2019 Offseason Discussion

[Rhody83]

Hassan Martin became a Dad. Baby girl Mila Rose born on Aug 1st. On his IG Story. Rhody shirt on in pic

[Rhody74]

Congrats Eric and Hass!!

[rhodyrhodyrhody]

Is there any word on the Coach Carroll position?

[ramster]

Cooley’s Big East USA team struggling in Peru.
Lost to Argentina by 39 points
Lost to Puerto Rico by 3 points after leading by 10 with 8 minutes to go
Now playing their final game going for the Bronze Medal on ESPNU with Dominican Republic leading 65-60 and just starting the 4th quarter.

[Rhody83]

Cooley’s Big East USA team struggling in Peru.
Lost to Argentina by 39 points
Lost to Puerto Rico by 3 points after leading by 10 with 8 minutes to go
Now playing their final game going for the Bronze Medal on ESPNU with Dominican Republic leading 65-60 and just starting the 4th quarter.

Something happened in the 4th then. US wins 92-83. Win the Bronze.

[ramster]

USA comes back in the 4th Q winning vs Dominican Republic 92-83.
Colin Gillespie and Myles Powell led the 4th quarter comeback. Alpha Diallo also had some key baskets in the 4th Q finishing with 22 points. DR went cold shooting the 3FG in the 4th after going into the 4th with a 5 point lead.

[RF1]

Cooley’s Big East USA team struggling in Peru.
Lost to Argentina by 39 points
Lost to Puerto Rico by 3 points after leading by 10 with 8 minutes to go
Now playing their final game going for the Bronze Medal on ESPNU with Dominican Republic leading 65-60 and just starting the 4th quarter.

Big Ed doesn't seem to do very well in these tournament type events. USA placing 3rd in the Americas is pretty weak.

[rjsuperfly66]

Cooley’s Big East USA team struggling in Peru.
Lost to Argentina by 39 points
Lost to Puerto Rico by 3 points after leading by 10 with 8 minutes to go
Now playing their final game going for the Bronze Medal on ESPNU with Dominican Republic leading 65-60 and just starting the 4th quarter.

Big Ed doesn't seem to do very well in these tournament type events. USA placing 3rd in the Americas is pretty weak.

Um, what?
The collegians of the Big East were facing the national teams of these other countries.
Argentina has the #5 national team in the world. Puerto Rico is #16. The DR is #18. Venezuela is #20.
These teams are full of grown men who play professional international basketball.
All of those teams are headed to the FIBA World Cup later this month.
There were many people who didn’t even think the USA would get out of the group stage.
This was a grueling tournament (5 games in 5 days), and the USA represented very well.
Definitely an A-/A effort for the event.

[Rhody83]

Cooley’s Big East USA team struggling in Peru.
Lost to Argentina by 39 points
Lost to Puerto Rico by 3 points after leading by 10 with 8 minutes to go
Now playing their final game going for the Bronze Medal on ESPNU with Dominican Republic leading 65-60 and just starting the 4th quarter.

Big Ed doesn't seem to do very well in these tournament type events. USA placing 3rd in the Americas is pretty weak.

Um, what?am
The collegians of the Big East were facing the national teams of these other countries.
Argentina has the #5 national team in the world. Puerto Rico is #16. The DR is #18. Venezuela is #20.
These teams are full of grown men who play professional international basketball.
All of those teams are headed to the FIBA World Cup later this month.
There were many people who didn’t even think the USA would get out of the group stage.
This was a grueling tournament (5 games in 5 days), and the USA represented very well.
Definitely an A-/A effort for the event.

Excluding the USA, there were 4 weak teams, 1 really good team and 2 average teams. They went 3-2. In the preliminary round they beat 2 weak teams and lost to 1 average teams. In the medal round they lost to 1 really good team and beat 1 average team.

Weak teams 2-0
Avg teams 1-1
Really good team 0-1

[rjsuperfly66]

Big Ed doesn't seem to do very well in these tournament type events. USA placing 3rd in the Americas is pretty weak.

Um, what?am
The collegians of the Big East were facing the national teams of these other countries.
Argentina has the #5 national team in the world. Puerto Rico is #16. The DR is #18. Venezuela is #20.
These teams are full of grown men who play professional international basketball.
All of those teams are headed to the FIBA World Cup later this month.
There were many people who didn’t even think the USA would get out of the group stage.
This was a grueling tournament (5 games in 5 days), and the USA represented very well.
Definitely an A-/A effort for the event.

Excluding the USA, there were 4 weak teams, 1 really good team and 2 average teams. They went 3-2. In the preliminary round they beat 2 weak teams and lost to 1 average teams. In the medal round they lost to 1 really good team and beat 1 average team.

Weak teams 2-0
Avg teams 1-1
Really good team 0-1

I think the problem is that you are comparing these programs to what they are on a world stage and not what type of competition they brought to the USA players. Regardless of what they are on the world stage (mostly middling teams except for Argentina), they are still teams full of men who have mostly played professional basketball for 5-10 years. Did anyone think the Big East All-Stars were going to beat the Argentinian National Team with 2 former NBA players and 2 current top European talents playing with their full complement of players? Even Puerto Rico (a game the USA should have one but just fatigued out down the stretch) has many strong international talents, and even more important, experience and professional bodies. A player like Devon Collier for example was a very good player at Oregon St. 5-6 years ago, and now he's added years of professional experience on top of that. I think the competition to the Big East players was strong, and they earned every bit of that bronze medal.

[ramster]

Big Ed doesn't seem to do very well in these tournament type events. USA placing 3rd in the Americas is pretty weak.

Um, what?am
The collegians of the Big East were facing the national teams of these other countries.
Argentina has the #5 national team in the world. Puerto Rico is #16. The DR is #18. Venezuela is #20.
These teams are full of grown men who play professional international basketball.
All of those teams are headed to the FIBA World Cup later this month.
There were many people who didn’t even think the USA would get out of the group stage.
This was a grueling tournament (5 games in 5 days), and the USA represented very well.
Definitely an A-/A effort for the event.

Excluding the USA, there were 4 weak teams, 1 really good team and 2 average teams. They went 3-2. In the preliminary round they beat 2 weak teams and lost to 1 average teams. In the medal round they lost to 1 really good team and beat 1 average team.

Weak teams 2-0
Avg teams 1-1
Really good team 0-1

USA lost to Argentina by 39 points tying the largest loss ever by a USA team in Pan Am play. Dominican Republic only lost to Argentina by 5. Patricio Garino from A10 fame is one of Argentinas best players.
It was a bad idea to go with an All Star Team from the BE when this practice has not been done before. Why go with only 1 conference? What sense does that make?
All teams had 5 games in 5 days - not just the USA

Sleepy Ed let this one go uncontested losing his best player in the Tournament and possibly costing the game...

https://setonhall.forums.rivals.com/thr ... oke.41471/

[ramster]

Um, what?am
The collegians of the Big East were facing the national teams of these other countries.
Argentina has the #5 national team in the world. Puerto Rico is #16. The DR is #18. Venezuela is #20.
These teams are full of grown men who play professional international basketball.
All of those teams are headed to the FIBA World Cup later this month.
There were many people who didn’t even think the USA would get out of the group stage.
This was a grueling tournament (5 games in 5 days), and the USA represented very well.
Definitely an A-/A effort for the event.

Excluding the USA, there were 4 weak teams, 1 really good team and 2 average teams. They went 3-2. In the preliminary round they beat 2 weak teams and lost to 1 average teams. In the medal round they lost to 1 really good team and beat 1 average team.

Weak teams 2-0
Avg teams 1-1
Really good team 0-1

I think the problem is that you are comparing these programs to what they are on a world stage and not what type of competition they brought to the USA players. Regardless of what they are on the world stage (mostly middling teams except for Argentina), they are still teams full of men who have mostly played professional basketball for 5-10 years. Did anyone think the Big East All-Stars were going to beat the Argentinian National Team with 2 former NBA players and 2 current top European talents playing with their full complement of players? Even Puerto Rico (a game the USA should have one but just fatigued out down the stretch) has many strong international talents, and even more important, experience and professional bodies. A player like Devon Collier for example was a very good player at Oregon St. 5-6 years ago, and now he's added years of professional experience on top of that. I think the competition to the Big East players was strong, and they earned every bit of that bronze medal.

Did not expect USA to beat Argentina but also did not expect them to get blown off the court by 39 points and never be in the game.

From an experience standpoint USA’s 7’ Center is 26+ years old

The big question is why send a Single Conference Team to an International Competition to represent the United States? Who goes in 4 years? The Big East again? Makes little sense to send just one Conference Of players.

[rjsuperfly66]

Um, what?am
The collegians of the Big East were facing the national teams of these other countries.
Argentina has the #5 national team in the world. Puerto Rico is #16. The DR is #18. Venezuela is #20.
These teams are full of grown men who play professional international basketball.
All of those teams are headed to the FIBA World Cup later this month.
There were many people who didn’t even think the USA would get out of the group stage.
This was a grueling tournament (5 games in 5 days), and the USA represented very well.
Definitely an A-/A effort for the event.

Excluding the USA, there were 4 weak teams, 1 really good team and 2 average teams. They went 3-2. In the preliminary round they beat 2 weak teams and lost to 1 average teams. In the medal round they lost to 1 really good team and beat 1 average team.

Weak teams 2-0
Avg teams 1-1
Really good team 0-1

USA lost to Argentina by 39 points tying the largest loss ever by a USA team in Pan Am play. Dominican Republic only lost to Argentina by 5. Patricio Garino from A10 fame is one of Argentinas best players.
It was a bad idea to go with an All Star Team from the BE when this practice has not been done before. Why go with only 1 conference? What sense does that make?
All teams had 5 games in 5 days - not just the USA

Sleepy Ed let this one go uncontested losing his best player in the Tournament and possibly costing the game...

https://setonhall.forums.rivals.com/thr ... oke.41471/

The US hasn't won this tournament for nearly 40 years and sent a group of collegiate "All-Stars" 4 years ago and won the Bronze Medal. They tried something different, and it got the same result. It's hardly a failure.

Lastly, you probably don't know because I'm guessing you watched none of the tournament until yesterday, but the USA was gassed against Puerto Rico. I'm guessing some of that comes from not playing a competitive game since the first week in March, and then going into a situation similar to conference tournament week. Then they go and play Argentina the next day, a team who sat 2 of their top 3 players and played their 3rd top player 10 minutes the day before as they punted a game to Mexico. The USA would have lost anyway, but they got absolutely run off-the-court instead. If you don't think those factors are important, I don't know what to tell you.

[ramster]

RJ,
I followed the Tournament closely.
Geoffrey Grosell had 18 points and 10 rebounds yesterday. He was a critically important player. He is not a current collegiate All Star.

I simply disagree with 1 conference representing the USA in this Tournament.

In yesterday’s game DR had a 5 point lead going into the 4th Q. DR went ice cold and USA got hot with 3’s.

We got Bronze, great.

But why not put a stronger team out there?

Why put a team from a single conference to represent the entire Nation?

Just put Big East current and former players on the Jerseys because it’s not representative of the nation.

And you are right. USA has not won the Gold in a long, long time. Even more reason to NOT limit candidates for the team to be current or alumni from one single conference. What sense does that make? International teams get better and we think smaller.

https://www.omaha.com/creighton/mens-ba ... def21.html

[ramster]

Only rational as to why they went with one Conference was in The Boneyard, other than that I can find no reasoning
For all I know the Big East gets the Pan Am Games again in 4 years

https://the-boneyard.com/threads/big-ea ... es.137551/

[rjsuperfly66]

RJ,
I followed the Tournament closely.
Geoffrey Grosell had 18 points and 10 rebounds yesterday. He was a critically important player. He is not a current collegiate All Star.

I simply disagree with 1 conference representing the USA in this Tournament.

In yesterday’s game DR had a 5 point lead going into the 4th Q. DR went ice cold and USA got hot with 3’s.

We got Bronze, great.

But why not put a stronger team out there?

Why put a team from a single conference to represent the entire Nation?

Just put Big East current and former players on the Jerseys because it’s not representative of the nation.

And you are right. USA has not won the Gold in a long, long time. Even more reason to NOT limit candidates for the team to be current or alumni from one single conference. What sense does that make? International teams get better and we think smaller.

https://www.omaha.com/creighton/mens-ba ... def21.html

I agree with you -- I don't know what the USA made this decision. My guess is that they felt like bringing together a team from one conference would lead to better cohesion. I think that was true of this group. They did have good cohesion and camaraderie. But they were hurt because they didn't pull from a full complement of teams due to foreign tours. Injuries whacked away a couple of additional players. Here is the reality - I don't think USA Basketball really cares about this event. This event means nothing to the USA National Team. So they made the decision to go with the conference structure because they said we can put a pool of players together who know eachother and who the coaching staff has knowledge of, rather than just throw 12 random guys together. If you think of it that way, they put together their all-star team 4 years ago and got bronze. This year they got bronze. It's the same result. So you can argue that cohesion worked. They were just missing a few depth pieces that could have made a difference.

[Rhody83]

Q: Why one conference and why the Big East?
A: Dan

Who picked the team?

Btw, don’t call this an all star team. There is no way PC has 4 of the top 12 players in the Big East. Three BE schools declined because they have international team summer trips this year. The best player in the BE (Howard) wasn’t on the team. It was a nice deal for Cooley to get his players extra practice and games to get ready for the college season.

[ramster]

Q: Why one conference and why the Big East?
A: Dan

Who picked the team?

Btw, don’t call this an all star team. There is no way PC has 4 of the top 12 players in the Big East. Three BE schools declined because they have international team summer trips this year. The best player in the BE (Howard) wasn’t on the team. It was a nice deal for Cooley to get his players extra practice and games to get ready for the college season.

Just more justification for NOT going with a single conference.

and the starting center, 7' Geoffrey Groselle, graduated from Creighton back in May 2016 - 3 years ago. Last played in the BE during the 2015-16 Season. Cooley just called him up to come play.

Go figure.

[NYGFan_Section208]

Big Ed doesn't seem to do very well in these tournament type events. USA placing 3rd in the Americas is pretty weak.

Um, what?am
The collegians of the Big East were facing the national teams of these other countries.
Argentina has the #5 national team in the world. Puerto Rico is #16. The DR is #18. Venezuela is #20.
These teams are full of grown men who play professional international basketball.
All of those teams are headed to the FIBA World Cup later this month.
There were many people who didn’t even think the USA would get out of the group stage.
This was a grueling tournament (5 games in 5 days), and the USA represented very well.
Definitely an A-/A effort for the event.

Excluding the USA, there were 4 weak teams, 1 really good team and 2 average teams. They went 3-2. In the preliminary round they beat 2 weak teams and lost to 1 average teams. In the medal round they lost to 1 really good team and beat 1 average team.

Weak teams 2-0
Avg teams 1-1
Really good team 0-1

So...'chalk'?

[Rhode_Island_Red]

Q: Why one conference and why the Big East?
A: Dan

Who picked the team?

Btw, don’t call this an all star team. There is no way PC has 4 of the top 12 players in the Big East. Three BE schools declined because they have international team summer trips this year. The best player in the BE (Howard) wasn’t on the team. It was a nice deal for Cooley to get his players extra practice and games to get ready for the college season.

Are you referring to obvious nepotism hire Dan Gavitt?

[theblueram]

I think our banner is looking pretty plain after two years of Championship banners. Adam won't like this suggestion(heh), but what if, instead of having constant players on the banner, we do a player or players of the week on the banner this year? We could take a vote on Sunday and the top vote getters get on the banner for the week?

[section(105)]

.......potentially sounds like a lotta work for someone......especially for what are probably volunteers......

[KevanBoyles]

I just saw some video clips of Dana Tate working out on Instagram. He looks in great shape. Thinner, quicker, and more mobile. Shot looks really good too. Excited to see what he can do this year.

[Rhody83]

I just saw some video clips of Dana Tate working out on Instagram. He looks in great shape. Thinner, quicker, and more mobile. Shot looks really good too. Excited to see what he can do this year.

He looks like someone who wants to get some time at the 3. He has changed his body and is working hard.
His Instagram account is d.tatejr checkout his IG story.

[Rhody83]

Good to see Tyrese practicing today in his IG Story.

[KevanBoyles]

Toppin looking really good in his Instagram Story.

[Rhody83]

Cyril is ready

[RhodyRams12]

[Rhody83]

If you read Chris DiSano’s article and don’t get pumped up you need to check your pulse.
https://www.yurview.com/uri-rams/rhody- ... -schedule/

[LoveThoseRams]

If you read Chris DiSano’s article and don’t get pumped up you need to check your pulse.
https://www.yurview.com/uri-rams/rhody- ... -schedule/

That Jeff Dowtin is quite the guy!

[phipsiGD'11]

If you read Chris DiSano’s article and don’t get pumped up you need to check your pulse.
https://www.yurview.com/uri-rams/rhody- ... -schedule/

That Jeff Dowtin is quite the guy!

I wish I ran a successful business so I could hire him.

He will be a great professional, no matter what career path he takes (I'm hoping NBA for him)

[ramster]

Two Duquesne former players involved in this big fight

https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-a ... eet-crowd/

[Rhody83]

Harris and Toppin back on campus early working together based on their IG stories.

[wpbrown8267]

Two Duquesne former players involved in this big fight

https://triblive.com/local/pittsburgh-a ... eet-crowd/

Not sure if any KBers have explored Pittsburgh (outside of the 2018 NCAAs), but the area around Duquesne is rough. I visited a a buddy in college who went there, went outside to grab something from my car and 15 minutes later someone was beaten with a golf club and mugged about 20 ft from where my car was, which was parked one block over from the house party.

[Taylor Swift]

Saw on IG Fatts is at Dyckman tonight

[Rhody83]

[Rhody83]

All those individual drill videos we see on IG and YouTube. I love the quote “that cone has no arms”.

[NYGFan_Section208]

All those individual drill videos we see on IG and YouTube. I love the quote “that cone has no arms”.

right, but the real thing you're trying to find out from these drills is, "can this guy cover that chair?"

[SandorClegane]

Fatts looks like he put on some muscle in the off-season per his videos on IG. Good to see. Would love to see him take it to the next level this year.

[section(105)]

Fatts looks like he put on some muscle in the off-season per his videos on IG. Good to see. Would love to see him take it to the next level this year.

.........meaning jacking up ill advised threes from further out ......

[Billyboy78]

Fatts looks like he put on some muscle in the off-season per his videos on IG. Good to see. Would love to see him take it to the next level this year.

.........meaning jacking up ill advised threes from further out ......

Well, the line has been moved back....

[Rhody74]

Fatts looks like he put on some muscle in the off-season per his videos on IG. Good to see. Would love to see him take it to the next level this year.

.........meaning jacking up ill advised threes from further out ......

Well, the line has been moved back....

Fatts does like to drive to the hoop so putting on more muscle would help him there.

[TruePoint]

I expect big things from Fatts this year. He’s not the first sophomore to have experienced some growing pains. I think he’s going to come into this year with something to prove, and I think the talent will win out.

[adam914]

I expect big things from Fatts this year. He’s not the first sophomore to have experienced some growing pains. I think he’s going to come into this year with something to prove, and I think the talent will win out.

Totally agree and will take it a step further with this hot take...Fatts is the reason we will dance this year. The more I think about it the more I am starting to view last season as essentially Fatts' freshman year. The situation he stepped into as a freshman could not have been any more favorable. An incredible senior class of guys to lean on and learn from, and absolutely no pressure on him because of that. He could come off the bench and just be a spark plug and have fun out there. It's been discussed ad nauseam around here, but the adjustment last year was, in my opinion, pretty close to the equivalent of starting over as a freshman. At least on the court. He started to figure it out later in the season and I think that will carry over to this year, and along with having a bit of a chip on his shoulder I think he is going to be the difference maker this year.

[rambone 78]

Fatts tried to do way too much last season, on a team with limited depth and experience, and with a 1st year coach that let him have the green light a little too much, to say the least.

This season should be a lot different, for many reasons. More depth, more experience, and that includes the coach.

I don't expect a repeat of Fatt's last season. Too many chuck and ducks again, and he will spend more time sitting.

[ramster]

I did not see the same as how Fatts “improved and figured it out late last season”. In the two biggest games of the year in the A10 Tournament....
VCU, a 75-70 win:
Russell played only 25 minutes as he fouled out
2-9 FG, 0-4 on 3FG, 2-2 FT, 1 reb, 0 Assists, 5 TOs, for 6 points.

St Bonaventure, a 68-51 loss:
Russell played 35 min
3-14 FG, 0-7 on 3FG, 3 Assists, 1 Steal, 1 TO, 4 Fouls for 6 points

He went 0-11 his last 2 games of the season on 3FGs. He must improve his shooting. He was last in 3FG shooting at only 25%. This is a big year for Fatts.

Cox brought in two JC players in Johnson and Sheppard who shot 43%+ on 3FGs. Much needed additions to help address our horrible, last in nation, 3FG shooting percentage last year. Cox has more weapons at his disposal this year.

I hope Fatts improves and makes 1st, 2nd is 3rd Team A10. But if he doesn’t Cox has built in better quality options than he had last year. Got to hand it to Cox.

[rambone 78]

Fatts is the ultimate streak shooter.

Unfortunately most of his streaks were of the wrong kind.

If we want to dance that can't happen this season.

Players don't just become great 3 pt. shooters overnight. He needs to take a LOT less three pointers.

[TruePoint]

I did not see the same as how Fatts “improved and figured it out late last season”. In the two biggest games of the year in the A10 Tournament....
VCU, a 75-70 win:
Russell played only 25 minutes as he fouled out
2-9 FG, 0-4 on 3FG, 2-2 FT, 1 reb, 0 Assists, 5 TOs, for 6 points.

St Bonaventure, a 68-51 loss:
Russell played 35 min
3-14 FG, 0-7 on 3FG, 3 Assists, 1 Steal, 1 TO, 4 Fouls for 6 points

He went 0-11 his last 2 games of the season on 3FGs. He must improve his shooting. He was last in 3FG shooting at only 25%. This is a big year for Fatts.

Cox brought in two JC players in Johnson and Sheppard who shot 43%+ on 3FGs. Much needed additions to help address our horrible, last in nation, 3FG shooting percentage last year. Cox has more weapons at his disposal this year.

I hope Fatts improves and makes 1st, 2nd is 3rd Team A10. But if he doesn’t Cox has built in better quality options than he had last year. Got to hand it to Cox.

You do not see how Fatts improved late in the season? I could show you by cherry-picking a set of games down the stretch to make my point like you did: during the last 5 games of the regular season when URI saved themselves from a disastrous losing campaign, Fatts averaged 23.4 ppg, shot 48% from the floor, 42% from 3, and had a 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. To be fair, though, we can extend that out to the last eight games of the season and include the A-10 tournament (which as you noted were not his best games of the year): 18.5 ppg, 42% from the floor and 36% from 3 and a 1.8:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. That eight game sample is probably a more realistic set of data to project out an entire "good" season from him, because you know there will be ups and downs. But I would definitely sign up for that level of production over 30+ games. What he did in that last quarter of the season is decidedly better than what he did over the first 3/4 of the year, so I think that is what Adam was referring to - and I definitely agree with him.

[adam914]

I did not see the same as how Fatts “improved and figured it out late last season”. In the two biggest games of the year in the A10 Tournament....
VCU, a 75-70 win:
Russell played only 25 minutes as he fouled out
2-9 FG, 0-4 on 3FG, 2-2 FT, 1 reb, 0 Assists, 5 TOs, for 6 points.

St Bonaventure, a 68-51 loss:
Russell played 35 min
3-14 FG, 0-7 on 3FG, 3 Assists, 1 Steal, 1 TO, 4 Fouls for 6 points

He went 0-11 his last 2 games of the season on 3FGs. He must improve his shooting. He was last in 3FG shooting at only 25%. This is a big year for Fatts.

Cox brought in two JC players in Johnson and Sheppard who shot 43%+ on 3FGs. Much needed additions to help address our horrible, last in nation, 3FG shooting percentage last year. Cox has more weapons at his disposal this year.

I hope Fatts improves and makes 1st, 2nd is 3rd Team A10. But if he doesn’t Cox has built in better quality options than he had last year. Got to hand it to Cox.

You do not see how Fatts improved late in the season? I could show you by cherry-picking a set of games down the stretch to make my point like you did: during the last 5 games of the regular season when URI saved themselves from a disastrous losing campaign, Fatts averaged 23.4 ppg, shot 48% from the floor, 42% from 3, and had a 2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. To be fair, though, we can extend that out to the last eight games of the season and include the A-10 tournament (which as you noted were not his best games of the year): 18.5 ppg, 42% from the floor and 36% from 3 and a 1.8:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. That eight game sample is probably a more realistic set of data to project out an entire "good" season from him, because you know there will be ups and downs. But I would definitely sign up for that level of production over 30+ games. What he did in that last quarter of the season is decidedly better than what he did over the first 3/4 of the year, so I think that is what Adam was referring to - and I definitely agree with him.

Yep, nailed it. I'm not sure how anyone could not have seen Fatts improved later in the season from how things started. The two games in the A10 tournament were not good, but prior to that there was obvious improvement as TP noted. I really think he figured out the type of player he needs to be and will build on that this season. Hopefully an improved talent level around him will only make that easier as well.

[bigappleram]

Fatts is a dynamic player, with the potential to change a game single handedly. Regardless of last season's performance we simply do not have many other players on our roster with his ability to impact a game. What he had to learn was how to impact a game BEYOND scoring. He learned the hard way, through trial and error. If we are to reach our ceiling this year it will require Fatts to be a major cog in the wheel, if he is relegated to a lesser role or spending more time than normal on the bench it will not be a good thing regardless of how good (or not) Sheppard turns out to be.