I don't think so! Benson can't shoot like Young! Falzon can't play nearly as good as Beran! And Ash can't shoot and dribble like Spencer! Rap ain't hanging with Kopp or Jones!
Do we really need any of the guys that transferred from NU?
- Thread starter Titanium999
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No offense to Benson, but Young is a big upgrade at the center position. Better footwork, better touch around the basket, better defender, better rebounder. At the start of his second year in the program, he looks to be the type of player we always hoped Benson would become.
as much as i hate your schtick i am actually glad you brought this up. this is how this young team will play and develop. good and bad. enjoy the ride.
Out of all the CRYING AND MOANING, OUR GUYS PULLED THEMSELVES TOGETHER. They were really good. I liked Young jawing at his teammates and I LIKED HIM UNDER THE BASKET!!!!
I was pleasantly surprised by how good Young was around the basket. He's bigger and looks stronger than Pardon- should be an upgrade at the C position for us. I just hope he and his teammates can pick up their rebounding as the season unfolds. I like the positive vibes he oozes too that should electrify his teammates! He'll get better too!
As someone who brought this up on a Monday when I was bored but also angry about our losses in football and basketball ... I'd rather see the young guys play at this point. But it's also easy to recall when Falzon was going to be the guy who pushed us from second-round to the Sweet 16, or Rap being the next John Shurna. Outside of one amazing, history-defining class, most of CC's recruits have stalled to the point where fans are ready to push them out the door. Of course we're all rooting for that pattern to change. I think Nance in particular could be an NBA-caliber player by his junior or senior year.
I remember you saying that your original intent with your online persona was to be a sort of "John Madden" character. You are a provocateur. You drive me crazy sometimes. You occasionally have a good take and provide some fun.
To your original question in the post: I like Nance and Beran, and am excited to watch them develop. But with 20-20 hindsight, I do think it would be great to still have Rapolas Ivanauskas in the mix. He's a good player.
Rap is having a very good run. We could absolutely use him. Brown is the wild card. The other guys would just take up minutes. Just an ugly game 1. Game two showed that Young may be the surprise NU needed. He gives NU length and size in the front court that we have not had before. Pardon was so good as 6- 8 at the 5 spot Two more inches and he would be in the NBA.
Rap was dealt a bad hand with injuries. That said, he at best would have been a very limited role player. His good performances are basically only against way less than BIg Ten level competition. Case in point the other night against Syracuse where he played 31 minutes and was 2 for 12 from the field, 1 of 3 at the line & minor presence on the boards. And Syracuse is not a great team this year (34 points against UVA). So no, Rap would not have been a big help if he hadn’t transferred.
Just a ridiculous comment. As much as i liked Young’s performance, he is no where near Pardon in terms of skill set both offensively and glaringly on defense. It’s unfair to expect that of him. Dererk will go down as one of the top 2-3 we’ve ever had. I’d think a better comparison would be to Kevin Rankin, who was solid.
Dererk was a Dave Cowens-type player (you Millennials will need to look that up).
Young in no way plays like Dave Cowens, he's a traditional center (Gminski, Sitpanovich, that sort). And he may be excellent, I'm very excited about his game and attitude (and smarts).
But the two should never be compared.
"Never?"
I agree they shouldn't be compared now, but let's talk in Young's junior year. Don't ask me to bet on it, but I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility.
Ok! Let's just hope we win a lot of games the next 4 seasons with him playing hopefully well/a lot!
I like your school spirit Big T! Let's get back to the tourney with these players soon!!
Maybe around the basket, but Dave Cowens also had a good handle and jumper that was a big part of his game allowing him to move around the front court. He was more of a 3 or 4 playing the post than a back-to-the-basket 5 like Pardon. Pardon was just developing a jump shot in his last two years. Do you agree?
To me, Pardon was more like a classic center before the 3-pointer was introduced like a young Moses Malone or even Kareem with excellent instincts around the basket and good back-to-the-basket moves.
Agree with your assessment of Young. So far, nice touch around the basket, shooting the 12-foot jumper, and shooting free throws. Good passer as well but lacks hops and will need to emphasize blocking out and establishing position to rebound effectively.
Too early to tell right now. Also depends upon the shot. Dererk, with his hook shot and dunks, had the second-best shooting percentage in the B1G. Terrific center IMO, one of the best centers NU has ever had.
Young looks to have a good jump shot and good free-throw shooting skills for a center. I liked his signing and I like how he's looked so far, though I didn't see the Merrimac game and probably never will.
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He'll do really well in Italy and will go on to have a great career in Europe. Interestingly, as I was checking up on Pardon's future team (a lower middle-of-the-pack Serie A team) I noticed that Drew Crawford was the league MVP last year. Good on him...
I do agree about the jump shot. I actually thought he had one, but never took it, except for that Purdue game when he hit three or four.
Yeah, he had the quickness and smallness to get "underneath" tall centers, but the strength and long arms to defend in the post.
I have nothing negative to say about Pardon. Easily one of my favorite Cats of all time.
I like what I’ve seen from Young. He has a lot of development available, but he has fire in his belly and some game smarts. I really liked when he let his defender jump on top of him before getting the easy layup.
But he does need to learn when to dunk, and he definitely needs to improve his positioning. He’s a big, heavy kid and should be ripping down my rebounds.
I think it will come as he gets more experience.
But he does need to learn when to dunk, and he definitely needs to improve his positioning. He’s a big, heavy kid and should be ripping down my rebounds.
I think it will come as he gets more experience.
Agreed. Dererk was an all-time great in our program. He had some great games against teams with really good big men. He held his own in almost every game. He had multiple games with 5 plus blocked shots. Let's see how Young does against players his size before we annoint him. And in fairness to Young, he's only in his 2nd year in the program and has lots of room to improve. His athleticism will limit his ceiling, though. He's not explosive or particularly fluid. He can definitely be a rotation player, though. Hopefully he and Jones can develop together. They have different skill sets. Collins can allot playing time based on the opponent.
Upgrade from Benson p
Probably an upgrade from Benson, but he still has to show a lot to be and upgrade from Pardon
Stipo!
Actually, I wanted to invoke the guy who outplayed Patrick Ewing in the McD's All American game....anybody?
Stuart Gray.