Something To Think About

[Cadsev]

Andre Gilbert starts for Kansas State
Steve Holdren comes off the bench right away for Illinois
Caldwell is playing well for Concordia St. Paul

If SDSU could have kept these three athletes in the program with the athletes in the program.....pretty salty team.

[JackJD]

Re: Something To Think About

Yep. We've thought about that.

Lots of schools take a turn at unbelievably back luck and unfortunate events. I think we just took our turn and it's behind us. There's talent on the men's team -- building blocks for a much-improved season. I just hope we show that improvement early.

[1bunnies]

Re: Something To Think About

Andre Gilbert starts for Kansas State
Steve Holdren comes off the bench right away for Illinois
Caldwell is playing well for Concordia St. Paul

If SDSU could have kept these three athletes in the program with the athletes in the program.....pretty salty team.

Andre started 1 game out of 4 for KSU. The last game he only played 5 minutes. Steve played a considerable amount of time last night against ASU. The Illini play against Duke tonight at 8:00 cst on ESPN.

[BTownJack]

Re: Something To Think About

Attitudes dictate a lot and all 3 of these guys had issues with that. Yes it would be nice to have their basketball talents here at SDSU but I'm sure there are a lot of guys on the team that don't miss the attitude/personalities that came with them.

[MilwaukeeJacksAlum]

Re: Something To Think About

Andre started 1 game out of 4 for KSU. The last game he only played 5 minutes. Steve played a considerable amount of time last night against ASU. The Illini play against Duke tonight at 8:00 cst on ESPN.

Andre couldn't play defense when he was with us and still can't play defense. His attitude towards defense is a big reason why he drove the coaching staff nuts before any of his legal troubles. I saw him let Marquette play 5 on 4 most of the game 2 (3?) years ago at one of the most embarrassing games I've been to. He had a world of offensive talent, but that's only one part of the game. He never understood that.

Holdren is the guy I wish was still here. Quick, big, strong and could handle the ball. Problem is he often had a bad habit of quitting in games. He looked like he had a lot of hustle in him last night against ASU, so maybe he's turned the corner in that regard. Discuss amongst yourselves why he seems to be playing hard for Illinois and why he often coasted for SDSU. I'm sure there are several factors for why that is.

Caldwell just needed a change. Simple as that. I would like to have him as part of the team, but he was not doing anyone any good at the end of the year last year. Again, your guess is as good as mine as to why that is. But, his decision to go elsewhere was probably best for him.

[Nidaros]

Re: Something To Think About

Its water under the bridge. I have more confidence in the current roster. I think they will come together as a team. I think all three who left did not give a rip about SDSU and only themselves. I did not see them as being team players that we needed to build a good program.

These people that are now in different places are happy apparently and that is all that matters. My palms are dry and will need no wringing nor do I have regrets that these three left SDSU.

[Jacks#1Fan]

Re: Something To Think About

Its water under the bridge. I have more confidence in the current roster. I think they will come together as a team. I think all three who left did not give a rip about SDSU and only themselves. I did not see them as being team players that we needed to build a good program.

These people that are now in different places are happy apparently and that is all that matters. My palms are dry and will need no wringing nor do I have regrets that these three left SDSU.

I would be a little easier on Steve. He enjoyed his freshman year here and was happy. But getting hurt and rehabbing through the year, I think he was definitely homesick (I knew him and visited with him a lot) and I could understand his decision to go back home, even though I hated seeing him do it.

[JACKGUYII]

Re: Something To Think About

I would be a little easier on Steve. He enjoyed his freshman year here and was happy. But getting hurt and rehabbing through the year, I think he was definitely homesick (I knew him and visited with him a lot) and I could understand his decision to go back home, even though I hated seeing him do it.

BS, he made a committment to SDSU and then walked out on them. His hometown team showed interest only after he showed he could play in college. He used his game at Champaign to parlay a ticket home.

[bub94]

Re: Something To Think About

Of the three, the only one I would have liked to see stay was Holdren. He played great as a freshman. Cadwell's attitude was just bad last year. Andre had talent but he always had a lot of turnovers. All three are good players and I wish them the best at their new schools.

[Nidaros]

Re: Something To Think About

I would be a little easier on Steve. He enjoyed his freshman year here and was happy. But getting hurt and rehabbing through the year, I think he was definitely homesick (I knew him and visited with him a lot) and I could understand his decision to go back home, even though I hated seeing him do it.

I could say a bunch more, but its not worth it.

[Nidaros]

Re: Something To Think About

Attitudes dictate a lot and all 3 of these guys had issues with that. Yes it would be nice to have their basketball talents here at SDSU but I'm sure there are a lot of guys on the team that don't miss the attitude/personalities that came with them.

Bingo, rep points earned,

[91jack]

Re: Something To Think About

I think that Steve is the only one that I'll miss, too.
Andre didn't play good defense and turned the ball over. He is only averaging 1 rebound and 2.3 T.O.'s/game this year. He sure wouldn't be helping this team.
Matt had a great freshman year but wasn't happy here. You could tell by his effort that he wasn't enjoying himself. It was best for him to move on.
Steve on the other hand was a big loss. He would taken a lot of the pressure off the younger players(Kia, Sargent, etc...). He's averaging more assists and less turnovers than Andre. I don't think saying that Steve left for personal reasons is all bad. He got homesick and wanted to go home. That could be called personal.

[SUPERBUNNY]

Re: Something To Think About

I don't miss any of them!!! We offered to pay for their education and they decided to walk out on that. It's a non-issue! Wish them all well but if they don't want to be here, see ya!

I'll take a guy like Loney any day of the week. All he has done is come to SDSU and worked his butt off both on the court and in the classroom. That guy has character and that is what we need more of!

This team will get much better and I look forward to seeing the many young, talented players develop over the next four years!

GO JACKS!

SUPERBUNNY

[Rabbitlivinginverm]

Re: Something To Think About

This team will get much better

No offense Superbunny but this is the one comment that I'm sick and tired of hearing. I'm just ready for Jackrabbit basketball to be good again.

[filbert]

Re: Something To Think About

No offense Superbunny but this is the one comment that I'm sick and tired of hearing. I'm just ready for Jackrabbit basketball to be good again.

We'll get better.

We're young. Again. Still. Yet. We're young primarily because of the three guys who are the topic of this thread who aren't on our team (for reasons which I personally can understand, if not in all cases agree with).

Last year we shot .420 from the field and .318 from 3-point range. This year, it's .453 and .235. (So somebody has to emerge who can consistently can the 3 on this team). But overall shooting is improved.

Last year we gave up .469 from the field and .372 from 3-point range. This year so far, .432 and .320, so defense is improved.

Last year we averaged 16 turnovers per game, this year we're averaging 23. That's atrocious and needs to be fixed and fixed fast. But our rebounding is up, as our our steals and blocks. We're better than we were last year.

We start a freshman and a sophomore in the backcourt. That's a recipe for a lot of frustrating games in D-I, where EVERYONE has good athletic guards. The successful teams have good, athletic, experienced guards, with enough frontline punch to keep from being dominated physically.

Especially when Berte comes back to stabilize the rebounding, I think we'll have a decent starting front line with Berte, Beran and Williams, backed up by Cordova, Bassett, Cassaday, and Engen, as well as stealing a minute or two on occasion with Loney.

But our backcourt players need to first figure out how to not turn the ball over, then figure out how to get the ball to the guys inside, then figure out how to score against D-I teams.

When they do that, we'll be a much, much, much better team.