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Post by motorcitysam on Jul 3, 2020 15:26:10 GMT -5
I'm cautiously optimistic at this time, feeling better about next season. I like the addition of Thompson, with the caveat that you never can be sure how a transfer will do. I like Johnson more than some other posters do, based on what he showed at JUCO. Of course, the question remains whether or not he will be eligible; can't see a reason for a waiver outside of the NCAA being lenient on those requests because of Covid.
Waterman is a question mark for me, at least as far as being a big contributor next year. He's coming off an injury, and still seems to need some physical development. Not sure if he will be LaMarcus Lowe or Pat "Real School" Ackerman.
I'd love to see someone take the ball handling responsibilities off of AD, or at least see some other guys step up as scorers so he doesn't have to carry so much of the load. We might have some guys capable of doing that on the roster.
As always with this many new players, chemistry could be a concern, but I am looking forward to seeing how it all comes together. Go Titans!
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Post by nctitan on Jul 3, 2020 17:11:23 GMT -5
I'd love to see someone take the ball handling responsibilities off of AD, or at least see some other guys step up as scorers so he doesn't have to carry so much of the load. We might have some guys capable of doing that on the roster. Totally agree that someone else needs to step up and score. It was frustrating last season to watch the team when AD was out of the game. No one wanted to shoot. On probably half the possessions we passed the ball until the clock almost expired. This season we should have players wanting to pull the trigger. It was obvious from AD first season that teams knew they could triple-team AD and have no fear. This season Kuol is a scorer. Thompson has the size to control the paint. If Willy is playing his natural small forward position he is a scorer. And I hope that Brandon has been working on his offense. Also want to see some brutes setting screens for AD. Thompson will be able to do that. Fraser is a ball-handler and has a reputation as being tough (plus he's supposed to be a hard-nosed defender). I think Coach is going to send player onto the floor with the understanding that part of their job is to protect AD. Lord knows he got beaten up a lot in the past couple of years. I will be satisfied with this season if the Titans are in contention both in the regular season and in the playoffs and if we beat Oakland two or three times.
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Post by kirky313 on Jul 3, 2020 19:19:36 GMT -5
I'm cautiously optimistic at this time, feeling better about next season. I like the addition of Thompson, with the caveat that you never can be sure how a transfer will do. I like Johnson more than some other posters do, based on what he showed at JUCO. Of course, the question remains whether or not he will be eligible; can't see a reason for a waiver outside of the NCAA being lenient on those requests because of Covid. Waterman is a question mark for me, at least as far as being a big contributor next year. He's coming off an injury, and still seems to need some physical development. Not sure if he will be LaMarcus Lowe or Pat "Real School" Ackerman. I'd love to see someone take the ball handling responsibilities off of AD, or at least see some other guys step up as scorers so he doesn't have to carry so much of the load. We might have some guys capable of doing that on the roster. As always with this many new players, chemistry could be a concern, but I am looking forward to seeing how it all comes together. Go Titans! From what I have seen of Waterman‘s film.. he’s got a lot of Gordon Hayward in him. He’s not really a post I could see him at the 4 if we’re play 4 out 1 in. Also Pat coaches D1 basketball and has 2 conference championships.. 2 trips to the dance..just sayin
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Post by Commissioner on Jul 3, 2020 21:00:05 GMT -5
I'm cautiously optimistic at this time, feeling better about next season. I like the addition of Thompson, with the caveat that you never can be sure how a transfer will do. I like Johnson more than some other posters do, based on what he showed at JUCO. Of course, the question remains whether or not he will be eligible; can't see a reason for a waiver outside of the NCAA being lenient on those requests because of Covid. Waterman is a question mark for me, at least as far as being a big contributor next year. He's coming off an injury, and still seems to need some physical development. Not sure if he will be LaMarcus Lowe or Pat "Real School" Ackerman. I'd love to see someone take the ball handling responsibilities off of AD, or at least see some other guys step up as scorers so he doesn't have to carry so much of the load. We might have some guys capable of doing that on the roster. As always with this many new players, chemistry could be a concern, but I am looking forward to seeing how it all comes together. Go Titans! From what I have seen of Waterman‘s film.. he’s got a lot of Gordon Hayward in him. He’s not really a post I could see him at the 4 if we’re play 4 out 1 in. Also Pat coaches D1 basketball and has 2 conference championships.. 2 trips to the dance..just sayin Pat is like Mr. Kick Ass recruiter these days. We could use a guy like him. Sadly, I don't sense he has a lot of warm feelings for his alma mater. Maybe Kirky knows otherwise.
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Post by upbasketballfan on Jul 3, 2020 23:09:13 GMT -5
Like I stated before. I doubt it very much that Waterman left a starting spot to come here as a reserve. He will play and will lay a lot. He didn’t come to be an understudy. Some of the transfers were not getting what they felt they deserved so they moved to get to showcase themselves. Waterman was starting and getting good minutes. I am sure that has been addressed. I am still hoping for Alan U. I think he would make this an outstanding recruiting class,
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Post by motorcitysam on Jul 4, 2020 5:39:18 GMT -5
I'm cautiously optimistic at this time, feeling better about next season. I like the addition of Thompson, with the caveat that you never can be sure how a transfer will do. I like Johnson more than some other posters do, based on what he showed at JUCO. Of course, the question remains whether or not he will be eligible; can't see a reason for a waiver outside of the NCAA being lenient on those requests because of Covid. Waterman is a question mark for me, at least as far as being a big contributor next year. He's coming off an injury, and still seems to need some physical development. Not sure if he will be LaMarcus Lowe or Pat "Real School" Ackerman. I'd love to see someone take the ball handling responsibilities off of AD, or at least see some other guys step up as scorers so he doesn't have to carry so much of the load. We might have some guys capable of doing that on the roster. As always with this many new players, chemistry could be a concern, but I am looking forward to seeing how it all comes together. Go Titans! From what I have seen of Waterman‘s film.. he’s got a lot of Gordon Hayward in him. He’s not really a post I could see him at the 4 if we’re play 4 out 1 in. Also Pat coaches D1 basketball and has 2 conference championships.. 2 trips to the dance..just sayin Kirky, I know you and Pat were/are friendly, so I toned down my original response to your above post. Ackerman might be the only Titan that made me suspend my tradition of not publicly criticizing college players. He flamed out at Penn State, due to ineffective play and disciplinary problems, including a suspension. He got another chance to play D1 ball at U of D and responded with more disciplinary issues, more ineffective play, a lack of effort, and apparently being more interested in smoking weed than lifting a weight or working on his game. He was a waste of three years of scholarship. I would let all of that pass, but he also had the nerve to say my school wasn't a "real school", basically spitting in the face of the program that gave him a second chance. The fact that he was able to quickly land a spot on a coaching staff is a testament to some connections, probably through is father, given that the disaster that was his college basketball playing career doesn't usually lead to a quick opportunity in coaching. Just saying.
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Post by kirky313 on Jul 4, 2020 9:29:00 GMT -5
I don’t know this to be true Sam. But I think pat paid his own way that last year he chose not to play. I can completely understand the frustration and anger over what he said, I think a lot of folks took that out of context, I often wonder what my life would be like if I would’ve chose to go to the University of Michigan or another school with the culture and big sports tradition Pat was looking for. From personal experience I assure you he was not the only one smoking weed. I Know in a variety of different institutions sometimes people are given a heads up before there drug tested. For the record I don’t believe that happened to UDM.
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Post by udballer on Jul 4, 2020 10:02:35 GMT -5
I don't know much of anything about Ackerman... other than the fact that he appeared to be an awful basketball player. Whatever the stories or background, I don't think it can be disputed that he was an absolute waste of a scholarship.
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Post by motorcitysam on Jul 4, 2020 11:34:10 GMT -5
I don’t know this to be true Sam. But I think pat paid his own way that last year he chose not to play. I can completely understand the frustration and anger over what he said, I think a lot of folks took that out of context, I often wonder what my life would be like if I would’ve chose to go to the University of Michigan or another school with the culture and big sports tradition Pat was looking for. From personal experience I assure you he was not the only one smoking weed. I Know in a variety of different institutions sometimes people are given a heads up before there drug tested. For the record I don’t believe that happened to UDM. I hope he did pay his own way that last year when he quit. Would have been nice had he made the decision earlier so that we maybe could have made use of the scholarship that season. And I am aware that he wasn't the only guy smoking. I seem to remember Paris being suspended at the beginning of a season, and it appeared to be illegal substance related. Of course, Paris came back and played hard whenever he was on the court, and improved from year to year, unlike Pat. And of course Paris never said that U of D wasn't a real school. Ack said it on social media, and left it up there. Hard to say it was taken out of context. I don't want to derail this thread further. I was just trying to think of an example of a big man transfer who had a good career and one who was terrible. Lowe and Ackerman came to mind pretty quickly.
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Post by calihanmole on Jul 4, 2020 11:41:28 GMT -5
The funniest thing about the Ack Attack “real school” thing is that he made the comment during the college football playoffs suggesting he wished he was still at a big school like Penn State that offered that kind of environment. Ironically, he was a scholarship basketball player at UDM and had the opportunity to be in the spotlight and get his own campus and alumni fired up. But, as said, it seems he possibly squandered that opportunity (I suppose we could debate if his struggles were because of lack of talent, lack of motivation, injuries, drug use, or other factors but why bother at this point?). I don’t really care so much about Ack Attack anymore, but my impression is that he’s gotten as far as he has thanks to being tall and his family connections in basketball. Whatever, wish him well.
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Post by ptctitan on Sept 13, 2020 8:19:26 GMT -5
We're going to have an interesting team this season because there will be a lot of interchangeable parts and roles for each player. From a higher altitude perspective, there will always be 3-4 scorers on the floor including Antoine. We will have more length on the wings. Fraser, Kuol, and Johnson are defensive upgrades over the players who transferred out. For the first time since Ray's championship team, we will have the ability to play two big men at the same time. At times, we could play a front line of two 6'11's and a 6'7".
Let's start at guard. AD, Fraser, Rose, and Johnson start practice as the big 4. Calipari will be the designated shooter if we are zoned. Initially, we may see more of Calipari and Rose because they are familiar with coach's system. But the coaches believe that Johnson can be a primary ballhandler in certain situations. Fraser will be a tough defender. Sometimes, AD will bring the ball up. Other times, they will play him off the ball and let the other guard or Waterman bring the ball up. We will have several outlets for AD if he gets doubled or tripled bringing the ball up. The early preference is to play a big guard alongside AD for most of the game. Ideally, the coaches want to develop the two freshmen at PG in practice so they'll be ready to step up in the coming seasons. But it would be a good thing if one or both begin to challenge Pink and Brad for playing time this year.
At forward, we will have Brandon, Kuol, Isiani, Waterman, and Thompson. The coaches really like Kuol for his leadership, effort, and outside shooting. And they really like Brandon for his defense, rebounding, and shot blocking. Willy is likely to see less playing time - especially if Kuol shoots over 40% 3PG. Waterman, if he receives his transfer waiver, will be an intriguing player because he has an outside shot and height. He can create his own shot. And the same goes for Taurean Thompson - except he is not a 3 point shooter, but he has a mid range jump shot in addition of being able to get to the rim.
At center, we will play Taurean, Waterman, and Chris depending upon the situations. Thompson is the best of the 3 at playing a traditional post. We'll see if Chris has improved his offense over the summer. Waterman is still growing and may exceed 7 feet by the end of the season.
Possible line-ups
Big - Taurean, Noah, Chris, Marquell/Rose, Antoine
Small - Taurean, Chris, Bul, Marquell/Rose, Antoine
So, us older guys will have to shed our fixations with traditional positional playing roles that we learned from the way hoops were played for the longest time. We will have a lot of interchangeable parts. For example, it would not surprise me to see down the stretch in close games Fraser and Brandon on defense with Kuol and Johnson or Brad on offense.
We will have gone from having one of the smallest teams in the HL last year to perhaps the tallest. And our two bigs will be skilled and quick. We will present multiple 3 point shooting options on the floor - not just Antoine. And we should make it tougher on our opponents to score inside and outside. A lot will depend upon how quickly the individuals gel into a team. If the NCAA delays the start of the season by two weeks and permits teams to practice 8 hours per week during that two-week delay, then this could help us a lot. In addition to the team chemistry variable, will Taurean finally find his coach in Mike Davis who will guide him to greatness? Will AD play fewer minutes more efficiently which is the goal of the staff? Will Johnson and Waterman get their eligibility waivers? Will Johnson or Pink develop into solid HL players? Will Rose finally learn to finish more than 50% of his drives to the basket? If AD and Taurean together become the two-edged scoring threat as envisioned by the coaches, we will be much harder to beat in 2020-21 than in any year since Ray's great teams. No longer will just any tall guy be able to have a career day inside against us. And no longer will an outside shooter get uncontested 3 point shots on the wing because he is being guarded by a Titan who is 2-4 inches smaller than him. So, the upside here is great; but there remain several important questions that can only be answered by how we play whenever the season starts.
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Post by nctitan on Sept 13, 2020 9:00:33 GMT -5
Thanks for the insight and eval, PTC.
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Post by Commissioner on Sept 16, 2020 9:09:41 GMT -5
We're going to have an interesting team this season because there will be a lot of interchangeable parts and roles for each player. From a higher altitude perspective, there will always be 3-4 scorers on the floor including Antoine. We will have more length on the wings. Fraser, Kuol, and Johnson are defensive upgrades over the players who transferred out. For the first time since Ray's championship team, we will have the ability to play two big men at the same time. At times, we could play a front line of two 6'11's and a 6'7". Let's start at guard. AD, Fraser, Rose, and Johnson start practice as the big 4. Calipari will be the designated shooter if we are zoned. Initially, we may see more of Calipari and Rose because they are familiar with coach's system. But the coaches believe that Johnson can be a primary ballhandler in certain situations. Fraser will be a tough defender. Sometimes, AD will bring the ball up. Other times, they will play him off the ball and let the other guard or Waterman bring the ball up. We will have several outlets for AD if he gets doubled or tripled bringing the ball up. The early preference is to play a big guard alongside AD for most of the game. Ideally, the coaches want to develop the two freshmen at PG in practice so they'll be ready to step up in the coming seasons. But it would be a good thing if one or both begin to challenge Pink and Brad for playing time this year. At forward, we will have Brandon, Kuol, Isiani, Waterman, and Thompson. The coaches really like Kuol for his leadership, effort, and outside shooting. And they really like Brandon for his defense, rebounding, and shot blocking. Willy is likely to see less playing time - especially if Kuol shoots over 40% 3PG. Waterman, if he receives his transfer waiver, will be an intriguing player because he has an outside shot and height. He can create his own shot. And the same goes for Taurean Thompson - except he is not a 3 point shooter, but he has a mid range jump shot in addition of being able to get to the rim. At center, we will play Taurean, Waterman, and Chris depending upon the situations. Thompson is the best of the 3 at playing a traditional post. We'll see if Chris has improved his offense over the summer. Waterman is still growing and may exceed 7 feet by the end of the season. Possible line-ups Big - Taurean, Noah, Chris, Marquell/Rose, Antoine Small - Taurean, Chris, Bul, Marquell/Rose, Antoine So, us older guys will have to shed our fixations with traditional positional playing roles that we learned from the way hoops were played for the longest time. We will have a lot of interchangeable parts. For example, it would not surprise me to see down the stretch in close games Fraser and Brandon on defense with Kuol and Johnson or Brad on offense. We will have gone from having one of the smallest teams in the HL last year to perhaps the tallest. And our two bigs will be skilled and quick. We will present multiple 3 point shooting options on the floor - not just Antoine. And we should make it tougher on our opponents to score inside and outside. A lot will depend upon how quickly the individuals gel into a team. If the NCAA delays the start of the season by two weeks and permits teams to practice 8 hours per week during that two-week delay, then this could help us a lot. In addition to the team chemistry variable, will Taurean finally find his coach in Mike Davis who will guide him to greatness? Will AD play fewer minutes more efficiently which is the goal of the staff? Will Johnson and Waterman get their eligibility waivers? Will Johnson or Pink develop into solid HL players? Will Rose finally learn to finish more than 50% of his drives to the basket? If AD and Taurean together become the two-edged scoring threat as envisioned by the coaches, we will be much harder to beat in 2020-21 than in any year since Ray's great teams. No longer will just any tall guy be able to have a career day inside against us. And no longer will an outside shooter get uncontested 3 point shots on the wing because he is being guarded by a Titan who is 2-4 inches smaller than him. So, the upside here is great; but there remain several important questions that can only be answered by how we play whenever the season starts. Thanks for the perspective and info, PTC. Let me suggest a few things to watch for that occur to me randomly here: 1. AD's 3 point shooting. AD shot just 32.4% last year from three. Over the last 12 games of his freshman year (starting with the first Oakland game, where Kampe showed everyone how to defend him--just block him and beat on him mercilessly), he shot 42-133, or 31.6%. So, was he just a "volume shooter" who was really hot for about two-thirds of a season (42.1% before that OU game)? He was supposedly hamstrung last year by a number of nagging injuries, including to his shooting hand, and the Titans also lacked another consistent offensive threat last year, especially from outside (AD's freshman year we had McFolley and King). I suspect all those things account for his lower percentage (plus, in his freshman year, pure fatigue--I think people underestimate the grind freshmen face, with games that are 25% longer than in high school, a third-longer schedule, and consistently tougher competition). But we have to consider that maybe AD really is just a 32% shooter from deep. Is the real AD going to shoot 42% or 32% from three? Or in between? I'm going with 40%, and I hope that's right. AD averages about 10-12 three point attempts per game, so we're talking one bucket per game. That doesn't sound like a lot, but recognize that one basket is more than 4% of our average scoring. So three points is nothing to sneeze at, and also can have greater effects, giving us a late narrow lead rather than narrow deficit, keeping a game out of reach late, etc. 2. Rose's two-point shooting. Can Rose finish at the rim? Rose is very good at getting to the hoop, but boy it was frustrating last year to watch him miss so many bunnies at the end of a great drive. Rose shot just 39.8% last year from two-point range. If he can finish off those moves to the hoop, he'll be a really valuable weapon and keep or up his 19 minutes per game from a year ago. If not, I suspect we'll see his PT dwindle amidst would could be a real plethora of guard talent. 3. I don't expect any of the 3 freshman guards (remember, Pink is a redshirt freshman) to play much. If they end up getting PT because the upperclassmen don't do well, it'll be a long season. If they force their way in to some minutes by good play of their own, anything we get will be a big side serving of gravy and probably indicate a good season. Leidel might be the most intriguing. His level of HS play probably gives him the biggest adjustment of the three. But his shooting might make him most likely to get PT. He could take minutes from Cal if Cal struggles with his three, or he just shoots the lights out in practice. 4. What will Johnson do? He didn't do a lot for St. Bonaventure. We've got other options. How Johnson does will affect the minutes available for the other guards. It appears the staff likes his potential. 5. PTC suggests that Willy Isiani will be squeezed for PT, and I'd guess that's right. But if Kuol disappoints, Willie would presumably be the option for the big guy who shoots the three. Willie seems to play hard. I think he'll have a chance to win more playing time, but he'll have to earn it in practice. 6. Will Waterman be given a waiver to play immediately? I really think he's the steal of the new group of players. 7. Is Thompson ready to play? Will he dominate this league (say 15 points and 10 rebounds)? Just be good (say 10 points, 7 rebounds)? Be a dud (4 points and 3 rebounds)? He's got more of a track record than Waterman or Johnson, but he's even a bigger wild card as we look at this year's Titans. Apparently a smart kid, definitely a talented kid. Is he mentally ready to play? Can Coach bring out that talent consistently? At this point, I'm going to be optimistic. He's good. 8. Chris Brandon. I really don't think this team needs offense from Chris. He'll get his put backs and make the occasional back-door cut for the lob-dunk, but I don't think we don't need him to score in double digits. We need him to rebound and play defense more consistently. He made the league all-D team last year, but I think that was in part from a few spectacular blocks. Those blocks show his ability. But it seems that too often he was not in position, and then there were the little 5 to 10 minute stretches when he could disappear. Chris is a pretty amazing talent. This may be my one minor disagreement with PTC's analysis. I don't think we need to worry much about whether Chris improved his offensive game (though it would be great if he did). I think we really need a bit more mental toughness, so that we see the really good Chris for the entire 25-30 minutes he might be on the floor. If becomes a lock-down defender for the entire game, we could have a pretty awesome front line.
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Post by nctitan on Sept 16, 2020 11:26:20 GMT -5
Responding to some of the Commish’s comments:
2 and 3. I don’t expect Rose to get much playing time, especially in light of his failure to finish last year, but he can be a good talent off the bench. A far as Calipari, other than hitting the three (if left wide open) and free throws, Calipari has too many limitations – not a good ball-handler (not quick), not a good defender (too short) – so I don’t expect him to play much except in late-game hold-the-lead situations where we need all on the floor to be deadly from the FT line. Freshmen better be prepared to learn a lot in practice, because game time is unlikely with five upperclassmen guards ahead of them. But they better be learning, because four guards are graduating at the end of the year, leaving 2021-22 wide open for a backcourt mate to AD.
5. I’ve heard that Kuol is impressing the staff in practice. Plus, a strong Kuol gives Coach flexibility in resting Brandon, sliding Kuol over to PF and inserting Willie at SF, which is his natural position. Willie has shown incredible versatility and high IQ so I think he’ll find his minutes.
6. Waterman is indeed the wild card in this incoming class.
8. No, Brandon doesn’t need to be an offensive star – but he needs to be a THREAT. We can’t play four-on-five because our PF is being ignored. Face it, the Titans lost a lot of games when other teams played two or three defenders on AD because no one else was a threat to score. Everyone on the floor needs to have the POTENTIAL to score. My understanding is that Thompson plays away from the basket on offense a lot, so that should open up a lot of that interior space for Brandon to follow-up and get his points – and that will force the defender on Thompson to hang back and give Thompson more space for those short-range shots.
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Post by ptctitan on Sept 17, 2020 5:26:25 GMT -5
Thanks, Commissioner and nctitan, for extending the discussion with your comments. Maybe others will join in the discussion and share their thoughts now that we have certainty about when the new season will begin.
The coaches want Antoine playing fewer minutes, taking fewer shots, but taking more higher percentage shots. Also, they think the new players can finish off more of Antoine's passes with points. IMO, a key question here will be how quickly will he adjust to this new role. And how quickly will it take for this new offense to become effective?
Johnson will have to compete for his minutes. He was the odd man out at St. Bonaventure even though he had a good game against George Washington. He is a better 3-point shooter and a better foul shooter than Fraser. If we want Antoine playing 32-33 minutes per game instead of 37 minutes per game, then we need a second guard combo for about 4 minutes per half. Brad and Rose did not show strength at ballhandling last season. And we don't want to overplay Fraser either. So, there's an opportunity here for Johnson. If he works out as a primary ballhandler, then we could play Brad alongside of him to replace Antoine's 3-point shooting for those 4 minutes per half. Or we could even pair Rose with him for a big guard combo since Rose showed some improvement in his jump shooting and 3-point shooting as last season progressed. He is an example of a typical Davis transfer recruit - a player who was injured and lost his spot, or a player Davis feels was played in the wrong position at his other school; or a case like Thompson, a player who transferred into the wrong system for his skills and likely would have been better off remaining at Syracuse.
Willy could find his playing time at center where his lack of speed would not be as much a negative as it is on the wing. Since he is familiar with coach's systems, I wouldn't count him out of everything right now. Sometimes, it takes certain players to their 3rd or 4th years in college hoops to find themselves. At forward, however, on paper, it will be difficult for him to find as many minutes this season as he averaged his first two years here.
I agree with this opinion about Chris' need to step up to more consistent play on defense. My comment about offense related to the center position; and, I should have made clear that I was comparing his skill set on offense in the post to Taurean and Noah. Chris was able to create enough shots on his own last season that had he made them, the outcomes of several games would have fallen our way. Any improvement there would be a bonus - especially if he is going to play center in some rotations.
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