Room for a hefty but mediocre post?

[Grizzled_Jack]

http://www.lindenwoodlions.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball&

Been hitting a few Lindenwood basketball games since they went to DII.

Look at 41 in the center and compare him to 11 next to him. That's the difference between 6-11 and 6-8.

This guy came over from SLU. Assume Soderberg showed interest and Majerus got rid of him when he arrived, so he went back to the coach that liked him. Definitely wouldn't get much playing time on this year's Billiken team, since they're a lot more athletic. However, when you stick him in to a post position, he can simply bull his way around the typical MIAA 6-7, 6-8 front court. You can see the difference in three inches and fifty pounds is pretty profound.

Can't the Jacks find someone like this to sit in the post and plug things up? His presence can instantly change the pace of the game, at least for Lindenwood.

I remember all those quasi fat guys like Big Country Reeves, and the KU center that used to bump around in the Big 8, a couple of decades ago. No big slow pace changers that we could find out there?


BTW-- 24-Alex Bazzell is yet another reason why UMKC is bleeding talent and should find a home with the neo-Great West ASAP.

[NorCalJack]

Re: Room for a hefty but mediocre post?

Well first our post player has to be capable of making 17 ft. jump shots. This draws the opponents center way from the hoop and gives Nate driving lanes to the hoop. Remember when we played Oakland the first time this year, Oakland did not guard Fiegen away from the hoop to take away the driving lanes from Nate. Fiegen had 24 points because he consistently hit the 17 ft. jumper all night long and made Oakland pay for this decision.

Also this guy probably transferred to a D-2 program so he did not have to sit out a year, like he would have if he transferred to another D-1 program.

Like I have said before, I trust Nagy more than what people (including myself) want for the team.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: Room for a hefty but mediocre post?

Look at 22, 3, and 50. Not exactly physical specimens. Are these the types of players on opposing teams that 41 is doing well against?

I'm not saying he isn't a good player and probably DI capable, but give me a mobile, strong, mid-range shooting Tony Fiegen over most of the 6'10"+ guys I have seen us play against.

Recruit tall guys, once in awhile you will get one. But you can't build your team around a 7 footer philosophy at the Mid Major level.

[MontanaRabbit]

Re: Room for a hefty but mediocre post?

Averages less than 10 points in DII. He probably wouldn't see the court at SDSU.

[NoVaJack]

Re: Room for a hefty but mediocre post?

http://www.lindenwoodlions.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball&

Been hitting a few Lindenwood basketball games since they went to DII.

Look at 41 in the center and compare him to 11 next to him. That's the difference between 6-11 and 6-8.

This guy came over from SLU. Assume Soderberg showed interest and Majerus got rid of him when he arrived, so he went back to the coach that liked him. Definitely wouldn't get much playing time on this year's Billiken team, since they're a lot more athletic. However, when you stick him in to a post position, he can simply bull his way around the typical MIAA 6-7, 6-8 front court. You can see the difference in three inches and fifty pounds is pretty profound.

Can't the Jacks find someone like this to sit in the post and plug things up? His presence can instantly change the pace of the game, at least for Lindenwood.

I remember all those quasi fat guys like Big Country Reeves, and the KU center that used to bump around in the Big 8, a couple of decades ago. No big slow pace changers that we could find out there?


BTW-- 24-Alex Bazzell is yet another reason why UMKC is bleeding talent and should find a home with the neo-Great West ASAP.

BAD BAD BAD BAD BAD idea. If Majerus won't play him because he is not athletic enough, why would we? Why, with our motion offense and history of recruiting 6-4 to 6-6 shooters with defensive prowess and rebounding ability, would we want to "plug things up"?
We just had a guy get 17 rebounds last night; we have outrebounded opponents by 3.8 per game and 118 total for the season. Our big men are our second and third top scorers. What are you fixing with a mediocre, slow big man?

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: Room for a hefty but mediocre post?

Averages less than 10 points in DII. He probably wouldn't see the court at SDSU.

To be fair, he only plays 22 minutes a game... In our system, if he was able to crack the starting lineup he would probably play around 35, which might get his average to around 17 or so...

[BitsTD]

Re: Room for a hefty but mediocre post?

Gotta admit that when I read the title for this thread I thought your post was going to be heavy in terms of subject, but not a very good topic.

[filbert]

Re: Room for a hefty but mediocre post?

Big and slow doesn't work in a motion offense like Nagy's, and is a SERIOUS liability on defense in Division I.

Next topic.

[Nidaros]

Re: Room for a hefty but mediocre post?

As much as I liked Soderberg as a person, some of his recruiting choices left something to be desired. What a blessing it was that he got the call from Wisconsin in 1995. Its hard to say where SDSU would be today had he not got that call.

[Jacked_Up]

Re: Room for a hefty but mediocre post?

This thread got me curious about Brennan Cougill, a Sioux City grad who plays for Wisconsin-Green Bay. As I recall, the Jacks just about landed him a couple years ago, when Cougill was winding up his juco career. He's 6-9, 265. He averages about 23 minutes, 6 rebounds and 10 points for a mediocre (16-13) D-1 team. Would he have helped the Jacks the past two seasons? Probably.

[Grizzled_Jack]

Re: Room for a hefty but mediocre post?

I saw him play against Central Missouri, a very athletic ranked D2 team (100% African American starters and very athletic--sort of playground oriented but very fast). Soderberg could stick him in there and immediately slow the game. Lindenwood slowed things down enough to change the pace of the game and win by a point--think they were both in the eighties , so it wasn't like WIU. This guy could post up fairly far out and muck up the whole flow of the game, then Soderberg would pull him and speed things up. He simply looked a lot bigger than the other players that were guarding him. For the record, I'd put both teams as about ten better than last year's UMKC team, one of the LU players was on both teams. Definitely not top level Summit talent but not bottom of the barrel either. UCM was definitely the better, faster team, but they couldn't control the tempo primarily because this oaf guy could dominate physically and let everyone get their breath. He would not have gotten any playtime with Majerus's (or Crew's) Bills, but they have more speed and depth than anything the Summit has ever seen.

[Grizzled_Jack]

Re: Room for a hefty but mediocre post?

Also, I wasn't arguing that someone like this could start. Only that being able to slow the action and go deeper in the bench might have avoided some of the wheels drop off effect of a fast team that runs the same people for 35+ minutes. Whether that kind of shifting from first gear to sixth is easily achievable, I don't know.

[LakeJack]

Re: Room for a hefty but mediocre post?

Big and slow doesn't work in a motion offense like Nagy's, and is a SERIOUS liability on defense in Division I.

Next topic.

This.

[SUPERBUNNY]

Re: Room for a hefty but mediocre post?

I have yet to see a bis, slow, lane-clogging center carry his team to a conference championship in the summit. There have been several freakishly athletic guys do it but not the other. That's not our team's style. That's not going to happen.

That being said, could we use a major presence underneath. You bet! I give Tony Fiegen so much credit for being a warrior and battling hard every game against guys a lot bigger and faster than he is. He's one tough hombre and we will need somebody to fill that need next year. Marcus will no doubt be the starter and he has shown some real ability this year. Keeping him out of foul trouble is my big concern. After Marcus, who's the next guy? Whomever it is will be very green.

This just in, we aren't mediocre as a team any more. There's no need to take a huge flier on a guy that is a project. We need to continue to put better and better athletes on the squad. That's just what the coaches have been doing.

SUPERBUNNY

[Givethebunnyabone]

Re: Room for a hefty but mediocre post?

Am I missing something here? You guys dont want a tall guy? Dont you have one coming off redshirt next season? Near 7 footer?

You guys saying you wouldnt have taken a Keith Benson on your team couple years ago? Huh?