[Cider Jim]

he saw that as his path to the pros.

Dees didn't even start for his last college team, did he? He only averaged playing 18 minutes a game this year, and he only scored 7.9 points a game.

[flamesbball84]

Mark Jackson was never a threat in the post, his game was just a byproduct of the NBA's simpleton rules against any defense other than strict man to man defense. Jackson would post up the smaller gaurds and take his time doing it while the bigger defenders simply had to stand by and watch.

If you wanna talk about smaller more powerful PF's, then Charles Barkley would have to head that list. He was listed as 6-6, but some said he was actually only 6-4. Sammy Jackson is a wide body like Barkley.

mark jackson had very effective post skills, did you ever actually watch him play? would you also say then that shaq's most dominant years, which took place during the illegal defense years, were basically inflated by the rules as you insinuate about jackson?

[jcmanson]

he saw that as his path to the pros.

Dees didn't even start for his last college team, did he? He only averaged playing 18 minutes a game this year, and he only scored 7.9 points a game.

No, he didn’t start, but that was a whole other situation there. It was obvious while he was at LU he was very talented, and had a very good chance to play professionally. Since he was 6-4 or 6-5 there was no way he was going to be able to play the post professionally, his only hope was on the wing.

[olldflame]

AZ Reid at 6'5 is not going to play inside in the NBA either, but he and his coach were able to reach an agreement that his skills were best utilized in college playing forward, scoring mostly inside, and using his uncanny knack for getting position and his surprising strength to be a double diget rebounder.

He improved his perimeter game throughout his career, but as good as he is probably won't get a shot at the NBA. I'm betting he'll put up some big numbers overseas though, and probably playing pretty much the same game he played at High Point, scoring and rebounding against bigger and more athletic players and leaving them shaking their heads and wondering how he did it.

[paradox]

Mark Jackson was never a threat in the post, his game was just a byproduct of the NBA's simpleton rules against any defense other than strict man to man defense. Jackson would post up the smaller gaurds and take his time doing it while the bigger defenders simply had to stand by and watch.

If you wanna talk about smaller more powerful PF's, then Charles Barkley would have to head that list. He was listed as 6-6, but some said he was actually only 6-4. Sammy Jackson is a wide body like Barkley.

mark jackson had very effective post skills, did you ever actually watch him play? would you also say then that shaq's most dominant years, which took place during the illegal defense years, were basically inflated by the rules as you insinuate about jackson?

Yes, watching Jackson post-up was one of the great farces of that era in the NBA. I really couldn't bear to watch it.

Shaq has benefited from a host of rules that exist or have once existed only in the NBA.

[paradox]

My evaluation of Dee's skills in the post is obviously subjective and opinions will vary. What is NOT an opinion is that both Dees and Jackson are in the 6'4-6'5 range. Numbers aren't going to tell the story here, since Dees played the 2 or 3 and spent most of his time on the perimeter. IMHO his advantage in posting up the players guarding him was underutilized. He had the best assortment of post moves and shots I have seen in a player at LU, and was pretty doggone powerful as well. I would compare his physical tools and skill set to AZ Reid, but unlike Reid he wanted to be a perimeter player, because he saw that as his path to the pros.

Aluma was the best based on sheer size as well as skill. Martin was at his best facing his opponent and driving to the hoop as opposed to playing back to the basket. Coleman and Dixon were serviceable big men who had a size and strength advantage against many of their opponents during that era, but both were better rebounders IMHO than offensive players.

Coleman & Dixon servicable big men? Both were great rebounders. Coleman was a great inside scorer whose field goal percentage was in the mid-60 range. He was also a tough rebounder and played solid D. Dixon didn't have much of a jump shot, but he was tough all-around in the post. Coleman came close to averaging double-doubles, despite playing alongside Juice, and Dixon nearly averaged a double-double playing with Aluma. Hickman and Sarchet are a couple others that had decent post games as well.

I'd say you're off on your evaluation of Dees, otherwise he would have been used as such in at least one of the two schools that he attended. Moreover, we're talking about a player with a field goal percentage of only 38% over his last three years. Players with an assortment of post moves find ways to effectively demonstrate them with scoring and tend to score at very high percentages.

Dees had one good year coming off the bench as a freshman, playing 19 minutes per game while sharing time with two exceptional players, Blair & Martin. In that particular context, Dees was remarkable, but outside of that context, he didn't seem to perform as well.

[olldflame]

That's either a convenient memory lapse or revisionist history dox. Sounds like checkmate. As a starter his sophomore year Dees averaged 16.2 points and 5.1 rebounds, both second on the team. He was also second team all BSC and on the SIDs second team all VA . We finished second in the regular season that year, but got ousted in the first round of the tourney by 7th seeded Chuck South. He was on track for a great career at LU, but he and Dunton couldn't work out their differences, and part of that was his insistance that he should play shooting guard, and Blair should be moved to the point. He may have been right, but he wasn't the coach, so when he couldn't get his way he left, and his career has spiraled downhill since. A sad waste of talent.

[paradox]

LU had a very dissapointing overall record of 13-15 during Dees' second year, which qualifies as a losing record.

We all expected big things out of both Blair & Dees after their freshman years. Personally, I thought that Dees was headed for greatness after his freshman year. I couldn't wait to see Dees suit up as a starter at the start of his sophomore year. He was a super-sub as a freshman, but the following year as a starter he seemed to be less impressive, and was no Gabe Martin as far as I'm concerned. He may have averaged 16 points a game, but he barely shot 40% from the field and was something like 30% from the arc. I'm told that his percentages declined even further when he transferred into the Sun Belt. I think that he's the kind of player that needs more talent around him in order to be successful. Evidence of that would be his big declining numbers after his freshman year (post-Gabe).

Had he stayed, he would have been a constant distraction and hinderance to Blair and probably Smith as well. The fact that he wanted LU to sign his brother, who wasn't very good by the way, was yet another annoying accomodation, that I think ULL may have given in to. In the end, LU was better off. It's sad when a situation doesn't work out or an opportunity turns sour, but that's how things go sometimes, and in the end you live with your decisions and try to maintain that competive edge.

[paradox]

One thing that Oldflame and I can surely agree on is that Sammy Jackson at 6-5, 245, has ample size to dominate the four position in the big south. If he lives up to his billing, then watch out, because this guy has a great deal of mental and physical toughness in his game.

[jcmanson]

Any chance Sammy's on the radar?

[LUconn]

Is that just a shot in the dark?

[jcmanson]

Is that just a shot in the dark?

Completely. I was just brainstorming for who the two other schollys could be used for, and I thought about Sammy. I don't know if he was perhaps a Layer recruit or not.