Positionless Basketbaii?

[Cappy3]

Everyone yammers on about the importance of positionless ball, and getting centers who can stretch the floor. But what dowe have in the national championship game? Two teams whose best players are old fashioned low post guys. Neither Reed nor Mara are likely to even think about launching threes, but they are the two most dominant and important players in the game. College ball isn’t the NBA. a talented big guy in the low post is still a major advantage in college, even if he never wanders outside 15 feet. Let’s hope we can return to that style of ball.

 

[tptcuse]

Everyone yammers on about the importance of positionless ball, and getting centers who can stretch the floor. But what dowe have in the national championship game? Two teams whose best players are old fashioned low post guys. Neither Reed nor Mara are likely to even think about launching threes, but they are the two most dominant and important players in the game. College ball isn’t the NBA. a talented big guy in the low post is still a major advantage in college, even if he never wanders outside 15 feet. Let’s hope we can return to that style of ball.

I feel like that’s one place GMac would be similar to those coaches. He seems to value size. We’ll see starting on Tuesday.

 

[pearl31]

only on waikiki beach

 

[PeteCalvin]

I told my son the other day that in the 80’s and 90’s, college ball was still about having that dominant big man in the middle, but not necessarily an immobile 7-0 monster. Then the game shifted to small ball, having a big that traditional bigs couldn’t guard. Someone who could handle the ball and shoot threes. Only a few teams (Purdue, as an example) stuck with the bulky, power centers. Jay Wright came along and played his 4-guard offense around one very versatile but undersized big, which I think was the precursor to the UConn offenses under Murray, but Hurley brought back the size inside. He had players who were physical and had the ability to score with their backs to the basket. Sonogo and Clingan were more like the centers from the 90’s and early 2000’s, but they were solid passers. Now it’s like everything has come full circle again where coaches want a monster, but athletic, 7-footer in the middle, and a 6-11 PF who can rebound and shoot threes. It’s like the Twin Tower days of the 80’s all over again, but now these guys have better mobility, better passing and some can even shoot.

 

[Brooky03]

This is why I put very little stock in the ‘modern offense’ stuff during coach evaluations here. “Look at how they swing the ball around and everybody can shoot! It’s so glorious!” Is it?

 

[Knicks411]

I feel like that’s one place GMac would be similar to those coaches. He seems to value size. We’ll see starting on Tuesday.

Does he? Seems like I've been seeing this thing where every positive trait gets attributed to Gerry now. I get it, we're in the honeymoon period, but still. (he's also apparently one of the few coaches that likes players who play hard and really want to win.)

I have no idea, and you're right, we'll see starting Tuesday, but Siena was 275th in the country in average height last year, and even just isolating it to the MAAC schools, Siena was 7th out of 13th teams in the conf in average height.

As to the main point, I think you've seen a shift the last couple of years especially, as players are staying in school longer, where height has become a little bit more of a factor. Everything else being equal, more size is always going to be better than less size.

 

[tptcuse]

Does he? Seems like I've been seeing this thing where every positive trait gets attributed to Gerry now. I get it, we're in the honeymoon period, but still. (he's also apparently one of the few coaches that likes players who play hard and really want to win.)

I have no idea, and you're right, we'll see starting Tuesday, but Siena was 275th in the country in average height last year, and even just isolating it to the MAAC schools, Siena was 7th out of 13th teams in the conf in average height.

As to the main point, I think you've seen a shift the last couple of years especially, as players are staying in school longer, where height has become a little bit more of a factor. Everything else being equal, more size is always going to be better than less size.

I am definitely not one of those people. (You can check my posting history.) I believe Gerry referenced positional size and others have said his offense uses the big men in more traditional roles.

 

[Knicks411]

I am definitely not one of those people. (You can check my posting history.) I believe Gerry referenced positional size and others have said his offense uses the big men in more traditional roles.

I definitely can't keep track of everyone, so maybe i just picked the wrong post to make this point on. If so, carry on!

 

[General20]

Everyone yammers on about the importance of positionless ball, and getting centers who can stretch the floor. But what dowe have in the national championship game? Two teams whose best players are old fashioned low post guys. Neither Reed nor Mara are likely to even think about launching threes, but they are the two most dominant and important players in the game. College ball isn’t the NBA. a talented big guy in the low post is still a major advantage in college, even if he never wanders outside 15 feet. Let’s hope we can return to that style of ball.

I dont think anyone anywhere ever is against landing one of the best big men in the country. There just aren't many of them to go around. The real question is what do you do if you cant have both size and skill? Do you choose size or skill?

 

[dasher]

Does he? Seems like I've been seeing this thing where every positive trait gets attributed to Gerry now. I get it, we're in the honeymoon period, but still. (he's also apparently one of the few coaches that likes players who play hard and really want to win.)

I have no idea, and you're right, we'll see starting Tuesday, but Siena was 275th in the country in average height last year, and even just isolating it to the MAAC schools, Siena was 7th out of 13th teams in the conf in average height.

As to the main point, I think you've seen a shift the last couple of years especially, as players are staying in school longer, where height has become a little bit more of a factor. Everything else being equal, more size is always going to be better than less size.

He says he wants big. Now, I think it is unfair to base a critique of him for having average height for his league at Siena this year. It's not like he had a ton of time to put his mark on the program. If he were there say, five years, okay. And I believe one of his bigger guys was hurt this year. II will take him at his word until I see evidence that he isn't as keen on bigger players as he said he was.