11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by rhodylaw »

We are really knocking the 9/10 guy in the rotation for looking overmatched against one of the best defensive teams in the country? I agree he plays like he is thinking too much out there, but he also has not really had consistent minutes to grow comfortable. He has a lot of value if he can get comfortable. On the same token, JD hasnot looked great to start the season, anyone think he might look better come February or March?
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by Ramulous »

The problem seems to be that we have two frontcourt players the staff gives time to......Langevine and Berry....and it seems Berry's defense is not up to DH's standards....but he has to play him out of necessity....Akele, Preston, Layysard and Tertsea don't have his trust...the jury is still out on Preston....but it seems that by their junior and sophomore years we would know with the others......Akele is a serviceable 10th man....the others may never make any impact at Rhode Island...

....even if Langevine was healthy I believe the frontcourt does not allow us to beat good teams with serviceable frontcourts....
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by Vinstu »

Really think Rhody should've made a bigger run at a transfer big this summer. We should be fine playing 4 guards in the A10 but you hate seeing our scorers fouling out. I would say it was a successful week for Rhody. We can't take brown lightly, and anything could happen Saturday
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by rhodysurf »

Vinstu wrote:Really think Rhody should've made a bigger run at a transfer big this summer. We should be fine playing 4 guards in the A10 but you hate seeing our scorers fouling out. I would say it was a successful week for Rhody. We can't take brown lightly, and anything could happen Saturday
They did... Ryan Preston..
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steveystuds06
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by steveystuds06 »

Ramulous wrote:The problem seems to be that we have two frontcourt players the staff gives time to......Langevine and Berry....and it seems Berry's defense is not up to DH's standards....but he has to play him out of necessity....Akele, Preston, Layysard and Tertsea don't have his trust...the jury is still out on Preston....but it seems that by their junior and sophomore years we would know with the others......Akele is a serviceable 10th man....the others may never make any impact at Rhode Island...

....even if Langevine was healthy I believe the frontcourt does not allow us to beat good teams with serviceable frontcourts....
I guess Seton Hall isnt a good team with a “serviceable” frontcourt... Oh and we beat them without Cyril.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by Rhody Guy »

I find it difficult to believe that Tertsea would be so lost to not be able to come in for 10 minutes just to be tall in the paint vs. VA
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by Rhode_Island_Red »

eli#10 wrote:Not to make excuses but no UVA starter played more than 26 minutes against Vandy. Stan with 33 minutes, Jeff with 35, JT with 38 and JG with 26 played their hearts out against Seton Hall (especially with our in your face defense). I think it is safe to say that "tired legs" would impact active guard play more than others.
One thing I would have liked to have seen last night was doubling the UVA bigs when they got the ball down low and had serious mismatches especially when Wilkins had the ball guarded by Stan. Too many easy baskets.
One thing I liked was that JT only took a couple of bad shots and did not for really force things when he was heavily guarded and had 6 assists with several nice passes on the pick and roll with Berry.
I think the pick and roll will really work against PC since their 2 centers are really slow and not great defensive players.
As Frank Layden used to say, "little guys get tired, big guys stay big."
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by Ramulous »

"I guess Seton Hall isnt a good team with a “serviceable” frontcourt... Oh and we beat them without Cyril."

May be a fluke "hit by lightning" type of win for us.....let's see how we do against the friars....
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by Ramulous »

I guess I am depressed by the skill set and maturation as players of some of our frontcourt guys.....
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by steveystuds06 »

We were in the game against Virginia. We just had tired legs and no energy left.

I also love that Preston is gaining confidence. We haven’t seen those highlight blocks all year. I see him taking minutes from Akele more and more as he continues to adjust.


When Cyril comes back we will be fine.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by Blue Man »

I will never understand some of the people on this board.

Every big win is a “fluke” or “we got lucky” but every loss against a good team is a complete referendum on how bad we are and how we can’t win big games.

I hate you all with the fire of a thousand suns, and I’ll be the guy reminding everyone we’re a good fucking team with a good fucking coach and good fucking players at the end of the year when we win ANOTHER A10 title and go to ANOTHER NCAA tournament and win ANOTHER NCAA game.

We are the reigning conference champions who have two losses to top 30 teams away from home, beat a top 25 team without two of our starters, and are looking far and away like the best team in our conference...again.

Christ, what will it take for anyone to fully believe in this team and coach? Would a national championship do it? Or would someone on here find a way to explain how it didn’t count as much because we were lucky.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by ATPTourFan »

That saves me a lot of typing.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by Rhodekill »

ATPTourFan wrote:That saves me a lot of typing.


Ditto. I mean WTF guys.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by Ramulous »

I wrote that it may be a fluke......may be...may be.....only time will tell......
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by ElmCityRhody »

Right on blue man !

I never met you but thanks for being a great fan !
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by steveystuds06 »

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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by Taylor Swift »

steveystuds06 wrote:

Right on! Chris knows what he's talking about.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

I guess anyone who doesn't see this team or its coach as the second coming
of the Bill Walton, John Wooden UCLA teams, must be a lousy fan,
and be subjected to f-bomb tirades.
Whatever.....
As for who does what in practice, back when URI basketball
practices were open and not treated like a Seal Team 6 operation, you'd see things.
Like players who looked like all world, but never did it in
games.
Players who dogged it. Players who were leaders.
Or players who didn't kill it in practice, dominate in real games.
We heard how Oneykaba was so great in practice, yet outside of his first game,
was a non factor in his time here.
If Laysard and Tertsea can't get any playing time in this
frontcourt, then their scholarships were wasted.
I get the "big men develop more slowly" mantra,but
nobody develops from the bench.
If 100% of the staff's evaluation is on practice performance,
then you'll get two guys who'll never play.
I recall Ryan Gomes was going to redshirt, because Tim Welsh and staff
felt he wasn't ready.
PC threw him in, when they had no other choice.
He dominated from game on on.
In game playing time is the only true barometer of a player.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by Vinstu »

rhodysurf wrote:
Vinstu wrote:Really think Rhody should've made a bigger run at a transfer big this summer. We should be fine playing 4 guards in the A10 but you hate seeing our scorers fouling out. I would say it was a successful week for Rhody. We can't take brown lightly, and anything could happen Saturday
They did... Ryan Preston..
yeah I understand that. he's a good player defensively getting more and more comfortable. I think dan and company thought layssard and tertsea would've been ready by year two. I think myself and other fans might be overreacting to the play of our bigs.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by Rhody15 »

Layssard can’t be worse than Akele, as Akele as been awful so far this season.

There literally nothing to lose (no, we’re not losing to Brown at home) giving Layssard extended minutes over Akele Tuesday night.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by NYGFan_Section208 »

Orrrr...give Akele extended minutes?
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by Rhody15 »

NYGFan_Section208 wrote:Orrrr...give Akele extended minutes?
He’s had 3 years of extended minutes.

We know what he gives us.

Which is next to nothing.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by Smokinjimit »

Well said Rod. Are you telling me that neither laysard or Tertsea can take away minutes from Akele? He gives us next to nothing on offence and is undersized on defense. One of these guys has to be able to give us 10 minutes a game. Right?
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by NYGFan_Section208 »

Correct, don't think either Mike will take minutes from Akele. I think that's who they stick with...
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by Rhody74 »

I had hoped this was the year Akele would become a major contributor. While he does work hard, he has no confidence on offense and is foul prone on defense. Time to see more of the Mikes and more Ryan, who seems to have a decent touch 12 feet in.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by ram1980 »

Laysard seems to have the best shot of getting minutes between him and tertsea. Watching tertsea opening night he appeared to be totally lost on both ends of the court.. We have to hope akele becomes more consistent and Preston becomes more comfortable in using his athleticism to play d and rebound.. We need Cyril back and healthy..
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by RhodyRam86 »

At this point I would settle for what Akele gave us as a freshman. He was decent from 3 and was able to make a contribution for 5-10 minutes a game. I thought we had a future with both he and Thompson. They both regressed last year (Thompson in limited time) and Akele has take another step back this year while Thompson appears to be headed toward a redshirt season.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by steveystuds06 »

You guys realize Dan tried to finally give Layssard a shot in a big moment against Seton Hall and he got called for 3 fouls in about 10 seconds right?
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by Rhody74 »

steveystuds06 wrote:You guys realize Dan tried to finally give Layssard a shot in a big moment against Seton Hall and he got called for 3 fouls in about 10 seconds right?
And Akele fouled out in about 5 minutes against UNC Ashville.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by Obadiah »

Yea, we have problems in the front court and we were out rebounded by Virginia, but lots of teams get out rebounded yet manage to win. No, the big factor in this loss was poor shooting, especially mid-range jumpers - 6 to 7 feet out. The Rams stayed close in first half, ironically, because on 3-point shooting they were 4-6. So we hit jumpers beyond the arc, and couldn't hit the mid range. Go figure. This pattern continued in the second half, but now the three point shooting went south on 0-4 shooting. The fact they didn't take the first trey until about 8 minutes left in game was a sign of no confidence. Another show of no shooting confidence occurred during the three minute span when the game went from a tie to VA up by ten when a nifty pass was made to Preston all alone in the key and rather than turn and take a jumper, he acted if the ball was a hot potato and passed in right back and into the hands of a Virginia player. With EC out Virginia could throttle JT and our bench did not come to the rescue as they produced only 6 points. Both Akele and Preston show no confidence in their jumper. Also, EC is more important to the effectiveness of a four guard rotation than Cyril.

Chalk this game up to the circumstances of the moment, because if we played Virginia again, I am certain we can beat them even without the two starters.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by bigappleram »

You also realize Akele and Layssard/Tertsea are different players...while I agree Akele has been disappointing to say the least, he can defend 3s and 4s. From what I can tell Layssard would be in a world of hurt covering anyone more than 5 feet from the hoop. It's not realistic to consider them equal swaps...the only guy who could swap for Akele and play the 4 is Preston, who is still definitely a work in progress. Forget Tertsea he is a 5 and 5 only...i would guess Layssard is most equipped to cover guys who stick in the paint too. You want to have Berry and Layssard on the court at the same time? People would be going around them like cones.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by Seawrightspostgame »

It’s also tiring when they play all of the guards all of the time. Cycle in one more big guy and play the juco more. ACTUALLY SET SCREENS. Uri slipped every screen. They didn’t play physical in the least.

Allowing both Nevada and uva to back down our guards is idiotic. Think pc won’t see that? Bama?half of the A10?

They don’t even have to have great forwards. Just play 2 of them at the same time and 1 will have a career night.

Height makes the game easier. They don’t have to have tons of skill to help win a game in the front court. Effort.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by ramster »

steveystuds06 wrote:You guys realize Dan tried to finally give Layssard a shot in a big moment against Seton Hall and he got called for 3 fouls in about 10 seconds right?
And 2 of the 3 were for moving screens on the offensive end. Announcers said they could have been the guards fault partially too not waiting for the screen. I don’t know but it seems that coaching of the bigs comes into play here too. ARD spoke favorably of Layssard in the past. Just was very frustrating to watch a guy averaging 6.8 points for Virginia kill us down low for a career high19 points and get MVP for the tournament. I’d take my chances with a strong guy like Layssard against a strong guy like Wilkins. Or at least double team Wilkins. He had a career game - they knew our weakness and exploited it well. PC will do the same thing or maybe worse versus this 4 guard line up.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by TruePoint »

People pining for Layssard remind me of the old Michael Bishop fans. Ive been defending Layssard (and Tertsea) from people wanting to pull their scholarships because they'd already deemed them busts based on their first year on campus, and now Mike Layssard is the magic solution to whatever interior issues this team has? When Layssard proves it consistently in practice we will see him on the floor. Based on the evaluation of the people who see them both every day and pull a salary making basketball judgments, Akele has earned time ahead of Layssard to this point. Coaches aren't infallible and that of course could change as the season goes on, but as of now that's where we're at.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by RhodyRam86 »

ramster wrote:
steveystuds06 wrote:You guys realize Dan tried to finally give Layssard a shot in a big moment against Seton Hall and he got called for 3 fouls in about 10 seconds right?
And 2 of the 3 were for moving screens on the offensive end. Announcers said they could have been the guards fault partially too not waiting for the screen. I don’t know but it seems that coaching of the bigs comes into play here too. ARD spoke favorably of Layssard in the past. Just was very frustrating to watch a guy averaging 6.8 points for Virginia kill us down low for a career high19 points and get MVP for the tournament. I’d take my chances with a strong guy like Layssard against a strong guy like Wilkins. Or at least double team Wilkins. He had a career game - they knew our weakness and exploited it well. PC will do the same thing or maybe worse versus this 4 guard line up.
not sure Leysard is the answer, but do agree with most of your point ramster. wilkens did nothing special to beat stan. he just backed him down and shot that little hook over him. not sure why VA didn't go to it every time down the floor. Caroline with Nevada was a bit different. he had some moves and I'm not sure we had anyone that was going to stop him. PC has a couple bigger guys with finesse that will be able to use their size on stan as well.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by reef »

Yeah I trust the staff that they know who should be playing. I don't have a problem with Akele ahead of Laysard

Once Cyril comes back hopefully for PC let's hope Preston improves for about 15 minutes a game and Akele just gets in for less than 10
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by rhodysurf »

I actually think Dan was okay with giving up points to wilkins at the expense of holding back the guards (Guy especially). And to be honest, it kind of worked. The offense scores a few more points and we arent having this conversation.
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by wpbrown8267 »

rhodysurf wrote:I actually think Dan was okay with giving up points to wilkins at the expense of holding back the guards (Guy especially). And to be honest, it kind of worked. The offense scores a few more points and we arent having this conversation.
Agree, if we didnt have tired legs and missing gimme's in the 2nd half i think we def would be having a different conversation. I thought DH's plan was pretty solid, taking Guy out of the game to see who else stepped up, which Wilkins,Hall,Johnson all did

I'm not trying to make excuses, but i really think if we didn't have that battle with Seton Hall the night before and UVA actually had a game vs Vandy, Friday's game would have been a lot closer or a pick'em. I have confidence in Preston, I really think the kid can provide 15-20 mins a game once he is more comfortable and understands his role. Boards, put backs and defense is what we need from him, we have enough firepower with the guards and Berry

And once Cyril is healthy (hopefully soon for PC or Bama) the frontcourt will be better. Not great but i think it better shape for everyone on this board
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by ramster »

ace wrote:
ramster wrote:
Rhody15 wrote:He doesn’t have a role.

In the first game against UNCA, Akele has 5 fouls in 5 minutes.

How bad is Layssard and Preston that they can’t get more minutes than him?

Last night we’re down by 2, Akele comes in, misses two layups, give up an and 1, and boom down by 10 and game over.

Leave him on the bench.
This is the point. Akele has had plenty of opportunity. He has had some descent games but far more disappointing games. Point is Layssard and/or Tertsea receive little or no chance. Layssard has shown some good potential in very limited minutes this year - did not see him much at all last year in very, very few minutes. With Akele not playing to expectations and Preston clearly not where we need him yet why not give Layssard an opportunity?
This view seems to overly emphasize both Akele’s bad game against Virginia and Layssard’s play against Holy Cross and UNC-Asheville scrubs. Everything I hear has Layssard getting majorly out-muscled and out-played in practice. If anyone’s seen or heard otherwise, I’d love to hear it, as I’d feel much better about his future play. I don’t think it’s as simple as saying trust the coaches, they know the players best, because coaches can have blind spots (still think they beat Valpo last year if Robinson had gotten more minutes), but I don’t think you can completely discount what a coaching staff sees in their guys, either.
I didn't mean to overly emphasize Akele's bad game against Virginia or overly emphasize Layssard's play against Holy Cross and UNC-Ashville scrubs.

In my defense on Layssard, there is really nothing to compare his play to EXCEPT playing against Holy Cross and UNC-Ashville, and that really plays to my point. I have seen so very little of him I really do not have much of an opinion - I really can't. But from what I did see sitting courtside as Mike ran the court, played defense, confidently called for the ball (rather than shy away from it), rebounded, I had some positive impressions. Enough to say Mike should be playing over Akele or Preston? no, but my point is give him some playing time. I thought last year Berry could have received more playing time. Did Berry miraculously become that much better this year than last year? no. If anything Berry has gained a few pounds over last year I think. With so many unknowns in Akele, Preston, Langevine, Berry, why not put Layssard and Tertsea out there more?

I agree it is not so simple as to trust the Coaches. I defended DH as much or more than anyone in the infamous "Jim Baron 2.0", stating often to let the entire 5th year play out before saying DH had not delivered on his promises. I think Mike Layssard has more potential than probably most here. I have watched him courtside in the games (not many minutes for sure) and in warm-ups.

I'm likely not as high on Preston as most here were early in the season. He started only 4 games his final JC Year, hit 1-15 on 3 pointers and only 30-48 on FTs for 62.5%. He is a below average shooter. We got him in May to fill the final roster spot, after Juiston went to UNLV. Not that we would have gotten Juiston, but that was the timing.

Watch the video of the Seton Hall game where Mike Layssard played 2 minutes and got pulled.
The good is he moved actively, he outran all but Fatts and 3 Seton Hall defenders on Fatts' miraculous layup. Mike was right there, leaping to tap in a possible miss by Fatts - great hustle at 6:03 remaining in the 1st half.
Mike comes in about the 6:19 mark in the 1st half. 2 of his offensive fouls occur In situations where it looks to me like Seton Hall players were embellishing the fouls, basically taking flops. Is this because Mike is a new guy in the game with little experience? Did Seton Hall Coaches tell their players to look for opportunities like this? Mike also got a foul in rebounding action. The offensive fouls count as fouls AND as Turnovers - so looks bad in the box score.

Again, I don't want my words twisted, but I think Mike has potential, I'd like to see him get many more minutes and get the opportunity to show what he can and cannot do. I've seen enough of Akele and Preston to know. If Mike fails he fails. As Rod said, some players are better in games than in practices, some are better in practices than games and some are the same in both. I simply don't know on Mike and Mike Tertsea.

I agree always that big men take longer to develop but I also think playing time in games helps to motivate players to try to improve. Getting these guys some floor time could motivate them to try harder and harder in practice because they got a "taste"
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luke
Cuttino Mobley
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Re: 11/24 | Virginia Cavaliers | 7:30PM (ESPNU)

Unread post by luke »

I also would like to see more of Layssard. If they can get more minutes from a big it is always a positive.
Nothing I have witnessed from Layssard so far has been negative. would love to see him in some meaningful minutes.
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