Big man play tonight: Thoughts please.

[duncanlamb]

Ok. As usual, its hard for me to watch games cause they take place during homework time. As a result, I get most of my impressions from the in-game thread.

It sounds like the bigs got physically man-handled inside and the our inexperience showed because we fouled alot (Reddic?). On the other hand it also sounds like our guards couldn't get the ball inside. In addition, we didn't get going until we started pressing.

My initial thoughts are:

a. Drexel is more experienced at playing Big East Smash Mouth basketball and took advantage of our interior in-experience; however, shaka made the right adjustment to press becuase drexel can't handle the ball(?).

b. Even though are bigs were ineffective, we need to keep working them into the offense. We will need them against bigger teams later in CAA play, not mention the tournament.

anybody want to add to this?

 

[4RunningRam]

Reddic's got more range on his jumper than Larry had at this time in his freshman year; though I'm not comparing them as similar players. He was impressive tonight at times and showed his inexperience at others. Reddic's got some nice potential...

 

[ramtastic83]

the refs controlled most of the game, which doesnt help frosh

 

[VCU4LIFE]

It really seemed to me like when we went smaller and played our game we were able to handle them much better than when we tried to go big and match up with them. We forced a ton of turnovers starting about the middle of the 2nd half, and when we went smaller we did a great job of fronting the kid in the post that went off in the 1st half and denied the ball from even going inside.

 

[districtballer]

Reddic's got more range on his jumper than Larry had at this time in his freshman year; though I'm not comparing them as similar players. He was impressive tonight at times and showed his inexperience at others. Reddic's got some nice potential...

Agreed. Like his repertoire. He's smooth for his size. Once he gets comfortable he will be a nice option down low. Thought he could get more rotation on his jumper and he shoots flat, would like to see more arc. Quick release though. Props to Roose on his frame, he can handle CAA bigs with the weight he's put on. He looked rather tentative, but I would credit that more to inexperience with the offense, that'll improve with experience. I thought he did a nice job given it was his first start. He got called for some questionable (IMO) fouls that seemed to discourage him a bit.

Overall I was happy with him and like the future with him in the post.

DJ still looks like he's getting used to his weight. That may take time for him. He still looks winded after a couple of possessions. He'll need to regain his stamina. The kid could really run the floor as a high school player and that was his best attribute. His weight has somewhat taken that away from him. Otherwise he's pretty mechanical at this point so he doesn't look as impressive. Once he gets that burst back (I think he might have to lose a bit of weight), we'll see some more from him.

 

[NCIN29]

Unfortunately I'll agree with all posters. The potential is great, refs controlled the game, and change in lineups during the game was nice.

 

[VCU4LIFE]

Don't get me wrong, I am not bashing a young student athlete here, and I love David Hinton's attitude and work ethic, but does anyone else think we are wasting valuable development minutes that should be going to DJ Haley every time we run Hinton out there in the middle of the game??

 

[Pavarotti]

Don't get me wrong, I am not bashing a young student athlete here, and I love David Hinton's attitude and work ethic, but does anyone else think we are wasting valuable development minutes that should be going to DJ Haley every time we run Hinton out there in the middle of the game??

Disagree. I think David Hinton can and will develop into a servicable backup, which is important to have. He plays hard, and reminds me of a walk-on version of a Derrick Reid. Nothing wrong with getting him experience, he is only a sophomore and has a few years of service left to us to continue to develop.

 

[districtballer]

Don't get me wrong, I am not bashing a young student athlete here, and I love David Hinton's attitude and work ethic, but does anyone else think we are wasting valuable development minutes that should be going to DJ Haley every time we run Hinton out there in the middle of the game??

Hinton runs the floor better. Haley doesn't look like he can handle any more than a couple of possessions at a time. His conditioning still needs work. DJ plays as hard as he can, but it takes a lot out of him. At least that's what I am seeing.

 

[Mistachill]

In hindsight, if that's true maybe they should've left him alone and let him gain weight more naturally or gradually. Nothing wrong with a big man who can run the floor a la Larry Sanders.

DJ still looks like he's getting used to his weight. That may take time for him. He still looks winded after a couple of possessions. He'll need to regain his stamina. The kid could really run the floor as a high school player and that was his best attribute. His weight has somewhat taken that away from him. Otherwise he's pretty mechanical at this point so he doesn't look as impressive. Once he gets that burst back (I think he might have to lose a bit of weight), we'll see some more from him.

 

[VCU4LIFE]

VRam just made the head-scratching point on another thread that DJ and David played a combined 22 minutes tonight, and DID NOT RECORD A SINGLE REBOUND. I'll add to that that Reddic played another 14 minutes and totaled 2 boards. That's 36 minutes from the 3 big men and a whopping total of 2 rebounds.

Things that make you say Hmmmmm......

 

[VCU4LIFE]

In hindsight, if that's true maybe they should've left him alone and let him gain weight more naturally or gradually. Nothing wrong with a big man who can run the floor a la Larry Sanders.

DJ still looks like he's getting used to his weight. That may take time for him. He still looks winded after a couple of possessions. He'll need to regain his stamina. The kid could really run the floor as a high school player and that was his best attribute. His weight has somewhat taken that away from him. Otherwise he's pretty mechanical at this point so he doesn't look as impressive. Once he gets that burst back (I think he might have to lose a bit of weight), we'll see some more from him.

I have thought that too, every time I hear comments about the weight that DJ put on when he got here. Particularly considering the style we attempt to play (or market anyway) you would think he would have fit in well as he was...

 

[districtballer]

In hindsight, if that's true maybe they should've left him alone and let him gain weight more naturally or gradually. Nothing wrong with a big man who can run the floor a la Larry Sanders.

DJ still looks like he's getting used to his weight. That may take time for him. He still looks winded after a couple of possessions. He'll need to regain his stamina. The kid could really run the floor as a high school player and that was his best attribute. His weight has somewhat taken that away from him. Otherwise he's pretty mechanical at this point so he doesn't look as impressive. Once he gets that burst back (I think he might have to lose a bit of weight), we'll see some more from him.

Haha it was DJ's initiative actually. The kid ate like all the food in the world was going to disappear tomorrow. I don't think anyone could have predicted he would put on as much weight as he did. Weight gain like that is rare.

 

[4RunningRam]

Don't get me wrong, I am not bashing a young student athlete here, and I love David Hinton's attitude and work ethic, but does anyone else think we are wasting valuable development minutes that should be going to DJ Haley every time we run Hinton out there in the middle of the game??

Disagree. I think David Hinton can and will develop into a servicable backup, which is important to have. He plays hard, and reminds me of a walk-on version of a Derrick Reid. Nothing wrong with getting him experience, he is only a sophomore and has a few years of service left to us to continue to develop.

Totally agree with pavarotti's assessment here. I think Hinton can become servicable for minute eating by the time he's a senior; though maybe not quite yet.

 

[duncanlamb]

In hindsight, if that's true maybe they should've left him alone and let him gain weight more naturally or gradually. Nothing wrong with a big man who can run the floor a la Larry Sanders.

DJ still looks like he's getting used to his weight. That may take time for him. He still looks winded after a couple of possessions. He'll need to regain his stamina. The kid could really run the floor as a high school player and that was his best attribute. His weight has somewhat taken that away from him. Otherwise he's pretty mechanical at this point so he doesn't look as impressive. Once he gets that burst back (I think he might have to lose a bit of weight), we'll see some more from him.

There seems to be a historical pattern of big men suffering serious knee injuries when they put on weight too quickly (Bob Lanier, Melvin Turpin, Kevin Duckworth et al.). Do you think this might happen to D.J. if we don't bring him along slower?