Oral Roberts picked to win conference

[JackrabbitGuy]

Re: Oral Roberts picked to win conference

We are so undersized for a DI school. I happened to be looking at the roster of in-state school Northern State and look how much bigger they are than the Jacks.

http://nsuwolvesathletics.com/roster...all&roster=30&

I may be stating the obvious here, but with SDSU's current status as a new Division I member and a program that is trying to keep its head above water I think it would be difficult to expect that we would be able to attract quality big men. The way I see it, the staff could force the issue and turn over every rock to find players of a certain size, or they can recruit the best players available reguardless of if they are considered undersized for Division I.

Then you get a guy like Mark Engen at 6'10 who is a bit of a project but hopefully will be able to provide some quality minutes as a junior. Also the Anthony Davis signing shows that the staff recognizes the needs of the program. I am anxious to see if he is indeed lost for the season.

To recap, I guess what I'm saying is they could go somewhere and find a 7-footer to put on this team if we have to have one, but any 7-footer we would attract right now would either never ever see the floor or be a huge project that you would spend 3 years developing.

[JackrabbitGuy]

Re: Oral Roberts picked to win conference

We are so undersized for a DI school. I happened to be looking at the roster of in-state school Northern State and look how much bigger they are than the Jacks.

http://nsuwolvesathletics.com/roster...all&roster=30&

Also, am I crazy or when Engen was a freshman wasn't there another 6'10 or 6'11 guy here in that same class for a while that didn't pan out? I thought I remembered seeing two big boys in that class at first, with only Engen remaining.

Anyone recall this?

[jackmd]

Re: Oral Roberts picked to win conference

Also, am I crazy or when Engen was a freshman wasn't there another 6'10 or 6'11 guy here in that same class for a while that didn't pan out? I thought I remembered seeing two big boys in that class at first, with only Engen remaining.

Anyone recall this?

Bob Billitz, couldn't hack the classwork. At least thats what I understood. He wasn't going to be our answer to a "big man".

[JackrabbitGuy]

Re: Oral Roberts picked to win conference

Bob Billitz, couldn't hack the classwork. At least thats what I understood. He wasn't going to be our answer to a "big man".

Correct. I was simply trying to point out that although the team is undersized, its not as if they have made no attempt to bring in people with size. Billitz, Engen and juco transfer Davis in the past couple of years shows they are trying to get some size in the program.

Ultimately they have signed the best talent that the program is able to sign at this poing, which are guards in the 5'10 to 6'4 range and forwards, etc in the 6'5 to 6'8 range. Again I hope that Davis can get healthy this season and Engen can continue to improve and help this team more and more.

[SF_Rabbit_Fan]

Re: Oral Roberts picked to win conference

My personal opinion is that size can get you 3 things: an offensive threat, a rebounding, and a defensive.

Offensively, if you don't have size you run a different offense that highlights your strengths.

Defensive ability is greatly determined by effort. A smaller defender can outshine a physically imposing offensive player by just out efforting them.

Rebounding is similar to definse in that it is more about effort and desire than physical size.

I don't get many people's infatuation with landing a big, imposing post player. This was basketball 30 years ago, not as it is played (and won) today. We are and always will be at the bottom of the heap for the prototypical post player. They will go to a big school and the best ones who put up 15pts 10rebs will go pro in a year or two.

The best route to take, IMO, is to try to have 1 or 2 projects on the team and if they develop, great. If not, focus on the strengths you do have.

[Just in the crowd]

Re: Oral Roberts picked to win conference

And then we sign a 6-4, 13 point a game player from an under average SD team? I'm in the court of going after some big kids for a change. The two kids from Madison and the kid from Winner are just the same build. Why can't we get a 6' 10" kid carrying some beef?

[WestSideRabbit]

Re: Oral Roberts picked to win conference

My personal opinion is that size can get you 3 things: an offensive threat, a rebounding, and a defensive.

Offensively, if you don't have size you run a different offense that highlights your strengths.

Defensive ability is greatly determined by effort. A smaller defender can outshine a physically imposing offensive player by just out efforting them.

Rebounding is similar to definse in that it is more about effort and desire than physical size.

I don't get many people's infatuation with landing a big, imposing post player. This was basketball 30 years ago, not as it is played (and won) today. We are and always will be at the bottom of the heap for the prototypical post player. They will go to a big school and the best ones who put up 15pts 10rebs will go pro in a year or two.

The best route to take, IMO, is to try to have 1 or 2 projects on the team and if they develop, great. If not, focus on the strengths you do have.

Our tallest player does none of this... size isn't everything

[JimmyJack]

Re: Oral Roberts picked to win conference

And then we sign a 6-4, 13 point a game player from an under average SD team? I'm in the court of going after some big kids for a change. The two kids from Madison and the kid from Winner are just the same build. Why can't we get a 6' 10" kid carrying some beef?

Bigs with D1 talent aren't exactly growing on trees out there. And when they come along, there's plenty of competition for their services.

[1bunnies]

Re: Oral Roberts picked to win conference

And then we sign a 6-4, 13 point a game player from an under average SD team? I'm in the court of going after some big kids for a change. The two kids from Madison and the kid from Winner are just the same build. Why can't we get a 6' 10" kid carrying some beef?

Because the Gophers signed the big kid from the other under average SD team.

[pepbandalum]

Re: Oral Roberts picked to win conference

Because the Gophers signed the big kid from the other under average SD team.

And it sounds like he will likely be the starting center to begin the season.