by being the sixth man, or a quality sub. So...

 

[RF2044]

I had to go back to the box score to see what you referring to as far as the Dayton game. I forgot he had 8 in that game. I didn't remember anyone playing well offensively for us but I've tried to remove as much of that game from my memory as possible.

I guess I have higher hopes for him. (And maybe hope is the wrong word, because I know you hope he does better than what you predict.) But I was hoping that he was deferring a little bit last year and would be more assertive going forward. I don't ever see him leading the team in scoring but I was hoping he might be able to average lower double digits, if not this year, then his senior year.

Editing my original post - On second thought, maybe he wasn't deferring at all last year. If that ending stretch where we struggled to break 60 points isn't the time to bring out all you've got, then I don't know what is. So you may be right about his ceiling.

To add onto my post - what do you think about potentially Josh Pace-like production from Gbinije? I guess I was hoping he could advance to the same level his junior and senior year (9-11 ppg). Now I'm not comparing their games - Gbinije has a much better 3 pt shot than Pace ever had, while few can match the patented Pace floater. To me I guess a lot depends on how much PG he has to play. If he doesn't have to play a ton of PG and can concentrate on his own production. I think that will help Gbinije points production.

http://www.orangehoops.org/jpace.htm

MS, it is really difficult to project what we're going to get from Gbinije these next two years, IMO. Please note also that I'm not saying definitively that he will or won't accomplish X, Y, or Z -- I can only base it upon preseason observation and what I've seen in games. I also know that at least one poster [SUFAN INVA] from Virginia who saw him play at the HS level has disagreed with me about his potential and what he'll bring to the table this upcoming year as a scorer [we've had some friendly discussion / debate about it in several posts throughout the season]. And in the interest of full disclosure, it is important to mention that I LIKE Gbinije, and actively root for him to succeed [just like I do all of our players].

How's that for qualifications?

Here's another disclosure: heading into last summer, I was convinced that Gbinije was going to edge out Cooney and start at the 2. Not because I thought that Cooney wasn't good enough [I'm not one of his detractors], but because I expected MORE out of Gbinije. By "more," I specifically mean:

--Better size at the top of the zone
--Skywalking athleticism [which we often have in our swing G/ players, given the type of players we recruit]
--Marksman-like outside shooting
--A former McD's all american who would thrive in our system

Gbinije had also spent a year in our system practicing during the year he had to sit out as a transfer, so while I expected there to be some rust and that it might take a little while for him to gain experience and perform consistently at a high level, I was very eager to see the team's Canadian tour to see what our newbies were going to do. Gbinije in particular. And as I posted last summer, I came away from the Canadian tour feeling a tad discouraged about Gbinije's capabilities. For one thing, he was not nearly as explosive athletically as what I envisioned. He's playing hoops at a high major D1 program--obviously he's an above average athlete--but in terms of elite basketball, he's very average. He didn't seem to provide much by way of scoring, and wasn't the shooter that I expected he would be [more on this below].

But I rationalized it on the basis that it was his first game action in two years, after barely playing his frosh year at Duke. And also chalked it up to him trying to play a new position, out of position, etc. But when I went to watch the team practice last year [don't know if you remember the write-up I did], but some of the red flags I saw in Canada seemed confirmed. He was a fairly pedestrian athlete. He seemed to have adequate skill to be a backup point guard, but didn't seem to have the scoring pop to be a shooting guard in our system. His shooting form was / is a bit quirky, which leads me to believe that he might never be a knock down shooter. On this point, I think he shoots it well enough to be a .333 type of three point shooter--decent, and not a bad complimentary threat, but not what you'd want from a main cog.

And in games this year, I think a lot of the above was proven out. Decent player who's best attribute is versatility. Jack of many trades, master of none--which generally doesn't lend itself to being a main scoring option. And when he got extended PT at the 3, he didn't rebound worth a lick--despite being 6-7.

I say all this not to put Gbinije down, but rather to put into perspective that he STILL might end up being a very important player for us these next two years even if he doesn't start and / or score at a high level. Nothing would please me more than to see him come out and average 16+ ppg this year, and shatter my prediction. But I see him more as a complimentary threat who tops out around 7ppg, with more consistent playing time. That's a three or two a game, along with a basket or two and a free throw or two. Definitely within the realm of possibility. Athletically, he seems a lot more like a Ryan Blackwell type, and I project a similar career arc--not in the sense that he is a 3/4 combo or plays the same as Ryan, but that he is talented and versatile, which will be his ticket to contributions, but possibly not a top flight scoring option.

I could envision two scenarios where Gbinije starts this year. Maybe Kaleb Joseph isn't ready, so JB starts Gbinije at the point, alongside Cooney--going with the experienced hand at lead guard. In my mind, this wouldn't be ideal. But neither would scenario #2, whereby Chris McCullough somehow doesn't start, and Gbinije replaces him in the starting lineup at the 3, with Roberson playing the 4. Per above, I don't think that Gbinije rebounds well enough to play on the back line of the zone, even though he's got sufficient size.

Re: your comparison to Josh Pace, I don't think that analogy is a bad one. But I do think that Pace had more raw scoring capability than Gbinije. But where I balk a bit at the Pace comparison was that JP consistently did a lot of things really well. Score, rebound, steals, assists, etc. -- he was a real stat stuffer. Gbinije certainly didn't produce at that level last season--but maybe he will these next two years, in fairness. I also think that Pace was a better defender, but at times had to play out of position at the 3, where being 6-3 or so was a huge liability. Gbinije's story is still being written, however, so I don't want to write him off . And now that he's got game experience under his belt, he might make a huge leap forward.

But if I had to guess, based uponwhat I've seen from him so far, I'd expect more of the versatile 6th man who can come in for any of 4 players in the lineup [shifting others around], that he'll provide an occasional spark offensively and be a complimentary shooter, but not player that we structure the offense around.

Would love to be wrong about that--but there's nothing wrong with glue guys who perform a niche role and contribute every game. Our best teams seem to have a glue guy or two to compliment the elite talent.

Thoughts?

 

[Dave85]

So do I. But he could be a very important part of the team by being the sixth man, or a quality sub. So...

I think he has the potential to be a starter. But at least a sixth man in 2015. This season I think he may play the 3 spot along with BJ.

If G plays the 2 spot what are they going to do with Patterson. Patterson is mystery to me. Unless he's terrific in practice I don't see him getting playing time over Cooney.

 

[Dave85]

And when he got extended PT at the 3, he didn't rebound worth a lick--despite being 6-7.

Thoughts?

Whatever spot G plays this season, whether he plays the 1 spot, 2 spot, or the 3, I want that spot to be officially known as the "G spot".

 

[MSOrange]

MS, it is really difficult to project what we're going to get from Gbinije these next two years, IMO. Please note also that I'm not saying definitively that he will or won't accomplish X, Y, or Z -- I can only base it upon preseason observation and what I've seen in games. I also know that at least one poster from Virginia who saw him play at the HS level has disagreed with me about his potential and what he'll bring to the table this upcoming year as a scorer [we've had some friendly discussion / debate about it in several posts throughout the season]. And in the interest of full disclosure, it is important to mention that I LIKE Gbinije, and actively root for him to succeed [just like I do all of our players].

How's that for qualifications?

Here's another disclosure: heading into last summer, I was convinced that Gbinije was going to edge out Cooney and start at the 2. Not because I thought that Cooney wasn't good enough [I'm not one of his detractors], but because I expected MORE out of Gbinije. By "more," I specifically mean:

--Better size at the top of the zone
--Skywalking athleticism [which we often have in our swing G/ players, given the type of players we recruit]
--Marksman-like outside shooting
--A former McD's all american who would thrive in our system

Gbinije had also spent a year in our system, so while I expected there to be some rust and that it might take a little while for him to gain experience and perform consistently at a high level, I was very eager to see the team's Canadian tour to see what our newbies were going to do. Gbinije in particular. And as I posted last summer, I came away from the Canadian tour feeling a tad discouraged about Gbinije's capabilities. For one thing, he was not nearly as explosive athletically as what I envisioned. He's playing hoops at a high major D1 program--obviously he's an above average athlete--but in terms of elite basketball, he's very average. He didn't seem to provide much by way of scoring, and wasn't the shooter that I expected he would be [more on this below].



But I rationalized it on the basis that it was his first game action in two years, after barely playing his frosh year at Duke. And also chalked it up to him trying to play a new position, out of position, etc. But when I went to watch the team practice last year [don't know if you remember the write-up I did], but some of the red flags I saw in Canada seemed confirmed. He was a fairly pedestrian athlete. He seemed to have adequate skill to be a backup point guard, but didn't seem to have the scoring pop to be a shooting guard in our system. His shooting form was / is a bit quirky, which leads me to believe that he might never be a knock down shooter. On this point, I think he shoots it well enough to be a .333 type of three point shooter--decent, and not a bad complimentary threat, but not what you'd want from a main cog.

And in games this year, I think a lot of the above was proven out. Decent player who's best attribute is versatility. Jack of many trades, master of none--which generally doesn't lend itself to being a main scoring option. And when he got extended PT at the 3, he didn't rebound worth a lick--despite being 6-7.

I say all this not to put Gbinije down, but rather to put into perspective that he STILL might end up being a very important player for us these next two years. Nothing would please me more than to see him come out and average 16+ ppg this year, and shatter my prediction. But I see him more as a complimentary threat who tops out around 7ppg, with more consistent playing time. That's a three or two a game, along with a basket or two and a free throw or two. Definitely within the realm of possibility. Athletically, he seems a lot more like a Ryan Blackwell type, and I project a similar career arc--not in the sense that he is a 3/4 combo or plays the same as Ryan, but that he is talented and versatile, which will be his ticket to contributions, but possibly not a top flight scoring option.

I could envision two scenarios where Gbinije starts this year. Maybe Kaleb Joseph isn't ready, so JB starts Gbinije at the point, alongside Cooney--going with the experienced hand at lead guard. In my mind, this wouldn't be ideal. But neither would scenario #2, whereby Chris McCullough somehow doesn't start, and Gbinije replaces him in the starting lineup at the 3, with Roberson playing the 4. Per above, I don't think that Gbinije rebounds well enough to play on the back line of the zone, even though he's got sufficient size.

Per your comparison, I don't think that the Josh Pace analogy is a bad one. But I do think that Pace had more raw scoring capability than Gbinije. I also think that Pace was a better defender, but at times had to play out of position at the 3, where being a 6-3 guy was a huge liability. Gbinije's story is still being written, however, so I don't want to write him off as a defender. And now that he's got game experience under his belt, he might make a huge leap forward.

But if I had to guess, based upon the preponderance of what I've seen from him so far, I'd expect more of the versatile 6th man who can come in for any of 4 players in the lineup [shifting others around], that he'll provide is with a spark offensively and be a complimentary scorer but not a main one.

Would love to be wrong about that--but there's nothing wrong with glue guys who perform a niche role and contribute every game. Our best teams seem to have a glue guy or two to compliment the elite talent.

Thoughts?

MS, it is really difficult to project what we're going to get from Gbinije these next two years, IMO. Please note also that I'm not saying definitively that he will or won't accomplish X, Y, or Z -- I can only base it upon preseason observation and what I've seen in games. I also know that at least one poster from Virginia who saw him play at the HS level has disagreed with me about his potential and what he'll bring to the table this upcoming year as a scorer [we've had some friendly discussion / debate about it in several posts throughout the season]. And in the interest of full disclosure, it is important to mention that I LIKE Gbinije, and actively root for him to succeed [just like I do all of our players].

How's that for qualifications?

Here's another disclosure: heading into last summer, I was convinced that Gbinije was going to edge out Cooney and start at the 2. Not because I thought that Cooney wasn't good enough [I'm not one of his detractors], but because I expected MORE out of Gbinije. By "more," I specifically mean:

--Better size at the top of the zone
--Skywalking athleticism [which we often have in our swing G/ players, given the type of players we recruit]
--Marksman-like outside shooting
--A former McD's all american who would thrive in our system

Gbinije had also spent a year in our system, so while I expected there to be some rust and that it might take a little while for him to gain experience and perform consistently at a high level, I was very eager to see the team's Canadian tour to see what our newbies were going to do. Gbinije in particular. And as I posted last summer, I came away from the Canadian tour feeling a tad discouraged about Gbinije's capabilities. For one thing, he was not nearly as explosive athletically as what I envisioned. He's playing hoops at a high major D1 program--obviously he's an above average athlete--but in terms of elite basketball, he's very average. He didn't seem to provide much by way of scoring, and wasn't the shooter that I expected he would be [more on this below].

But I rationalized it on the basis that it was his first game action in two years, after barely playing his frosh year at Duke. And also chalked it up to him trying to play a new position, out of position, etc. But when I went to watch the team practice last year [don't know if you remember the write-up I did], but some of the red flags I saw in Canada seemed confirmed. He was a fairly pedestrian athlete. He seemed to have adequate skill to be a backup point guard, but didn't seem to have the scoring pop to be a shooting guard in our system. His shooting form was / is a bit quirky, which leads me to believe that he might never be a knock down shooter. On this point, I think he shoots it well enough to be a .333 type of three point shooter--decent, and not a bad complimentary threat, but not what you'd want from a main cog.

And in games this year, I think a lot of the above was proven out. Decent player who's best attribute is versatility. Jack of many trades, master of none--which generally doesn't lend itself to being a main scoring option. And when he got extended PT at the 3, he didn't rebound worth a lick--despite being 6-7.

I say all this not to put Gbinije down, but rather to put into perspective that he STILL might end up being a very important player for us these next two years. Nothing would please me more than to see him come out and average 16+ ppg this year, and shatter my prediction. But I see him more as a complimentary threat who tops out around 7ppg, with more consistent playing time. That's a three or two a game, along with a basket or two and a free throw or two. Definitely within the realm of possibility. Athletically, he seems a lot more like a Ryan Blackwell type, and I project a similar career arc--not in the sense that he is a 3/4 combo or plays the same as Ryan, but that he is talented and versatile, which will be his ticket to contributions, but possibly not a top flight scoring option.

I could envision two scenarios where Gbinije starts this year. Maybe Kaleb Joseph isn't ready, so JB starts Gbinije at the point, alongside Cooney--going with the experienced hand at lead guard. In my mind, this wouldn't be ideal. But neither would scenario #2, whereby Chris McCullough somehow doesn't start, and Gbinije replaces him in the starting lineup at the 3, with Roberson playing the 4. Per above, I don't think that Gbinije rebounds well enough to play on the back line of the zone, even though he's got sufficient size.

Per your comparison, I don't think that the Josh Pace analogy is a bad one. But I do think that Pace had more raw scoring capability than Gbinije. I also think that Pace was a better defender, but at times had to play out of position at the 3, where being a 6-3 guy was a huge liability. Gbinije's story is still being written, however, so I don't want to write him off as a defender. And now that he's got game experience under his belt, he might make a huge leap forward.

But if I had to guess, based upon the preponderance of what I've seen from him so far, I'd expect more of the versatile 6th man who can come in for any of 4 players in the lineup [shifting others around], that he'll provide is with a spark offensively and be a complimentary scorer but not a main one.

Would love to be wrong about that--but there's nothing wrong with glue guys who perform a niche role and contribute every game. Our best teams seem to have a glue guy or two to compliment the elite talent.

Thoughts?

Wow thanks for the well thought out response. I can't disagree with any of it. I think you sum it up best with "Decent player who's best attribute is versatility. Jack of many trades, master of none--which generally doesn't lend itself to being a main scoring option."

And now that you mention it about Pace, while he wasn't a great shooter by any means, I agree he did have more scoring ability than Gbinije appears to have.

This year is a weird year for me to predict. I'm not sure there are any of our players where I can definitively say what we are going to get from them this year. I think Cooney will average double figures again, but will he make the progression from limited minutes as a redshirt freshman to getting regular minutes as a sophomore, but inconsistent shooter, to gaining more consistency as a shooter this year now that he is used to the speed of the game and has a season under his belt? For the record, I think he will. Will Rakeem break out and finally be able to reach double figures this year and be more consistent? I would be pleased with a Conrad McRae-like senior season from Rak when Conrad averaged 11 points and 7 rebounds a game. I think a lot of Rak's season will depend on the health of DaJuan or how many minutes Chinoso is able to handle as a redshirt freshman. JB may not have a choice to let Rak play through some of his mistakes more than he has in the past. Will Joseph be able to step in like Ennis? Can Tyler make the sophomore progression than Jeremi did? I felt more confident in Jeremi's ability to progress simply because I saw Jeremi play more as a freshman when Southerland was out than I saw Tyler play last season. Will McCullough step in as a freshman and be what we need him to be? I think all the questions very well could be answered positively, but just saying this is the one of the few years that I truly am not sure what to expect from really any of our players.

Well I went from talking about Gbinije to all of that -that was kind of scattered array of thoughts.

 

[Oakland]

Unfortunately, I agree with everything you stated: meaning I don't have high hopes for G. Any comparison to Pace is a bit unfair to Josh. Josh was a great glue guy doing good things consistently. What's why his box score was always something like: 4-5-2-4-5-3-4. G regularly goes 2-3 min and does nothing.

MS, it is really difficult to project what we're going to get from Gbinije these next two years, IMO. Please note also that I'm not saying definitively that he will or won't accomplish X, Y, or Z -- I can only base it upon preseason observation and what I've seen in games. I also know that at least one poster [SUFAN INVA] from Virginia who saw him play at the HS level has disagreed with me about his potential and what he'll bring to the table this upcoming year as a scorer [we've had some friendly discussion / debate about it in several posts throughout the season]. And in the interest of full disclosure, it is important to mention that I LIKE Gbinije, and actively root for him to succeed [just like I do all of our players].

How's that for qualifications?

Here's another disclosure: heading into last summer, I was convinced that Gbinije was going to edge out Cooney and start at the 2. Not because I thought that Cooney wasn't good enough [I'm not one of his detractors], but because I expected MORE out of Gbinije. By "more," I specifically mean:

--Better size at the top of the zone
--Skywalking athleticism [which we often have in our swing G/ players, given the type of players we recruit]
--Marksman-like outside shooting
--A former McD's all american who would thrive in our system

Gbinije had also spent a year in our system, so while I expected there to be some rust and that it might take a little while for him to gain experience and perform consistently at a high level, I was very eager to see the team's Canadian tour to see what our newbies were going to do. Gbinije in particular. And as I posted last summer, I came away from the Canadian tour feeling a tad discouraged about Gbinije's capabilities. For one thing, he was not nearly as explosive athletically as what I envisioned. He's playing hoops at a high major D1 program--obviously he's an above average athlete--but in terms of elite basketball, he's very average. He didn't seem to provide much by way of scoring, and wasn't the shooter that I expected he would be [more on this below].

But I rationalized it on the basis that it was his first game action in two years, after barely playing his frosh year at Duke. And also chalked it up to him trying to play a new position, out of position, etc. But when I went to watch the team practice last year [don't know if you remember the write-up I did], but some of the red flags I saw in Canada seemed confirmed. He was a fairly pedestrian athlete. He seemed to have adequate skill to be a backup point guard, but didn't seem to have the scoring pop to be a shooting guard in our system. His shooting form was / is a bit quirky, which leads me to believe that he might never be a knock down shooter. On this point, I think he shoots it well enough to be a .333 type of three point shooter--decent, and not a bad complimentary threat, but not what you'd want from a main cog.

And in games this year, I think a lot of the above was proven out. Decent player who's best attribute is versatility. Jack of many trades, master of none--which generally doesn't lend itself to being a main scoring option. And when he got extended PT at the 3, he didn't rebound worth a lick--despite being 6-7.

I say all this not to put Gbinije down, but rather to put into perspective that he STILL might end up being a very important player for us these next two years. Nothing would please me more than to see him come out and average 16+ ppg this year, and shatter my prediction. But I see him more as a complimentary threat who tops out around 7ppg, with more consistent playing time. That's a three or two a game, along with a basket or two and a free throw or two. Definitely within the realm of possibility. Athletically, he seems a lot more like a Ryan Blackwell type, and I project a similar career arc--not in the sense that he is a 3/4 combo or plays the same as Ryan, but that he is talented and versatile, which will be his ticket to contributions, but possibly not a top flight scoring option.

I could envision two scenarios where Gbinije starts this year. Maybe Kaleb Joseph isn't ready, so JB starts Gbinije at the point, alongside Cooney--going with the experienced hand at lead guard. In my mind, this wouldn't be ideal. But neither would scenario #2, whereby Chris McCullough somehow doesn't start, and Gbinije replaces him in the starting lineup at the 3, with Roberson playing the 4. Per above, I don't think that Gbinije rebounds well enough to play on the back line of the zone, even though he's got sufficient size.

Per your comparison, I don't think that the Josh Pace analogy is a bad one. But I do think that Pace had more raw scoring capability than Gbinije. I also think that Pace was a better defender, but at times had to play out of position at the 3, where being a 6-3 guy was a huge liability. Gbinije's story is still being written, however, so I don't want to write him off as a defender. And now that he's got game experience under his belt, he might make a huge leap forward.

But if I had to guess, based upon the preponderance of what I've seen from him so far, I'd expect more of the versatile 6th man who can come in for any of 4 players in the lineup [shifting others around], that he'll provide is with a spark offensively and be a complimentary scorer but not a main one.

Would love to be wrong about that--but there's nothing wrong with glue guys who perform a niche role and contribute every game. Our best teams seem to have a glue guy or two to compliment the elite talent.

Thoughts?

 

[SoBeCuse]

I agree with RF, Oakland, and MSOrange, etc. Lets hope that Gbinjie is way more assertive and comfortable in the system. That could've been a factor last year as, to me, he seemed quite passive.

I think his best fit for this season is backup PG. If he improved his handle and aptitude at that position then he could be very serviceable. We have NOBODY back there besides Joseph. If he gets into foul trouble and needs to sit for whatever reasons then somebody has to be able to do something. Expecting Tyler Ennis composure and even minutes per game from a frosh PG without any PG depth or ballhandling depth is playing with fire, imo.

 

[RF2044]

Wow thanks for the well thought out response. I can't disagree with any of it. I think you sum it up best with "Decent player who's best attribute is versatility. Jack of many trades, master of none--which generally doesn't lend itself to being a main scoring option."

And now that you mention it about Pace, while he wasn't a great shooter by any means, I agree he did have more scoring ability than Gbinije appears to have.

This year is a weird year for me to predict. I'm not sure there are any of our players where I can definitively say what we are going to get from them this year. I think Cooney will average double figures again, but will he make the progression from limited minutes as a redshirt freshman to getting regular minutes as a sophomore, but inconsistent shooter, to gaining more consistency as a shooter this year now that he is used to the speed of the game and has a season under his belt? For the record, I think he will. Will Rakeem break out and finally be able to reach double figures this year and be more consistent? I would be pleased with a Conrad McRae-like senior season from Rak when Conrad averaged 11 points and 7 rebounds a game. I think a lot of Rak's season will depend on the health of DaJuan or how many minutes Chinoso is able to handle as a redshirt freshman. JB may not have a choice to let Rak play through some of his mistakes more than he has in the past. Will Joseph be able to step in like Ennis? Can Tyler make the sophomore progression than Jeremi did? I felt more confident in Jeremi's ability to progress simply because I saw Jeremi play more as a freshman when Southerland was out than I saw Tyler play last season. Will McCullough step in as a freshman and be what we need him to be? I think all the questions very well could be answered positively, but just saying this is the one of the few years that I truly am not sure what to expect from really any of our players.

Well I went from talking about Gbinije to all of that -that was kind of scattered array of thoughts.

This is a great post. I don't know when we've entered a season with so many question marks [maybe 2010]?

I am, however, confident that we can be a top 25 team--maybe even better than that--if a few things come together. But it is hard to know what to expect next year.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Will Rakeem break out and finally be able to reach double figures this year and be more consistent? I would be pleased with a Conrad McRae-like senior season from Rak when Conrad averaged 11 points and 7 rebounds a game. I think a lot of Rak's season will depend on the health of DaJuan or how many minutes Chinoso is able to handle as a redshirt freshman. JB may not have a choice to let Rak play through some of his mistakes more than he has in the past.

I think it has less to do with letting Rak play through his mistakes, and more to do with giving him the chance to make plays.

11 and 7 sounds pretty reasonable for a senior burger boy big, right? In order to get there I'd say we need to get him at least 8 field goal attempts per game (5 of 8 shooting would be .625 from the floor, which is a great percentage but maybe not that unreasonable given that he was at .613 last season. Then you figure somewhere in there he gets to the line and hits at least one free throw for an and one or a hack on a shot attempt).

That seems even more reasonable when you look at the shooting percentages, but here's the problem. I actually looked up how many times we've gotten Rak 8 shots in a single game:

Freshman - 0 (high that season was 7 fg attempts in the tourney against Kansas State)
Sophomore - 2 (although he did have 6 other games with 7 fg attempts)
Junior - 1 (only two other games with 7 fg attempts)

So... to me this doesn't have much to do with Rak "playing through mistakes." It has more to do if we'll make the effort to utilize a big that hits 60% of his shots and better than 70% of his free throws. Big men need their guards to get them involved. At times Ennis did pretty well with that. For being his buddy, I'd like to see Cooney throw it down to the post a little more especially since Rak has shown that he's a pretty crisp passer back out to the perimeter. We've just never really cared to involve Rak, which is frustrating, because his best games have been when he's been a part of the action. Sure, he's gotten in his own way a few times, but he follows in a long line of our program's players that aren't utilized even though they're effective back to the basket scorers.

 

[rrlbees]

I think it has less to do with letting Rak play through his mistakes, and more to do with giving him the chance to make plays. 11 and 7 sounds pretty reasonable for a senior burger boy big, right? In order to get there I'd say we need to get him at least 8 field goal attempts per game (5 of 8 shooting would be .625 from the floor, which is a great percentage but maybe not that unreasonable given that he was at .613 last season. Then you figure somewhere in there he gets to the line and hits at least one free throw for an and one or a hack on a shot attempt). That seems even more reasonable when you look at the shooting percentages, but here's the problem. I actually looked up how many times we've gotten Rak 8 shots in a single game: Freshman - 0 (high that season was 7 fg attempts in the tourney against Kansas State) Sophomore - 2 (although he did have 6 other games with 7 fg attempts) Junior - 1 (only two other games with 7 fg attempts) So... to me this doesn't have much to do with Rak "playing through mistakes." It has more to do if we'll make the effort to utilize a big that hits 60% of his shots and better than 70% of his free throws. Big men need their guards to get them involved. At times Ennis did pretty well with that. For being his buddy, I'd like to see Cooney throw it down to the post a little more especially since Rak has shown that he's a pretty crisp passer back out to the perimeter. We've just never really cared to involve Rak, which is frustrating, because his best games have been when he's been a part of the action. Sure, he's gotten in his own way a few times, but he follows in a long line of our program's players that aren't utilized even though they're effective back to the basket scorers.

Rak will also have to do his part which is do a better job of sealing off his man, making himself available to receive the ball and developing a couple more moves. I think he will but he has sometimes been his own worst enemy.