Why keita at the end over Rak?

[anomander]

Is Rak better than Baye? Seriously? I really don't see that leap with Xmas like we did with Fab. He's kinda the same dude.

far better. baye almost cost us down the stretch. if rak made the mistakes baye did down the stretch he would have been yanked so quick. were going to need rak to play in big games to come, and will close 4 out of every 5 games. baye is too limited

 

[The General]

far better. baye almost cost us down the stretch. if rak made the mistakes baye did down the stretch he would have been yanked so quick. were going to need rak to play in big games to come, and will close 4 out of every 5 games. baye is too limited

Ok, Baye is limited. Rak's not? What does he do that I'm missing? Granted I was s**thoused much of this game but for me, Rak is not all that impressive.

 

[baggerbob]

far better. baye almost cost us down the stretch. if rak made the mistakes baye did down the stretch he would have been yanked so quick. were going to need rak to play in big games to come, and will close 4 out of every 5 games. baye is too limited

We know some of you people just don't like BMK get over it, Jim has forgotten more about defense then you guys will ever know. BMK is the only one of our 3 centers who talks out there, and you had a freshmen on the wing so experience wise Keita was in there.

 

[anomander]

Ok, Baye is limited. Rak's not? What does he do that I'm missing? Granted I was s**thoused much of this game but for me, Rak is not all that impressive.

not saying he does anything overly impressive, but he can do things baye can't. superior in athleticism and strength. i think he has shown when given big minutes he can perform at a high level, but when he gets yo-yo'd in and out he struggles. all i'm saying is he can make plays baye can't make. you ever notice our rebound goes downhill when baye is in? baye is great for 8-10 minutes, but were almost unbeatable when rak is in there playing big minutes with confidence.

 

[The General]

not saying he does anything overly impressive, but he can do things baye can't. superior in athleticism and strength. i think he has shown when given big minutes he can perform at a high level, but when he gets yo-yo'd in and out he struggles. all i'm saying is he can make plays baye can't make. you ever notice our rebound goes downhill when baye is in? baye is great for 8-10 minutes, but were almost unbeatable when rak is in there playing big minutes with confidence.

I don't necessarily see it. But I'll look for it. I'm pretty disappointed in Xmas. I expected a leap. He has the swagger. But he doesn't back it up. He doesn't intimidate in the paint. He shows flashes and recedes. I'm not sure what to make of him at this point. He reminds me of Terrence Roberts. Looks the part, doesn't deliver. Man, I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

 

[anomander]

I don't necessarily see it. But I'll look for it. I'm pretty disappointed in Xmas. I expected a leap. He has the swagger. But he doesn't back it up. He doesn't intimidate in the paint. He shows flashes and recedes. I'm not sure what to make of him at this point. He reminds me of Terrence Roberts. Looks the part, doesn't deliver. Man, I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

oh man terrence roberts there's a name to make you cringe haha. i guess for the record, and i don't want to seem negative because this was a great win for the team, it's not that i don't like BMK, i do, i just am very high (maybe too high) on Rak.

 

[The General]

I think we all expect bigger things from Rak and DC. But damn are we blessed to have BMK as our back up. He won me over with the heart and effort he showed vs. Sullinger last year. He played his skinny ass off. And got screwed on a couple of blocking calls. Keita to me is in the mold of a Kristoff. I never expected much. But I feel like he gives us everything he's got, every time he steps on the court. Honestly, as raw as DC is, I think he does too. Xmas I think could use a bit of humility.

It also probably makes it easier for me to forgive Keita's foibles. I think you are right that I hold Xmas to a higher standard.

 

[kcsu]

JB new that he was going with BT, MCW, and The Baltimore express on O. He needed D and hustle and K provides that. He turned the O over to those three guys and needed D hustle and rebounding three things that Rak has had a hard with this year

 

[ROCorange]

I think we all expect bigger things from Rak and DC. But damn are we blessed to have BMK as our back up. He won me over with the heart and effort he showed vs. Sullinger last year. He played his skinny ass off. And got screwed on a couple of blocking calls. Keita to me is in the mold of a Kristoff. I never expected much. But I feel like he gives us everything he's got, every time he steps on the court. Honestly, as raw as DC is, I think he does too. Xmas I think could use a bit of humility.

It also probably makes it easier for me to forgive Keita's foibles. I think you are right that I hold Xmas to a higher standard.

For all of his limitations, the kid has more heart and hustle than anybody on the team. Hard not to like him. And as a player who was expected to be an NBA talent, I think its fair to hold Rak to a higher standard.

 

[RF2044]

not saying he does anything overly impressive, but he can do things baye can't. superior in athleticism and strength. i think he has shown when given big minutes he can perform at a high level, but when he gets yo-yo'd in and out he struggles. all i'm saying is he can make plays baye can't make. you ever notice our rebound goes downhill when baye is in? baye is great for 8-10 minutes, but were almost unbeatable when rak is in there playing big minutes with confidence.

I don't think that there is any question that Rak has more raw athletic ability than Keita [who is a pretty good athlete in his own right, especially in terms of his ability to run the floor]. However, Rak is still learning how to harness his physical tools--he's pretty unrefined in terms of basketball skill / instincts at this stage of his developmental curve.

He's also relatively inexperienced. Guy barely played last season, and is playing semi-inconsistent minutes now. It's pretty clear that JB doesn't fully trust him right now, which is why he finds himself benched often at crunch time. That doesn't have anything to do with his long term potential, luckily.

To me, despite having NBA level athleticism, Rak seems like a four-year player. I have a feeling that he could be a pretty darn good player as an upperclassman--maybe something similar to Yancy Gates in terms of how his career unfolds, productivity wise. I just don't think that he's going to put it all together this season like some are hoping.

 

[kcsu]

I don't think that there is any question that Rak has more raw athletic ability than Keita [who is a pretty good athlete in his own right, especially in terms of his ability to run the floor]. However, Rak is still learning how to harness his physical tools--he's pretty unrefined in terms of basketball skill / instincts at this stage of his developmental curve.

He's also relatively inexperienced. Guy barely played last season, and is playing semi-inconsistent minutes now. It's pretty clear that JB doesn't fully trust him right now, which is why he finds himself benched often at crunch time. That doesn't have anything to do with his long term potential, luckily.

To me, despite having NBA level athleticism, Rak seems like a four-year player. I have a feeling that he could be a pretty darn good player as an upperclassman--maybe something similar to Yancy Gates in terms of how his career unfolds, productivity wise. I just don't think that he's going to put it all together this season like some are hoping.

rak plays soft he needs to dev some toughness

 

[OttoMets]

obviously not speaking for JB, but probably bc Rak was on the bench for so long he didn't want to put him in cold. baye gave up 2 crucial offensive rebounds on ft's, which seems to happen way too often. i think JB would have made the move if he hadn't been on the bench for so long. imo baye is way too limited to play long stretches of minutes. just hurts you way too much, but we got away with it today, and that's all that matters

Good points. In a close game, I think Boeheim didn't want to just play through 90 seconds of a rusty Christmas searching for his comfort level after ten minutes on the bench. That's fair.

It would have been nice to have a stronger rebounder out there at a couple points, but Baye did some very positive things. Great positioning on defense for much of the time, and we don't win without his offensive rebound and two made free throws.

 

[AluminNV]

Keita is long and rangy. He plays better D than almost any other big man in America.

Don't get it twisted because he might fumble a rebound or botch a layup. The dude is AWESOME if you look past that stuff.