A lot's been said about missing Sanjay, but what about Taphorn?

[VirginiaWildcat]

Like Sanjay, he was the consummate teammate. Always ready to play his role without causing disruption, and could shoot the hell out of the ball. Also, he was decent at throwing full court passes in the closing seconds of game.

I think we miss his off the bench shooting pretty badly. We don't really have anyone on the bench right now that is capable of making a 3.

 

[Username Not Available]

Tap was a reliable off the bench guy and could make big plays, but I think he was still a liability on defense with his (traditional NU) lack of quickness and lateral speed. But he did command attention at the three line, so that was nice. One of the reasons I expected us to not miss Nate too much this year was that Aaron is faster/quicker and smoother moving and driving, while also having a sweet three. But I didn't count on Aaron being still hampered and limited. Our bench could use another guy you can count on for 6 points, and a block/assist per game.

 

[VirginiaWildcat]

Tap was a reliable off the bench guy and could make big plays, but I think he was still a liability on defense with his (traditional NU) lack of quickness and lateral speed. But he did command attention at the three line, so that was nice. One of the reasons I expected us to not miss Nate too much this year was that Aaron is faster/quicker and smoother moving and driving, while also having a sweet three. But I didn't count on Aaron being still hampered and limited. Our bench could use another guy you can count on for 6 points, and a block/assist per game.

Like you said, I think it's the attention he garnered as a three-point threat that helped give some of the other guys room. I also believe he was a real moral booster (as was Sanjay). I really miss the threat he brought offensively, even though our defense has been rough at times this year.

 

[clarificationcat]

Tap was a reliable off the bench guy and could make big plays, but I think he was still a liability on defense with his (traditional NU) lack of quickness and lateral speed. But he did command attention at the three line, so that was nice. One of the reasons I expected us to not miss Nate too much this year was that Aaron is faster/quicker and smoother moving and driving, while also having a sweet three. But I didn't count on Aaron being still hampered and limited. Our bench could use another guy you can count on for 6 points, and a block/assist per game.

I have made this point before but Tap was amazingly consistent from 3 in his senior year. He didn't take a lot of 3s but he consistently made almost half of the ones he took. Falzon has been much more inconsistent.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

Tap was a reliable off the bench guy and could make big plays, but I think he was still a liability on defense with his (traditional NU) lack of quickness and lateral speed. But he did command attention at the three line, so that was nice. One of the reasons I expected us to not miss Nate too much this year was that Aaron is faster/quicker and smoother moving and driving, while also having a sweet three. But I didn't count on Aaron being still hampered and limited. Our bench could use another guy you can count on for 6 points, and a block/assist per game.

Falzon played very well last time out!

 

[Username Not Available]

I expect Aaron will get on track (I believe he will recover from his obviously nagging injuries, even if he needs the summer to get there) - and Nate worked hard to get to the level he was at his senior year, so we certainly miss him.

edit: In the same general arena, something I think we've all seen lacking this year is the energy coming off the bench that we've become accustomed to over the past several years. Going back to at least a 'young' Demps or Nash, it seems we've gotten used to having at least one high energy guy available to rile up the team and maybe score some points or bash out some defense.

 

[hdhntr1]

I expect Aaron will get on track (I believe he will recover from his obviously nagging injuries, even if he needs the summer to get there) - and Nate worked hard to get to the level he was at his senior year, so we certainly miss him.

edit: In the same general arena, something I think we've all seen lacking this year is the energy coming off the bench that we've become accustomed to over the past several years. Going back to at least a 'young' Demps or Nash, it seems we've gotten used to having at least one high energy guy available to rile up the team and maybe score some points or bash out some defense.

Last year we had several. This year Gaines fits that role but is just now coming into his own.

 

[Username Not Available]

Yeah, I've been seeing that potential in Gaines and it is starting to come through strong. He just needs to get his long ball % up to something approximating respectability and I'll be pretty happy.

 

[ricko6543211]

Like Sanjay, he was the consummate teammate. Always ready to play his role without causing disruption, and could shoot the hell out of the ball. Also, he was decent at throwing full court passes in the closing seconds of game.

I think we miss his off the bench shooting pretty badly. We don't really have anyone on the bench right now that is capable of making a 3.

I'm a very big fan of Nate Taphorn, always seemed like a great attitude and took nothing for granted, so don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think that not having him on the roster has anything to do with our underperformance this year.

I think you can make the case for the loss of Sanjay from a defense and leadership perspective, but missing a "consummate teammate" who is "always ready to play his role without causing disruption" is not something that leads to this type of difference.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

I expect Aaron will get on track (I believe he will recover from his obviously nagging injuries, even if he needs the summer to get there) - and Nate worked hard to get to the level he was at his senior year, so we certainly miss him.

edit: In the same general arena, something I think we've all seen lacking this year is the energy coming off the bench that we've become accustomed to over the past several years. Going back to at least a 'young' Demps or Nash, it seems we've gotten used to having at least one high energy guy available to rile up the team and maybe score some points or bash out some defense.

Falzon has more upside than Taphorn. Gaines has more upside than Sanjay. Collins has more upside than Carmody. Wrassler has more upside than Walkercat.

 

[VirginiaWildcat]

I'm a very big fan of Nate Taphorn, always seemed like a great attitude and took nothing for granted, so don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think that not having him on the roster has anything to do with our underperformance this year.

I think you can make the case for the loss of Sanjay from a defense and leadership perspective, but missing a "consummate teammate" who is "always ready to play his role without causing disruption" is not something that leads to this type of difference.

Perhaps you're right....except there's no denying his unreal efficiency from 3 that forced defenses to play that threat.

 

[NJCat]

Falzon has more upside than Taphorn. Gaines has more upside than Sanjay. Collins has more upside than Carmody. Wrassler has more upside than Walkercat.

Upside is so dang overrated. What matters is what you deliver! And wrassler delivers every time!!

 

[ricko6543211]

Perhaps you're right....except there's no denying his unreal efficiency from 3 that forced defenses to play that threat.

Again, I am a big fan, but he shot 47%... that's quite good, but not unreal. Also at 1.1-2.4 per game that's pretty low volume. If he had to take a higher volume of shots you would expect that to go down. I wouldn't have minded if he got a bit more than just the 12.2 mpg last year though, perhaps in place of Skelly.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

Upside is so dang overrated. What matters is what you deliver! And wrassler delivers every time!!

Especially tonight! Just watch! I'm positively jacked up so much,I'm surprised Louey don't lock me down for 30 days again! He did it twice already! Dang!