[paradox]

Also, when a fellow player criticizes you as street-ball, there is always the possibility that he may be a little envious of your talent level.

He may need to work at being a team player. You can teach that and he can be challenged to work harder on it. What you can't teach is talent.

[olldflame]

I'm an optomist by nature and am excited as the next guy about Seth coming to LU and what he can contribute, but I've seen too many players come into college with a lot of hype and find out their game just isn't the same against D1 athletes as it was in HS. Fact is in this case most of the hype and expectations are based on what his brother has done, and while I would like to believe he will be the second coming of brother Steph, the fact is we won't know til he has at least practiced with the team, and not for sure til he sees his first D1 competition in November.

[jmdickens]

Also, when a fellow player criticizes you as street-ball, there is always the possibility that he may be a little envious of your talent level.

He may need to work at being a team player. You can teach that and he can be challenged to work harder on it. What you can't teach is talent.

are you really gonna say that Bannister is jealous of Stephene???

[paradox]

I'm an optomist by nature and am excited as the next guy about Seth coming to LU and what he can contribute, but I've seen too many players come into college with a lot of hype and find out their game just isn't the same against D1 athletes as it was in HS. Fact is in this case most of the hype and expectations are based on what his brother has done, and while I would like to believe he will be the second coming of brother Steph, the fact is we won't know til he has at least practiced with the team, and not for sure til he sees his first D1 competition in November.

Yea, there's a lot of false and bogus hype from various LU circles. You know how it goes, there's this friend of a friend close to the situation that says that this kid or that kid is the bomb.

We're not talking about that kind of situation here. There is plenty of published documentation available from non-LU sources. Also, I don't think that it hurts him at all that his parents were both athletes and his father and brother are NBA-level. How he measures up against other family members is yet to be determined, however, I think that it's a pretty safe bet that he won't be a flop. When McKay first laid eyes on him, his jaw dropped, and he couldn't believe that he didn't get snatched up by an ACC team. He said that he would have prioritized Seth regardless of where or what level he'd be coaching at. We forget sometimes that RM was a head coach in the Pac-10 and that he and Dale Layer have both recruited NBA talent in the past.

Seriously, I'm not worried in the least about Seth or any associated hype, real or imagined.

I'll tell ya this, there'd be a heck of a lot more hype if he were going to Virginia Tech or Carolina. Now, tell me how many LU recruits of the past can we honestly say this about? So, let's not act like, been there done that. This situation is clearly special.

[flamesbball84]

I'll tell ya this, there'd be a heck of a lot more hype if he were going to Virginia Tech or Carolina.

You can suck and go to Carolina and got more hype than a 99.9% of mid-major recruits, so what's your point?

[paradox]

My comments are really in response to Oldflame who was suggesting that LU has been down this road before. I was making the point that we haven't, and that by LU standards, the Curry situation is completely unique. We're not dealing with mere LU-hearsay hype here. It's clearly on a higher level and much wider scale than anything that we've ever seen here.

[flamesbball84]

here's my thought on the situation: if his last name was harris and didn't have a father play in the nba and a brother make a big national splash, the amount of conversation about him would be a mere fraction of what it currently is, regardless of how good he may be.

[olldflame]

Actually dox, I was not referring to LU at all, but to the numbers of players in general (mostly at bigger schools) who don't live up to the hype once they get to college, and there have been a lot of them. You are correct in saying that LU has never "gone down this road" because we have never had a player come in and generate the buzz that Seth has and will (and largely because of his brother's acheivments and not his own). I think he is going to be teriffic, but I'll leave it for the coach to decide if and when he is "the man" after he has earned it in practice and competition.

Jeff Meyer, when he discussed the upcoming season, wouldn't even mention incoming recruits in any specific way. He talked about returning players and the role they would fill, and if there was a situation where a freshman or JC transfer was obviously going to start or play a key role, he would say something like "it looks like we may have to rely on one of our recruits to step up and play for us there". Baily Alston was an exception because he had practiced with the team during his transfer year, and there was NO DOUBT how good he was.

[paradox]

I think it goes without saying that the possibility exists in any situation that a player may not live up to expectations. However, for some odd reason, there seems to be an abnormally high tendancy to constantly reference that here.

Keep in mind, McKay's not Meyer, and he hasn't been exactly shy about the way that he feels about Seth. And he doesn't seem to indicate any doubts, reservations, or cautions either. From what I gather, his opinion on Seth is based upon his own evaluation and personal observation, and not based on some vague assumption connected with his brother's work.

Whether anyone thinks it's fair or not, Seth is the guy, even as we speak, and before he even steps on the court. At this stage, it would be his to lose, and I believe that goes without saying as well. It would be unrealistic to assume otherwise.

[jcmanson]

Dox, I love you, and I think you and I are the most optimistic ones on the board about Seth, but calm down will ya?

[paradox]

Afraid I'm gonna jinx it?

[jcmanson]

No, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

[flamesbball84]

seth isn't the man until he proves it. you can do all you want in high school but it means squat once you get to college because no one cares.

[paradox]

You'll see

[olldflame]

You'll see

Wouldn't have known THAT if you hadn't told me.

We aren't necessarily disagreeing with you dox. I think most of us expect Seth to do very well indeed. I certainly do. We just don't need to be proclaiming it as if it were a done deal. It has no purpose and accomplishes nothing except to raise expectations, and perhaps beyond what is reasonable.

[paradox]

What exactly is so unreasonable? Are we playing in the Big Ten or Big South? We don't even have a returning double digit scorer in our backcourt. He's as high as it gets as far as Big South recruits go. He comes in, starts right away, and is the main guy in the backcourt. I could understand your apprehension if Hildebrand or Blair were still playing. Don't get me wrong, I like our returning backcourt players and I'm sure that McKay will utilize them effectively, but there doesn't seem to be a real challenge for Seth to overcome there.

Forgive me, if I consider the phobia that he may be a complete bust a little bit out of my range as a serious consideration right now. I think that it's pretty safe to assume that he'll be better than what we have, at the very least.

The only real battle in our backcourt should be for playing time opposite Seth.

[olldflame]

I give up.

Hey, I'd much rather read this than the negative crap from checkmate and co., but on the other hand, you may be feeding into their hands. In fact there isn't much difference between what you and checkmate are saying about our recruiting class, except that he says it sarcastically.

There is a huge middle ground between instant star (or even instant starter) and total bust.

[paradox]

All I've really said is that he's the top guy coming in, that he'll start, and that there's really not anyone in our current backcourt who poses much of a challenge for him as far as playing time goes.

Thanks for showing me how far off I was.

[jmdickens]

Jenkins will start with curry

[paradox]

I think that most people at least expect it to start out that way. You'd think that it would be BJ's to lose at the moment. Having said that, Anderson, Ohman, and Stephene appear to be more than capable as potential combo-guards. So, I wouldn't write anyone off just yet.

My guess at the moment is that Seth will split time between the one and two positions. When Seth plays 2, we may see Jenkins at the point, and when Seth plays the point, we may see Anderson or Ohman at the 2. Again, just a guess.

[ToTheLeft]

Anderson, Ohman, and Stephene appear to be more than capable as potential combo-guards.

Anderson and Ohman cannot and should not ever bring the ball down the floor. Ever. There is no combo in them at all. They are 2 guards or small 3's, thats it.

[paradox]

Anderson may surprise you, but I agree that Ohman is the least likely.

Being able to play combo with Seth can increase your overall playing time.

[olldflame]

It's fun to speculate when there are so many possibilities. So much depends on which of the incoming players step up and make an immediate impact. I can see a scenario where if Tyler is healthy and either Sammy Jackson or Brolin Floyd turn out to be even better than we thought, we could see Smitty playing some at the 2.

[Cider Jim]

I can see a scenario where if Tyler is healthy...

Paging Realist...

[olldflame]

I can see a scenario where if Tyler is healthy...

Paging Realist...

Yeah, I think even paradox is taking a "wait-and-see" attitude on that one.

Paging TBGBG...