State of the Program - Late April '07 - Page 4

#80698

By paradox - April 27th, 2007, 11:08 pm

- April 27th, 2007, 11:08 pm #80698

I may not be qualified to compare the prep programs from Georgia, however, based on Holland's 30ppg, I'll venture to guess that Stephene played against a higher level of competition. And if this is indeed the case, then the comparison is pointless. Futhermore, as far as Holland's college career is concerned, he hasn't shown even the slightest spark yet in terms of being a scorer. He's shown that he can play some solid D and occasionally dish out an assist or two, but his shooting percentage in all three categories is well below average. I'm not giving up on him and to be honest, I'm actually pulling for the guy, however, he may be the odd man out with all of this young talent coming in.

#80699

By jmdickens - April 27th, 2007, 11:19 pm

- April 27th, 2007, 11:19 pm #80699

paradox wrote:I may not be qualified to compare the prep programs from Georgia, however, based on Holland's 30ppg, I'll venture to guess that Stephene played against a higher level of competition. And if this is indeed the case, then the comparison is pointless. Futhermore, as far as Holland's college career is concerned, he hasn't shown even the slightest spark yet in terms of being a scorer. He's shown that he can play some solid D and occasionally dish out an assist or two, but his shooting percentage in all three categories is well below average. I'm not giving up on him and to be honest, I'm actually pulling for the guy, however, he may be the odd man out with all of this young talent coming in.

umm Holland's competition included rival Dwight Howard...Holland's team played far better competition

cjsweat wrote:Bleacherreport is a very legit source.

#80700

By SuperJon - April 27th, 2007, 11:20 pm

- April 27th, 2007, 11:20 pm #80700

He hasn't been given a chance.

Just like Russ and Baker, he goes in the game, maybe does one thing wrong, and doesn't see the floor the rest of the game.

With an actual coach, he'll only get better.

#80705

By pbow - April 27th, 2007, 11:40 pm

- April 27th, 2007, 11:40 pm #80705

I think Justin can really bring a lot to this team, he is an all-around good player...I really thought this team was hurt last year by Dunton limiting Holland's and Baker's minutes.

#80707

By SuperJon - April 27th, 2007, 11:46 pm

- April 27th, 2007, 11:46 pm #80707

Amen.

#80709

By jmdickens - April 27th, 2007, 11:48 pm

- April 27th, 2007, 11:48 pm #80709

pbow wrote:I think Justin can really bring a lot to this team, he is an all-around good player...I really thought this team was hurt last year by Dunton limiting Holland's and Baker's minutes.

you forgot Armon

cjsweat wrote:Bleacherreport is a very legit source.

#80717

By paradox - April 28th, 2007, 7:21 am

- April 28th, 2007, 7:21 am #80717

For what it's worth. This current photo of the Landmark Christian squad should say it all in terms of level of competition and certainly explains at least to me how a player can average 30ppg in prep and then shoot 25% from the floor and make less than 50% of his free throws in college.

The smart money's on Stephene.

#80720

By paradox - April 28th, 2007, 8:05 am

- April 28th, 2007, 8:05 am #80720

Another thing to keep in mind, coaches aren't alchemists. They can only take a player as far as his capabilities will allow. If just one player from the bottom of our roster emerges into a productive contributer to the program, then that indeed would be something special. There are late-bloomers as well. Hence, as long as they have a roster spot, we should be careful not to write anyone off. Having said that, our expectations should also be realistic. On average, players who will ultimately contribute to your program in a significant way almost always demonstrate at least a preview of that at some point during their first year.

#80737

By TIMSCAR20 - April 28th, 2007, 11:30 am

- April 28th, 2007, 11:30 am #80737

I got to see Stephene play last weekend and I think he will be good but he may not step in and play much as a freshman. IMO Holland is ahead of him. Dox you could be right though but I am a big Holland fan. I think he can really be a big contributor. I thought the same thing last season and so did some on the staff. Truthfully RD believed in him as well but it was difficult at times and with situations to get him on the floor. With Smith, Blair and even Brew getting a ton of minutes in the backcourt, along with BJ, minutes were tough to come by for J Holland. I think he will earn some more minutes in RMK's attack next season. I wouldn't be surprised to see Stephene red shirt. He might be wise to do so considering all the upper classmen that play on the perimeter right now. knowing that TJ is probably gonna play 30 plus a game, I would be tempted to ask for a shirt from my coach as a freshman.

#80754

By paradox - April 28th, 2007, 2:21 pm

- April 28th, 2007, 2:21 pm #80754

The Holland / Stephene situation is certainly one to keep an eye. For what it's worth, I lobbied for more playing time for J-Holland all season long. The manner in which we handled the point gaurd position last season was a constant source of frustration for me personally. However, after the season was over and the smoke finally cleared, I wondered if we simply lacked the personnel at that position and perhaps my aniticipation that Holland would contribute in a significant way was just wishful thinking on my part. Hopefully, my most recent ponderings are incorrect and J-H goes out there and takes charge when Bannister sits down. There still has to be at least a little doubt going on though, when we consider that McKay almost immediately brought in Stephene, who looks more like a point gaurd than anything else, and a lefty at that.

#80922

By Purple Haize - April 29th, 2007, 8:46 pm

- April 29th, 2007, 8:46 pm #80922

Random thoughts after a long absence:

1. I always knew SCAR was a "switch hitter"
2. Athletes can work jobs now if they are on scholarship. They are limited to the number of hours they can work and the money they can make.
3. It will be interesting to see if we lose any more players for academic reasons. The word on the street is that RMK is hard nose when it comes to this. However, it is sometimes hard to right a ship when it has been going in the wrong direction for so long. Some of the GPA's may not be able to be turned around in a semester and a summer.
4. The offensive style is a nice discussion. I will somewhat disagree with SCAR that a perimeter oriented offense like a "4 Guard" won't work for this team. I say put all 5 guys on the perimeter. This offense has several names, the Post Flash is the one I have heard the most. I saw a few teams run it this year in the tournament, I want to say VCU did and I do remeber Indiana Wesleyan (yes I am obsessed with March Madness when I watch the D III, along with the Mens' and Women's NAIA D1 and D2 championship games.) I also faced this in college and overseas. To put it mildly, it really accents a teams athetic ability and is an absolute B*&F% to defend. VMI ran a type of this whenever they slowed down to a half court. (Take out the weave) Anyone who has seen our team knows that we can't shoot our way out of a paper bag. This offense works against both M2M and Zone. I am not so worried about the boards, b/c with our athleticism, or lack of shooting ability and the success VMI had against us, we should see a lot of Zone. That means we have a great shot at O rebounds b/c it is very difficult to box out in a zone.
5. Jim Calhoun has a lot of players in the pro's b/c they can't stand to be around his program.

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