SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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Everybody is talking about next year’s team, which figures to be heavily impacted by no less than six newcomers. Improvement by returning players will probably be at least as important, (I think DaJuan Coleman, Jerami Grant and Trevor Cooney will be significant factors next year). But I decided to take a good look at the six new guys and see what I could determine by viewing their highlights on U-Tube. Some of these have been posted before, I’m sure but this is the first time I’ve decided to extensively comment on them. I’m not putting this on the recruiting Board because we’ve already recruited these guys.
Our board only lets a poster link one highlight tape per post so I’m going to make a separate post on each guy. If you look to the right hand column, (on U-Tube) there may be other highlight posts on the same player. Don’t forget that you can make the video full screen by clicking in the box in the lower right hand corner of the viewing screen.
I’m a sucker for a good highlight tape, (see Mike Jones in football and Deshonte Riley in basketball), so I need to remember and to stress that these highlights are against high school competition, (and they only show the good plays). These guys may not be ready to play like this against college competition when they get here.
Michael Gbinije
(This is Volume 1- look to the right for Volumes 2- 6)
Again, it’s high school completion, but I see everything I’d want to see in a basketball player here:
1) Ball-handling, (he’s 6-7 but has a relatively low dribble like Billy Owens). He can bring the ball up-court and initiate the offense. He can drive to the basket. He can use the dribble to set up his shot. If he’s isolated on one defender that, (high school), guy is toast.
2) Shooting. I saw three pointers going down. The form looked good and he wasn’t taking a tour of the rim. I saw pull-up jumpers. I saw some spectacular dunks. He finishes with either hand. He has an acrobat’s sense of balance. He uses the glass. He can go coast-to-coast. He can get fouled and still score.
3) Rebounding. Highlight tapes don’t show too many defensive rebounds but this Mike likes to go to the offensive boards, especially for dunks. He seems to have a knack for timing his moves to the basket.
4) Passing. He sees the whole court and can pass through (high school) traffic to open guys. He can at either end of an alley-oop.
5) Defense. There were several blocks, (“G” as I’ve decided to call him, has some hops), and steals. He shows good anticipation. In Volume 5, he blocks a jump shot on the perimeter, (as we’ve been doing in the tournament) but turns it not a steal and dunk. He also blocks a shot from behind. He’ll be a great “help” defender like Wes Johnson was.
What’s not to like? He seems to have a good motor and high basketball IQ. He’s not skinny but not bulky either. I can’t tell if he has MCW’s freakish arm span but he’s no alligator. He looks like a star. (That public address guy must have gotten sick of shouting “MICHAEL GBINIJE” And a player who could play multiple positions, including point guard. If we’d had him against Michigan, we’d have won. Easily. (I think: Michigan is not a high school team.)
Our board only lets a poster link one highlight tape per post so I’m going to make a separate post on each guy. If you look to the right hand column, (on U-Tube) there may be other highlight posts on the same player. Don’t forget that you can make the video full screen by clicking in the box in the lower right hand corner of the viewing screen.
I’m a sucker for a good highlight tape, (see Mike Jones in football and Deshonte Riley in basketball), so I need to remember and to stress that these highlights are against high school competition, (and they only show the good plays). These guys may not be ready to play like this against college competition when they get here.
Michael Gbinije
(This is Volume 1- look to the right for Volumes 2- 6)
Again, it’s high school completion, but I see everything I’d want to see in a basketball player here:
1) Ball-handling, (he’s 6-7 but has a relatively low dribble like Billy Owens). He can bring the ball up-court and initiate the offense. He can drive to the basket. He can use the dribble to set up his shot. If he’s isolated on one defender that, (high school), guy is toast.
2) Shooting. I saw three pointers going down. The form looked good and he wasn’t taking a tour of the rim. I saw pull-up jumpers. I saw some spectacular dunks. He finishes with either hand. He has an acrobat’s sense of balance. He uses the glass. He can go coast-to-coast. He can get fouled and still score.
3) Rebounding. Highlight tapes don’t show too many defensive rebounds but this Mike likes to go to the offensive boards, especially for dunks. He seems to have a knack for timing his moves to the basket.
4) Passing. He sees the whole court and can pass through (high school) traffic to open guys. He can at either end of an alley-oop.
5) Defense. There were several blocks, (“G” as I’ve decided to call him, has some hops), and steals. He shows good anticipation. In Volume 5, he blocks a jump shot on the perimeter, (as we’ve been doing in the tournament) but turns it not a steal and dunk. He also blocks a shot from behind. He’ll be a great “help” defender like Wes Johnson was.
What’s not to like? He seems to have a good motor and high basketball IQ. He’s not skinny but not bulky either. I can’t tell if he has MCW’s freakish arm span but he’s no alligator. He looks like a star. (That public address guy must have gotten sick of shouting “MICHAEL GBINIJE” And a player who could play multiple positions, including point guard. If we’d had him against Michigan, we’d have won. Easily. (I think: Michigan is not a high school team.)
