So... Too Early to Talk About Next Year?

[Dawgs99]

Mar freshman year playing 3-4 was significantly better. Otherwise I can’t tell you. All of our other freshman bigs hav'e sucked. Danny Dixon, Temara, relvao, Greg etc

I'm a teacher so I have a lot of time on my hands these days, did some quick research.

Here are freshmen year averages for some of our best bigs in the last 15 years:

Will Thomas- 23mpg, 5ppg, 5rbs
Jai Lewis- 22mpg, 5ppg, 6rbs
Mike Morrison- 10mpg, 4ppg, 2rbs
Ryan Pearson- 17mpg, 7ppg, 3rbs
Josh Oduro- 17 mpg, 5ppg, 4rbs

Josh's freshman year numbers stack up fairly well compared to some of our better post players. Now, before everyone on here jumps my shit (sleeperpick) I am in no way suggesting that Josh will ever be as good as any of these guys. In fact its far more probable that he won't even come close. But numbers don't lie, historically speaking he had a decent year for a 5 man.

 

[FreeGunston12]

I wish some of you would stop shitting on Haidara. You know nothing. You've seen next to nothing. Just like you shat on Oduro. Now you're just looking to appease your confirmation bias.

Can we at least let the kids play before we attack them? They did commit to be here. That alone should earn them some level of support from fans.

This is why we can't have nice things.

 

[Dawgs99]

I wish some of you would stop shitting on Haidara. You know nothing. You've seen next to nothing. Just like you shat on Oduro. Now you're just looking to appease your confirmation bias.

Can we at least let the kids play before we attack them? They did commit to be here. That alone should earn them some level of support from fans.

This is why we can't have nice things.

Agree 100%.....you can wish we signed another player and thats totally fine, but you don't have to consistently shit on the ones that choose Mason. Especially ones that you talked shit about for over a year and now refuse to say anything positive about even after having a decent year!

 

[gmujim92]

I wish some of you would stop shitting on Haidara. You know nothing. You've seen next to nothing. Just like you shat on Oduro. Now you're just looking to appease your confirmation bias.

Can we at least let the kids play before we attack them? They did commit to be here. That alone should earn them some level of support from fans.

This is why we can't have nice things.

Couldn’t agree more.

 

[99 Patriot]

I wish some of you would stop shitting on Haidara. You know nothing. You've seen next to nothing. Just like you shat on Oduro. Now you're just looking to appease your confirmation bias.

Can we at least let the kids play before we attack them? They did commit to be here. That alone should earn them some level of support from fans.

This is why we can't have nice things.

Amen. Perhaps we could even not be so lazy as to think Henry is ranked 98/994 in the nation when simply clicking the link would show those are the ranking of his high school, not him. Maybe hurts the narrative some on here want, but my god if you are spending time being critical of kids who haven't even suited up yet perhaps you should take some time away from the keyboard for a while.

 

[GMUgemini]

He picked La Salle and then got recruited over by Ed Croswell. We definitely wanted him.

And then Croswell transferred to Providence, so maybe he starts again next year!

 

[GMUgemini]

Says who? He always had a big smile on his face.

Maybe he's done playing college ball because of his year-and-a-half of wrist pain? I don't know if he plans on trying to play in Europe, but he was one of the very few players who had an interesting major outside of sports management, maybe he's ready to get his career started?

 

[KAOriginal]

Luke Hancock had ZERO interest from any school and almost got ignored by Larranaga.

Louis Birdsong was player of the year or something special. (And despite misuse..still looked lost at times.)

So talking about any player before they step foot into the program shows ignorance of possibility.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

I

Will Thomas- 23mpg, 5ppg, 5rbs
Jai Lewis- 22mpg, 5ppg, 6rbs
Mike Morrison- 10mpg, 4ppg, 2rbs
Ryan Pearson- 17mpg, 7ppg, 3rbs
Josh Oduro- 17 mpg, 5ppg, 4rbs

For what it's worth, per minute averages:

 

[mkaufman1]

I wish some of you would stop shitting on Haidara. You know nothing. You've seen next to nothing. Just like you shat on Oduro. Now you're just looking to appease your confirmation bias.

Can we at least let the kids play before we attack them? They did commit to be here. That alone should earn them some level of support from fans.

This is why we can't have nice things.

I always tell my friends this constantly, let them hit the floor and see what’s what.

 

[gmujim92]

For what it's worth, per minute averages:

View attachment 863

Interesting. VERY interesting.

 

[gmutom]

For what it's worth, per minute averages:

Great stat, Chank. And to be honest, what excites me about Oduro goes beyond the stats. I've covered and watched enough basketball to know good skillset when I see it, and there is no doubt in my mind he has it. He has great size, but he's also deceptively athletic. He's nifty around the basket, yet he has the touch to shoot beyond the arc (and anywhere in between). He has the knowledge to know where to be and when, and he understands positioning better than many big men who have played for us.

Does he have to work on his stamina and strength? Of course. Does he need to need to learn to be more aggressive and even nasty? Absolutely. But I'll take what he offered as a freshman and his incredible upside any day of the week. Trust me when I say that Josh Oduro is the least of our problems coming into next season.

 

[mkaufman1]

Great stat, Chank. And to be honest, what excites me about Oduro goes beyond the stats. I've covered and watched enough basketball to know a good skillset when I see it, and there is no doubt in my mind he has it. He has great size, but he's also deceptively athletic. He's nifty around the basket, yet he has the touch to shoot beyond the arc (and anywhere in between). He has the knowledge to know where to be and when, and he understands positioning better than many big men who have played for us.

Does he have to work on his stamina and strength? Of course. Does he need to need to learn to be more aggressive and even nasty? Absolutely. But I'll take what he offered as a freshman and his incredible upside any day of the week. Trust me when I say that Josh Oduro is the lest of our problems coming into next season.

so well said. And we definitely need to find a way to make him aggressive and mean around the basket. I think that’ll come with time and maturity though.

By senior year myself and @tblack33 will be waving a lot at @sleeperpick during games lol

 

[GMU_DCU]

I wish some of you would stop shitting on Haidara. You know nothing. You've seen next to nothing. Just like you shat on Oduro. Now you're just looking to appease your confirmation bias.

Can we at least let the kids play before we attack them? They did commit to be here. That alone should earn them some level of support from fans.

This is why we can't have nice things.

One thing I noticed about Daddy in his limited time was he had a great motor and was willing to battle for rebounds. Other than that I know nothing else about his game. Definitely looking forward to see what he has to offer.

 

[FreeGunston12]

One thing I noticed about Daddy in his limited time was he had a great motor and was willing to battle for rebounds. Other than that I know nothing else about his game. Definitely looking forward to see what he has to offer.

Agreed. And I wasn't even really making a point about talent evaluation. Any way he turns out, he chose Mason. That has to be worth something. Because as some posters have pointed out - why would anyone do a crazy thing like that?

And all this, I'd rather have this guy or that guy is so dumb. Everyone making that argument - you do realize we still had an open scholarship. That could've gone to any one of the prospects you'd rather have had.

So criticize Paulsen all you want, but stop going after the freshmen and high school seniors. The current state of the program and the fact that we have to rely on them is not their fault.

 

[GMUgemini]

UMass lost Sean East. That’s a pretty big blow.

 

[sleeperpick]

UMass lost Sean East. That’s a pretty big blow.

They had a 4 star point guard transfer in last week. This was expected

 

[mkaufman1]

They had a 4 star point guard transfer in last week. This was expected

McCall is definitely a pretty good recruiter and has good ties to Bergeron Academy through one of his assistants. The book is out on him whether he can coach, although they did improve a lot towards the end of last year. Many Umass fans are bullish and hopeful in their direction.

 

[sleeperpick]

McCall is definitely a pretty good recruiter and has good ties to Bergeron Academy through one of his assistants. The book is out on him whether he can coach, although they did improve a lot towards the end of last year. Many Umass fans are bullish and hopeful in their direction.

He’s not a good in game coach but neither is paulsen. One found a way to recruit top end talent. Would switch places with umass in a second

 

[KAOriginal]

He’s not a good in game coach but neither is paulsen. One found a way to recruit top end talent. Would switch places with umass in a second

Yeah but we tried the "great recruiter can't coach angle"...that wasnt fun either.

How about a guy that can coach and grind out every ounce a player or team has.....