Mike Porter
Postdoc
Posts: 3618
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Reg: 11-21-04
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10-06-17 03:51 PM - Post#233560
The COBL team is putting out a lot of season preview content, so if you haven't already check it out here:
http://www.cityofbasketballlove.com/season-preview
Great job by them as always.
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Cvonvorys
Postdoc
Posts: 4471
Loc: Princeton, New Jersey
Reg: 10-11-06
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Re: COBL Season Previews
10-06-17 04:18 PM - Post#233561
In response to Mike Porter
This is not meant to be criticism, but rather to get a conversation started....
For the article "City 6 Preview: Players who need to step up" I thought the choice of Ryan Betley was a poor one. How much more do you want the kid to "step up"? If he plays as well as he did for the final 8 games (17.8 ppg), then we will all be more than thrilled. Rather, my choice would be someone who has the skills to take his game to a higher level.
I'll leave the freshman out, but how about either Foreman, Goodman, or Woods? How great would it be if one of our point guards elevated his game to the point where their play earned them 25-30+ minutes at that position? Or what about Caleb Wood? I remember that game (but I forget against whom) where he shot 7-10 from 3. How good is this team if he steps up his all around game? Plus, he's a great FT shooter...
Thoughts?
Edited by Cvonvorys on 10-06-17 04:21 PM. Reason for edit: additional thoughts
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PennFan10
Postdoc
Posts: 3584
Reg: 02-15-15
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10-06-17 05:28 PM - Post#233564
In response to Cvonvorys
How about AJ? Would be great if he developed a left hand, learned to pass out of a double team, and take the outside shot a bit more.
Or Max....how nice would it be if he developed into a double double guy alongside AJ?
Obviously we need Jelani, Jarrod, and Eddie to be significant contributors.
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Mike Porter
Postdoc
Posts: 3618
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Reg: 11-21-04
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10-09-17 03:10 PM - Post#233630
In response to PennFan10
I get why they selected Betley for this article... he was fantastic at the end of the season but 8 games is a small sample size. If he could sustain that level or close to it over the season it would be fantastic and definitely count as stepping up.
The other two guys I'd put here are Max and Devon. If both those guys can elevate their games, I think we can have a really interesting year.
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PennFan10
Postdoc
Posts: 3584
Reg: 02-15-15
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10-09-17 03:29 PM - Post#233635
In response to Mike Porter
https://www.sportsaction.io/blog/college-basketbal ...
This guy seems to have a different perspective. He says AJ will be the 4 and Max the 5. If that is the case, the plan seems to be to utilize Max as a facilitator in this offense (he has often been the guy up top to set the ball screen and move the basketball) and have AJ take more 3's as well as post up.
I think Eddie, Jarrod, and Jelani will have significant roles this year.
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Mike Porter
Postdoc
Posts: 3618
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Reg: 11-21-04
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10-09-17 03:34 PM - Post#233636
In response to PennFan10
Yeah I saw that as well which is interesting.
I definitely hope the frosh have big roles as that would be good news for the future. What is most interesting to me is that in all of these pre-season reports, Eddie seems to be getting the most love of the freshman. I'm wondering if that is because he is playing well in preseason or if folks are just guessing since he is similar type of player to Matt Howard where we have a hole now.
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PennFan10
Postdoc
Posts: 3584
Reg: 02-15-15
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10-09-17 03:43 PM - Post#233638
In response to Mike Porter
Well Jelani hasn't played in live competition yet til he gets cleared. And Jarrod wasn't on campus til late summer so Eddie has been working with the team the longest (playing) so it makes a little sense. Also, Eddie is athletic and looks the most like MH. Jelani is a guard, Jarrod is a big 4/5, and Eddie is a 2/3/MH4 type. So that makes sense to me.
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Mike Porter
Postdoc
Posts: 3618
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Reg: 11-21-04
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COBL Season Previews
10-09-17 07:37 PM - Post#233663
In response to PennFan10
Makes sense. Scott looked like a good prospect for sure, but probably least heralded before Jelani's injury. If he gets time early that's only a positive thing in my mind for the whole class.
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jmverlin
Junior
Posts: 218
Age: 35
Reg: 07-18-12
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10-13-17 11:08 AM - Post#233905
In response to Mike Porter
I get why they selected Betley for this article... he was fantastic at the end of the season but 8 games is a small sample size. If he could sustain that level or close to it over the season it would be fantastic and definitely count as stepping up.
Missed this thread from before, but this is exactly why we picked Betley.
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T.P.F.K.A.D.W.
PhD Student
Posts: 1171
Loc: Our Nation's Capital
Reg: 01-18-05
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10-13-17 11:25 AM - Post#233908
In response to jmverlin
“Brodeur might be the best player in the Big 5, if not the second best. He’s a tough match-up and because they play four shooters around him, it’s gonna be a really difficult challenge for anyone in the BIg 5 to beat them.â€
Nice of John Giannini to contribute a quote.
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jmverlin
Junior
Posts: 218
Age: 35
Reg: 07-18-12
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10-13-17 11:27 AM - Post#233909
In response to T.P.F.K.A.D.W.
“Brodeur might be the best player in the Big 5, if not the second best. He’s a tough match-up and because they play four shooters around him, it’s gonna be a really difficult challenge for anyone in the BIg 5 to beat them.â€
Nice of John Giannini to contribute a quote.
Not that I'll reveal who our sources were for that, but...I can tell you you're wrong!
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T.P.F.K.A.D.W.
PhD Student
Posts: 1171
Loc: Our Nation's Capital
Reg: 01-18-05
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10-13-17 11:31 AM - Post#233910
In response to jmverlin
Really? A.J. torched the Explorers last year, so I assumed it was him.
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jmverlin
Junior
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Age: 35
Reg: 07-18-12
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10-13-17 11:36 AM - Post#233911
In response to T.P.F.K.A.D.W.
I talked to one coach from each school for those quotes (picked the best of the bunch for each team), and the Brodeur praise was unanimous anyways.
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Cvonvorys
Postdoc
Posts: 4471
Loc: Princeton, New Jersey
Reg: 10-11-06
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10-13-17 11:59 AM - Post#233916
In response to jmverlin
I get why they selected Betley for this article... he was fantastic at the end of the season but 8 games is a small sample size. If he could sustain that level or close to it over the season it would be fantastic and definitely count as stepping up.
Missed this thread from before, but this is exactly why we picked Betley.
Like I said , this was not criticism. That being said, my opinion of "stepping up" would be someone who has a yet-untapped upside, and can take his play to a higher level than he played the year before. So with that as a definition, how much of a higher level do we want from the kid? I would bet we will see a higher level of play from Devon this year. I think we will see more from Max next year, too. How much better is this team if someone like Caleb steps up this year? How fun is this team with A.J. down low, Caleb and Ryan tossing in 3s, Devon running the offense at a high level, and (fill-in-the-blank)?
Maybe it's just a case of semantics...
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jmverlin
Junior
Posts: 218
Age: 35
Reg: 07-18-12
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10-13-17 12:16 PM - Post#233920
In response to Cvonvorys
The thing to consider is, it's players who NEED to step up. Sure, it would be nice if Caleb Wood starts hitting some shots, but ultimately his ceiling is a 20-mpg guy who hits shots and plays some defense. It's not like he's suddenly going to turn into a star. And if he doesn't step up, then Donahue can, or Sam Jones could hit some shots; they certainly could use one or two of those to emerge as a consistent threat, but they don't specifically need any of them to be good. But if Betley is averaging single digits and not hitting shots, they're going to struggle, because they don't have anybody else with his talent/upside. So they need him to step up and be good for a whole season more than they could use any of those other guys to be decent.
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Cvonvorys
Postdoc
Posts: 4471
Loc: Princeton, New Jersey
Reg: 10-11-06
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10-13-17 01:35 PM - Post#233925
In response to jmverlin
Ok... Cannot refute that logic.
That being said, I would prefer Ryan to play as well as he did last year, and Devon to elevate his game vs. Ryan to elevate his game and Devon to play as well as he did last year.
Would you agree?
PS... Thanks for all of the hard work you do...
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Streamers
Professor
Posts: 8219
Loc: NW Philadelphia
Reg: 11-21-04
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10-13-17 03:49 PM - Post#233935
In response to jmverlin
I try to avoid being negative as it applies to any of our kids, but if Caleb Wood sees much PT ahead of Senior night, it can only mean there was a rash of injuries.
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QHoops
Senior
Posts: 368
Reg: 12-16-04
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10-13-17 04:18 PM - Post#233939
In response to Streamers
I'm betting Donahue is trying to figure out a way to get Caleb Wood involved in a more limited way (ie without exposing his ball-handling woes), since he might be the best 3pt shooter on the team.
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Cvonvorys
Postdoc
Posts: 4471
Loc: Princeton, New Jersey
Reg: 10-11-06
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10-13-17 04:41 PM - Post#233940
In response to Streamers
I try to avoid being negative as it applies to any of our kids, but if Caleb Wood sees much PT ahead of Senior night, it can only mean there was a rash of injuries.
See... I'm a "glass half-full" kind of guy, so I see Caleb playing significant minutes as a sign he has stepped up his game and has earned his playing time, which means he's nailing threes, playing good defense, and not making poor decisions while he's on the court. That's my wish...
"That's my wish, Ray Kinsella. That's my wish. And is there enough magic out there in the moonlight to make this dream come true?"
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T.P.F.K.A.D.W.
PhD Student
Posts: 1171
Loc: Our Nation's Capital
Reg: 01-18-05
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10-13-17 04:46 PM - Post#233941
In response to Cvonvorys
"That's my wish, Ray Kinsella. That's my wish. And is there enough magic out there in the moonlight to make this dream come true?"
Not if you're a Nats fan. Or an Indians fan, for that matter.
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