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I'd like to take a little internet space up in praise of one the greatest ever KSU basketball players.

Here's a guy who not only picked Kent in a sea of options, but really committed to being here, even when he became a hot commodity that could have gone to a higher profile program for his last year. Not only that, he has become a Flash through and through. I don't know how many of you ever checked out the Jimmy Hall Show, but you should.

Here's a guy who will be one of our top rebounders and scorers ever, all done in three seasons. He is a KSU basketball Hall of Famer in waiting. He gets double and triple teamed every time he gets the ball and still puts up incredible numbers, and his work on the offensive boards is a rare thing of beauty.

I also think he is one of the most under-appreciated of our greatest ever players. He's a smart, articulate representative of KSU. He's a guy who plays with incredible passion and wears his emotions on his sleeve. (OK, if he had sleeves, that's where his emotions would be.) I think fans read way too much into the way he reacts to things on the floor. He is just emotional and doesn't hide it. Then, just look at his numbers. Look at his effort. Look at our team when he is not on the floor.

Here's to you, Jimmy. I don't know how the season plays out from here, but I, for one, have loved watching you be a Golden Flash for the last 3 seasons and appreciate all you have done for OUR school. I wish you the best as your college career comes to an end, and continued success after college.

Go Flashes!

(03-04-2017 10:49 AM)axeme Wrote:  I'd like to take a little internet space up in praise of one the greatest ever KSU basketball players.

Here's a guy who not only picked Kent in a sea of options, but really committed to being here, even when he became a hot commodity that could have gone to a higher profile program for his last year. Not only that, he has become a Flash through and through. I don't know how many of you ever checked out the Jimmy Hall Show, but you should.

Here's a guy who will be one of our top rebounders and scorers ever, all done in three seasons. He is a KSU basketball Hall of Famer in waiting. He gets double and triple teamed every time he gets the ball and still puts up incredible numbers, and his work on the offensive boards is a rare thing of beauty.

I also think he is one of the most under-appreciated of our greatest ever players. He's a smart, articulate representative of KSU. He's a guy who plays with incredible passion and wears his emotions on his sleeve. (OK, if he had sleeves, that's where his emotions would be.) I think fans read way too much into the way he reacts to things on the floor. He is just emotional and doesn't hide it. Then, just look at his numbers. Look at his effort. Look at our team when he is not on the floor.

Here's to you, Jimmy. I don't know how the season plays out from here, but I, for one, have loved watching you be a Golden Flash for the last 3 seasons and appreciate all you have done for OUR school. I wish you the best as your college career comes to an end, and continued success after college.

Go Flashes!

Great points +1

He frustrates me at time but I have enjoyed watching him play. Clearly one of the best we've ever had and probably our best insider scorer ever (along with Justin Greene)!

So... who is going to replace him for next season???

Well written ax. I am looking forward to watching Jimmy Hall lead the charge next week.

Good post. Agree with everything.

I don't think it will happen but I sincerely believe Hall should be the MAC POY. In my opinion, since Campbell got hurt, there's three guys that should be in the discussion. Hall, Johnson, and Wilder. I know PER isn't an end all be all, but it's a good way of quantifying how guys are playing. If you look at their PER's Johnson is at 27.8, Hall's at 27.5, and Wilder is at 26.8. So they're all really close. With how close everyone is I would look at head-to-head match-ups particularly with Hall and Johnson because they guarded each other all game when they faced off. They had very similar numbers in their head to head match-ups. They both won one game, they both hat 17 rebounds in the two games. Hall had 34 points to Johnson's 28. The big difference, Johnson had 10 turnovers in the two games to only 3 by Hall. Looking at their season numbers, Hall edges Johnson in points, rebounds, and blocks. Johnson has slightly more assists and Hall has slightly more turnovers.. One big difference, Hall shoots 77% from the line to Johnson's 57%. And as Ax mentioned above, Hall faces a double or triple team every time he touches it, that is NOT true of Johnson because of Akron's three point shooting. Sure he still gets doubled, but not as much as Hall. Heck, you didn't see Akron leave Johnson alone on Hall as often as we left Hall alone on Johnson.

Lastly, I think if you took Hall off of Kent's team it would hurt us more than if you took Johnson off Akron's team. Now I realize none of this matters. Akron is the #1 seed so that's all the voters will care about, Johnson will win it. But I honestly believe it should be Hall.

I would really love to see us make a run in the MAC tournament and find our way into the NCAA tournament for Hall and also for Edwin. First, it would be a shame if one of the best to ever play at Kent never makes it to the tournament. Second, if he could make some noise in March it might help him get some NBA attention. His path to the NBA likely will not include being drafted, but with small ball being all the rage right now a slightly undersized post player that can dribble and pass could find a niche in the league. It's unfortunate he has never been able to add the three ball to his arsenal because that would make him really appealing. Plus, if some team bothers to measure his wingspan they might not think of him as undersized any more. I have no idea what his wingspan is, but the dude's got some crazy long arms. I remember Mike Scott was said to have a 7-foot wingspan and Hall's arms seem longer.

The one silver lining about last night is we'll get to see him and Edwin on the MACC court once more. Hopefully it's a big night for both of them and we get to make a trip to Cleveland later in the week.

Well, of course Hall is the better player. He's a more versatile, effective offensive player who handles the ball better, a better rebounder, a better defender, a better free throw shooter, and a better full-court player. And that's really not taking anything away from Johnson who is close in many of those areas and is really strong around the basket (though he travels a lot). But Akron is in first place and that probably gives Johnson the POY, and I understand that and actually don't begrudge him that. To the victors, the spoils. But 1 on 1, Hall would own him. And they'd have to play half court to even give Johnson a chance. Basketball is a full court game.

I agree - he's great to watch. There are times when he gets the look "andI'm going to score now" and he has to reach between 2 players and stretch and he puts the ball in the hoop. Last night he clearly looked better than Johnson.

(03-04-2017 10:49 AM)axeme Wrote:  I'd like to take a little internet space up in praise of one the greatest ever KSU basketball players.

Here's a guy who not only picked Kent in a sea of options, but really committed to being here, even when he became a hot commodity that could have gone to a higher profile program for his last year. Not only that, he has become a Flash through and through. I don't know how many of you ever checked out the Jimmy Hall Show, but you should.

Here's a guy who will be one of our top rebounders and scorers ever, all done in three seasons. He is a KSU basketball Hall of Famer in waiting. He gets double and triple teamed every time he gets the ball and still puts up incredible numbers, and his work on the offensive boards is a rare thing of beauty.

I also think he is one of the most under-appreciated of our greatest ever players. He's a smart, articulate representative of KSU. He's a guy who plays with incredible passion and wears his emotions on his sleeve. (OK, if he had sleeves, that's where his emotions would be.) I think fans read way too much into the way he reacts to things on the floor. He is just emotional and doesn't hide it. Then, just look at his numbers. Look at his effort. Look at our team when he is not on the floor.

Here's to you, Jimmy. I don't know how the season plays out from here, but I, for one, have loved watching you be a Golden Flash for the last 3 seasons and appreciate all you have done for OUR school. I wish you the best as your college career comes to an end, and continued success after college.

Go Flashes!

Axe, thanks for writing this tribute. I have had some doubts at certain times this season, but I now have a great appreciation for JH and what he has done for our program. Simply put, Jimmy Hall is one of the best to ever wear the blue and gold. Now let us extend this season.

Jimmy is now a KSU alum. Congratulations on this significant accomplishment and welcome to our special group. A very nice article on Jimmy about his path through KSU and his potential future with professional ball. Diametrically opposed to the “one and dones.” Maybe this is why the mid-majors exist.

Makes you proud to be a KSU fellow alum.

Will be exciting to follow his future accomplishments.

Saw his measurements from Portsmouth. 6'7" in shoes will probably concern some teams but NBA teams usually value standing reach a little more particularly in regards to post defense. Hall measured in at 9'0" 1/2 which is really solid. For comparison that's the exact same standing reach as Tristan Thompson. Hall's wingspan was expectedly ridiculous at 7'2". So I think those two measurements will ease concerns about his height considerably. His no step vert was only 23 inches though, which isn't great.

(05-12-2017 08:22 PM)anti-zip Wrote:  Saw his measurements from Portsmouth. 6'7" in shoes will probably concern some teams but NBA teams usually value standing reach a little more particularly in regards to post defense. Hall measured in at 9'0" 1/2 which is really solid. For comparison that's the exact same standing reach as Tristan Thompson. Hall's wingspan was expectedly ridiculous at 7'2". So I think those two measurements will ease concerns about his height considerably. His no step vert was only 23 inches though, which isn't great.

All the physical measurements are fine, but it is the intangibles that must also be considered. Determination, heart, attitude, willingness to sacrifice, etc.

I wonder what Wes Unseld's vertical leap was...

Interesting note leading up to the draft. The new CBA added a thing called a "two-way contract" that basically lets NBA teams have two additional roster spots for players with under 3 years of experience that will bounce between the G-league (formerly the D-league) and the NBA. This really opens doors for Hall to land on an NBA roster. Essentially there are now up to 60 more roster spots and those spots can only be filled by a small subset of professional players that Hall will be in. The goal of this change was to create an opportunity for young players to stay in the country and still make good money. Since Kent sends guys overseas every year this is a big deal for Kent players going forward.

Jimmy has signed with a French team.

http://www.kentwired.com/latest_updates/...80130.html