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Nice article came out yesterday about college basketball big men. It's relevant to ODU since in recent years they have been notably undersized.

EDIT: Changed link to one that opens free of charge.

https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/...%3A45%20PM

This is behind a paywall. I was interested to see if there was a emphasis on college big men and how it relates to the NBA.

Here are the PF or C prospects that are projected to be drafted in the first round:

Wembanyama- More of a mobile big man/hope that he becomes a Giannis type player

Jarace Walker- more of a modern power forward

Taylor Hendricks- more of a modern power forward

GG Jackson- more of a modern power forward

Kyle Flipowski- the most similar to a traditional center in the draft

The entire first round is filled with guys that are 6-6 to 6-8 and mobile that can shoot the 3 and drive the floor. Flipowski might be the only guy that consistently does any posting up.

So I went back and looked at who the best centers in college basketball are:
Bona- UCLA
Ware- Oregon (projected late first/early 2nd) Very little minutes
Lively- Role player, early 2nd round?
Edey- late 2nd or UDFA
Omoruyi- ?
Oumar Ballo – 2nd?
Oscar Tshiebwe – 6-9 – Second?
Armando Bacot – 6-9 – Second?
Hunter Dickenson – 7-1 – Undrafted
Jonathan Tchamwa.T… – 6-8 – ?
Nfaly Dante – 7-0 – ?


Traditional college big men are not valued by the NBA at all. I wonder if it will flip to where most become 4 year college players. The NBA is looking for length, athleticism, and shooting range.

ODU has no rim protector defensively and hasn't for several years.

ODU constantly doubles inside when the opponent passes the ball to their post player. A huge reason for that is because ODU is typically undersized down low, and it presents a good post matchup for the other team. The post doubling also leaves open shooters at the 3-point arc.

ODU plays mostly a half court game at both ends of the court. They don't get lots of easy baskets from steals by playing a full court press.

ODU is consistently among the worst 3-point shooting teams in college basketball. With the lack of a strong offensive post presence, they often have long scoring droughts when they aren't hitting from outside (again), and the other team cuts off their drives.

What you've described is a team that can effectively spread the court, drive to the basket with 4 or 5 players, and basically have all 5 players hit 3-point shots effectively. Under our current coach all I can say is keep dreaming of that ever happening because he's given us no indication that it ever will, or that he's even wanting it to.

The best we can reasonably hope for is that either we have a different coach next season, or Jeff gets some bigger players that are better suited to play the style of play that his teams typically end up playing - hard nosed, physical half court defense and slow, deliberate half court offense with poor to average outside shooting.

Sorry that article ended up being behind a paywall. I wouldn't have posted it had I known that it was. Somehow the link that led me to it allowed me to read it for free.

(02-18-2023 02:58 PM)ODU BBALL Wrote:  ODU has no rim protector defensively and hasn't for several years.

ODU constantly doubles inside when the opponent passes the ball to their post player. A huge reason for that is because ODU is typically undersized down low, and it presents a good post matchup for the other team. The post doubling also leaves open shooters at the 3-point arc.

ODU plays mostly a half court game at both ends of the court. They don't get lots of easy baskets from steals by playing a full court press.

ODU is consistently among the worst 3-point shooting teams in college basketball. With the lack of a strong offensive post presence, they often have long scoring droughts when they aren't hitting from outside (again), and the other team cuts off their drives.

What you've described is a team that can effectively spread the court, drive to the basket with 4 or 5 players, and basically have all 5 players hit 3-point shots effectively. Under our current coach all I can say is keep dreaming of that ever happening because he's given us no indication that it ever will, or that he's even wanting it to.

The best we can reasonably hope for is that either we have a different coach next season, or Jeff gets some bigger players that are better suited to play the style of play that his teams typically end up playing - hard nosed, physical half court defense and slow, deliberate half court offense with poor to average outside shooting.

Sorry that article ended up being behind a paywall. I wouldn't have posted it had I known that it was. Somehow the link that led me to it allowed me to read it for free.

EDIT: I just Googled "College basketball undergoing a big man revival" and got a free page to the following link that had the exact same article as the USA Today article. Hopefully this one will open for free viewing.

https://abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory/...%3A45%20PM

This is good for traditional bigs. They can get some NIL money over a 4 year college career that helps since most are 2nd rounders or undrafted fighting overseas or in the G league.

(02-18-2023 03:55 PM)Stat Geek Wrote:  This is good for traditional bigs. They can get some NIL money over a 4 year college career that helps since most are 2nd rounders or undrafted fighting overseas or in the G league.

The article is regarding college basketball, not the transition of centers going from college to the NBA.

(02-18-2023 03:55 PM)Stat Geek Wrote:  This is good for traditional bigs. They can get some NIL money over a 4 year college career that helps since most are 2nd rounders or undrafted fighting overseas or in the G league.

I am not sure what the NBA has to do with the discussion. The only relevance I can see is that the NBA's lack of interest in traditional back to the basket bigs should make them even more valuable at the college level because you don't have to worry about them entering the draft after one year.

(02-20-2023 01:03 PM)Monarchblue Wrote:  

(02-18-2023 03:55 PM)Stat Geek Wrote:  This is good for traditional bigs. They can get some NIL money over a 4 year college career that helps since most are 2nd rounders or undrafted fighting overseas or in the G league.

I am not sure what the NBA has to do with the discussion. The only relevance I can see is that the NBA's lack of interest in traditional back to the basket bigs should make them even more valuable at the college level because you don't have to worry about them entering the draft after one year.

Thats exactly right. They may end up being valuable because there is no point in them leaving college because they are getting paid and likely wont be top picks.

Of course they still have to be able to compete at the college level