Re: Center solution

[Brett Pappas]

I have learned over the years to appreciate what we have instead of what is
expected in the next year. I can't remember a year where there was less than
a dozen threads on this forum talking about finding answers to our problems
in next years recruiting class.

Frankly, I don't expect much from Whaley until I see him in a Bearcat and
see how he plays with everyone else on the court. I could list quite a few
big men that we thought were the answer including Grove, Tate, Davis, etc..

I just can't help but focus on the negatives that read about him (lazy,
unmotivated, inconsistent, only gives effort in spurts). Say all you want
about Huggins being a motivator but he is not a magician, the player has to
want to be motivated (see B.J. Grove). Besides, from a stats standpoint,
Whaley hasn't exactly dominated on the Juco level. I would be willing to bet
that Jamaal Davis had better numbers from a rebounding standpoint and I
think they both went to the same school. Bottom line, our biggest need is
rebounding and Jamaal was not exactly successful doing that.

Personally, give me Flowers as the starter with Hicks getting every minute
available when Max or Flowers comes out. I don't care how tall Hicks is, the
guy is the best rebounder and shot blocker outside of Max and he and Flowers
are the only two CBC's that can score with any consistency.

The only weakness for playing Hicks at the 5 is getting backed down by
bigger guys, but I would argue the same for Johnson, Flowers and Holman so
that point it mute. The best way to hide that weakness is by using the press
which is usually what smaller teams do. Besides, with the athleticism of Max
and Hicks in the open court they become 7 footers in terms of protecting the
goal.

--Brett

----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Sorge" <address@hidden>
To: <address@hidden>
Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2003 8:01 PM
Subject: Re: [UC Basketball] Center solution


> > From what I hear about Whaley, I will take my chances with him, ever if
he
> doesn't know the system.  Rather then Hicks, Hollman, and Johnson, any day
> of the week.
>
> Chris
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "dfairchild" <address@hidden>
> To: <address@hidden>
> Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2003 7:56 PM
> Subject: [UC Basketball] Center solution
>
>
> > I think we have to shuck our pride and get BJ back.  We will have to
> choose
> > which end of the court he plays - either offensive or defensive - but
> since
> > we are already pretty much playing 4 on 5 - 4.5 on 5 is still an
> > improvement.  My prefrence is to keep him at the defensive end - no one
is
> > going to back him down in the post.
> >
> > My 2 cents. : )
> >
> > Darryl
> >
> > ps - I'm very excited about next year, but the center position will
still
> be
> > shaky - we will have only one true center (Whaley) and he will be
learning
> > the system (ugh, not that again).  If he gets injured or doesn't
progress
> in
> > Huggins' system, we are right back where we are now.
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: richard l. kandell [mailto:address@hidden
> > Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2003 7:36 PM
> > To: address@hidden
> > Subject: Re: [UC Basketball] Extremely Terrible Game :-(
> >
> >
> > No, obviously they are both power forwards, but the players who might be
> > considered truer centers, Johnson & Holman have not shown much.
> > Unfortunately when you have 2 big strong opposing guys inside Maxiell,
try
> > as he may defensively, is overmatched, because the 2nd guy completely
> > overwhelms the cbc personnel.  Unfortunately it isn't much better on the
> > offensive end, either.  This is the reason we're all trying to figure
out
> if
> > there is anything that can be done.  Obviously Huggins and staff realize
> the
> > problem and are a lot more sophisticated at it then any/all of us - but
> > unless they can come up with some sort of a solution this is going to be
a
> > tough 5-6 weeks.
> >
> > Richard K.
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Rands, William (RANDSWJ)" <address@hidden>
> > To: "'DXLOVER EMAIL SERVICE '" <address@hidden>; "'UC basketball
'"
> > <address@hidden>
> > Sent: Sunday, February 02, 2003 11:11 AM
> > Subject: RE: [UC Basketball] Extremely Terrible Game :-(
> >
> >
> > > i think alot of it is personnel.We don't have the personnel in the
post
> > that
> > > we've usually have had-Blount, Scott, Long, Fortson,Brannen, Martin,
> Tate,
> > > Little, even Grove. Did you think of Flowers or Land as post players
> > before
> > > this yr?