Mladen Armus compares pretty well with the last real post player the Bucs have had that got substantial minutes as a true freshman, Brad Nuckles in 2002-2003.

Mladen, 6-10 230: 16.5 minutes, 5.6 ppg on .583 from 2 and 0-1 from 3, .579 FT%, 5.1 rebounds, 0.5 blocks
Nuckles, 6-9 245: 15.5 minutes, 5.6 ppg on .530 from 2 and 3-17 from 3, .688 FT%, 4.3 rebounds, 1.1 blocks

Armus has the potential to be much better than Nuck in my opinion. Armus already has much better hands. Can’t wait to see how he develops.


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Right now, Mladen seems to have better moves around the basket and better rebounding. He still has 1/3 of the season to improve his numbers. But at this point he doesn't have Nuckles shooting touch, range or shot blocking. If he gets 4 years with a Forbes coaching staff, I wouldn't be surprised to see him as a totally different player in his Junior and Senior years.

Nuckles redshirted his Junior year with injury, and stepped things up his Rs-Junior and Rs-Senior years:
Rs-Jr: 29.5 minutes, 7.8 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, 8.0 ppg
Rs-Sr: 30.8 minutes, 7.9 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, 11.0 ppg

I wouldn't be surprised to see Mladen averaging a double-double by junior or senior years.

(01-19-2018 12:22 PM)swvabucsfan Wrote:  Right now, Mladen seems to have better moves around the basket and better rebounding. He still has 1/3 of the season to improve his numbers. But at this point he doesn't have Nuckles shooting touch, range or shot blocking. If he gets 4 years with a Forbes coaching staff, I wouldn't be surprised to see him as a totally different player in his Junior and Senior years.

Nuckles redshirted his Junior year with injury, and stepped things up his Rs-Junior and Rs-Senior years:
Rs-Jr: 29.5 minutes, 7.8 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, 8.0 ppg
Rs-Sr: 30.8 minutes, 7.9 rebounds, 1.6 blocks, 11.0 ppg

I wouldn't be surprised to see Mladen averaging a double-double by junior or senior years.

I was thinking about this very comparison just a couple of days ago, but didn't pursue it because they're considerably different players - although inside of 6 ft. they're very similar offensively. Right now, Armus *might* have the edge in just gritty toughness (rebounding forcefulness), but Brad had more touch, as you say (and finesse); and he learned, by his junior year, to keep the ball up high while inside rather than doing the "safety dribble". At this moment, I have a hard time imagining Armus being a threat from 3, really, but do know he at least *has* a decent mid-range stroke, although he's clearly reluctant to use it - as there are numerous other "shooters" on the team.

Edit: I was also thinking, but more like a couple of weeks ago.........if Armus is the "Seth Coy" we never got to enjoy. I know that's unfair to both of them, but you all know what I mean.

(01-19-2018 12:35 PM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  Edit: I was also thinking, but more like a couple of weeks ago.........if Armus is the "Seth Coy" we never got to enjoy. I know that's unfair to both of them, but you all know what I mean.

Losing Seth Coy was one of the saddest things to hit the Bucs. He seemed like such a sweet friendly guy, talking to the little kids who would come up to him at the women's games. With the progress that he made the last couple of years of his life, I will always think that he could have developed into a special player by his junior or senior years. I remember the joy and excitement on the floor his one big freshman performance against Wingate, and how Kevin Tiggs and others got fired up by it. I thought I was seeing a vision of the future for the Bucs. Such a sad ending for it.

(01-19-2018 01:11 PM)swvabucsfan Wrote:  

(01-19-2018 12:35 PM)posterformerlyknownasthedoctor Wrote:  Edit: I was also thinking, but more like a couple of weeks ago.........if Armus is the "Seth Coy" we never got to enjoy. I know that's unfair to both of them, but you all know what I mean.

Losing Seth Coy was one of the saddest things to hit the Bucs. He seemed like such a sweet friendly guy, talking to the little kids who would come up to him at the women's games. With the progress that he made the last couple of years of his life, I will always think that he could have developed into a special player by his junior or senior years. I remember the joy and excitement on the floor his one big freshman performance against Wingate, and how Kevin Tiggs and others got fired up by it. I thought I was seeing a vision of the future for the Bucs. Such a sad ending for it.

I don't remember who it was against, but I remember a game where we had just scored (possibly as part of a run or a come back) and as the Bucs turned around to defend after crossing half court one of the guards bent over and slapped both hands on the floor (a move that I usually find annoying). I remember Seth bending over his improbably tall frame and slapping his large palms on the floor. The crowd went berserk. At the time I thought it showed how much he was enjoying his team and playing college ball and it made me smile. For some reason I think about that now and again and it makes me incredibly sad, even after this amount of time.

Nuckles had a nice outside shot that so far is absent from Armus. He was also a bit more mobile when moving with the ball. Armus is a true post player, Nuck was not quite a prototypical post player.

I'd love to see the walls around Freedom Hall adorned with life-size posters of players, past and present. It would also be a nice gesture of honoring Seth.

(01-19-2018 04:17 PM)squeak Wrote:  I'd love to see the walls around Freedom Hall adorned with life-size posters of players, past and present. It would also be a nice gesture of honoring Seth.

Remember that Freedom Hall is not an ETSU owned facility and while a lot has been done, there are limits to what can be done. Posters that could be removed should be an option. Banners would also probably work.

(01-19-2018 04:39 PM)BucDoctor Wrote:  

(01-19-2018 04:17 PM)squeak Wrote:  I'd love to see the walls around Freedom Hall adorned with life-size posters of players, past and present. It would also be a nice gesture of honoring Seth.

Remember that Freedom Hall is not an ETSU owned facility and while a lot has been done, there are limits to what can be done. Posters that could be removed should be an option. Banners would also probably work.

Types of vinyl should work. It does seem more folks take notice of those life-size portraits. One downside is fans clogging up the hallways of Freedom Hall.

The life sized Peter is great - a life sized Seth would be fun, too. And almost as tall.

Or a Tommy Woods grabbing a rebound while doing a split, or a Skeeter Swift with a big jawed wolfish grin.

You'd probably want Mister a little more than life sized. Heck, he always played more than life sized.

Or maybe you could take a little different approach with Mister - instead of emphasizing how much bigger Peter or Seth is/was than the average fan -

with a life sized picture of Mister, you could ask kids - "are you big enough to be a college basketball star and play in the NBA???"

Or phrase it in the affirmative: "I'm big enough to be a college star".

(01-19-2018 05:57 PM)swvabucsfan Wrote:  Or maybe you could take a little different approach with Mister - instead of emphasizing how much bigger Peter or Seth is/was than the average fan -

with a life sized picture of Mister, you could ask kids - "are you big enough to be a college basketball star and play in the NBA???"

Or phrase it in the affirmative: "I'm big enough to be a college star".

How about one of Calvin Talford with his vertical? Is the Freedom Hall ceiling high enough?

I assume most of you all have seen the nice, large, wall-sized photo displays in the lower hallway of the dome, near the training room. How hard would it be to make up some of those, portable, such that they could be put in the Freedom Hall hallways at least just for game times? Wouldn't be dirt cheap, but I really think that's not a bad idea. It would be a great educational opportunity for younger fans to see a Tommy Woods shot, or Harley Swift, or Willie Malone, etc. For that matter, a Jim Mooney, Hal Littleford, J.C. Snead, Larry Hinson, Neal Cusack, Ray Flynn, Atlee Hammaker, Pierre Arnold, Kim Bird, etc., etc., etc. Rotate them.

I don't know if we could use our new video board to show some old footage of some of our greats.

Feature post players one time, guards the next, etc A brief Legends, Tradition highlight reel each game.

You could feature dunks one time, 3 pointers one time, blocks one time. Show some of the great plays and players form the past on the big screen.

I made the Nuckles-Armus comparison when we signed Armus making the point that TRUE bigs (not 4's masquerading as bigs) are a rare commodity at the midmajor level. I'm thrilled we have him and enjoy watching his development unfold.

(01-20-2018 07:45 AM)JWBUC Wrote:  I don't know if we could use our new video board to show some old footage of some of our greats.

Feature post players one time, guards the next, etc A brief Legends, Tradition highlight reel each game.

You could feature dunks one time, 3 pointers one time, blocks one time. Show some of the great plays and players form the past on the big screen.

Has anyone addressed why there's the only one video board? I was under the impression they were going to place another on the opposite side. Having some video replays would be helpful too. Each time I see a questionable call, I look to the video board then remember, we'll not be seeing one.