The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

(04-20-2021 03:19 PM)elon77 Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 10:24 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 09:58 AM)monarx Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 09:13 AM)757ODU Wrote:  What's amazing to me, is that we have actually addressed the needs everyone wants, but it is not being acknowledged. We have a great freshman class coming in, and...wait for it....a JUCO big man!!!! Then we added a really good shooter. This has been a great recruiting year for the program.

Its true. Im pretty happy with the incoming class of recruits. Hopefully they will all work out. Only thing Im bummed about at the moment is Curry (arguably our best player) leaving and our squad underachieving this year.

In what sense do you believe we underachieved this year? In the sense that you expect the results to be better or based on the players on the team? We lost our best player for the year and finished higher than most believed.

I can totally buy expecting us to be better in a general sense but without Wade we probably finished better than we should have expected.

Granted, I wanted us to better better than this year and I believe its reasonable to expect us to be better than this year in a general sense.

In terms of recruiting...on paper, we have improved. Time will tell. We added guards to help replace Curry. We likely improved our shooting. We added a big man to go with the developmental big man we got in last year.

I believe next year will depend on if Wade is healthy and if Hunter makes a jump up into a starting caliber guard. We saw flashes, we didn't see consistentcy.

BUT, UCLA, Baylor, and Gonzaga all had taller players than we do. :)

That list is a whole lot longer than just UCLA, Baylor, and Gonzaga. Several CUSA teams do as well (WKU, North Texas, .... ).

(04-20-2021 06:55 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 03:19 PM)elon77 Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 10:24 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 09:58 AM)monarx Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 09:13 AM)757ODU Wrote:  What's amazing to me, is that we have actually addressed the needs everyone wants, but it is not being acknowledged. We have a great freshman class coming in, and...wait for it....a JUCO big man!!!! Then we added a really good shooter. This has been a great recruiting year for the program.

Its true. Im pretty happy with the incoming class of recruits. Hopefully they will all work out. Only thing Im bummed about at the moment is Curry (arguably our best player) leaving and our squad underachieving this year.

In what sense do you believe we underachieved this year? In the sense that you expect the results to be better or based on the players on the team? We lost our best player for the year and finished higher than most believed.

I can totally buy expecting us to be better in a general sense but without Wade we probably finished better than we should have expected.

Granted, I wanted us to better better than this year and I believe its reasonable to expect us to be better than this year in a general sense.

In terms of recruiting...on paper, we have improved. Time will tell. We added guards to help replace Curry. We likely improved our shooting. We added a big man to go with the developmental big man we got in last year.

I believe next year will depend on if Wade is healthy and if Hunter makes a jump up into a starting caliber guard. We saw flashes, we didn't see consistentcy.

BUT, UCLA, Baylor, and Gonzaga all had taller players than we do. :)

That list is a whole lot longer than just UCLA, Baylor, and Gonzaga. Several CUSA teams do as well (WKU, North Texas, .... ).

Just poking BigBlueBobby.

(04-20-2021 07:06 PM)elon77 Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 06:55 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 03:19 PM)elon77 Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 10:24 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 09:58 AM)monarx Wrote:  Its true. Im pretty happy with the incoming class of recruits. Hopefully they will all work out. Only thing Im bummed about at the moment is Curry (arguably our best player) leaving and our squad underachieving this year.

In what sense do you believe we underachieved this year? In the sense that you expect the results to be better or based on the players on the team? We lost our best player for the year and finished higher than most believed.

I can totally buy expecting us to be better in a general sense but without Wade we probably finished better than we should have expected.

Granted, I wanted us to better better than this year and I believe its reasonable to expect us to be better than this year in a general sense.

In terms of recruiting...on paper, we have improved. Time will tell. We added guards to help replace Curry. We likely improved our shooting. We added a big man to go with the developmental big man we got in last year.

I believe next year will depend on if Wade is healthy and if Hunter makes a jump up into a starting caliber guard. We saw flashes, we didn't see consistentcy.

BUT, UCLA, Baylor, and Gonzaga all had taller players than we do. :)

That list is a whole lot longer than just UCLA, Baylor, and Gonzaga. Several CUSA teams do as well (WKU, North Texas, .... ).

Just poking BigBlueBobby.

(04-20-2021 07:14 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 07:06 PM)elon77 Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 06:55 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 03:19 PM)elon77 Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 10:24 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  In what sense do you believe we underachieved this year? In the sense that you expect the results to be better or based on the players on the team? We lost our best player for the year and finished higher than most believed.

I can totally buy expecting us to be better in a general sense but without Wade we probably finished better than we should have expected.

Granted, I wanted us to better better than this year and I believe its reasonable to expect us to be better than this year in a general sense.

In terms of recruiting...on paper, we have improved. Time will tell. We added guards to help replace Curry. We likely improved our shooting. We added a big man to go with the developmental big man we got in last year.

I believe next year will depend on if Wade is healthy and if Hunter makes a jump up into a starting caliber guard. We saw flashes, we didn't see consistentcy.

BUT, UCLA, Baylor, and Gonzaga all had taller players than we do. :)

That list is a whole lot longer than just UCLA, Baylor, and Gonzaga. Several CUSA teams do as well (WKU, North Texas, .... ).

Just poking BigBlueBobby.

Actually I think the best senario for success next season is if O'Connell grows 4" as some on here predicted! What a great recruiting eye JJ has to be able to select a player based on his growing potential! No wonder we are headed in the right direction.

Do you think JJ will sit on the last scholarship hoping to land a real impact player, regardless of size (sure I hope it is a 6'11" center who can beat people up down low and pop out to the three point line and knock it down), and if that doesn't happen, roll it over to next year?

This isn't the year to sit on anything. If there's a player out there they think will help them, go for it (and it sounds like they are.) And, no, he does not have to be 6-11 and shoot like Jerry West or Kevin Durant.

(04-20-2021 03:19 PM)elon77 Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 10:24 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 09:58 AM)monarx Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 09:13 AM)757ODU Wrote:  What's amazing to me, is that we have actually addressed the needs everyone wants, but it is not being acknowledged. We have a great freshman class coming in, and...wait for it....a JUCO big man!!!! Then we added a really good shooter. This has been a great recruiting year for the program.

Its true. Im pretty happy with the incoming class of recruits. Hopefully they will all work out. Only thing Im bummed about at the moment is Curry (arguably our best player) leaving and our squad underachieving this year.

In what sense do you believe we underachieved this year? In the sense that you expect the results to be better or based on the players on the team? We lost our best player for the year and finished higher than most believed.

I can totally buy expecting us to be better in a general sense but without Wade we probably finished better than we should have expected.

Granted, I wanted us to better better than this year and I believe its reasonable to expect us to be better than this year in a general sense.

In terms of recruiting...on paper, we have improved. Time will tell. We added guards to help replace Curry. We likely improved our shooting. We added a big man to go with the developmental big man we got in last year.

I believe next year will depend on if Wade is healthy and if Hunter makes a jump up into a starting caliber guard. We saw flashes, we didn't see consistentcy.

BUT, UCLA, Baylor, and Gonzaga all had taller players than we do. :)

Those 7 footers looked good on the bench too!

(04-21-2021 09:02 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 03:19 PM)elon77 Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 10:24 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 09:58 AM)monarx Wrote:  

(04-20-2021 09:13 AM)757ODU Wrote:  What's amazing to me, is that we have actually addressed the needs everyone wants, but it is not being acknowledged. We have a great freshman class coming in, and...wait for it....a JUCO big man!!!! Then we added a really good shooter. This has been a great recruiting year for the program.

Its true. Im pretty happy with the incoming class of recruits. Hopefully they will all work out. Only thing Im bummed about at the moment is Curry (arguably our best player) leaving and our squad underachieving this year.

In what sense do you believe we underachieved this year? In the sense that you expect the results to be better or based on the players on the team? We lost our best player for the year and finished higher than most believed.

I can totally buy expecting us to be better in a general sense but without Wade we probably finished better than we should have expected.

Granted, I wanted us to better better than this year and I believe its reasonable to expect us to be better than this year in a general sense.

In terms of recruiting...on paper, we have improved. Time will tell. We added guards to help replace Curry. We likely improved our shooting. We added a big man to go with the developmental big man we got in last year.

I believe next year will depend on if Wade is healthy and if Hunter makes a jump up into a starting caliber guard. We saw flashes, we didn't see consistentcy.

BUT, UCLA, Baylor, and Gonzaga all had taller players than we do. :)

Those 7 footers looked good on the bench too!

LOL. I guess ODU's biggest player - Shanu - was on the bench because he was too tall.

WKU (6'-11" Bassey) and North Texas (6'-10" Simmons) - two teams that finished ahead of ODU last season - coincidentally had bigger post players. LA Tech (6'-7", 275 LBS Lofton) does as well, and they also finished ahead of ODU.

We all know that being bigger - taller and/or heavier - in the post doesn't guarantee the player will necessarily be better because of that, but all other things being equal it is often a difference maker. Taken from an article -

"There’s an old saying in basketball that I heard a lot when Jeff Van Gundy took the New York Knicks to the NBA Finals and their center Patrick Ewing was injured along the way. I was at MSG when the much shorter Knicks team lost to the San Antonio Spurs and their two seven-footers, Tim Duncan and David Robinson. That saying is “you can’t coach height.” Van Gundy could teach the Knicks a lot of things, but all the coaching skills in the world couldn’t make his team taller."

link: https://brianalvey.com/2010/05/17/you-ca...ch-height/

I don't think that anyone would argue against the importance of size in 1999.

(04-21-2021 10:47 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  I don't think that anyone would argue against the importance of size in 1999.

So your view is that it is just a strange occurrence that the most successful teams in 2021 also had size?

Most if not all of the teams that finished ahead of ODU in CUSA (for example) had among other things - better size.

And just to be clear before you respond, size doesn't just mean height. It also includes bigger bodied players. For example Kenny Lofton (LA Tech) and Austin Trice (ODU) both played center and both were listed as 6'-7". There is no arguing that Lofton is the bigger player (for example).

Simmons from NT averaged 10 pts, 6 rebounds. Kalu averaged 10 pts, 7 rebounds. North Texas finished higher than ODU because they had the 2nd best player in the conference and more talent, WKU finished higher because they had the best player in the conference and more talent. It's not that hard folks. 1 inch and/or 30 pounds doesn't affect jack if you can't put the ball in the hoop or have enough players that can shoot.

If you want to distill what the team needs into one thing it is clearly 3 PT shooting. They finished last in the league in shooting percentage from 3 (28.8%...PUKE), last in 3 pointers made and attempted. The entire sport has moved behind the 3 pt line and this team hasn't caught up. They averaged <5 3's a game made. Pull that out to the national level and their 3 PT PCT was 328th in the nation out of 357 teams.

They lost the last two games by 3 and 6 respectively. They made 6 and 2 3s while the teams they played made 8 and 9....You get even from the 3 pt line you either win or put yourself in a position to win.

(04-21-2021 12:32 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(04-21-2021 10:47 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  I don't think that anyone would argue against the importance of size in 1999.

So your view is that it is just a strange occurrence that the most successful teams in 2021 also had size?

Most if not all of the teams that finished ahead of ODU in CUSA (for example) had among other things - better size.

And just to be clear before you respond, size doesn't just mean height. It also includes bigger bodied players. For example Kenny Lofton (LA Tech) and Austin Trice (ODU) both played center and both were listed as 6'-7". There is no arguing that Lofton is the bigger player (for example).

Thats a silly argument.

MTSU had 2 6-10 players, a 6-9 player, and a 6-8 player.
Charlotte had a 6-10 255 and a 6-9 240
Rice had 6-10, multiple 6-9, and 6-8 players.


Its such a waste of time to argue that "better teams had bigger players." Some good teams has big players and some good teams has small players.

Baylor won the title with 4 guards a a 6-5 "center" playing the majority of the minutes.

(04-21-2021 12:35 PM)Old Dom Swag Wrote:  Simmons from NT averaged 10 pts, 6 rebounds. Kalu averaged 10 pts, 7 rebounds. North Texas finished higher than ODU because they had the 2nd best player in the conference and more talent, WKU finished higher because they had the best player in the conference and more talent. It's not that hard folks. 1 inch and/or 30 pounds doesn't affect jack if you can't put the ball in the hoop or have enough players that can shoot.

If you want to distill what the team needs into one thing it is clearly 3 PT shooting. They finished last in the league in shooting percentage from 3 (28.8%...PUKE), last in 3 pointers made and attempted. The entire sport has moved behind the 3 pt line and this team hasn't caught up. They averaged <5 3's a game made. Pull that out to the national level and their 3 PT PCT was 328th in the nation out of 357 teams.

They lost the last two games by 3 and 6 respectively. They made 6 and 2 3s while the teams they played made 8 and 9....You get even from the 3 pt line you either win or put yourself in a position to win.

That is exactly right. Our weakness had nothing to do with size. No one could reasonable argue otherwise...look at stats in the paint, rebounding, defending the rim, etc.

Our team shot poorly. If we want to improve, we have to improve our shooting while maintaining the same level of defense/rebounding.

(04-21-2021 12:35 PM)Old Dom Swag Wrote:  Simmons from NT averaged 10 pts, 6 rebounds. Kalu averaged 10 pts, 7 rebounds. North Texas finished higher than ODU because they had the 2nd best player in the conference and more talent, WKU finished higher because they had the best player in the conference and more talent. It's not that hard folks. 1 inch and/or 30 pounds doesn't affect jack if you can't put the ball in the hoop or have enough players that can shoot.

If you want to distill what the team needs into one thing it is clearly 3 PT shooting. They finished last in the league in shooting percentage from 3 (28.8%...PUKE), last in 3 pointers made and attempted. The entire sport has moved behind the 3 pt line and this team hasn't caught up. They averaged <5 3's a game made. Pull that out to the national level and their 3 PT PCT was 328th in the nation out of 357 teams.

They lost the last two games by 3 and 6 respectively. They made 6 and 2 3s while the teams they played made 8 and 9....You get even from the 3 pt line you either win or put yourself in a position to win.

Well duh! Obviously players have to have skill too, otherwise ODU's 6'-10" guy would have played a lot more than he did - which was basically not at all. The stats of ODU's and North Texas's centers is all the more telling if you just listen to your own words .... North Texas had the 2nd best player in the conference, and more talent overall than ODU did, and their center still put up the same scoring and rebounding stats as did ODU's center. Lofton might not have 1 inch on Trice or Kalu, but he has more like 40 pounds on them and he can put the ball in the hoop!

We are basically talking about the center position here. It isn't necessary to have one that is a constant or even occasional 3 point threat. Of course the team as a whole does need to have a 3 point presence in today's game and ODU has been poor at that as well. I do agree on one thing though, it's not that hard folks.

(04-21-2021 12:58 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(04-21-2021 12:32 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(04-21-2021 10:47 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  I don't think that anyone would argue against the importance of size in 1999.

So your view is that it is just a strange occurrence that the most successful teams in 2021 also had size?

Most if not all of the teams that finished ahead of ODU in CUSA (for example) had among other things - better size.

And just to be clear before you respond, size doesn't just mean height. It also includes bigger bodied players. For example Kenny Lofton (LA Tech) and Austin Trice (ODU) both played center and both were listed as 6'-7". There is no arguing that Lofton is the bigger player (for example).

Thats a silly argument.

MTSU had 2 6-10 players, a 6-9 player, and a 6-8 player.
Charlotte had a 6-10 255 and a 6-9 240
Rice had 6-10, multiple 6-9, and 6-8 players.


Its such a waste of time to argue that "better teams had bigger players." Some good teams has big players and some good teams has small players.

Baylor won the title with 4 guards a a 6-5 "center" playing the majority of the minutes.

Giles that's such a lame waste of your time to list some bigger players on teams that did worse than ODU did. ODU also had a bigger player on its team who didn't help them win either, so what. If you are going to do that then be honest enough to list worse teams that had similar sized lineups as ODU did as well. Lord knows there are dozens of them and they are easy to find.

Talent AND size is the combination to be most successful. For some strange reason you consistently argue against size every year. Jeff has publicly stated in recent seasons that the team needed to get bigger in the post. Those same seasons you argued again and again that the team had enough size in the post. It's Jeff's team and Jeff's style of play, not Giles's team and Giles's style of play.

Baylor's starting 5 (all very highly skilled players) -

Butler 6'-3"
Mitchell 6'-2"
Teague 6'-4"
Thamba 6'-10" (size)
Vital 6'-5", 250 LBS (size)

(04-21-2021 01:15 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(04-21-2021 12:58 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(04-21-2021 12:32 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(04-21-2021 10:47 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  I don't think that anyone would argue against the importance of size in 1999.

So your view is that it is just a strange occurrence that the most successful teams in 2021 also had size?

Most if not all of the teams that finished ahead of ODU in CUSA (for example) had among other things - better size.

And just to be clear before you respond, size doesn't just mean height. It also includes bigger bodied players. For example Kenny Lofton (LA Tech) and Austin Trice (ODU) both played center and both were listed as 6'-7". There is no arguing that Lofton is the bigger player (for example).

Thats a silly argument.

MTSU had 2 6-10 players, a 6-9 player, and a 6-8 player.
Charlotte had a 6-10 255 and a 6-9 240
Rice had 6-10, multiple 6-9, and 6-8 players.


Its such a waste of time to argue that "better teams had bigger players." Some good teams has big players and some good teams has small players.

Baylor won the title with 4 guards a a 6-5 "center" playing the majority of the minutes.

Giles that's such a lame waste of your time to list some bigger players on teams that did worse than ODU did. ODU also had a bigger player on its team who didn't help them win either, so what. If you are going to do that then be honest enough to list worse teams that had similar sized lineups as ODU did as well. Lord knows there are dozens of them and they are easy to find.

Talent AND size is the combination to be most successful. For some strange reason you consistently argue against size every year. Jeff has publicly stated in recent seasons that the team needed to get bigger in the post. Those same seasons you argued again and again that the team had enough size in the post. It's Jeff's team and Jeff's style of play, not Giles's team and Giles's style of play.

Baylor's starting 5 (all very highly skilled players) -

Butler 6'-3"- 30 minutes
Mitchell 6'-2" 33 minutes
Teague 6'-4" 32 minutes
Thamba 6'-10" (size) 19 minutes
Vital 6'-5", 250 LBS (size) 23 minutes

Flagler 6-3 180 23 minutes

Baylor didn't win because they had more size than their opponents. There is also no correlation to bigger teams being more successful.

Our center position averaged 19.2 points, 13 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game. Additionally as a more apt comparison, they averaged 55 points, 37 rebounds, and 6.1 blocks per 100 possessions (which they combined for almost exactly 40 mins per game)

Anyone know if our center position played well. LOL>

(04-21-2021 01:22 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(04-21-2021 01:15 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(04-21-2021 12:58 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(04-21-2021 12:32 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(04-21-2021 10:47 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  I don't think that anyone would argue against the importance of size in 1999.

So your view is that it is just a strange occurrence that the most successful teams in 2021 also had size?

Most if not all of the teams that finished ahead of ODU in CUSA (for example) had among other things - better size.

And just to be clear before you respond, size doesn't just mean height. It also includes bigger bodied players. For example Kenny Lofton (LA Tech) and Austin Trice (ODU) both played center and both were listed as 6'-7". There is no arguing that Lofton is the bigger player (for example).

Thats a silly argument.

MTSU had 2 6-10 players, a 6-9 player, and a 6-8 player.
Charlotte had a 6-10 255 and a 6-9 240
Rice had 6-10, multiple 6-9, and 6-8 players.


Its such a waste of time to argue that "better teams had bigger players." Some good teams has big players and some good teams has small players.

Baylor won the title with 4 guards a a 6-5 "center" playing the majority of the minutes.

Giles that's such a lame waste of your time to list some bigger players on teams that did worse than ODU did. ODU also had a bigger player on its team who didn't help them win either, so what. If you are going to do that then be honest enough to list worse teams that had similar sized lineups as ODU did as well. Lord knows there are dozens of them and they are easy to find.

Talent AND size is the combination to be most successful. For some strange reason you consistently argue against size every year. Jeff has publicly stated in recent seasons that the team needed to get bigger in the post. Those same seasons you argued again and again that the team had enough size in the post. It's Jeff's team and Jeff's style of play, not Giles's team and Giles's style of play.

Baylor's starting 5 (all very highly skilled players) -

Butler 6'-3"- 30 minutes
Mitchell 6'-2" 33 minutes
Teague 6'-4" 32 minutes
Thamba 6'-10" (size) 19 minutes
Vital 6'-5", 250 LBS (size) 23 minutes

Flagler 6-3 180 23 minutes

Baylor didn't win because they had more size than their opponents. There is also no correlation to bigger teams being more successful.

Our center position averaged 19.2 points, 13 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game. Additionally as a more apt comparison, they averaged 55 points, 37 rebounds, and 6.1 blocks per 100 possessions (which they combined for almost exactly 40 mins per game)

Anyone know if our center position played well. LOL>

This is a recruiting thread, not a comparison of size and positions! I want to see names (in or out).

15 years ago, I was all in on the idea that you needed to play inside-out and that a back to the basket big guy was the key to success.

Now, screw that. Give me a couple of guys that can stroke it from deep and I'll take my chances. Sure, you need guys that can rebound their position, but I don't think that necessarily means he has to be 6'10". Honestly, I think Trice and Kalu give us enough down low to compete. We just need guys that can actually shoot from outside.

(04-21-2021 01:59 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(04-21-2021 01:22 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(04-21-2021 01:15 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  

(04-21-2021 12:58 PM)Gilesfan Wrote:  

(04-21-2021 12:32 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  So your view is that it is just a strange occurrence that the most successful teams in 2021 also had size?

Most if not all of the teams that finished ahead of ODU in CUSA (for example) had among other things - better size.

And just to be clear before you respond, size doesn't just mean height. It also includes bigger bodied players. For example Kenny Lofton (LA Tech) and Austin Trice (ODU) both played center and both were listed as 6'-7". There is no arguing that Lofton is the bigger player (for example).

Thats a silly argument.

MTSU had 2 6-10 players, a 6-9 player, and a 6-8 player.
Charlotte had a 6-10 255 and a 6-9 240
Rice had 6-10, multiple 6-9, and 6-8 players.


Its such a waste of time to argue that "better teams had bigger players." Some good teams has big players and some good teams has small players.

Baylor won the title with 4 guards a a 6-5 "center" playing the majority of the minutes.

Giles that's such a lame waste of your time to list some bigger players on teams that did worse than ODU did. ODU also had a bigger player on its team who didn't help them win either, so what. If you are going to do that then be honest enough to list worse teams that had similar sized lineups as ODU did as well. Lord knows there are dozens of them and they are easy to find.

Talent AND size is the combination to be most successful. For some strange reason you consistently argue against size every year. Jeff has publicly stated in recent seasons that the team needed to get bigger in the post. Those same seasons you argued again and again that the team had enough size in the post. It's Jeff's team and Jeff's style of play, not Giles's team and Giles's style of play.

Baylor's starting 5 (all very highly skilled players) -

Butler 6'-3"- 30 minutes
Mitchell 6'-2" 33 minutes
Teague 6'-4" 32 minutes
Thamba 6'-10" (size) 19 minutes
Vital 6'-5", 250 LBS (size) 23 minutes

Flagler 6-3 180 23 minutes

Baylor didn't win because they had more size than their opponents. There is also no correlation to bigger teams being more successful.

Our center position averaged 19.2 points, 13 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game. Additionally as a more apt comparison, they averaged 55 points, 37 rebounds, and 6.1 blocks per 100 possessions (which they combined for almost exactly 40 mins per game)

Anyone know if our center position played well. LOL>

They were so awesome that they led the team to a 5th-6th place finish in a one bid league even while having an all conference level guard on the team. The sole post season conference award between the two of them was a 6th man award. They were both decent and ODU has had worse, but ODU has also had much much better, and there is no real reason they shouldn't today.

Anyone disputing that. LOL>

So 1 position out of 5 cant be good because the team wasn't good?

(04-21-2021 02:04 PM)ODUCoach Wrote:  15 years ago, I was all in on the idea that you needed to play inside-out and that a back to the basket big guy was the key to success.

Now, screw that. Give me a couple of guys that can stroke it from deep and I'll take my chances. Sure, you need guys that can rebound their position, but I don't think that necessarily means he has to be 6'10". Honestly, I think Trice and Kalu give us enough down low to compete. We just need guys that can actually shoot from outside.

Yes because there is so much more to being a "big" player than height and weight.

Rebounding is more than just height/weight...as is defending. What are the wingspans? What is the leaping ability? How is their timing? Can they guard pick and rolls? Aaron Carver was...what 6-5...and could defend and rebound at the 4 spot with anyone. Brandan Stith was an excellent rebounder at 6-7 (I've heard people say his wingspan was close to 7 feet).

Its clear as day that we have enough down low assuming Trice/Kalu return this upcoming season. That was proven in the numbers. On top of that, there are 2 more pieces that will be available (another year from Shannu and Morris).

This team will go as far as their guards will take them. They will not be dominated underneath.