Players 2023-24 Roster Thread

McG said:
I also believe Tobi would be better served playing the four, and would be perfect with a stretch 5. Even if he split minutes at the 4/5, the A-10 has enough bruisers that he gets pushed around down low.

He wins three fouling awards this year.

1. The Statue - Most fouls while standing with arms straight up and the opponent jumping into his chest.
2. 11th annual Jared Guest Award - Most fouls 50-94 feet from the hoop.
3. The Chris Paul- Most confused face whenever he gets a stupid foul called on him.
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You forgot...

4. Jumping four feet into the air, grabbing the rebound over an opposing player while not touching them, and being called for "over the back"
 
Dr Joe said:
I love Tobi as well and certainly hope we can keep him. He does commit questionable fouls because of his lack of basketball experience. But more than anything he is a competitor and wants to stop/contain his opponent. Unfortunately he does not have the weight in his lower body to stop a bigger player and thus uses his upper body which almost always will result in a foul. What most impressed me about Tobi was his screening down low so Zeb and Bam and others could get to the basket. That is as pure a team play as one can get and he developed it on the fly this year. Love the commitment.
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Given the screening, an already very interesting player could morph into a VERY interesting player if what Odom's mentioned about Tobi working on his handle is accurate.
 
Love Tobi. Great hands, great effort on both ends, and a aggressive mindset. He needs to be a VCU lifer! He might benefit from not trying to block every shot that goes up but that will come.

Now…if Fermin went after the ball with just half of the tenacity that Tobi does it would be a huge improvement.
 
Tedicola said:
Love Tobi. Great hands, great effort on both ends, and a aggressive mindset. He needs to be a VCU lifer! He might benefit from not trying to block every shot that goes up but that will come.

Now…if Fermin went after the ball with just half of the tenacity that Tobi does it would be a huge improvement.
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We just can’t leave Fermin alone can we? This was about Tobi. By the way Fermin leads the team in blocks and it isn’t close.

Fermin played just 42 minutes over 14 games last year and attempted just 3 shots. This is literally his first year in action. Give him a chance he will get better next year and by the time he is a Sr. He will be one of the best bigs in the A10.

As to Tobi, much upside, Uber athletics but man does he need work. He needs to on his handle, and establish his footwork in the paint and 8-10 feet out. Most of the guys who guard him are either bigger and slower, or they cannot match up to his jumping ability. He tried a move on the baseline Sunday that if he had just a bit of handle he could have blown past their big. We all know what will happen after that.

Finally, coach sees these guys in practice every day, yet he starts Fermin, and he plays him a bit more. What’s he seeing that you guys dont or wont? Fermin is our best option today, and will likely be next year.

Tobi is different and brings different things to the table. He needs to watch Rodman type tapes and pattern his game after Dennis. He should be our most relentless rebounder, using technique and ability not just ability.
 
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Look, I hope Fermin makes a huge jump next year and will be rooting for him to do so. I just don’t see it but hoping I’ve got it wrong. At minimum recruit another 5 and let them battle it out everyday.

Your points are well taken about his PT, blocks and coach seeing (and knowing) so much more than we do everyday in practice. I trust Odom and that gives me hope.
 
Fermins block numbers are inflated because we had issues stopping penetration all year. Not stopping penetration=more shots to block. I am more concerned about his 4 pts and 3 rebs a game he averaged in league play. He had 10 games in conference with under 2 rebs.

Everyone acts like an off-season is like a DBZ hyperbolic time chamber or a 2k video game. Like you just increase the scoring and reb attributes. Rarely do guys go from these type numbers to like a double double guy. More like he goes from 4/3 to 6/5. It's very incremental gains here. And no way was Fermin starting over Tobi because he was better or had better practices. Odom knew he had to preserve fouls because of if Tobi caught a quick 2 in the first mins we would have zero chance of winning.

And no amount of off season is going to change the way he plays. He is not a dominating intimidation factor big. He is a finesse big. He doesn't dunk it with authority like Tobi. He goes up soft off the glass or shoots 3 foot floaters. Put it this way, Fermin as a starting 5 that played every game had 9 dunks this year. Fats Billups a guard who didn't play meaningful minutes most of the year had 6.
 
G-Man said:
Is Deloach in the portal yet? I would not be surprised if he regrets leaving VCU and wants to return.

Would we want him back? It’s an interesting question.

Basketball skills aside, I’m not sure Jalen would be a fit with Odom’s team from a personality/character standpoint.
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Has that ever happened? Johnnie Story from Hampton made CAA all -rookie as a freshman, transferred away, then transferred back .... and it didn't work out. Wore No. 00 as I recall.
 
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bighornn said:
Has that ever happened? Johnnie Story from Hampton made CAA all -rookie as a freshman, transferred away, then transferred back .... and it didn't work out. Wore No. 00 as I recall.
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Gilliam came back as well and didn’t get much PT. He has had a better pro careeer than some of the guys who played in front of him.
 
theghostofwiltchamberlain said:
Fermins block numbers are inflated because we had issues stopping penetration all year. Not stopping penetration=more shots to block. I am more concerned about his 4 pts and 3 rebs a game he averaged in league play. He had 10 games in conference with under 2 rebs.

Everyone acts like an off-season is like a DBZ hyperbolic time chamber or a 2k video game. Like you just increase the scoring and reb attributes. Rarely do guys go from these type numbers to like a double double guy. More like he goes from 4/3 to 6/5. It's very incremental gains here. And no way was Fermin starting over Tobi because he was better or had better practices. Odom knew he had to preserve fouls because of if Tobi caught a quick 2 in the first mins we would have zero chance of winning.

And no amount of off season is going to change the way he plays. He is not a dominating intimidation factor big. He is a finesse big. He doesn't dunk it with authority like Tobi. He goes up soft off the glass or shoots 3 foot floaters. Put it this way, Fermin as a starting 5 that played every game had 9 dunks this year. Fats Billups a guard who didn't play meaningful minutes most of the year had 6.
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If Tobi cannot control his fouling then he wont be on the floor for very long. Controlling your fouls are a part of the game. As such, if Fermin can play under control and Tobi cannot Fermin is better for the team. Unless fouling out is a good thing.

Fermins blocks are inflated? What? If Fermin and Tobi play the same position, the same team, and about the same minutes (Fermin plays about 2 minutes more 21 -19 approx) wouldn’t Tobi’s numbers have to be inflated as well? It would all be relative wouldn’t it.

Given this my statement stands Fermin blocks about 50% more shots that Tobi.
 
Ramlove81 said:
Also, Tobi doesn't back down from anyone, even if he is at a size/height disadvantage. He competes. And frankly gets called for some things others don't, maybe because he has to put more effort into moving bigger guys (or to not get moved) than those guys do into moving him.
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I've always thought that VCU 3/4/5s get called for more fouls than other bigs, even when they're doing the exact same things, because we routinely recruit tall skinny guys. Their long levers alone make things much more obvious, but also because of the weight disadvantage, they need to lean further, push harder and box out with way more physical effort than bigger guys.

A subtle and unnoticed nudge from Mo would send Tobi flying, but Tobi would have to really hammer in his elbow to move Mo. You only see the results of the infraction in the former (Tobi moving), but you see the actual cause in the latter (Tobi clearly digging in).
 
rammad90 said:
If Tobi cannot control his fouling then he wont be on the floor for very long. Controlling your fouls are a part of the game. As such, if Fermin can play under control and Tobi cannot Fermin is better for the team. Unless fouling out is a good thing.

Fermins blocks are inflated? What? If Fermin and Tobi play the same position, the same team, and about the same minutes (Fermin plays about 2 minutes more 21 -19 approx) wouldn’t Tobi’s numbers have to be inflated as well? It would all be relative wouldn’t it.

Given this my statement stands Fermin blocks about 50% more shots that Tobi.
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Maybe because teams target Fermin regularly. Teams don’t go Lawal all the time. Fermin has more chances to block but also gives up more points. More blocks means nothing if the other team is torching you regularly and you just happen to get more opportunities to block their shot. It’s like being a corner that gets lots of INTs because the team constantly targets you. Good corners aren’t targeted so they don’t get as many picks.
 
RamJamFan said:
Yeah, pace of our bigs fouling is very problematic. I didn’t follow closely but might if be lack of size as much as positioning? Most A10 bigs seemed to push us around. The only big above not mentioned is Wheeler. If he had gotten serious minutes he’d likely been sitting by half most every game.
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Or it could simply be the fact that Tobi is a sophomore as is Fermin (who is really playing a freshman year since he played very sparingly the previous year). Many bigs are foul machines in their early years. I think both will continue to develop as players this summer.
 
We have some perimeter players who can, sometimes, fail to stay in front of their assignments when they drive. Thus, more fouls and blocks as the bigs go into last resort rim protection mode.
 
Dr Joe said:
I love Tobi as well and certainly hope we can keep him. He does commit questionable fouls because of his lack of basketball experience. But more than anything he is a competitor and wants to stop/contain his opponent. Unfortunately he does not have the weight in his lower body to stop a bigger player and thus uses his upper body which almost always will result in a foul. What most impressed me about Tobi was his screening down low so Zeb and Bam and others could get to the basket. That is as pure a team play as one can get and he developed it on the fly this year. Love the commitment.
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Tobi is incredibly gifted. Just imagine if we had a better center to complement him so we could slide him over to the 4 spot. Upgrade the center position and our front court would be nasty. If only DeLoach had chosen to stay this season would've gone so differently. We don't need excellence in the post but we do need a player who is decent. If we had a center capable of 4-5 rebounds a night along with 6-8 points we would've won many more games.
 
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