For what it is worth

[WTSooner]

3 Amath would be our best (or second best) wing defender on this team ... he is long very quick and athletic .. his shooting has been very very good in practice

Maybe from a man to man, keep your guy in front of you and contest his shot point of view, you are right. My problem with big wings like that are the following. First, it's not the on ball defense that suffers the most, it's the getting through the screens. Much easier to screen a 6'8 guy, than it is to screen a 6'1 guy. Big guys get caught in the traffic. Second, we're currently switching on all guard/guard screens. That means M'Baye is going to spend time guarding the PG and SG, as well as the wing. That leads me to number three.....we aren't a great rebounding team, and we're going to take a guy that is probably our second best rebounder (after Osby), and have him out of the perimeter, sometimes on the PG/SG, which means he is worthless in the rebounding game most of the time. I don't like that.

The advantage it gives us on offense is that he'll be able to shoot over smaller defenders. But it also means he'll be guarded by a quicker defender, which makes it more difficult to dribble drive. And I don't think I have to point out how tough it is to run a fluid offense that involves posting your "3". Teams can adjust and take that away pretty easily.

 

[BoulderSooner]

don't asume that shorter guys are quicker then amath ..

tony allen is 6'5 and can guard anyone .. bruce bowen is 6'6+ and coud guard anyone

same with KOBE ... also guys that are tall and long can play off a little more and still guard guys because of their length ..

 

[WTSooner]

don't asume that shorter guys are quicker then amath ..

tony allen is 6'5 and can guard anyone .. bruce bowen is 6'6+ and coud guard anyone

same with KOBE ... also guys that are tall and long can play off a little more and still guard guys because of their length ..

I'm not assuming, I've seen M'Baye play. He is VERY athletic for his size. And I already said he wouldn't have trouble with the man to man part, b/c even if he does lack speed/quickness, his length would make up for it. They struggle fighting through screens, and running all over the court chasing guards. I hate to see our second best rebounder, and probably one of our top two shot blockers, do that. But he may have to, I get that.

And Kobe and Bowen are freaks. Not a good comparison. It's like saying he'll succeed at the 3 b/c Kevin Durant is that big, and he can do it. M'Baye is not Kevin Durant.

 

[25mob]

Maybe from a man to man, keep your guy in front of you and contest his shot point of view, you are right. My problem with big wings like that are the following. First, it's not the on ball defense that suffers the most, it's the getting through the screens. Much easier to screen a 6'8 guy, than it is to screen a 6'1 guy. Big guys get caught in the traffic. Second, we're currently switching on all guard/guard screens. That means M'Baye is going to spend time guarding the PG and SG, as well as the wing. That leads me to number three.....we aren't a great rebounding team, and we're going to take a guy that is probably our second best rebounder (after Osby), and have him out of the perimeter, sometimes on the PG/SG, which means he is worthless in the rebounding game most of the time. I don't like that.

The advantage it gives us on offense is that he'll be able to shoot over smaller defenders. But it also means he'll be guarded by a quicker defender, which makes it more difficult to dribble drive. And I don't think I have to point out how tough it is to run a fluid offense that involves posting your "3". Teams can adjust and take that away pretty easily.

I agree with everything in this post. M'Baye makes a bigger impact for this team as a 4 man with Osby at the 5. Expect to see more up tempo attacking, trapping and full court pressure with them on the floor together.

Fitz will make a better impact for this team being the 6th man in the same role as Newell had this year. Fitz is a scorer and that is just about all he can do on a consistent basis. It's not a knock on him but he just has limitations and it's ok that he does because scoring the ball is important.

 

[SoonerSpock]

Thanks for the heads up!

Question for the board: If M'Baye is going to play the three, does that mean he will replace Clark in the starting lineup? My guess is, yes.

If so, seems clear to me that Kruger plans to put Osby, Fitz and M'Baye on the floor at the same time. I think we all know that Osby or Fitz will not come off the bench.

Thoughts?

I generally make 1 sometimes 2 practices a week. M'Baye normally practices with the guards when they break the team down. He normally plays opposite Clark, Neal or Pledger in their 7 man rotation.

That indicates to me that Lon anticipates playing M'Baye at the 3 but offensively he does play the corner and baseline in some sets so I can see him playing some 4 when needed.

 

[stoopified]

Let's recruit that California JUCO league hard

Forget Cali ,concentrate on Kansas and Texas,the level of play and talent is far better than Cali juco.

 

[Krugerfan52]

Some of the best juco big men in recent years have been Orlando Allen, Kyle Cannon, CJ Washington, Casey Arent, and yes....Nick Thompson.

Arent had 17 double doubles in juco. Allen and Thompson were rated highly on the juco lists. Omar Leary was a juco-all-american. So was Cannon.

In 2012 Juco basketball is garbage. Occasionally there is a guys like Missouri's Riccardo Ratliff. But you are not going to get many guys that can come in and start anymore, like you could 10 years ago.

 

[WTSooner]

Some of the best juco big men in recent years have been Orlando Allen, Kyle Cannon, CJ Washington, Casey Arent, and yes....Nick Thompson.

Arent had 17 double doubles in juco. Allen and Thompson were rated highly on the juco lists. Omar Leary was a juco-all-american. So was Cannon.

In 2012 Juco basketball is garbage. Occasionally there is a guys like Missouri's Riccardo Ratliff. But you are not going to get many guys that can come in and start anymore, like you could 10 years ago.

Lucky for us we don't need a starter. We just need a big man that can play some D, grab some boards, and likely be the 4th big man on the team.