He is the most offensively gifted player on the team but he only displays weakness, softness, fear... Nichols just refuses to power up and take it to the basket... He will get killed in the NBA if he even make it.

I am still mad how scared he played against Baylor once they got physical in the 2nd half... Even against Indiana St, he was avoiding contact for cry sake.

Sometimes toughness and grit finds you at a time when you least expect it. Then too, some never discover it, give him time. We shall see.

(11-29-2014 12:04 PM)hollywoodtigerhound Wrote:  Sometimes toughness and grit finds you at a time when you least expect it. Then too, some never discover it, give him time. We shall see.

He is a good kid... I gave him a pass last year because he was undersized, trying to bulk up and a freshman... He is now around 230 lbs, almost as big as Lorenzen Wright who was actually 6'11... But Lorenzen was fearless, even as a scrawny freshman he was going against bigger guys in college.

Some traits you just can't teach... Hope he discover his... This team needs Nichols badly.

He was the same way last year if you recall. Took him almost till February to finally find some aggressiveness. I think he's competitive enough, I don't think he's afraid of contact necessarily, but I do think he's just too "nice". He probably apologizes for bumping a player, when what we want to see is a junkyard dog mauling. It's just not in Austin's nature I don't think. He's got to find a happy medium between being "nice" and being fiercely competitive.

(11-29-2014 12:16 PM)Hoopla Wrote:  He was the same way last year if you recall. Took him almost till February to finally find some aggressiveness. I think he's competitive enough, I don't think he's afraid of contact necessarily, but I do think he's just too "nice". He probably apologizes for bumping a player, when what we want to see is a junkyard dog mauling. It's just not in Austin's nature I don't think. He's got to find a happy medium between being "nice" and being fiercely competitive.

Nothing wrong with being nice... The problem is when opponents see weakness and fear on you... When the big white dude from Indiana St fouled out, he pushed Austin in his way out and Nichols didn't even bother... I am not saying Nichols should retaliate but it tells me that guy doesn't respect him as a player.

I think he is playing with an injury... right knee.

Everyone has played soft for the past 6 seasons.

(11-29-2014 12:49 PM)passat25 Wrote:  

(11-29-2014 12:16 PM)Hoopla Wrote:  He was the same way last year if you recall. Took him almost till February to finally find some aggressiveness. I think he's competitive enough, I don't think he's afraid of contact necessarily, but I do think he's just too "nice". He probably apologizes for bumping a player, when what we want to see is a junkyard dog mauling. It's just not in Austin's nature I don't think. He's got to find a happy medium between being "nice" and being fiercely competitive.

Nothing wrong with being nice... The problem is when opponents see weakness and fear on you... When the big white dude from Indiana St fouled out, he pushed Austin in his way out and Nichols didn't even bother... I am not saying Nichols should retaliate but it tells me that guy doesn't respect him as a player.

Doesn't necessarily mean that the player doesn't respect Austin, It could mean that his is trying to affect his mental (get in Austins head). Theses shenanigans are sometimes spurred by the coach(s).. Indiana State has to do more than just play normal basketball to beat a "power" team such as Memphis....Normally a team like Indiana State has a good number of walkons, some may even start.

What we see in Austin comes from lack of confidence, it is more mental than it is physical. The most disgusting aspect of all of this, If we break it down. Austin and Shaq,let's just take those two, for example. Although they worked-out and left last season with a lot to gain in the off-season, both mentally and physically....We see them repeating the same things that we left with last year. Austin is still pinning himself underneath the basketball with a dribble that is putting him in a compromising position....He can get away with that in high school because not too many players have his length that he will play against on a consistent basis. That is not going to cut it at this level! Not even against Indiana State! He has to be worked with by a bigman coach to show him how to utilize his gifts versus players that are on this level. Somebody to recognize what Austins Strengths are and build them and see what his weaknesses are and eliminate them!

Lets go to Shaq, Shaq has NO post moves! 0....I'm not saying this to be mean, It's what you have to work with...It's just being honest with whats there. Someone needs to figure if Shaq has post ability or spot-up ability or neither of the two...If not, he will be relegated to a Charles Oakley type that has to be physical and eliminate positive real estate for the other team and create positive real estate for his team....creating seams/seals and eliminating them as well as attacking the boards and put-backs.....

Neither Shaq nor Austin are centers and should not be utilized that way!

Some fantastic work that being done by this team right now is the use of the combination forwards....I must admit, I am really impressed with the emergence of this particular aspect of this team.....Josh and staff have been very brilliant in operating there and it's only going to get better....The combo forwards game is wonderful to watch, kinda like attacking with rooks in chess...They are dumping the ball in the paint for dunks; they are attacking the paint from midrange; And they are also knocking down the three ball.....This is the aspect of the game that I am most excited about and this can carry us if our bigs get tougher...

Again, for Austin, once he learns how to use his skillset at this level, and has a repertoire to trust...he will be all-american; Shaq seems to be buying in to this....And our guards will be dynamite when DC gets to play(he is a beast)....But those forwards are a thing of beauty..Very few teams have a luxury like these guys....look out for them....JuSt WiN BaBy

Seriously......stupid thread. Austin Nichols is a solid basketball player. He displays "weakness, softness, fear"???? C'mon, man. Learn the game, then make a comment like that.

(11-29-2014 12:13 PM)passat25 Wrote:  

(11-29-2014 12:04 PM)hollywoodtigerhound Wrote:  Sometimes toughness and grit finds you at a time when you least expect it. Then too, some never discover it, give him time. We shall see.

He is a good kid... I gave him a pass last year because he was undersized, trying to bulk up and a freshman... He is now around 230 lbs, almost as big as Lorenzen Wright who was actually 6'11... But Lorenzen was fearless, even as a scrawny freshman he was going against bigger guys in college.

Some traits you just can't teach... Hope he discover his... This team needs Nichols badly.

Maybe he just needs 10 more pounds IF he is 230. He looks more like 215. In fairness too, he was double teamed a lot down low. He was just too far under to make a pass. He was also fouled a lot. Once he was bumped really hard which gained an advantage for the defensive player. That's suppose to be called a foul, but wasn't.

(11-29-2014 06:13 PM)Hoots Wrote:  Seriously......stupid thread. Austin Nichols is a solid basketball player. He displays "weakness, softness, fear"???? C'mon, man. Learn the game, then make a comment like that.

Hoots, what else would you call it getting moved out of position so many times? That's how he got too far under the goal so many times. He is a good player but he is just not as strong as some of the frontline players on other teams. You can't watch the Tigers play Baylor and miss that. If he can stick a free throw line jumper it will open the inside for Shaq and vice versa. Baylor was packing that zone so tight there was no way Austin could bang with those guys. It's not a knock on Austin, it's a matter of physicality. Fear is not his problem. I've been watching Tiger basketball since '59 and have seen every kind of player they've ever had. I didn't see Chris Massie, Dorsey (except Greg Oden), Anthony Douglas, Omar Sneed, Marvin Alexander get pushed around like that. Didn't mention, R.Robinson, Keith Lee etc.

We are unbelievably lucky that he signed with us. Imagine this team without him

[quote='alcalde' pid='11459840' dateline='1417305942']
We are unbelievably lucky that he signed with us. Imagine this team without him
[/quote

I don't disagree with that at all. He is a really good player.

Nichols and Shaq are both 4s / poor man 5s. Baylor's bigs looked more like Dorsey (men), we just don't have the size. I'm not sure if Nichols and Shaq put on more weight it would help too much, neither one will be Massie, Dorsey or Douglas, etc., they are much more mobile finesse players. We need a true 5 that Nichols and Shaq could sub for in the post, ideally some one like Wright (taller) or Dorsey (strong and athletic), just MHO of course. Pastner likes speed, it is obvious to me, and a true back to the basket post player (if they even exist anymore) will not be on the wish list.

The guards are going to get much better over the next few months, but you can't teach size and top big powerful teams are just going to out physical us, I don't see that changing.

(11-30-2014 12:53 AM)BuccTiger Wrote:  Nichols and Shaq are both 4s / poor man 5s. Baylor's bigs looked more like Dorsey (men), we just don't have the size. I'm not sure if Nichols and Shaq put on more weight it would help too much, neither one will be Massie, Dorsey or Douglas, etc., they are much more mobile finesse players. We need a true 5 that Nichols and Shaq could sub for in the post, ideally some one like Wright (taller) or Dorsey (strong and athletic), just MHO of course. Pastner likes speed, it is obvious to me, and a true back to the basket post player (if they even exist anymore) will not be on the wish list.

The guards are going to get much better over the next few months, but you can't teach size and top big powerful teams are just going to out physical us, I don't see that changing.

Black was supposed to be the guy, then it was Pellom and now it is Godfrey. Godfrey is a disaster right now in every sense, but he is big and strong and does (historically) have a nose for the ball. Hopefully, he will settle in and will be able to make a contribution.

He should play like, and be a better version of Arthur Barclay; which is EXACTLY what this team needs.

(11-30-2014 12:59 AM)Stammers Wrote:  

(11-30-2014 12:53 AM)BuccTiger Wrote:  Nichols and Shaq are both 4s / poor man 5s. Baylor's bigs looked more like Dorsey (men), we just don't have the size. I'm not sure if Nichols and Shaq put on more weight it would help too much, neither one will be Massie, Dorsey or Douglas, etc., they are much more mobile finesse players. We need a true 5 that Nichols and Shaq could sub for in the post, ideally some one like Wright (taller) or Dorsey (strong and athletic), just MHO of course. Pastner likes speed, it is obvious to me, and a true back to the basket post player (if they even exist anymore) will not be on the wish list.

The guards are going to get much better over the next few months, but you can't teach size and top big powerful teams are just going to out physical us, I don't see that changing.

Black was supposed to be the guy, then it was Pellom and now it is Godfrey. Godfrey is a disaster right now in every sense, but he is big and strong and does (historically) have a nose for the ball. Hopefully, he will settle in and will be able to make a contribution.

He should play like, and be a better version of Arthur Barclay; which is EXACTLY what this team needs.

Even if Black had stayed in Memphis he would not have been here this year. He wasn't handled correctly offensively and was foul prone (which I think is mostly on him) on defense. I always thought Pellom was supposed to be a Rodman type (without the girdle), but Rodman was a redounding 4 not a 5. Pellom was pretty slight (like Rodman) he wasn't going to be an enforcer. If Godfrey is a better version of Barclay that would be great news, but we will just have to see.

This is a team that hasn't been together very long, they will get better over the next couple of months.

(11-29-2014 06:13 PM)Hoots Wrote:  Seriously......stupid thread. Austin Nichols is a solid basketball player. He displays "weakness, softness, fear"???? C'mon, man. Learn the game, then make a comment like that.

We have a lot of these now.

One after another it seems.

Think of how many posts from the last 2 weeks saying "this brand new player is only X and can't Y and this will never work at all, and blah blah blah. Absurdly stupid judgements about players they have hardly seen play yet and haven't even had time to get fully adjusted to D1 BB.

(11-30-2014 01:22 AM)BuccTiger Wrote:  

(11-30-2014 12:59 AM)Stammers Wrote:  

(11-30-2014 12:53 AM)BuccTiger Wrote:  Nichols and Shaq are both 4s / poor man 5s. Baylor's bigs looked more like Dorsey (men), we just don't have the size. I'm not sure if Nichols and Shaq put on more weight it would help too much, neither one will be Massie, Dorsey or Douglas, etc., they are much more mobile finesse players. We need a true 5 that Nichols and Shaq could sub for in the post, ideally some one like Wright (taller) or Dorsey (strong and athletic), just MHO of course. Pastner likes speed, it is obvious to me, and a true back to the basket post player (if they even exist anymore) will not be on the wish list.

The guards are going to get much better over the next few months, but you can't teach size and top big powerful teams are just going to out physical us, I don't see that changing.

Black was supposed to be the guy, then it was Pellom and now it is Godfrey. Godfrey is a disaster right now in every sense, but he is big and strong and does (historically) have a nose for the ball. Hopefully, he will settle in and will be able to make a contribution.

He should play like, and be a better version of Arthur Barclay; which is EXACTLY what this team needs.

Even if Black had stayed in Memphis he would not have been here this year. He wasn't handled correctly offensively and was foul prone (which I think is mostly on him) on defense. I always thought Pellom was supposed to be a Rodman type (without the girdle), but Rodman was a redounding 4 not a 5. Pellom was pretty slight (like Rodman) he wasn't going to be an enforcer. If Godfrey is a better version of Barclay that would be great news, but we will just have to see.

This is a team that hasn't been together very long, they will get better over the next couple of months.

In what little bit I've seen, Godfrey looks much bigger, stronger, and meaner than Pellom. He looks like he could be a shorter Will Coleman with less shot blocking but more natural rebounding ability.

But he doesn't look comfortable out there yet or in the flow of the game much.

I sense that he can be a real man in there if he finds his footing in time. Just feels to me like there is more there to work with and more of a ceiling with Godfrey (defensively and on the boards). But he could also struggle to find his spot and get lost in the shuffle.

Similar situation with Hawkins. He could be a real man out there but he can also get lost in the shuffle if he struggles to acclimate.

I think that we would see more balance in our Tiger BB team, if players better understood their roles.....If Godfrey understood and was given a small area that he was to enforce,that would yield more favorable results from him. Some players get out there and just look lost. But narrowing a window for him to execute in would be rewarding....JMO

(11-29-2014 02:58 PM)howboutthemtigers Wrote:  Everyone has played soft for the past 6 seasons.

That starts at the top. I think everyone knows this.