And it begins...

[deputy dawg]

 

[scottwildcat]

Well that was a fun read. I'm all for MIR being on Doug's staff here in a few years.

[The Whale]

How bad would it be to get a decent replacement for this class and leave the other scholarship open for a '14 recruit?

Fred Brown approves of this strategy

Dax would get his open scholarship talking point back

[sys]

Dax would get his open scholarship talking point back

kstate had an open scholarship this year; dax wasn't interested.

[PIPE]

DJamer will be a major contributor to this team down the road.  The guy oozes energy, toughness, and at times has shown some good moves around the rim.....How many times did he come in off the bench and provide that spark to the team?  He can actually dunk the bball, which I still wonder if Thomas "aint got no verticle and have to make a trillion pump fakes" Gibson can.........

Still wonder why he did not play in the loss to Lasalle, as Gibson was missing point blank layups and fumbling balls out of bounds.........

On to Diaz..........the guy showed "flashes" of offenses skill. I think what was holding him back was his inability to understand that thing called "DEFENSE"...he looked totally lost on defense and was like, "crap, how came nobody told me we were playing man-to-man".....

I wish him well, but there has to be someone better out there.

[Rage Against the McKee]

DJamer will be a major contributor to this team down the road.  The guy oozes energy, toughness, and at times has shown some good moves around the rim.....How many times did he come in off the bench and provide that spark to the team?  He can actually dunk the bball, which I still wonder if Thomas "aint got no verticle and have to make a trillion pump fakes" Gibson can.........

Still wonder why he did not play in the loss to Lasalle, as Gibson was missing point blank layups and fumbling balls out of bounds.........

On to Diaz..........the guy showed "flashes" of offenses skill. I think what was holding him back was his inability to understand that thing called "DEFENSE"...he looked totally lost on defense and was like, "crap, how came nobody told me we were playing man-to-man".....

I wish him well, but there has to be someone better out there.

Defense is easy. Anybody can do it. It just takes effort and coaching.

[catzacker]

Meh on Diaz. 

[kitten_mittons]

Do you guys remember all the stud bigs that frank recruited?   

CK and JO were pretty good. Without anyone bigger than Gipson or DJamer, the ceiling is losing to LaSalle in the first round of the tournament. UMKC would feel pretty good matching up with our bigs right now.

we didn't lose to lasalle because of our 4/5s or lack thereof.

No, but we almost won when we used our only good 5 in spite of the poor coaching. Also, the same people are coaching the team next season, and they won't have a JO to bail them out when the shooters can't get open.

[kitten_mittons]

Thomas "aint got no verticle and have to make a trillion pump fakes" Gibson

[CNS]

Those that don't see Gip's value are lbbiq and should be ignored.

[Rage Against the McKee]

Those that don't see Gip's value are lbbiq and should be ignored.

Yeah, pretty much.

[MakeItRain]

that's coaching, not players

for 2012-13 it was, sure. If we don't have at least one rim protector next season then it won't be on in game coaching, can't game plan what you don't have.

Ole Miss lost to LaSalle because they didn't have quality bigs to exploit the weaknesses of the Explorers.

[MakeItRain]

Those that don't see Gip's value are lbbiq and should be ignored.

Yeah, pretty much.

That post didn't even need to be responded to, the guy called him "Gibson" FFS.

[PIPE]

Those that don't see Gip's value are lbbiq and should be ignored.

I think you are referring to me, which is fine.....I never said Gibson had no value, he has tremendous value to this team.  I was pointing out his weaknesses.

I guess those that don't see DJamer's value are lbbiq and should be ignored

And no, I am not DJamer

[kso_FAN]

that's coaching, not players

for 2012-13 it was, sure. If we don't have at least one rim protector next season then it won't be on in game coaching, can't game plan what you don't have.

Ole Miss lost to LaSalle because they didn't have quality bigs to exploit the weaknesses of the Explorers.

Murphy Holloway is a good player, 2nd team All SEC.

The opening half was really bad, IMHO it started with a lack of perimeter defense leading to La Salle's wide open looks, which later opened up the penetration. JO should have played more, but he did get 11 first half minutes, so La Salle did plenty of damage when he was in the game as well. And those that say we didn't get open shots are flat wrong, we had a ton of open looks in the first half and didn't hit anything.

We will have to change our defensive philosophy next year without a true rim protector, at least one like JO. But we can still play solid defense with the guys we have, its just going to look different and probably not force quite as many TOs. The keys will be bringing opponents' eFG% down and improving on defensive RB%.

And on Gip; he'll be one of the Top 5 efficient scorers (points per 100) returning in the Big 12 next year.

[CNS]

Those that don't see Gip's value are lbbiq and should be ignored.

I think you are referring to me, which is fine.....I never said Gibson had no value, he has tremendous value to this team.  I was pointing out his weaknesses.

I guess those that don't see DJamer's value are lbbiq and should be ignored

And no, I am not DJamer

I am sure some midmajor somewhere will prove to not be lbbiq and pick up Diaz. 

I guess, a good measure of this will be who takes a flyer on him. 

[MakeItRain]

that's coaching, not players

for 2012-13 it was, sure. If we don't have at least one rim protector next season then it won't be on in game coaching, can't game plan what you don't have.

Ole Miss lost to LaSalle because they didn't have quality bigs to exploit the weaknesses of the Explorers.

Murphy Holloway is a good player, 2nd team All SEC.

The opening half was really bad, IMHO it started with a lack of perimeter defense leading to La Salle's wide open looks, which later opened up the penetration. JO should have played more, but he did get 11 first half minutes, so La Salle did plenty of damage when he was in the game as well. And those that say we didn't get open shots are flat wrong, we had a ton of open looks in the first half and didn't hit anything.

We will have to change our defensive philosophy next year without a true rim protector, at least one like JO. But we can still play solid defense with the guys we have, its just going to look different and probably not force quite as many TOs. The keys will be bringing opponents' eFG% down and improving on defensive RB%.

And on Gip; he'll be one of the Top 5 efficient scorers (points per 100) returning in the Big 12 next year.

Holloway is a 6'6" "big" with no defensive presence at all. He had 25 blocks in 1131 minutes played. If my math is right that is less than 1 block every 40 minutes. You can do the blocks per 100 possessions but I believe his number would be worse than all of the bigs on our roster for 12-13, I know his blocks per 40 minutes would be.

[kitten_mittons]

I like Gip and am glad he is on our team, but that doesn't make him 6'10"

[KanSt43]

Those that don't see Gip's value are lbbiq and should be ignored.

Yeah, pretty much.

Out of control, can't jump, no right hand, folds against ANY player with height, fouls constantly, not a great finisher, etc....

But I still like him, because he's strong, tough, and someone every team needs. Just not at Big 12 starter IMO. But I know nothing, so carry on.

[kso_FAN]

Holloway is a 6'6" "big" with no defensive presence at all. He had 25 blocks in 1131 minutes played. If my math is right that is less than 1 block every 40 minutes. You can do the blocks per 100 possessions but I believe his number would be worse than all of the bigs on our roster for 12-13, I know his blocks per 40 minutes would be.

Fair enough. I didn't realize your point on Ole Miss was just about their defense. Murphy is a very good undersized boarder and scorer.

However, Ole Miss overall was actually a pretty good team defensively in the paint, block% of .136 was Top 20 in the nation, and Buckner (their other big) was a great shot blocker. But they did end up losing to La Salle because of an overall poor defensive performance, similar to us.

[michigancat]

I think our defense is going to be god-rough ridin'-awful next year.

[Mr Bread]

I think our defense is going to be god-rough ridin'-awful next year.

Even oscar's worst teams are decent defensively.  I think.

[catzacker]

I think our defense is going to be god-rough ridin'-awful next year.

True, but I don't think diaz on the roster makes any difference at all.

[CNS]

Those that don't see Gip's value are lbbiq and should be ignored.

Yeah, pretty much.

Out of control, can't jump, no right hand, folds against ANY player with height, fouls constantly, not a great finisher, etc....

But I still like him, because he's strong, tough, and someone every team needs. Just not at Big 12 starter IMO. But I know nothing, so carry on.

Starts off poorly when you say that Gip is out of control.  His control has grown leaps and bounds.  He has handles for a big.  He can control the ball in the air, alter it, then put it back up off a miss and has done so this season well.  He plays a very large amt of minutes for the type of body he has in a system that doesn't favor his build and weight and still does so without fouling out due to exhaustion.    He isn't an enforcer like you may be indicating with your "strong, tough...." comment.

[kso_FAN]

I think our defense is going to be god-rough ridin'-awful next year.

Even oscar's worst teams are decent defensively.  I think.

Yeah, this year was his worst defense since S. Illinois.