Rakeem Christmas

[edowd26]

What a gutsy game, I am very proud of him. What a great game for him to step up and become the player we know he is capable of being. Intestinal fortitude.. and lots of it. Great game Rak and thank you.

Against a legit BE big man... wow

 

[OrangeCrush22]

Christmas played very well. The rumor is Fab will be back, but if he doesn't return, I feel safe with Christmas now.

 

[edowd26]

Christmas played very well. The rumor is Fab will be back, but if he doesn't return, I feel safe with Christmas now.

I don't feel safe, but I definitely feel better.

 

[Albeck43]

What a gutsy game, I am very proud of him. What a great game for him to step up and become the player we know he is capable of being. Intestinal fortitude.. and lots of it. Great game Rak and thank you.

Against a legit BE big man... wow

Christmas played very well. He stood his ground and then some. 10 boards and a few blocks. The two passes from the top of the key were beautiful. A wonderful game for the freshman to carry in his back pocket.

 

[tbonezone]

nice game by both moose and xman. not a flashy box but they held their own underneath.

 

[Ghost]

I have to agree, I thought Gates would eat us alive, but Rak really held his own. He made some mistakes, but for a Frosh going up against a Senior with a frame like that he certainly can hold his head high. He also made some nice passes and was pretty active all around.

Absolutely the best he has looked this year. That being said, Melo better be coming back!

 

[omniorange]

Should Fab come back, I think Rak has earned some (if not most) of BMK's minutes.

I'd keep Baye around mostly for the press. Otherwise it should be either Fab or Rak in the middle (again, assuming Fab back).

Cheers,
Neil

 

[heresjohnny88]

Rakeem grew up a lot tonight. I'm not going to overreact and say he's "arrived" or anything...but he certainly took a giant step forward in his development. I see big things for him next year. When he plays angry, he can be a force.

 

[otto123]

Should Fab come back, I think Rak has earned some (if not most) of BMK's minutes.

I'd keep Baye around mostly for the press. Otherwise it should be either Fab or Rak in the middle (again, assuming Fab back).

Cheers,
Neil

Agree. What would be the smart thing to do would have Fair start like he has at the 4 and have Xmas come off the bench to be the backup center for Melo.

 

[rstone7727]

Definitely the BMOC this week... A "Diaper Dandy"!

 

[Flacusian]

If Rak and Baye didn't play well tonight, chances are we wouldn't have won tonight. Really encouraging to see the effort they both put out there tonight. Rak is going to be quite a player in the seasons to come.

 

[DNABB5]

What a gutsy game, I am very proud of him. What a great game for him to step up and become the player we know he is capable of being. Intestinal fortitude.. and lots of it. Great game Rak and thank you.

Against a legit BE big man... wow

He had two HUGE assists on Moten like lay-ups to Scoop and Triche when we took control that were just gorgeous. Also a couple offensive rebs and a block in that stretch.

Great line for him. Way to step up after Yancey made him look foolish a few times.

 

[orangefan13]

We need Fab to be the best end of story.

 

[Rocco]

Rak definately deserves a game ball.

 

[otto123]

If Rak and Baye didn't play well tonight, chances are we wouldn't have won tonight. Really encouraging to see the effort they both put out there tonight. Rak is going to be quite a player in the seasons to come.

What the hell did Baye do?

 

[HoustonCuse]

Considering Rak is a freshman and Baye is giving up 60 pounds, they both did an admirable job on Gates. Yes he hurt us underneath but it could have been much much worse. He is a quality, upperclassmen, legit BE big man with incredible size and strength. You have to be proud of both of those guys. Most of Baye's work was in denying the entry pass.

 

[IthacaMatt]

What a gutsy game, I am very proud of him. What a great game for him to step up and become the player we know he is capable of being. Intestinal fortitude.. and lots of it. Great game Rak and thank you.

Against a legit BE big man... wow

Huge improvement over the Notre Dame game (and earlier efforts). He really stepped up and played pretty good defense for most of this game. Very nice job on the boards. Took him a while to get going, and his motor could still be a lot better, but he's improving.

 

[bevosu]

Props to Rak for a great effort. The potential is there.

 

[jekelish]

If only he was 230, I'd be perfectly fine with our outlook this season if Fab doesn't come back.

He's SUCH a fantastic athlete, though, he just needs to learn how to use that at this level.

 

[orangefan13]

Rak has one game thets not jump on this ship its ok without melo.

Hes a 6'8 PF and could make us so much better next to Melo at PF by March.

I am a HUGE MELO fan!! HE can't get back soon enough!

 

[OrangeCrush22]

Rak has one game thets not jump on this ship its ok without melo.

Hes a 6'8 PF and could make us so much better next to Melo at PF by March.

I am a HUGE MELO fan!! HE can't get back soon enough!

Isn't Rakeem 6'9?

 

[bnoro]

Rak has one game thets not jump on this ship its ok without melo.

Hes a 6'8 PF and could make us so much better next to Melo at PF by March.

I am a HUGE MELO fan!! HE can't get back soon enough!

Can we not be fans of every player on the team? Jeez, I'm a Fab fan too but no one is saying Rak should get Fab's minutes. Why are we hating on players on our own team.

 

[DoctorBombay]

What the hell did Baye do?

The combo duo of Baye Mokeem Christmas played great tonite. Baye's length & denial was outstanding- he did VERY well against Gates.

 

[M2MPrinciples]

Tonight, it became clear that there's nothing Christmas can't do as well if not better than Keita, with the possible exception of pressing.

 

[jekelish]

Tonight, it became clear that there's nothing Christmas can't do as well if not better than Keita, with the possible exception of pressing.

Agreed. I love BMK, but he's pretty much Kristof Ongenaet, and there's nothing wrong with that. Christmas has a chance to be a damn good player, and he showed flashes tonight.