Players 2023-24 Roster Thread

[scony]

Odom - please lock all our players in the gym and take away their cell phones until the portal closes. NO CONTACT FROM ANYONE! I do not want to lose any of our players from this season except for the ones that are out of eligibility (although I would keep them too if they could stay).

 

[Ramdog]

Odom - please lock all our players in the gym and take away their cell phones until the portal closes. NO CONTACT FROM ANYONE! I do not want to lose any of our players from this season except for the ones that are out of eligibility (although I would keep them too if they could stay).

Couple of numbers I might be Ok getting out

 

[PhantomRam]

Couple of numbers I might be Ok getting out

I am sure a lot of those decisions have all ready been made, both ways. I would hope like crazy that RO all ready has his game plan and targets for next year. The whole "we will wait until the end of the season to evaluate" is long gone. The morning after our next lose, he better hit the ground running.

 

[Mercury]

I am sure a lot of those decisions have all ready been made, both ways. I would hope like crazy that RO all ready has his game plan and targets for next year. The whole "we will wait until the end of the season to evaluate" is long gone. The morning after our next lose, he better hit the ground running.

He doesn’t need to wait. We’ve already been reaching out to guys.

 

[BradRamFan]

I must be the only person who heard, (and no I am not going to find the links today, maybe later) RO say that jump shots and putting the ball on the floor are in Tobi’s repotoire but it was ready for game time action this year. I fully expect to I to move away from the basket more next year .

I don't expect to see him move away from the basket. The basket is his bread and butter....and he is pretty consistent at that. Why move him away from something he is so good at. What I do see however is that he would have more potential to shoot it when he came out for screens. This year he came out for screens and handled the ball a bit for passing but no shots. Well he did take 7 shots early in the season. But hopefully next he is more consistent and can take the shot sometimes when he gets the ball on the screen.
I would also like to see us do a few more backdoor passes to the screener for dunks. We seemed to rarely use that this year.

 

[TampaKAP]

I don't expect to see him move away from the basket. The basket is his bread and butter....and he is pretty consistent at that. Why move him away from something he is so good at. What I do see however is that he would have more potential to shoot it when he came out for screens. This year he came out for screens and handled the ball a bit for passing but no shots. Well he did take 7 shots early in the season. But hopefully next he is more consistent and can take the shot sometimes when he gets the ball on the screen.
I would also like to see us do a few more backdoor passes to the screener for dunks. We seemed to rarely use that this year.

I think it comes down to several factors

• Roster Make up
  • Assume Ferm, Rose, and Obi all stay
  • Assume they all get better (Obi was said to be good over the summer so outside of the team, he is an unknown quantity )
• Assume we grab a really good center from the portal

Any combination of those things happening, I see Tobi playing more 4 than 5.

 

[Wolfpack Ram]

I think it comes down to several factors

• Roster Make up
  • Assume Ferm, Rose, and Obi all stay
  • Assume they all get better (Obi was said to be good over the summer so outside of the team, he is an unknown quantity )
• Assume we grab a really good center from the portal

Any combination of those things happening, I see Tobi playing more 4 than 5.

You are also assuming Coach Odom is looking for a starting center. He could also be looking for a backup center to Tobi. And then there's the possibility of Fermin moving to the 4. You also have Belle at the 4, who should see a lot more playing time next year. If Belle develops some offense, including an outside shot, you won't need Tobi at the 4.

I'm more concerned about the 3. Fats has to put on a lot of weight in order to get more minutes. Losing Bairstow is going to leave a big void at the 3. Especially since Bairstow could also bring the ball up court.

 

[RowdyPkunk]

You are also assuming Coach Odom is looking for a starting center. He could also be looking for a backup center to Tobi. And then there's the possibility of Fermin moving to the 4. You also have Belle at the 4, who should see a lot more playing time next year. If Belle develops some offense, including an outside shot, you won't need Tobi at the 4.

I'm more concerned about the 3. Fats has to put on a lot of weight in order to get more minutes. Losing Bairstow is going to leave a big void at the 3. Especially since Bairstow could also bring the ball up court.

I honestly see Belle playing more of the 3... leaving the 4 & 5 to Tobi, Ferm, Rose & Obi assuming they all stay.

If Belle can develop some offense... he could be this teams version of Treveon Graham (not saying hes on Tre's level, not even close thus far, but similar play style).

And Belle's def as a freshman so far is much better than Fats defense as a Redshirt-Freshman.

Unless something drastic happens in the offseason in terms of additions and/or departures, I see Fats competing for minutes at the 2 or 3 because of his ability to shoot (tho he needs to do it more consistently)... but unless his defense takes a big step forward, hes likely gonna be backing up Belle or whoever we got starting at the 2.

 

[TampaKAP]

You are also assuming Coach Odom is looking for a starting center. He could also be looking for a backup center to Tobi. And then there's the possibility of Fermin moving to the 4. You also have Belle at the 4, who should see a lot more playing time next year. If Belle develops some offense, including an outside shot, you won't need Tobi at the 4.

I'm more concerned about the 3. Fats has to put on a lot of weight in order to get more minutes. Losing Bairstow is going to leave a big void at the 3. Especially since Bairstow could also bring the ball up court.

• I am a huge supporter of Tobi and I want him to start....just not at the 5.
• A lot of weight is relative, I think Fats need 15 lbs this year but 25 by his senior year would be good. He also needs to continue to work on ball handling. ( He brought the ball up several times in the Nova game)
• Like @RowdyPkunk said, I see Belle sliding to the 3

 

[Wolfpack Ram]

• I am a huge supporter of Tobi and I want him to start....just not at the 5.
• A lot of weight is relative, I think Fats need 15 lbs this year but 25 by his senior year would be good. He also needs to continue to work on ball handling. ( He brought the ball up several times in the Nova game)
• Like @RowdyPkunk said, I see Belle sliding to the 3

I personally see Tobi being used just like Mo Alie-Cox was used. Mo made a living in the paint, and he was 6'7". Maybe Coach Odom goes to two forwards down low with Tobi policing the paint. Tobi leads the team in rebounds this year at 6.1 rpg. Fermin averages 3.9 while averaging 3 more minutes per game.

FYI - A statistic that may surprise you. Fermin has 52 blocks this year so far. Tobi has 32.

 

[Ramlove81]

I addressed this in another post. Posters in these boards keep saying Tobi needs to play the 4 spot. I disagree. His game is dunking and protecting the rim. He has no outside game. Everything he does is in the paint, and that's not bad. With his vertical leap, he can afford to play the 5 spot at 6'8". He just needs to increase his minutes by cleaning up his fouling. If anything, VCU needs a 4 to compliment Tobi at the 5 and let Fermin backup Tobi at the 5.

Agreed, for now, but Tobi is far from a finished product. He showed early in the year he can shoot the three, not our first choice there, but not awful either. Been playing two years here and a couple in England. He'll graduate (hopefully from VCU) a different player than he is now.

 

[Ramlove81]

Don't want to respond to any one person to say this, but some of you just don't think a player can develop into a different player than they are now. Some of you still keep saying Tilman can't shoot from three! (check his percentage in the pros). Tobi, Fermin, Belle, Fats ,JayNel... are all still young, all still growing and developing. Let them do that. Don't stuff them in a box.

 

[Finance Ram 10]

Tobi seems to want to develop on the ball handling and moving his range further out as well. With the way things in college generally now, him being able to do that at VCU may be required to keep him around and on the roster. With all the madness around with everything, players knowing they can develop in the way they want to develop and that aligning with the goals and needs of the team seems like it's going to be a bigger deal. Who knows though, I think he's undersized girth wise to be super effective in the A10 at the 5.

 

[Bluey]

You are also assuming Coach Odom is looking for a starting center. He could also be looking for a backup center to Tobi. And then there's the possibility of Fermin moving to the 4. You also have Belle at the 4, who should see a lot more playing time next year. If Belle develops some offense, including an outside shot, you won't need Tobi at the 4.

I'm more concerned about the 3. Fats has to put on a lot of weight in order to get more minutes. Losing Bairstow is going to leave a big void at the 3. Especially since Bairstow could also bring the ball up court.

Tobi may be a beyond serviceable 5 on offense, that may even be the exact right role for him—-but he is definitely a 4 defensively in an ideal world, where his best role is as a help defender in the post for blocks. His biggest defensive advantage is somewhat neutralized when he has to cover the post straight up, the best way to minimize a shot blocker is putting a body on him and getting him off balance.

 

[mrgeode]

I guess we'll see what the roster looks like soon enough, but I have a hard time seeing Belle at the 4. Expect him to be the 3 on offense and more or less whatever's needed on defense.