Toibu "Tobi" Lawal

[rambunctiousrowdyram]

You’re missing the point. The fact that we are near the top of the A-10 in facilities/ nil or anything else does not mean that’s enough to match the nil$/facilities/exposure of power 5 schools, which is who we are up against when trying to get high profile/provide immediate help transfers. I’ve been supporting VCU for 50 years, and we have never depended on a bunch of 4* and 5* players for our success. We get the best available 3*4* players who want to be part of the university & team and work hard as a singular group for success. Problems from multiple coaching changes, upperclassman not performing, having to bring in multiple transfers to complete the roster, injuries and whatever coaching weaknesses you perceive has slowed the improvement recently, but I believe the last 2-3 years recruiting has us back to the type of team that thrives at VCU. Coach Rhoades represents what VCU basketball is all about and I expect him to be here successfully for many years. If I’m wrong, I’ll come back and admit it in a couple years.

As I said earlier I’m taking the wait and see approach. The transfers we’ve brought in so far have a history of inconsistency and the newest recruit is obviously talented but definitely will be a project. Hey maybe our transfers catch fire and that’s awesome if so. Personally I’d like to have seen us atleast bring in one player that atleast on paper has the ability to contribute significantly right off the bat. We need scoring. Our best possible scorer we’ve brought in has not played at a level near the A10. There’s a lot of question marks going into this year. Hopefully the upperclassman take some pressure off our newest players a bit. Hopefully we see Ace bounce back from a up and down year last year. Watkins will be back among others. I’m not gonna judge on our additions before they play obviously but with the inconsistent history if they struggle we’ll be talking about our portal struggles again. I’m hoping our transfers do well but as I said I wish we had atleast one proven scorer among our transfers who has atleast played at the A10 level. Considering the amount of players in transfer portal it feels like we should have been able to find one.

 

[vcumad]

As I said earlier I’m taking the wait and see approach. The transfers we’ve brought in so far have a history of inconsistency and the newest recruit is obviously talented but definitely will be a project. Hey maybe our transfers catch fire and that’s awesome if so. Personally I’d like to have seen us atleast bring in one player that atleast on paper has the ability to contribute significantly right off the bat. We need scoring. Our best possible scorer we’ve brought in has not played at a level near the A10. There’s a lot of question marks going into this year. Hopefully the upperclassman take some pressure off our newest players a bit. Hopefully we see Ace bounce back from a up and down year last year. Watkins will be back among others. I’m not gonna judge on our additions before they play obviously but with the inconsistent history if they struggle we’ll be talking about our portal struggles again. I’m hoping our transfers do well but as I said I wish we had atleast one proven scorer among our transfers who has atleast played at the A10 level. Considering the amount of players in transfer portal it feels like we should have been able to find one.

I think you will find that all three of our transfers will help in the scoring , whether it will be one big scorer in a game or the combined contribution of all 3. Between the return of our 2 injured players, the sophomore year improvement of the freshman, some level of help from the transfers and a bit of help from the 3 incoming freshmen, I believe the team offense will improve.

 

[duncanlamb]

You guys can trash my opinion all you want. I said He has Len Bias upside...not that he was len bias.

Here are facts:

@Lawal can get his head above the rim off two feet from a STANDILL position in less than one second! That's unbelieavable. You look at all the 5* bigs in the 2021 or 2022 class...none.of them...and I mean none of them have that type exxplosioon



I've never seen anyone in a vcu uniform ever to that before.

People can trot out tillman, Mo, sanders even special k. These guys dunked quick because of their wingspan. If they ever got their head close to the rim...it was while running in transition on the break.

The only other player Ive seen in a vcu uniform to get that high that quick strickly off his legs from a standing position was Fred Brown.

Lawal is a unicorn fellas.

If he plays for vcu with the type of effort, intensity and motor shown in his highlights. He's gonna one of the first 2 or 3 players off thr bench from day 1.

He isnt a game changer, he's potentially a program changer.

 

[Mistachill]

You guys can trash my opinion all you want. I said He has Len Bias upside...not that he was len bias.

Here are facts:

@Lawal can get his head above the rim off two feet from a STANDILL position in less than one second! That's unbelieavable. You look at all the 5* bigs in the 2021 or 2022 class...none.of them...and I mean none of them have that type exxplosioon



I've never seen anyone in a vcu uniform ever to that before.

People can trot out tillman, Mo, sanders even special k. These guys dunked quick because of their wingspan. If they ever got their head close to the rim...it was while running in transition on the break.

The only other player Ive seen in a vcu uniform to get that high that quick strickly off his legs from a standing position was Fred Brown.

Lawal is a unicorn fellas.

If he plays for vcu with the type of effort, intensity and motor shown in his highlights. He's gonna one of the first 2 or 3 players off thr bench from day 1.

He isnt a game changer, he's potentially a program changer.

Didn't realize the primary skill needed to be a superstar is hops. So should future recruiting trips be limited to various slam dunk contests?

 

[Ramdog]

And you don’t think if that player was available we wouldn’t have already signed him? Too bad we don’t have someone with your insightful recruiting skills to help us out.

Those players are available...we didn’t land them

you do know how this works right?

 

[Ramdog]

He isnt a game changer, he's potentially a program changer.

you can’t make this $hitte up

 

[bighornn]

You guys can trash my opinion all you want. I said He has Len Bias upside...not that he was len bias.

Here are facts:

@Lawal can get his head above the rim off two feet from a STANDILL position in less than one second! That's unbelieavable. You look at all the 5* bigs in the 2021 or 2022 class...none.of them...and I mean none of them have that type exxplosioon



I've never seen anyone in a vcu uniform ever to that before.

People can trot out tillman, Mo, sanders even special k. These guys dunked quick because of their wingspan. If they ever got their head close to the rim...it was while running in transition on the break.

The only other player Ive seen in a vcu uniform to get that high that quick strickly off his legs from a standing position was Fred Brown.

Lawal is a unicorn fellas.

If he plays for vcu with the type of effort, intensity and motor shown in his highlights. He's gonna one of the first 2 or 3 players off thr bench from day 1.

He isnt a game changer, he's potentially a program changer.

So what has Sky King done in track and field - an activity that can be accurately measured? That's the true test of a leaper. High jump, long jump, triple jump ... Gerald Henderson won the State LJ as a Huguenot senior, sailing 22-10 .... Vince Wilson was a high jump champ in high school, clearing 6-8 ... Jesse Pellot-Rosa excelled in just about every jump/sprint at Wythe.

 

[Ramlove81]

So what has Sky King done in track and field - an activity that can be accurately measured? That's the true test of a leaper. High jump, long jump, triple jump ... Gerald Henderson won the State LJ as a Huguenot senior, sailing 22-10 .... Vince Wilson was a high jump champ in high school, clearing 6-8 ... Jesse Pellot-Rosa excelled in just about every jump/sprint at Wythe.

Actually track and field sometimes doesn't translate to the basketball court. It does usually indicate athleticism. Standing vertical is not a track event. The fact this guy literally looks down at a ten foot basket while performing basketball moves in games and often is something I don't recall seeing, ever. Does this alone mean he's a good basketball player? Certainly not. He needs work on a lot of his game, but is pretty far along for someone only playing 3 years. This recruit is all about potential. It may also be all about patience and hard work.

 

[vcumad]

Those players are available...we didn’t land them

you do know how this works right?

Actually I do…They have to choose to come to VCU, we don’t get to just “land them” and with multiple P5 schools in the mix, we’re not going to land many high profile, immediate need players. We do have the opportunity to land talented players who fit our system and needs that can make us successful and I think the last 2-3 years we have done that. The next couple years will verify how well this has worked out. Right?

 

[HAVOC still lives here]

Unbelievable videos that show a huge resemblance to Warren and Webber. Welcome Toibu and family!!

 

[Ramdog]

Actually I do…They have to choose to come to VCU, we don’t get to just “land them” and with multiple P5 schools in the mix, we’re not going to land many high profile, immediate need players. We do have the opportunity to land talented players who fit our system and needs that can make us successful and I think the last 2-3 years we have done that. The next couple years will verify how well this has worked out. Right?

Last year also give a peek into how well this approach worked..Right?
two portal players in...no impact to very little help....transferred back out

plenty of schools at our level (top50) land players from the portal that are immediate impact players.
and they don’t just randomly choose...they are recruited...sold on the idea that VCU will get them where they want to be.
maybe the kids that we got will surprise but they will have to have a massive increase in production to be an impact player at our level.

 

[rambunctiousrowdyram]

Actually I do…They have to choose to come to VCU, we don’t get to just “land them” and with multiple P5 schools in the mix, we’re not going to land many high profile, immediate need players. We do have the opportunity to land talented players who fit our system and needs that can make us successful and I think the last 2-3 years we have done that. The next couple years will verify how well this has worked out. Right?

Depends on what you define as success. This year given our opportunities to get to the NCAA the NIT second round really doesn’t seem like success. The year before we of course got an at large and unluckily got covid due to reckless A10 actions so who knows. The year before that was a complete drama filled season. It does seem though our “successful” years are when we have true scoring leader though. Evans and then Bones. As far as this idea we can’t land immediate need players I disagree. A immediate need player doesn’t have to be a 5 star or a major transfer. They just need to show they have the capabilities. I don’t think it’s too much to have a 10-15 pt transfer. We found scorers in the CAA. Heck most of our recruits didn’t have a star but they had a track record of scoring. Yes the A10 is a mid major but it’s still a higher level mid major and doesn’t simply feed off the bare level scrapes of the P5. We’ve shown what we are capable of accomplishing a lot even before the A10. Us and other A10 programs have shown ability to draw in good recruits and transfers. So no I disagree that we have simply rely on projects to fill our team. In a couple of years we will be on year 8 going on year 9. Just something to think about.

 

[N Mollen]

It's impossible to disagree with the wait and see crowd. They're absolutely right; we have no idea how these kids are going to develop. That's especially true of Toibu, who just started playing the game 4 years ago, just came to the country this past year, and clearly has a long way to go to be a finished product.

But I also think you have to consider the entirety of the incoming class. The two HS kids are top-100 types who were big time scorers. Zeb was a 20+ ppg scorer in HS and was also a top-100 type and ran into bad luck with illness and playing behind 5* kids recruited after him. Johns is a 6'8" kid who played in 117 games for an elite Big 10 program and has produced, off the bench and as a starter, in the biggest games. Shriver is a specialist who has been shooting 41% from 3 from the crib.

Toibu filled the last spot on the roster. It is, in my view, unreasonable to have expected the staff to fill spot #13 with a proven, D1 level scorer as a transfer. Just doesn't happen. High scoring experienced players from lower level D1 schools who are in the portal are not looking to battle for time at an A10 school; they are generally transferring to see how they measure up in the "big time," and starting spots are abundant for them in P5 programs. If you are an experienced proven scorer at a P5 program, why would you transfer "down" to VCU and battle for minutes?

Toibu is exactly what the doctor ordered for that last spot in my view, as I've said. Anybody who says he walks in as a young Len Bias is not looking at the tape. But anyone who looks at the tape and does not see potential, well, I don't know what you're watching.

The entire class is filled with potential. I think most see that. Now it's time to actualize that potential.

 

[Mistachill]

Like with everybody we're bringing in I am going to take a wait and see approach. I'm not going to lose my mind about a few dunk videos. Again, being 6'8" and athletic with elite jumping ability is a good foundation to work with. However, I have the following questions (simply because I don't know):

1) What was the competition level he played against? The way he's being described by some on this board you would've expected him to be more dominant, especially considering the competition in the videos I've seen didn't exactly look top shelf.
2) Apparently this is a projection recruit with the anticipation that his ceiling is very high and they're factoring that he's only been in the states a short period of time. Which is fine with me but the unknown factor works both ways. The guy could explode with D1 training or practicing against better competition on a regular basis. Or he could crumble going up against greatly better talent then he's used to seeing.
3) He wasn't exactly playing in Siberia so you have to wonder about the lack of interest from higher profile schools.
4) I'm hoping he can be more than a highlight show. We've seen plenty of players who could make flashy plays on a regular basis but didn't contribute much to winning.

I would love to see him come in with a Larry Sanders-like progression over time. I actually see more parallels with Briante Weber in that he also wasn't highly recruit but Shaka eventually saw something in him other coaches missed. Maybe that's what happens here? We'll see.

 

[MobileMunchies]

Wait and see is the way we all should be.